Loyal Haileybury Football supporter and sponsor Kent Waring is featured in the Business Section of the Herald Sun through One68. The company is a leader in its field and growing because of quality workmanship, a creative mind and a can do attitude. We are proud to have One68 as partners of Haileybury Football. Read the article - you will be pleasantly surprised at how good they are!
Fitting out the future
Melbourne’s retail revival is providing a shot in the arm for the support cast, writes Jane Harper. THE rush of retail development in Melbourne hasn’t just set the tills ringing for store owners.
A ripple of benefits is flowing through a range of behind-the-scenes industries that are helping feed shoppers’ rediscovered appetite for spending.
The launch of the 48,000sq m Emporium shopping centre in Lonsdale St last month created more than a thousand jobs and thousands more indirect positions around the state in areas including construction, delivery and manufacturing.
Among those helping set the stage for the retail revolution is Melbourne-based group One68, which specialises in fitting out shops. General manager Kent Waring said the company had five Emporium fit-outs completed or confirmed — including international youth brand Zoo York and accessories group Fossil — and two more potential dealsin the pipeline. “It’s been fantastic,” Mr Waring told BusinessDaily. “It’s a great boost to the company to have an injection of fit-outs in a short time frame. The centre itself is fantastic with great design elements.”
Leasing experts have said the Emporium is triggering a further wave of retail activity in the CBD.
“We think that will be the case,” Mr Waring agreed. “From a fit-out perspective this year we can see that everything’s looking up.” The upturn is translating into job opportunities at the group’s Melbourne base and factory in Dingley Village in the city’s southeast. “We have probably added 10 people in manufacturing, admin and sales in the past three months and are in the process of adding another five to 10 over the next three months,” Mr Waring said. The positivity is a far cry from the gloom pervading the sector as recently as a few years ago. Hit hard by poor consumer confidence and increasing competition from online and overseas competitors, Australian retailers had been tightening their belts in recent years.
Mr Waring said support businesses such as his felt the pinch. “Two years ago, we all
hung on for dear life,” he said. “A lot of our colleagues went under but we just battened down the hatches.”
The group took the opportunity to push into office fit-outs, with that work now making up about 25 per cent of the business. “We came out the other side working a lot smarter because we had to,” Mr Waring said.
“But now there seems to be a lot more activity. We held strong and we’re still here.
“It was a kick up the backside to refocus and put our energy into the right parts of the business.” Mr Waring said despite the rise of online shopping, there was still demand in the Australian market for the bricks-and-mortar experience.
“I think retailers have accepted the internet and embraced it and changed their businesses to suit, but does that mean the store is dead? No, far from it,” he said.
“Retailers have just worked harder in their designs and service when customers come in.”
Mr Waring said the future was looking bright, with the 18-month transformation of Australia on Collins into new luxury centre St Collins Lane firmly on the group’s radar. He said a string of retailers based outside major shopping centres were also ripe for revamps. “We think we see signs that there are good times ahead.”
Last Modified on 28/05/2014 14:46