Inside story: how Emporium Melbourne Transformed into Melbourne's Home of Premium Brands

Emporium Melbourne sits in a prime position in the heart of Melbourne’s CBD, on Wurundjeri, Bunurong, Boon Wurrung Country. It opened 2014 and became a staple for CBD fashion retail, aided by its connecting walkways to Myer and David Jones on one side and Melbourne Central on the other.

But a lot has changed since 2014 and Emporium Melbourne looks significantly different today as Leasing Executive, Rebecca Tibbott outlines.

VCX: Rebecca, can you introduce yourself and your role at Vicinity?

RT: Hi, yes of course, I’m Rebecca Tibbott and I am a Leasing Executive for Emporium Melbourne. I’m responsible for everything from identifying the correct retailers for our centre and customers to engaging with our retailers to help them bring their brand to life, and also helping them manage their performance and growth.

It’s a great job. Some days you’ll be working with retail design on a store’s look and feel, others you’ll be touring the centre with retailers to find their perfect space. It’s a cliché but no two days are the same.

VCX: Tell us about your journey to Vicinity.

RT: I started my career being selected in JLL’s Graduate Asia Pacific Program, which saw me working for one year each in Adelaide and Brisbane before being seconded to Hong Kong. Hong Kong was such an amazing experience that I ended up working there for five years helping brands such as Nespresso and Uniqlo on their expansion.

I then moved to Melbourne and moved to the landlord side working with Stockland and Pacific Shopping Centres on their various developments. However, a few years later the excitement of Asia was calling again, and I moved Shanghai with JLL and finally CBRE where I headed up their Greater China Retail Teams for around eight years.  

I’ve worked in both development and leasing – however Leasing is my passion as I enjoy the interaction with Retailers and seeing stores go from concept to reality.

Working overseas gives you a different perspective and I think that’s helped me in my role at Vicinity Centres as we redefine the Emporium Melbourne offering.

VCX: How different is a leasing role overseas and what did you learn that helped you back in Australia?

RT:  There are definitely similarities between Australia, Hong Kong and Shanghai but each market is different and not just culturally.

In Asia, brands typically engage with leasing agencies to assist with their market entry and expansion to work out strategically how all their stores fit together. They’re not market experts so they lean heavily on leasing agencies to help them plot out a store network that will help them connect with customers and deliver their targets.

In Australia we have so many national brands and it’s more likely they will work out their network internally and generally have an idea of where they want to be which then means our role as a leasing team is to share with them why our centres will work best for them.

It’s been beneficial to work both in agency and for the developer as it helps me have a better understanding of retailers needs and wants. Working overseas has also exposed me to more international brands and trends in retail – some of which, like the growth in luxury, experiential stores and food trends, are making their way to Australia which is exciting.

VCX: Which moments are you most proud of in your career so far?

RT: I’ve been fortunate to have many great experiences, but I’d say my most proud moment has been quite recently at Emporium Melbourne.

In 2020, a large number of store leases were approaching the end of their terms which was obviously challenging given the COVID-19 lockdowns experienced that year, given the uncertainty many retailers opted to vacate.

Through the course of the year, as a team we took stock and really considered our customer and our position in the Melbourne market, and that resulted in an exciting change in direction, focusing on flagships, experience, mixed use and Australian Designers

Today I walk around the centre, in particular on Level 2, our Australian Designer precinct and I see exciting new brands, and a number of retailers that we’ve helped establish. I take a lot of pride in seeing how retailers grow and how we as a leasing and a centre team can help them succeed.

VCX: You mentioned there’s been a change of direction at Emporium Melbourne. Can you talk us through that some more?

RT: When Emporium Melbourne was coming to its first round of expires since development, we were able to see what concepts had worked and resonated with our customer and those which had not. There was also a lot over overlap in the CBD, Emporium didn’t have anything necessarily special or distinctive to offer retailers, other than being part of Vicinity’s large portfolio of shopping centres across Australia.

COVID-19 was a huge challenge but also an opportunity for us to reset our strategy. It forced some tough decisions but ultimately, I think it probably helped give the centre the shock it needed to be successful over the long term.

VCX: How did you decide on which new direction to take the centre?

RT: There had been a lot of research that suggested customers were looking for more than just fashion when shopping in the city. They wanted to stop, linger, enjoy great food and be entertained.

Using the insights gained, we started to add more experiential and lifestyle retailers like Fortress, Readings and Rebel Sport, more CBD flagships like Zimmermann, Scanlan Theodore, Kookai, Seed, Sandro and Maje, and a more sophisticated, premium mix in general.

Today, Emporium is clear about its position and is quite distinctive as a CBD-located centre. Its fashion footprint is predominantly made up of premium brands, leaving luxury to the east end of Collins Street, and mainstream to other centres in the area. In fact, we the highest number of Australian designers of any centre across the Vicinity portfolio – something we celebrate by hosting parts of Melbourne Fashion Festival each year.

What’s really rewarding is that the focus we’ve had in executing our leasing strategy has paid off with an increase in sales and brands proactively reaching out to discuss options in the centre.

VCX: What type of consumer does Emporium Melbourne attract/want to attract?

RT: We’re aiming for a few different types of consumers. During the week, we’re targeting CBD workers – mainly office-based – who tend to be successful, metro high-flyers. They enjoy good food, premium brands and experiences.

We also have a lot of weekend traffic which, while slightly more diverse, prosperous families make up a large chunk of consumers. Again, experiences are important here, not just in stores but in the common mall parts of the centre too.

Finally, we have the tourist crowd who are mostly looking for a nice time to browse new brands and maybe get a bite to eat in a unique and beautiful mall setting.

The common thread between all is that they have a higher-than-average income and like the more premium brands and experiences. Knowing this helps us identify the right brands for retail spaces, pop up spaces, and also for our media team to use the centre’s media screens to help those brands connect with customers better.

VCX: How do you measure success and if the remix is helping the centre and its brands perform?

RT: Our goal is to help retailers perform well, build their customer base, and grow their relationship with current customers. If retailers are conducting more sales, we know we’re doing our jobs well.

With the refreshed selection of premium retailers and experiences, we’re seeing a higher average spend per person which tells us the retail selection is more appropriate for customers.

Our other goal is to increase visitation on weekdays and in off-peak times. The experiential retailers help here, as do our dining options, and we’re seeing some progress as more businesses return to CBD offices.

Our Leasing teams are experts at finding the perfect space for retailers to thrive. To find out how they can help you, head over to our Leasing page.