Luxury retailers set sights on Westfield

New Zealand is to become home to more international luxury retailers.

Balenciaga, Alexander McQueen, Yves Saint Laurent, Emporio Armani and Ferragamo are among designer brands understood to be opening stores in Auckland’s Westfield Newmarket shopping centre this year.

The retailers, which do not have a physical retail presence in this market, are expected to open their flagship New Zealand locations in the retail precinct.

British fashion house Mulberry has already opened a store in the centre and Gucci and Louis Vuitton are also expected to open shops.

The Weekend Herald understands Partridge Jewellers, Canada Goose and Tory Burch will be among other high-end brands to also operate stores in the centre.

ASX-listed Scentre Group, the owner and operator of Westfield Newmarket, had no comment when contacted.

Newmarket Business Association chief executive Mark Knoff-Thomas said the introduction of new-tomarket luxury brands was exciting for Newmarket and the wider Auckland area.

Some luxury tenant store fit-outs were already underway at the precinct, with more expected soon, Knoff-Thomas said. “There is going to be a succession of launches coming out over the next few months.”

The Newmarket area attracts hundreds of thousands of shoppers annually, and last year turned over more than $613 million in retail trade, up 15 per cent on 2019.

Westfield Newmarket is considered New Zealand’s most valuable shopping mall. The refurbished shopping centre opened its doors after 18 months of development in August

2019. The site is home to more than

150 retailers and a rooftop dining precinct over five levels. Its luxury retailing portion was expected to open last year, but was put off because of the pandemic and delays in securing international tenants.

Scentre Group has given no date when the luxury precinct will finally open.

Retail consultant and industry analyst Chris Wilkinson said the arrival of the likes of Spanish fashion house Balenciaga, British clothing retailer Alexander McQueen and Italy’s Emporio Armani would further strengthen New Zealand’s growing luxury shopping offering.

Other new-to-New Zealand international luxury brands have opened in recent months, including Italian jewellery brand Bulgari on Queen St.

Wilkinson said many luxury retailers were expanding into New Zealand as a result of property owners such as Scentre Group offering “attractive terms to woo” big names into leasing contracts.

“We’ve really seen New Zealand’s retail scenes come of age in the last decade with the growth of our luxury segment.”