While there have been rumblings among Melbourne’s fashion elite about independent and Australian designers being ‘booted out’ of the GPO to make way for H&M, on the whole I think the take-over will be great for Melbourne.
We are a proud fashion capital that produces some of Australia’s finest export designers, but for too long now Melbourne has not been able to compete as an international city replete with high-street brand offerings.
And that, in my eyes, is clearly a travesty for a city that loves to shop and is known the world over as a shopping and fashion capital.
The site, towards the end, was holding about 50% occupancy with little foot traffic above the ground floor.
The Age last year reported that retailers had accused the centre of mismanagement and a lack of marketing nous, which they said, “killed” the building. In the end the owners, it was reported, had to review their retail offering so they could compete with the soon to be opened Emporium centre.
So why didn’t the GPO work?
I don’t believe it was down to the quality or desirability of the brands, but rather was due to a poorly laid out retail space not suited to the up-market brands on offer. And we’ve not lost them in the CBD either, with many choosing to re-open at the Emporium and The Strand building at the end of April, meaning the CBD will not have lost those particular unique Australian voices in retail.
With H&M now operating the GPO like a department store, the refurbished retail space with easy access to upper levels has breathed new life into what was a rabbit warren of escalators, pillars and pokey corners. What were barriers to the ‘flow’ of the space, now present as an opportunity for clever visual merchandising that leads the H&M customer through the space for a full concept experience – something the GPO simply couldn’t do with individual retailers.
Aside from the obvious observation that it will bring new customers
(and hopefully more of them) to the CBD for a shopping experience, the fact remains that the GPO has life in it yet, and that’s a good thing for Melbourne retail.
