New Retail Concept Opens In Nelson

New Retail Concept Opens In Nelson

Prime Retail Management today launched its second lifestyle centre, Fashion Island, in downtown Nelson.

The centre has 28 retail tenancies with a distinct fashion focus. Fashion Island Nelson is home to big brand New Zealand fashion retailers, as well as specialist accessory and health and beauty stores, a wine bar and cafes.

With big fashion names including Portmans, Jacqui E, Hartleys, Staxs, and Amazon, as well as a range of other retailers such as Andrea Biani, The Body Shop, Rodney Wayne, and Living and Giving, Fashion Island Nelson offers the cream of fashion, accessory and food retailing.

Chief Executive of Prime Retail Management, Mark Schiele, says that the Fashion Island concept was founded on the premise of putting convenience and fun back into the shopping experience.

“Worldwide there is a trend away from malls and internally focused retail environments. Consumers want to return to neighbourhood shopping with an environment and ambience that is relaxed.

“We opened the first Fashion Island development in Papamoa in May 2006. The design used in Fashion Island Nelson has been further developed and refined based on best practice associated with United States’ ‘lifestyle centres’ and the desire to completely tailor the concept to the urban Nelson location. The indoor/outdoor flow is a perfect fit with Nelson’s temperate climate and we’re confident that the people of Nelson will find this an enticing and enjoyable place, not just to shop, but also to eat out, meet with friends or simply relax.

Mr Schiele says that the Fashion Island concept has proven to be particularly attractive to retailers.

“In part, this is because we are able to leverage off solid existing partnerships with retailers who not only like the concept, but also trust us to make it work. And, it is already clear from our tenant mix – which includes the biggest names in the fashion business – that they see strong growth potential in the Fashion Island concept and the Nelson market.”

The opening of Fashion Island Nelson has provided tangible benefits to the local economy with the creation of more than 70 full time equivalent jobs. Mr Schiele says they expect that Fashion Island will also strengthen the retail offering in Nelson and provide considerable flow-on benefits to all retailers, by creating a reason for people to visit the city centre and encouraging them to stay longer during their visits. He believes this will provide benefits to the local economy as a whole.

“Nelson has an active, go ahead council and a forward-thinking business community. It also has a growing population and a robust economy, so it was the perfect location for our new centre.

The multi-million dollar complex with 3,500m2 of retail and 1,500m2 of office space is located in the heart of downtown Nelson, between Morrison St, Hardy St and Selwyn Place.

ENDS

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