Five of the Most Memorable Mall Leases

Mall Leasing is one of the most innovative and interesting part of retail leasing; a melting pot of creativity.  Whether it’s a small kiosk, a pop-up store or an activation, Mall Leasing spaces always have something new and exciting going on. 

The opportunities to work with retailers or potential retailers is endless and diverse. One minute they might be helping well-known international and Australian brands expand their retail footprint at key retail times like Christmas, then they could be helping online stores take their first step into a physical store, or even the very first step into retail by a brand-new start up. 

With so many interesting Mall Leasing projects to consider, we challenged the team to think back over some of the most memorable they've delivered over the past couple of years. 

1. The Art of Banksy: “Without Limits”

Banksy pops up in Brisbane 

Sometimes shopping centres have short periods when a store space is vacant- usually the time between when one retailer closes and another opens. These kinds of vacancies can present unique opportunities for retailers that want a larger space to either test the water, introduce a new product or simply have a big, short-term impact.

At QueensPlaza, Brisbane, Vicinity Mall Leasing worked with Muse Marketing to turn one of the temporarily vacant spaces into one of the hottest tickets in town.

Vicinity worked with Muse Marketing to test different spaces, locations and experiences, eventually determining that what was delivered in the space should be a ticketed, first to market, and support a full day experience in Brisbane’s CBD for customers. These types of experiences drive hype and a sense of urgency due to their limited time in market.

The Art of Banksy: “Without Limits” opened in QueensPlaza in May 2023 and is a stunning museum-quality exhibition with over 150 works including original artworks, murals, photo, sculptures, digital installations and even his famous Dismaland Bemusement Park.

The pop-up exhibition ran for four months and sold over 100,000 tickets, increasing QueensPlaza’s total ground floor visitation by 6% over the course.

2. NAB (National Australia Bank)

Thinking outside the box, literally

At Cockburn Gateway Shopping City, NAB was undertaking a refit of its current store and wanted to maintain a presence at the centre throughout.

Usually in this scenario the retailer would activate mall kiosk space however NAB required the installation of ATM machines bolted to the floor which meant the team would need to be creative.

Taking the phrase ‘think outside the box’ to a very literal level, the Mall Leasing team proposed designing a temporary box external to the centre, with full power and the opportunity to bolt ATM machines into the ground.

With the concept in consideration, complex plans to use existing outdoor power and crane in a shipping container-style box were drawn up.

The eye-catching standalone container, in space not previously leased, eventually opened and traded for 18 weeks while NAB’s core store completed its refit. Despite the complexity the space presented as an innovative, customer focused, and on-brand NAB service.

3. Williams Racing

A week to remember

There are a number of ways Vicinity receives Mall Leasing enquiries but one of the most efficient is via our website.

That’s what Williams Racing UK did ahead of the 2023 Australian Grand Prix, aiming to find an accessible and suitable space to present the Williams Racing cars, drivers and brand to fans.

Sitting in the heart of Melbourne CBD, Emporium Melbourne is home to premium Australian fashion, dining and entertainment, and with a temporary vacant store space with street frontage exposure available over the course of the race, Williams Racing UK deemed it the right opportunity.

Creating a pop up for an ambitious Formula One racing team is a quite unique undertaking and has its complications. The space would require giant screens for live streaming, racing simulators, and merchandise sales areas, all designed to communicate the Williams Racing however the most challenging part of the pop up would be coordinating the installation of the team’s Formula One car.

Hampered by external street furniture, the team had to organise the delivery of the car to the centre basement in a packing case before forklifting it along Little Bourke Street, over the street furniture and into the store space, all under cover of darkness.

The final pop-up space opened for one week from Monday 27 March to Sunday 2 April and attracted the largest crowds any of the Williams Racing global pop ups had delivered to date.

4. Francesca

Hobart > Melbourne return

Francesca is a designer jewellery label started by sisters Hannah & Rachel Vasicek.

Hannah began making jewellery at the age of 12 and started selling her jewellery at Salamanca Market at the age of 16. Her collection gained popularity and eventually the business was rebranded to Francesca.

The business continued to grow during Hannah’s university studies and in 2013, after winning the young entrepreneur award for Australia, she decided to focus on Francesca, leaving behind a potential career in Law.

In 2018, Francesca wanted to grow outside of Tasmania and tap into the lucrative Melbourne market, more specifically, at Chadstone - The Fashion Capital. Leaning on Vicinity’s Mall Leasing team’s data insights and market knowledge, Francesca opened a mall kiosk and began growing its customer base.

Following success at Chadstone, Francesca has since gone on to open a handful more pop ups across the Vicinity portfolio, including going almost full circle and opening at Eastlands in Hobart.

5. Zagame Cupra

New brand, new customers

In 2022, VW-owned, Cupra was introduced into the very competitive Australian market, knowing immediately that they would have to take the new brand to customers proactively.

Already boasting automotive brands Tesla and Polestar, in addition to other Mall Leasing activations for Infiniti, Lexus and more, Chadstone – The Fashion Capital would prove to be a great location to launch Cupra.

“The choice of Chadstone was part of a deliberate strategy on the part of Zagame CUPRA to not only build awareness of this innovative new brand, but also encourage trial of the products,” Vicinity’s National Mall Leasing Manager Dean Magrath said.

“The Chadstone activation included the vehicle display, but also an area to park cars on-site allowing customer/ prospect test drives and in some cases, the final delivery of a customer’s new car.”

The high footfall location worked for Cupra. Within 30 minutes of opening the brand received its first customer order, setting the tone for what would follow. Conversations with the Cupra team after the first week revealed strong order numbers everyday including one particular salesperson taking 20 new car orders on the first Saturday.

Our pop up retail teams cover everything from pop up stores to mall kiosks and activations. They manage leases from one day to one year in duration.

To learn more about how the team can help your brand grow and reach more customers, head to our Pop up Retail page.