How Vicinity helped Venroy open its first shopping centre destination

Synonymous with summer holidays, luxurious fabrics and elevated leisurewear, Bondi-born premium fashion brand, VENROY has become a cult favourite since opening in 2010.

Owner and creative director Sean Venturi is very selective about where to open his Venroy boutiques, with aesthetic locations including Noosa and Byron Bay, and seasonal pop ups in the coastal town of Montauk, New York and Capri, Italy.

Last week, the brand entered new territory, opening at a shopping centre for the first time.

Guiding Venroy on its journey from holiday destinations to shopping destination was Justine Marziano (Leasing Executive) and Lauren Stewart (Retail Design) who share more about this exciting new venture including how they helped bring the brand to life in the space.

Hi Justine – can you tell us where the Venroy pop up is and why it’s so exciting for you and the team?

JM: This marks Venroy’s first venture into a shopping centre environment, and what a fitting choice, making its shopping centre debut at The Fashion Capital!

Venroy has landed in a really prominent mall leasing space outside RM Williams, and it can’t be missed – with blue hues resembling the ocean, it just pops under the iconic Chadstone roof.

Opening a clothing store in the middle of the mall heading into one of the busiest shopping periods brings challenges – from working with a limited space to change rooms, crowds and keeping the store immaculate, but it’s all worth it to finally have Venroy at Chadstone!

You say finally, what has the process been?

JM: I’ve been working with the brand’s owner, Sean for several years, to understand his vision, business goals and any hesitations around opening in a shopping centre.

Sean is brilliant and has a very specific experience in mind for when customers enter one of his stores - whether in Bondi or Capri – and wasn't convinced a non-holiday destination was the right fit for the Venroy resort wear brand.

At the end of the day, it’s about supporting the retailer and finding solutions – demonstrating to them the value we offer by having them here, and the benefit to the brand's local customers.

You only need to take a quick walk around the ground floor at Chadstone to truly understand the scope of what a store can look like in one of our centres. In recent times, we've seen a number of stores raise the bar and demonstrate the possibilities are endless We’re seeing spaces that look more like a premium gallery than a traditional retail store and that presents a huge opportunity to bring a brand like Venroy’s aesthetic to life.

That’s where our amazing Retail Design Manager Lauren comes in.

Lauren, the Venroy pop up looks amazing, how did you bring Venroy’s philosophy to life?

LS: It all started with collaboration. We sat down with Venroy’s designers for design workshops, to understand their brand vision and work together to tailor a design fit for Chadstone.

Early design ideas drew inspiration from the brand’s existing pop-up boutique in Claremont (which as an inline store is contextually very different to the mall leasing space secured at Chadstone!) then Justine and I guided them through the nuances of opening in a mall leasing space, addressing practicalities and highlighting the opportunity to make a bold statement with a concept unique to this location.

Venroy evolved the design response into what they’ve described as ‘The Venroy Grotto,’ an ode to the pleasure of being underwater. Electric blue colour blocking, mosaic glass pool tiles, and translucent ombre resin panels bring this concept to life, creating a striking statement in the mall.

Why is this an exciting store to deliver?

LS: This store design is exciting because it marks Venroy’s first venture into a shopping centre environment. I really enjoyed guiding Venroy through Vicinity’s design approval process and collaborating with their wonderfully engaged and creative team to achieve a unique outcome for the brand.

We know how much our customers will love this addition to Chadstone, so we’re just so pleased we could create something bespoke together – I’m eager to see what’s in store for Venroy next!

Why will customers love Venroy at Chadstone?

JM: I’ve been wanting Venroy for a long time – it has a cult following and will be right at home in our Australian designer precinct. We’ve just opened Scanlan Theodore which is off to a strong start and everything from our international fashion precinct to our local designers – we’re really earning our title of The Fashion Capital!

For us this is a real case study on how we incubate a tenant – meeting them where they’re at and working together to find a solution to help them meet their business goals. I would love to see them in a permanent space here one day, but for now I am just delighted to see them here in a space so authentically them.