If you haven’t been into downtown Wynnum in a while, you might be surprised by the changes. And we’re not talking about the road resurfacing that took place recently.
The exodus of established large scale retailers continues – Mr Toys closed its doors, closely followed by Wynnum Hardware. Casheez has also closed its Wynnum operation.
This could be seen as bad news, and certainly Mr Toys could be seen as a form of ‘anchor tenant’ in Wynnum, bringing children and parents into town. It also kept long opening hours, and the staff were not happy that they were often the last shop left open in the street at the weekend.
At WynnumCentral, we see these changes as an inevitable move to a more sustainable retail mix in Wynnum.
Although there are large holes now in the retail landscape, which need to be addressed, there are also new smaller, independent retailers opening, catering to a discerning clientele who are interested in finding unique jewellery and fashion items.
Anita Jochumsen has moved from operating a stall at the art/craft/vintage/retro market to opening a jewellery shop in Florence Street, trading under the same name as her stall, Edelweiss.
Zillpa is a new craft shop which grew from being stocked in The Collective Store to opening its own store. The Hippy Shop and Juicy Secrets fashion outlets have also opened in Edith Street.
The other major trend is ‘jockeying for position’ by existing retailers. The Collective Store moved to a corner location, as did Baretraps Shoes. New Leaf Natural Therapies has relocated from the IGA shopping centre to Edith Street, into a shop that had been vacant for eight years, and other moves are, we understand, in the offing.
Two things will, in our opinion, transform the retail landscape in Wynnum – one is more shops opening longer hours at the weekend, particularly on Saturdays.
The second is more restaurants and other entertainment venues (a wine bar or boutique beer bar for example) opening, ideally on Bay Terrace, to provide evening entertainment options for local residents.
What do you think?
So good to read the positive commentary. As a newcomer we chose Wynnum for the amazing lifestyle and look forward to watching the new face of Wynnnum emerge in the coming years.