Aussies are wearing their gym gear to get coffee and run errands – and new retail data shows the shopping centre landscape is changing fast to keep up.

Activewear brands Adidas, Asics, Elite Eleven, Lorna Jane, LSKD, Lululemon, New Balance, Nike, Puma and Stylerunner comprise more than 50 per cent of the activewear spend market across Australia, according to Colliers data.

A majority of these labels have seen a recent uptick in shopping centre locations nationwide, opening 77 new stores in the past four years.

The data shows this centre growth skews toward more established brands that Aussies have known for decades such as Lorna Jane and Nike. Lorna Jane had a majority of stores across centres in both Sydney (19) and nationwide (85).

Colliers senior executive of retail leasing Ruby Koop said a recent rise in every day activewear stemmed from Covid, when people were working from and spending more time at home.

“Being in casual and comfy clothes became key,” she said.

“Brands have really listened to this and even brands that aren’t traditionally active wear focused will have active wear components to their fashion lines as well.”

According to Ms Koop, activewear stores have also replaced more traditional retail locations.

“If you look at strips like High Street, Armadale (VIC) that was traditionally a bridal precinct, when you look back to the history,” she said.

“Now when you look at it, you have brands like Stylerunner, more of that younger generation, and LSKD opening their new flagship there with further leisure coming into the strip as well, Lululemon and others.”

LSKD Founder and CEO Jason Daniel said people are living more active lifestyles and placing a greater focus on their health and wellbeing.

Mr Daniel said at the same time, activewear has become a much bigger part of everyday life.

“Our community wants products that can move seamlessly between training, running, commuting and everyday life,” he said.

“They aren’t just wearing active wear to the gym anymore.

“They’re wearing it to run errands, go for coffee, travel and just go about their day.”

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LSKD Founder and CEO Jason Daniel said the community wants products that can move seamlessly between training, running, commuting and everyday life

LSKD store opening Armadale, Melbourne that was traditionally a high end and bridal shop precinct

According to Mr Daniel, LSKD has seen strong growth across both physical and online stores over the past few years.

“Our stores give our community the opportunity to experience the product, try things on and connect with the brand in person, while online gives them the convenience to shop whenever and wherever they want,” he said.

LSKD currently has 36 stores globally, with the majority in Australia, and are continuing to grow the store network, including opening the first US store in Austin later this year.

“We’re also continuing to expand our online business into new markets,” Mr Daniel said.

“We see physical retail and online continuing to support each other as we grow.”

Colliers director of property economics and analytics Greg Malempre said there has been a rise of “new players” in the active wear space expanding on the back of demographic trends across the country.

“This has typically been scaling out from specialist sportswear stores,” he said.

“If you look at the numbers, you can see Nike, Puma, Adidas, as a few, have basically opened fewer stores or closed stores over the period of time at these shopping centre locations.

Thematic map of highest activewear spend across Sydney shopping centres. Source: Colliers

“Whereas the other brands, such as Lorna Jane, Lululemon, LSKD and Stylerunner have grown their store networks and evolved over time, basically to try and take advantage of the increasing trend for activewear across Australian markets.”

Mr Malempre said brands like Lorna Jane and Nike have a more established market position.

“People understand their quality, their offer, price points,” he said.

“I would say the newer brands try and find high profile locations and its maybe a bit of a test to see how well they trade before they can fully commit.”

Colliers data capturing activewear labels in shopping centres across Sydney shows Bondi Junction dominated with offerings, followed by Westfield Miranda, Birkenhead Point Outlet Centre and DFO Homebush.

Mr Malpera said the Sydney locations with highest per capita spending typically reflects age and affluence along with the broader trends of their day-to-day activities and active lifestyle.

“That spending really shows up strongly across the eastern suburbs, in the city, lower north shore and northern beaches areas versus, say out in the western suburbs where there still will be spending on the category,” he said.

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Property funds manager Charter Hall is again expanding its retail property holdings, picking up Melbourne’s well-known Tooronga Village shopping centre for $79m.

The company has identified convenience retail as a primary growth area, and the sector’s resilience is boosting its performance even as larger malls are under pressure.

The trend, which emerged ahead of the pandemic, is solidifying as consumers focus on everyday needs and shift away from discretionary spending. At the same time, large supermarket chains Woolworths and Coles are rolling out fewer centres because of rising construction costs, even though population growth is increasing.

The company is buying for its unlisted Charter Hall Convenience Retail Fund, which has attracted about $3bn of institutional backing and is targeting a $4.5bn-plus portfolio.

Charter Hall is buying the Melbourne asset from Newmark Capital, which acquired the centre from Stockland in 2019 for about $63.2m. Newmark sold five strata podium lots for $7m in 2021-22 and returned capital to investors at that time.

Newmark boosted the centre’s income and the sale is a strong result for investors.

The Tooronga Village deal will show a capitalisation rate of about 5.75 per cent. The move to expand the vehicle came as Charter Hall chief executive David Harrison nominated the sector as a key area for his business’s expansion.

Charter Hall is stepping up its property purchasing at a time when few others are in the market and many rival players are making bids contingent on raising capital to complete deals.

Tooronga Village is a 7724sq m neighbourhood centre anchored by Coles, alongside two mini-majors, 20 specialty stores, five kiosks, an ATM, car wash and extensive basement parking. It serves the blue-chip areas of Toorak, Malvern, Hawthorn, Kooyong and Glen Iris.

The off-market deal was negotiated by Tim McIntosh and Will Heffernan from Colliers, and Stonebridge Property Group’s Justin Dowers and Kevin Tong.

Mr McIntosh said the centre’s strong trading fundamentals and strategic positioning in Melbourne’s inner east attracted Charter Hall’s interest.

“Tooronga Village is anchored by a highly productive Coles supermarket, with the centre sales productivity above $17,000 per square metre, ranking the centre as one of the highest performing neighbourhoods in inner metropolitan Melbourne,” he said. “Assets of this calibre are tightly held and rarely traded, particularly within Melbourne’s inner eastern suburbs, making it a highly valuable investment proposition.”

Mr Dowers said the sale reflected the continued institutional demand for dominant convenience retail assets within affluent metropolitan catchments.

“High-quality neighbourhood shopping centres continue to attract significant investor interest, driven by strong population growth, resilient supermarket performance and limited incoming new supply,” he said.

Mr Dowers said the strong rental growth experienced across the neighbourhood shopping centre sector was driving substantial capital reweighting into convenience retail. This transaction alongside the recent sales of Burwood Brickworks and Coles and Aldi Kilmore amounted to more than $220m of Melbourne neighbourhood centre transactions in the past two months.

Charter Hall is separately buying Yeppoon Central shopping centre on the state’s Capricorn Coast from developer Laurence Lancini. The Woolworths-anchored subregional shopping centre is selling for more than $70m and will show a yield of about 6.5 per cent.

Charter Hall has been the top buyer of convenience retail assets this year and its purchases include $250m worth of centres in Queensland and NSW bought from Vicinity Centres.

Last year, it bought the Burwood One Shopping Centre in Melbourne for $210m and bought Southport Park from billionaire John Van Lieshout for $152.5m.

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