23 August 2022

Canberra Centre shake-up with Target to close and Sephora to open

| Claire Fenwicke
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Target Canberra

Target’s Canberra Centre store is set to close in October. Photo: Google Maps.

Target in the Canberra Centre in Civic will cease operations on 22 October.

Canberra Centre general manager Gary Stewart said the decision was made after “close coordination and discussion” between the centre and Target owner Wesfarmers.

“Target’s departure provides us with a valuable opportunity to unlock retail space at Canberra Centre, allowing us to reimagine Canberra Centre’s retail mix in line with our long-term master plan,” he said.

Work has commenced behind the scenes to secure new shopping outlets in the space left behind.

“Our team is hard at work to deliver experiences that keep up with the evolving needs of our community, and we are pleased to confirm that work is currently underway to deliver two market-leading brands to the space left by Target,” Mr Stewart said.

Details of the new brands were expected in the coming months.

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Canberrans took to social media to express their shock.

“Well, that’s sad. It’s been there since it was first turned into the city markets,” wrote one.

“Oh no!! That’s the best target …” said another.

However, plenty of posters were happy to see the brand leave Civic.

“Target is so incredibly overpriced for what it is. Their sizing is atrocious, glad to see them go,” one commenter noted.

The Civic shopfront was the latest Target to leave the Capital; the Weston Creek store closed mid-last year as part of a significant shake-up by Wesfarmers. Target stores at Belconnen and Tuggeranong remain open.

Target closing notice

An official statement was posted outside the Canberra Centre’s Target store. Photo: Facebook.

Meanwhile, Canberra Centre was almost ready to welcome major beauty and wellness provider Sephora into the fold.

“The introduction of this much awaited global beauty destination is sure to generate excitement amongst our shoppers, who will now have access to a range of new and exclusive brands and products,” Mr Stewart said.

Sephora’s Australia flagship store opened in 2015 on Sydney’s Pitt Street Mall and has since expanded to 24 locations across the country.

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Sephora Australia and New Zealand general manager Mark O’Keefe said it was about time the global beauty retailer set up shop in the nation’s Capital.

“Our Canberra clients have long been asking when they can get their hands on an in-person Sephora shopping experience, which makes it incredibly exciting for us to introduce a completely new and dynamic store for them,” he said.

“We are thrilled to finally bring our Sephora DNA to the Canberra community, creating a fun environment to learn across our extensive beauty assortment.”

Global beauty retailer Sephora has opened 24 stores across Australia since 2015. Photo: Supplied, Sephora.

The Canberra store will cover 307 square metres and offer Sephora’s largest in-store fragrance offerings.

Exclusive brands including Rare Beauty, Fenty Beauty by Rihanna, tarte cosmetics, Fresh Beauty and Sephora Collection would also be available.

A pre-opening day party will be held on Thursday, 25 August, from 7 am to 9 am, while the store itself will open from 9 am. It will be located at Shop EF20, Level 1.

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Another makeup store, so what.

I suppose it fits in with the nail salons that are everywhere.

No wonder retail shopping centres are dying.

LOL, well that means I will have no reason to visit there. I used to sometimes visit Target, because I wear clothes. Underwear, pyjamas, that was the main sort of purchase I made there. But I don’t wear makeup. Face creams and the like, I can get at Coles, for I imagine at a much better price.

Ditches fading brand in pursuit of latest performing gross-to-rent-percentage sales brand in light of current high performing young millennial demographic etc. Store full of said demographic buying cheaply produced celebrity branded products. QIC profiting, passing much of this profit on to corporate stakeholders rather than investors. Blah blah blah

Hasn’t been good for a while. Always feels cold dark and sterile at the bottom of the ramp.

Target used to get people in for everything else but clothes. However most people would just buy clothes there, so they decided to reduce other things and people stopped going there for clothes.

Self serve checkouts was never the right fit for the Canberra Centre that was always a bit up market.

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