It would seem that Myer have decided against renewing their lease at the Tuggers Hyperdome.
All permanent staff will be moved to the City and Belconnen stores – still, bit of a pain for people who live in Tuggers and work there too.
Is this the death knell for the Hyperdome?
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carnardly said :
It was in the court down the escalators from Big W, to the left – pretty much around where the Geeky Games store is, all the way towards the back of Rebel sport (that whole area towards the food court too).
Where the Cinemas are now was an old open-air car park, and there was a service road between that car park and the JB youngs etc. That was where you went to pick up bigger goods from Harvey Norman, Youngs or Big W….
After it being Youngs, that area became another area for smaller shops and a Franklins….
The food court was split level and was more of a farmer’s market, with only a couple of food places (the baked spud place being one!). That was before everyone decided that HAD to eat at the mall while shopping, instead of eating beforehand, or when they got home! 🙂
where was Youngs at Woden? I can’t for the life of me remember.
I know there was one at Curtin and remember their closing down sale – people were going crazy like Myer (boom tish) on boxing day.
I even remember Waltons in Civic – upstairs in Monaro Mall. 🙂
RedDogInCan said :
Not that recently, you are talking two decades or more since Youngs – Grace Bros were in Woden.
The food court was there, when I worked at Callam Offices back in about 1995 I am pretty sure.
Youngs were a good store, I used to go to the one in Garema Place many times back in the mid 80s.
shirty_bear said :
Ronnie said :
He’s not really old school unless he referred to JB Young’s … was subsumed by Grace Bros in the mid-’80s or so. Don’t recall the Woden store making the transition from GB’s to Myer. Can no longer picture it in my mind, either … funny how renovations and roadworks almost immediately erase the former layout from memory (well, my memory anyway).
Ronnie said :
Yes, there was a Myer/Grace Bros ar Woden 10+ years ago. It used to be in the corner at the back of the food court (though the food court wasn’t there then).
I had a chat with a mate when I saw this post and he’s adamant that there was a Grace Bros/ Myer at Woden a long time ago. I certainly can’t recall one being there.
Can anyone confirm? (I haven’t read all the comments so sorry if I’ve missed it already).
2604 said :
Worth adding a shout out then to their colleagues over at DJs whose business model can best be surmised as “anyone else+30%”.
There’s heaps of examples, but the one that really sticks in my mind is a Coast brand, pure white linen summer shirt. Same shirt in Myer and DJs, $59 at DJs but only $39 full price at Myer. There’s just something about such a price difference on an item so plain that really highlights it.
creative_canberran said :
+1
Anyone reading this site sometimes would be forgiven for thinking that Belco had suddenly become all cosmopolitan and highbrow because Westfield has added Target, Aldi, and a bit of wood panelling to what was already there.
Myer would do better if its strategy was something other than trying to flog house-brand merchandise for name-brand prices.
As for the complaints about Tuggers looking shabby – really, who cares? It’s a shopping centre FFS, a place that you visit for an hour per week while you buy groceries and the occasional bit of clothing. Anyone despairing about its condition needs to spend less time there.
The Antichrist said :
patrick_keogh said :
Myers at Belco is a dump. Next time you walk through there – take a minute to check out the ceiling – it is a f’n disgrace ! Holes everywhere, dirty old unused fittings, bolts empty speaker holes – you name it, at some point in time in the last 30 years it has been in that ceiling ( any floor they all look the same) – it has been ripped out and it has never been replaced or repaired.
I am sure if you took a Meyers executive for a stroll through his/her *premium* store in Westfield Belco – they would be mighty embarrassed…………maybe some punters don’t rate ceilings as an important part of a store, but once you see how crappy it looks…….well it might give you something to do while waiting for some counter-monkey to finally drag themselves over to give you some assistance.
creative_canberran said :
The Newsagent out on Anketell St is still far better. The one that moved into his old place inside the Hyperdome is very small, and carries very little of what a regular Newsagent wold.
creative_canberran said :
My rough understanding is that centre management put the rent up, so the newsagent moved to cheaper premises. Old clientel followed with them. The new newsagent that opened up was not aware they had competition simply moving across the road, and are considering legal action against centre management.
There’s also the curious case of the Newsagent swap earlier this year. The newsagent formerly near Woolworths moved out and is now across the road opposite Southlife. A new newsagent moved in where they had moved from. Would love to see what their business plan said that the conclusion they reached was it made more sense to move out and across the road where foot traffic is less than remain in the centre proper.
@creative_canberran: On the matter of menswear, I recall buying something (possibly underwear?) at a suburban Myer in Melbourne, finding that item apparently not stocked at all at the Hyperdome Myer, but then finding it out on sale at Belconnen. I guess comparative perceptions may vary depending on what you were looking for on the day.
Back in the days before the rise of Amazon, and before the online shopping rebellion against the Great Australian Markup (whosever fault it was) gathered steam, I remember a period of at least months on end when not one of the three mainstream bookstore chains (Angus and Robertson, Collins, Dymocks) was represented with a store at the Hyperdome — so they were probably unrepresented in the whole of Tuggeranong. I don’t know if this was due to an estimation of the people of Tuggeranong as a bogan demographic by the Hyperdome’s management or by the bookstore chains, but it certainly reduced my discretionary weekend visits to the Hyperdome for some possible retail therapy.
I find all the comparisons to Belco a bit amusing, renovations aside many parts of it are dead zones and the place generally is a cramped maze of despair. Go to the older section near Dymocks (which they’ve carpeted for some reason) and you’re greeted with few customers, boarded up shops, forgotten balconies overlooking the street and signs pointing you to the new parts. It’s only by virtue of having a massive population around it and to the North that it does so well.
The Myer store in Belco is actually well behind the Tuggeranong store and aside from the cafe, hasn’t had a decent renovation in a long time. It may look larger but certainly in mens wear, many products at both their others stores were no where to be found. As for staff numbers, perhaps I was in there on a good day but I counted 5 Myer staff and an in store rep at lunch time on a Friday. 1:1 ratio with potential customers browsing.
Perhaps Brand Depot and Hyperdome could be added to a new Australian section of:
http://deadmalls.com/features.html
Even as someone who mainly buys online these days (music/DVDs included), I still can’t resist the lure of browsing through a JB Hi-Fi store… and will almost always come out with a purchase.
If I was JB Hifi i’d be loathe to be opening any more bricks and mortar stores.
They’ve done very well selling media on physical formats for the last decade or so, but that business model is leaving the station.
Frankly a key cutting kiosk can sell ipods as easily and as well, with the value add of engraving it.