5 July 2008

New DFO Fyshwick will make airport seem "Brand Depleted"

| Jonathon Reynolds
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DFO CanberraI was made aware of the floorplan (download link) for the new DFO at Fyshwick. It appears that the new DFO complex will have MANY recognised brand name shops and outlets.

I feel somewhat sorry for any (struggling) operators that are locked in to long leases out at the airport as the new DFO complex with its diversity will certainly appear a far more attractive draw card for consumers.

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cring said :

You are now hearing “BLAND DEPOT BLAND DEPOT” echo to the same tune of the ad.

Manually.

was at brand depot on sunday, after our trip to dfo – was far quieter, what with the police interviewing shop owners, and about 8 stores shut. The bargains we got, with very little effort were worth the trip, we saw same items at dfo that were $20 or $30 more expensive. oh, and the cost of food at brand depot is reasonable, not DFO’s $3.50 for a bucket of chips from the “healthy store”, selling chips….

You are now hearing “BLAND DEPOT BLAND DEPOT” echo to the same tune of the ad.

Manually.

Holden Caulfield10:01 pm 06 Oct 08

No weigh!

Resident Neville7:28 pm 06 Oct 08

Concrete “thick enough for a 747” and a large scale structure, signifies zip. Even if that were backed by fact.

A Jumbo weighs about 175 tonnes spread over 16 very fat wheels.

All these large retail structures presume that laden trucks or heavy duty cranes could or will be used inside.

Even Dan Murphy’s floor would have to allow for a stack of pallettes full of wine and the forklift used to lift them.

Perhaps we could make the rumor even more interesting and claim that Canberra Airport is being secretly groomed as an alternative landing site for the Shuttle it ways 104 tonnes but has less wheels.

I had a look around the DFO’s today, it’s opening tomorrow!! Most of the stores are completely set up, with a few boxes left to unpack. Some stores are still hiring. I got a job at one of the stores whooo I’m looking forward to starting.

I rode my bike down to the DFO today to see how far they are progressing. The building infrastructure and roads look good, but I couldn’t see any shops that had been fit-out. The eatery floor is not finished with no seats installed. I reckon it will be a couple of months yet.

In light of another article on RiotACT about the desire for a burnout arena perhaps the problem of Brand Depot is solved. No noise pollution and they can compete with the noise of the Boeings. 🙂

Jonathon Reynolds12:03 pm 27 Jul 08

The Canberra Time finally has an article on which shops will be in the new DFO:
http://www.canberratimes.com.au/news/local/news/general/big-names-in-retail-listed-for-dfo/1227595.aspx

This was the floor plan that was originally published with the RA story:
http://img382.imageshack.us/img382/7475/canberradfoshopshp3.jpg

Jonathon Reynolds said :

heinous said :

nice to have an angle looking over me.

Is he acute or obtuse?

Well, he’s definitely not right! (har har).

Your’ll such fun

Jonathon Reynolds8:39 pm 08 Jul 08

heinous said :

nice to have an angle looking over me.

Is he acute or obtuse?

[grammar nazi /on]
you are = you’re
Sheesh!

Thanks Gungahlin Al, nice to have an angle looking over me.

Gungahlin Al5:41 pm 08 Jul 08

[grammar nazi /on]
you are = you’re
Sheesh!

Thanks Jonathon. heinous, looking at that floorplan the homemaker hub is the bit in purple while the DFO is in yellow.

areaman,

Looking at the type of shops in the jpg, I’d say your right. Assuming this then what is the building that they are building across the road from the DFO going to be then?

I have seen ads for the shops who are opening looking for staff, and they have said “due to open in August”. Why would they recruit now, in this market, if they’re not expecting to open until December? They will lose all their newly recruited staff, people on retail wages can’t afford to sit around for a couple of months waiting for the shop to open.

I think they are smarter that this, and we will see an opening August – Sept ish.

Thanks Jonathon. heinous, looking at that floorplan the homemaker hub is the bit in purple while the DFO is in yellow.

you might have it cached, from both home and work the whole http://www.upload2world.com domain is down.

heinous said :

I bet your mind is blown now.

hk0reduck,

I heard that they are planning to build a http://www.wowwicked.com.au on the old Allens site in Fyshwick which should blow your mind and some.

Oh wow indeed…

Area man, the link to the shop map is
http://www.upload2world.com/pic93/upload2world_53083.jpg
and it’s working for me!

The server seems to be down for me, can anyone repost the image

And meanwhile, I went to Brand Depot today, and bought stuff, there’s the odd bargain lurking in some of the shops although the shoes on sale are ghastly, kiddy cheap junk. It was surprisingly busy, the bogan types (loud, bumptious and offensive) were out in force.

I quite like these retail sheds, I must say. Much easier than the trauma of going into Civic.

Holden Caulfield8:43 pm 06 Jul 08

With no apparent confirmation on opening dates for DFO my curiosity got the better of me and I went for a drive past the DFO site today to see what I could discover. Not much really, is the answer. While the exterior of the building has taken shape, from what I could tell the interior still requires a lot of work.

At best I’d say DFO could open in September, but the cynic in me suggests they may go for a 1 December opening date (or thereabouts) just in time for Christmas, haha.

Morgan said :

JB Hifi, what planet are you on? There is a huge store in the Canberra centre. Fletcher Jones have three stores in Canberra, the one in the city has been in the same location for years.

My name is Sam Tyler. I had an accident, and I woke up in 1973. Am I mad, in a coma, or back in time? Whatever’s happened, it’s like I’ve landed in a FJ store. Now maybe if I can work out the reason, I can get home.”

heinous said :

I wonder why a building big enough for a 747 has concrete thick enough for one… I’m sure it’s just a coincidence, and has nothing to do with any long-term plans for a 24/7 freight hub at all…

harley,

How could a nice man like Mr Snow be so deceptive an tricky with us all? LOL.

Just to balance some of the negative comments about the Snows, have a look at the Snow Foundation. A very worthwhile charity http://snowfoundation.org.au/aboutus.htm

heinous said :

I wonder why a building big enough for a 747 has concrete thick enough for one… I’m sure it’s just a coincidence, and has nothing to do with any long-term plans for a 24/7 freight hub at all…

harley,

How could a nice man like Mr Snow be so deceptive an tricky with us all? LOL.

Indeed! Fact is, I think we’ve all learned to take everything he says and does with a bagful of salt, and look for what he’s really up to.

The last building application for that site was for a giant children’s fun house place, that was last year and not much has happened since to my knowledge.

Yes I saw this one as well, however there has been another more recent one that show three businesses on the site. The kids fun house, WOW Sight ‘n Sound and another un-let premises. The plan (on the billboard outside the developmental) shows a 2 story building on the present car park. They have just started construction.

missjill said :

Are JB Hi-Fi still around? Fletcher Jones? Hey, but what would DFO be without a discount rug store!

JB Hifi, what planet are you on? There is a huge store in the Canberra centre.

Fletcher Jones have three stores in Canberra, the one in the city has been in the same location for years.

Is there a 2CA T shirt shop setting up there? If so, next to a BnT I hope.

les said :

has anyone noticed Snow’s clever marketing trick – if you google “DFO Canberra”, as I did hoping to find out when we might expect it open, google asks if you might also like to search for “Brand Depot Canberra” and provides handy links…

I just did this search, and noticed the Wikipedia link to Canberra International Airport. First para tells me that it was opened in 2004, but there are no current international flights, except for one to Fiji way back when. Red cheeks.

On Brand Depot. I went there once, only to have to run 8.6 km’s to the nearest and only public toilet, which was conveniently located along runway 16 North-North-West of the food court.

The two year old couldn’t wait that long, and well, needless to say, the trail of wet footprints was hilarious. No danger of any slipping accidents though, as the place was empty. 🙂

has anyone noticed Snow’s clever marketing trick – if you google “DFO Canberra”, as I did hoping to find out when we might expect it open, google asks if you might also like to search for “Brand Depot Canberra” and provides handy links…

bd84 said :

heinous said :

I bet your mind is blown now.

hk0reduck,

I heard that they are planning to build a http://www.wowwicked.com.au on the old Allens site in Fyshwick which should blow your mind and some.

The last building application for that site was for a giant children’s fun house place, that was last year and not much has happened since to my knowledge.

As for this place, it’s got pretty much the same as every major shopping centre in canberra bar a few new interstate newcomers. It will probably struggle as much as brand depot once the novelty wears off. It will also be interesting to see what closes in fyshwick where there are double ups of retailers.

Does anyone know who is managing this site?? I need to chat to them.

gun street girl8:06 pm 05 Jul 08

bigfeet said :

bd84 said :

As for this place, it’s got pretty much the same as every major shopping centre in canberra bar a few new interstate newcomers. It will probably struggle as much as brand depot once the novelty wears off.

But won’t it have the end of run, end of season etc at much cheaper prices than the ones at Westfield? Thats what I assumed anyway.

Yep, that’s how DFO works in Sydney. If you want to stock up on cheap stuff, and you’re willing to filter through a lot of rubbish stock, you can usually find a few good buys.

Felix the Cat7:55 pm 05 Jul 08

It certainly blow Brand Depot away with the variety and number of stores. A far better location too is Fyshwick, rather than the Airport.

bd84 said :

As for this place, it’s got pretty much the same as every major shopping centre in canberra bar a few new interstate newcomers. It will probably struggle as much as brand depot once the novelty wears off.

But won’t it have the end of run, end of season etc at much cheaper prices than the ones at Westfield? Thats what I assumed anyway.

heinous said :

I bet your mind is blown now.

hk0reduck,

I heard that they are planning to build a http://www.wowwicked.com.au on the old Allens site in Fyshwick which should blow your mind and some.

The last building application for that site was for a giant children’s fun house place, that was last year and not much has happened since to my knowledge.

As for this place, it’s got pretty much the same as every major shopping centre in canberra bar a few new interstate newcomers. It will probably struggle as much as brand depot once the novelty wears off. It will also be interesting to see what closes in fyshwick where there are double ups of retailers.

Vic Bitterman7:26 pm 05 Jul 08

I love visiting Rays Outdoors when in Melbourne – glad to see one coming here!!

When will this wonder-of-wonders open its doors?

Are JB Hi-Fi still around? Fletcher Jones? Hey, but what would DFO be without a discount rug store!

I bet your mind is blown now.

hk0reduck,

I heard that they are planning to build a http://www.wowwicked.com.au on the old Allens site in Fyshwick which should blow your mind and some.

Looks good. Still waiting for IKEA.

Whatsup,

There is still hope for you because the DFO is only half of the development, across the road form it they are building a http://www.homemakerhub.com.au. Does anyone have a map for this one?

I wonder why a building big enough for a 747 has concrete thick enough for one… I’m sure it’s just a coincidence, and has nothing to do with any long-term plans for a 24/7 freight hub at all…

harley,

How could a nice man like Mr Snow be so deceptive an tricky with us all? LOL.

Brand Depot was always going to be the poor cousin. The operator of DFO is a major player who had all the majors signed up from day one. Snow only built Brand Depot as a spoiler, same too with his court case after he lost the auction for the land.

abc said :

They’re going to keep building at the airport…. Toys R US apparently landing after yet another building is built.

I am told the concrete at Brand Depot is strong enough to hold a Boeing 747, and the building itself has no internal pillars…

I wonder why a building big enough for a 747 has concrete thick enough for one… I’m sure it’s just a coincidence, and has nothing to do with any long-term plans for a 24/7 freight hub at all…

They’re going to keep building at the airport…. Toys R US apparently landing after yet another building is built.

I’ve never heard of Clive Anthony’s before, turns out it’s JB-HIFI’s version of a whitegoods store.

T17 Clive Anthony’s – http://www.cliveanthonys.com.au/
T12 JB-HIFI – http://www.jbhifi.com.au/

I bet your mind is blown now.

I reckon they could’ve had an Ikea there… plenty of room for a shed nearby, should they stop being difficult and come to Canberra.

Looks good. Still waiting for IKEA.

Gungahlin Al12:01 pm 05 Jul 08

Harley – laughed at your thoughts. I also have a normally unfailing sense of direction let me down severely in the jumble that is Fyshwick…

It seems from the plans that there are going to be a number of vacancies all over Fyshwick too.

Wow, that map is an eye-opener. DFO is going to be one busy place when it first opens! Looks like a handy collection of home-style shops down the big end, a bit like the Moore Park centre.

You can bet that Snow won’t suffer, whatever happens. He’s no doubt insulated himself from any downturn; it’s the shops in his Brand Shed that will cop it. He probably has all sorts of contingencies in place for his shed if what’s there now becomes completely unviable.

Brand Depot has been brand depleted for some time. I too feel sorry for the operators out there – during the week that place is a ghost town. The $4 all-you-can-eat pasta and free tea and coffee for pensioners all day Tuesday are the obvious harbingers of death.

I do not feel the least bit sorry for Mr Snow however.

I don’t feel sorry for anyone wrapped up in snowtown…

As a home renovator the purple end actually looks interesting – one place where lots of things are. Melbourne has dozens of places like this, and it makes it easy wondering between ideas, rather than trawling all-over fyshwick, and getting lost in the rent in the space-time continuum that those streets are…

Why would I go there to buy clothes?

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