COM: Burnside Village Redevelopment | $107m

[Vee]

I was at Burnside Village today - it was crowded with shoppers and the cafés were doing a brisk trade, as usual.

The spectacular river red gum tree, enclosed within the new section, did not look particularly healthy to me. Given that we had a short heat wave recently with several days reaching 40 degrees, it's not surprising that the tree under the canopy would be subject to some stress.

Has anyone else visited the Village recently? Any comments/observations?

[Pistol]

I went to Burnside the other day for the first time since the upgrade...

I couldn't wait to get out.

[russo92]

Felt the same way when I went. Very overrated

[Ben]

I don't think it is going to be very successful in its current form. They basically wanted and expected the success of Chadstone with 1/50th of the stores.the centre is too small to make people go there for an outing. There is only one cafe in the new area.

i really like the idea but it is just simply not big enough to attract people to make an effort to go there. it is still a suburban centre.

[Vee]

The Burnside Village extension is proving to be a big hit with the fashion set. So many fashionable ladies/girls and 'wannabe' models shopping for clothes, shoes, bags and accessories!

I can see why the (mainly) guys on this forum would not be overly impressed unless they were into high end mens' fashion.
(There are some very comfy seats, however, for those not tempted to shop or to just watch the passing parade ...?)

I agree with the sentiments re lack of choice in the single café in the extension although there are quite a few options in the foodie section at the opposite end of the Village. I was disappointed with the decision to restrict the choice to just one business.

I would like to have seen more imaginative use made of the open area/decking near the Boulevarde and Plaza to provide opportunities for alfresco dining and increase the vibe. This might have worked well, given its proximity to the Trak cinema on Greenhill Rd. A new restaurant is opening up next to Zara and this appears to be the only business in the extension that will have an outdoor eating space. Pity!

Still keen to hear if anyone shares my concern with the health of the big river red gum.

[Pistol]

^^ Well you have to admit it would be comical if the gum died...

[Waewick]

I can't imagine they group would be happy if it did - given the design of the building.

[crawf]

David Jones are planning on opening smaller format stores across the country which will be modelled on Perth's Claremont Quarter store. These stores will be under 7,000 sqm.

So it's got me thinking.. sure Burnside has Australia's largest Zara store, CK Jeans, Oxford and a host of other upmarket brands but it doesn't have a great pulling power with Coles being the only anchor store. So to have a minor David Jones store could be exactly what Burnside needs to become a true major shopping destination.

Burnside is probably too close to the existing Rundle Mall flagship store to have a full-line store so this concept could be perfect. The only issue is the current centre is pretty much land-locked, so the only way is up.

[Vee]

Not sure a pared down version of David Jones store would be much of a drawcard at the Burnside Village. (Demasius Department Store survived for quite some time but that was another era)

There would be some degree of replication in the fashion department at DJs, given the huge range of stores at the Centre. The range and choice of merchandise available in a slimmed down DJs would probably limit its appeal. However, I do think there needs to be more non fashion options to widen the range of what's on offer at the Village.

The new H by Felici restaurant has finally opened and provides a much needed alfresco dining space.

[Mants]

+ the tree is dying

[vozdra]

Has it been confirmed that the tree is dying, or is it just speculation? It would be a shame if the tree perished, especially considering the role it has in the redevelopment.

[Adeguy72]

David Jones are planning on opening smaller format stores across the country which will be modelled on Perth's Claremont Quarter store. These stores will be under 7,000 sqm.

So it's got me thinking.. sure Burnside has Australia's largest Zara store, CK Jeans, Oxford and a host of other upmarket brands but it doesn't have a great pulling power with Coles being the only anchor store. So to have a minor David Jones store could be exactly what Burnside needs to become a true major shopping destination.

Burnside is probably too close to the existing Rundle Mall flagship store to have a full-line store so this concept could be perfect. The only issue is the current centre is pretty much land-locked, so the only way is up.

I also wondered whether Burnside Village might be a site DJ's would consider for one of their small format stores.

The area demographics would suit and they would be an attractive tenant.

Not sure how the centre trades, but I know the Coles is one of their best performing SA stores.

If the centre owners had to choose between a DJ's and extra specialties they would probably choose the latter given the higher rents.

[Waewick]

Has it been confirmed that the tree is dying, or is it just speculation? It would be a shame if the tree perished, especially considering the role it has in the redevelopment.

it isn't dying.

I actually got a fairly reasonable explanation as well.

Because the Tree is now indoors, it doesn't get the breezes which would normal disburse dead leaves (anyone with a gum tree would know what I am talking about) so the leaves just stay on the tree - hence the dead look.

from what I can understand the tree has a dedicated arborist who now comes in to maintain the tree's health (from the sound of the person I was discussing it with they were getting pretty tired of being told by people that it is dying)

[Ben]

Kiehl's opens new store in Adelaide

by: Anna Vlach

FORMER cult beauty buy Kiehl's is now the fastest-growing skincare brand in Australia, according to cosmetic market analysis provider Beauty Update.

And it has achieved that status by keeping things simple.

With a high concentration of natural ingredients and modest packaging, Kiehl's was founded in a New York apothecary in 1851.

In 2000, its owners, the Morse family, sold the brand to French beauty house L'Oreal.

While L'Oreal does not disclose sales figures, it will reveal that global net sales growth doubled every three years from 2001-2010 and increased by 40 per cent in 2011.

Kiehl's has expanded with a website and will be sold in 43 countries by the end of this year.

Locally, its presence includes stockist Mecca Cosmetica, a concept store in David Jones Rundle Mall and a new boutique at Burnside village which officially opened on Friday.

However, other than a huge global presence and impressive net sales, not much has changed.

Kiehl's vice-president global education and customer relations, Cammie Cannella, who has been with the brand for 20 years, said it is "as a separate entity, with our own laboratories and our own offices".

"L'Oreal has upheld their dedication to a pledge they made at the time of our merger, which was to 'Let Kiehl's be Kiehl's'," she said.

Being Kiehl's means sticking with a formula, literally. While other skincare brands, much to customers' frustration, change formulations, Kiehl's believes in consistency and does not regularly launch new products.

"We know that women and men shop at Kiehl's regularly because they become loyal to the products that give them the results they are looking for," Ms Cannella said.

"There are essentially two primary reasons that we introduce a new product at Kiehl's: One is when we discover a particular ingredient or technology that we feel our customers would benefit from, and the other is when we are inspired by the suggestions or requests of our customers."

Unlike the majority of its competitors, in what is a saturated beauty market, Kiehl's does not use celebrity endorsements or, for that matter, advertise. "We choose to put our resources into the quality of our formulas rather than in fancy packaging or advertising," Ms Cannella said.

Kiehl's Australia general manager Teresa Love said money which would be spent on advertising was invested in sampling Kiehl's is big on gifting customers with samples so they can try before they buy and "our philosophy of giving back to the community through charity".

"Every year we create a limited edition Creme de Corp with an awareness to a charity and a donation from profits of the products sold," she said.

"For 2011 we worked with three local fashion designers, Sass and Bide, Zimmermann and Ksubi and their chosen children's charity."

Not that Kiehl's isn't about luxury it's just about affordable luxury.

Last year, the entire range of Kiehl's was reduced by up to 50 per cent in Australia to protect domestic sales and stop Australian shoppers spending up on overseas websites. Kiehl's customer research has shown Australians prefer to shop for beauty products in luxury retail stores.

[Burger]

I was about to upload the attached flier which I picked up the last time I was at BV, but a quick google news search revealed something that's been debated on here and numerous facebook pages for a while now, though I am unsure of the reported professional's actual qualifications and experience to make the calls that he is.

The attachment demonstrates the perils of marketing something and then having it (seemingly) fail - the public wants their piece of flesh. I'm not sure what the fallout will be from the actual failure...

http://eastern-courier-messenger.wherei ... ee-health/