‘Really sad': Local Perth shopping centre to be demolished

Perth Now

2 days ago

Duncraig resident Neal Meakins channelled Muriel's Wedding's character Bill Heslop when describing how he was disappointed his local shopping centre would be demolished.
'It's obviously a shame, but you can't stop progress,' he said of the proposed redevelopment of the Glengarry Shopping Centre, which is set to be demolished to make way for a Woolworths supermarket — forcing out the local IGA — as well as new shops, eateries and commercial space.
Earlier this year, Woolworths — the country's biggest supermarket chain — lodged a development application with the City of Joondalup to redevelop the 20-store centre, which is currently home to an IGA, several family-owned businesses and a post office.
'I've been shopping here for a long time and it's a shame for me to go somewhere else because I know the shop so well,' Mr Meakins said. Duncraig resident Neal Meakins. Credit: Andrew Ritchie / The West Australian
The controversial Glengarry redevelopment comes as Woolworths postpones new builds on Charles Street in North Perth and Murray Street in West Perth, sparking questions about the supermarket's commercial strategies.
It's understood some WA sites had higher construction costs based on their designs, which had affected development timelines.
A Woolworths spokesman said it was excited about the opportunity to upgrade and modernise the Glengarry shopping centre. He added the community was currently under-serviced in terms of grocery retail with no full line supermarket. Glengarry Shopping Centre. Credit: Andrew Ritchie / The West Australian Inside of Glengarry Shopping Centre. Credit: Andrew Ritchie / The West Australian
'The redevelopment would include new services and convenient shopping options, and aims to create a vibrant place for small business and the community,' the company spokesman said.
'From time to time we acquire existing neighbourhood shopping centres that are in need of investment to improve the amenity and the offer for the community, leading to a local economy and jobs boost.'
IGA supplier Metcash told The Sunday Times the independent grocer planned to exit Glengarry because though Woolworths had allowed for a 'very small second supermarket', it was not tenable for an IGA for several reasons, including size and location, with no direct access to a loading dock. Render of Woolworths' proposal. Credit: Supplied
Metcash supplies to over 1600 independently-owned stores in Australia across the IGA and Foodland brands.
Grant Ramage, the boss of Metcash's food arm, flagged concerns about the independents' ability to remain a viable competitor when one of the bigger supermarkets could just muscle in.
Coles last year acquired the Milton Village shopping centre in Brisbane's inner west and as part of the redevelopment, did not renew the lease of the IGA that had been there for decades.
In NSW, the Elermore Vale shopping centre was purchased by a developer as a proxy for Woolworths, paying $27 million in 2023. Woolworths is expected to replace the IGA once the lease expires in 2028.
'The trend known as creeping acquisitions is ongoing and contributes to the erosion of independent supermarket presence in local markets over time, and the overall scale of the independent network, needed to maintain a competitive offer,' Mr Ramage said.
The Outer Metropolitan Development Assessment Panel will make a decision on Woolworths' application at a later date, with the City of Joondalup yet to provide a recommendation.
I'm not sure why we need another Woolworths or Coles when there are so many nearby.
For marketing and retail analyst Barry Urquhart, this was just part of the near-50-year-old Glengarry centre's life cycle.
'What you've got to say is that all things come to an end,' Mr Urquhart, managing director of Perth-based research company Marketing Focus, said.
'Any business that has been around operating, in any premises, beyond 15 years, a lot of consumers will say, 'Has it had its life cycle fulfilled' and therefore, it needs to be renewed, upgraded or replaced.'
Asked if he agreed with Woolworths' claims the Glengarry redevelopment would improve shopping convenience and create a vibrant place for small business tenants and the community in Duncraig, Mr Ramage said there was no new residential redevelopment to justify another large supermarket.
He added there were six existing Woolworths supermarkets within a 10-minute drive of Duncraig.
But for some shoppers and local businesses that occupy the centre, the proposed redevelopment is long overdue, with the roof caving in.
Rosemarie Persson, owner of Duncraig-Glengarry Flowers & Gifts, said the redevelopment was 'going to be fantastic for the area'.
'It will bring in more people, which it needs. It's a tired old little shopping centre and it just needs it,' she said.
'There's going to be more coffee shops and more places to eat, a Woolworths, more variety. But hopefully all the small businesses around here can come back and benefit from that.'
Shopper Moira McFarlane welcomed the news of a bigger and modern centre with basement parking, but she was concerned about the traffic it would bring.
'(The redevelopment is) well overdue, well overdue,' she said.
'My concern is the traffic, because it's bad enough now. The deliveries and trucks coming in near the hospitals next door is a bit concerning.'
While Woolworths had offered Holmesys Bakehouse owner Steven Holmes a spot in the new centre, he said he wouldn't be able to afford the costs of temporary relocation.
'As a small business owner, I cannot afford it. I've only been here for three years, and I haven't even got the revenue yet,' he said.
'Which I have told them . . . so yeah, I'm just taking the money and I'm gone.
'There's positives and negatives for everything, but I don't understand why (Woolworths) is building here when they've got one literally five minutes up the road in Warwick.'
Duncraig local Karen Kroeger said local shopping centres like Glengarry suited independent grocers.
'I'm not sure why we need another Woolworths or Coles when there are so many nearby,' she said.
'I feel for a lot of small businesses who may not be able to operate in a new centre place because of rent increases, or there's not enough space, and it's also hard and costly for them to start somewhere again in a different location,' she said. Duncraig local Karen Kroeger and son Patrick. Credit: Andrew Ritchie / The West Australian
'It's really sad for them; they've built up their reputations here, and they know all the locals.'
The owner of Glengarry IGA declined to comment.
Mr Ramage said consumers could face less variety and reduced product range and availability, as well as poorer service — or none at all when they are forced to use self-checkouts — with the arrival of Woolworths.
He added that despite the millions of dollars of taxpayer money spent, the string of public inquiries into Australia's supermarket sector inquiries had not adequately addressed the issue of anti-competitive acquisitions.
'We are hopeful that the new merger laws will assist when they come into effect but will only go so far and won't reverse the damage done to date,' Mr Ramage said.
Treasurer Jim Chalmers last October introduced new rules requiring any mergers that exceed a broad set of financial thresholds to get approval from the competition regulator.
Under the current regime, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission only has the power to stop or legally challenge mergers it deems as having a substantial impact in the market.
From the start of next year, a merger will need the green light from the watchdog if the combined turnover of the merging businesses is more than $200m, and either the business or assets being bought has turnover higher than $50m, or the global transaction value is above $250m.
Deals where an Australian business turning over $500m tries to buy out another smaller business, with turnover above $10m, will also be captured under the new rules.
From this month, businesses may voluntarily notify acquisitions to the ACCC.
The ACCC in March delivered its final report into the $120 billion supermarket sector, which confirmed Coles and Woolworths' dominance.
Former ACCC chair Graeme Samuel, who led the watchdog between 2003 and 2011, criticised the report's recommendations as not having enough teeth.
Among the ACCC's list of recommendations, supermarkets should be required to inform customers when product sizes have changed and this information should be in close proximity to shelf tickets and on relevant websites.
In response to the ACCC report, Metcash said it was pleased the regulator recognised the competitive role independents played in local communities.
But Metcash said it was concerned with the growing dominance of the major supermarkets and their ability to grow through creeping acquisitions of independents and land banking.