The Canberra Centre says four new retail stores and a new street-frontage restaurant will open there in coming months, but is still refusing to confirm Spanish fashion house Zara is on the way.
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The new stores were revealed to The Canberra Times last night, as buzz about retail movements in the ACT reached fever-pitch yesterday. That's despite the latest figures showing retail turnover in the capital is on the slide.
Technology giant Apple is advertising for staff for a new store in Canberra but refusing to confirm it is opening an outlet here.
The Canberra Centre has been named as a possible home for Apple, but so too have Garema Place and Westfield Belconnen.
There is speculation Zara will go on in place of Diana Ferrari on the upper floor of the Canberra Centre and extend down another level, with Diana Ferrari relocating.
Canberra Centre senior manager Karen Noad said she couldn't comment on the speculation.
The new stores opening up at the Canberra Centre were dance apparel label Bloch (opening a new concept store), Wittner Shoes, Boulevard Shoes and Perfume Box. Mexican restaurant Guzman y Gomez will open on the ground level at Bunda Street near the Fresh Food entrance.
The Canberra Times reported in April the owner of the Canberra Centre, QIC, was on the brink of securing an ''internationally recognised retailer'', thought to be Zara.
Zara communications manager Miren Mendoza wouldn't confirm the rumours yesterday. ''The only store openings we can confirm are those in Chadstone, Melbourne and Bondi Junction. We have no news on Canberra yet,'' she said.
Meanwhile, Apple has advertised for staff for a new retail store in Canberra but refuses to confirm it is opening the store.
There are 14 Apple retail stores around Australia, with the most recent store opening at the Broadway shopping centre in Sydney.
The buzz about retail in the ACT defies recent figures showing Canberrans aren't putting their money where their mouth is.
The Australian Bureau of Statistics retail trade figures issued this week showed the ACT was one of only three jurisdictions (along with South Australia and Tasmania) in the nation to record a fall in retail turnover in May, in seasonally adjusted terms. Turnover fell by 0.1 per cent in the ACT, from $390.1 million in April to $389.6 million in May.
ACT and Region Chamber of Commerce and Industry chief executive Chris Peters said past studies had found Canberra was the most ''over-shopped'' city in Australia, but he believed retailers like Zara and Apple were destination stores that would pull a crowd.
What new store would you like to see in Canberra?
