th multiple spaces within the same building. Charles St Plaza is located just off Rundle Mall and is operated by a private property company. The plaza is near Adelaide University, with Renew Adelaide hoping the program will attract students to the building. “Charles St Plaza has had some vacancies for a while, so it’s partly a repositioning project for the owners, but at the same time it gets some young creative retailers to test their businesses,” Lily Jacobs, GM of Renew Adelaide, told Inside Retail PREMIUM. “The building can be a bit of a thoroughfare with people not necessarily stopping to look at what’s in there, but I think the owners are starting to see that a different image can attract a new market when you work with these creative start ups,” Jacobs said. Jacobs says the lack of foot traffic in Charles St Plaza follows the general trend of retail, while new city developments such as Rundle Place have also impacted on local businesses. “People are a bit more afraid to dip their toe in the water and there’s also been new developments in the city. I think they’re the main reasons for the vacancies so that’s why we’re working with the owners. Applications for Do Stop Buy closed last week after a one month call out. “We’re particularly looking at retailers that fit more in the giftware category. One of the requirements for all our projects is that the products businesses are selling have to be locally made.” Jacobs says there are around 20 suitable tenants to take over the four empty retail spaces. There is a fifth vacancy in the building, however, this is expected to be activated as a gallery. “Quite a lot of the applicants have run market stalls before, and some of them are recent design graduates, so they’ve been building their own lines and this will be the first time for them to test their products in the market.” Renew Adelaide will soon begin the interview process with a short list of candidates. The chosen tenants are expected to begin trade by May. “We’ll start conducting interviews to get an idea of what their concept is and their aesthetic. They will then need to be approved by the owner. “Because they’re temporary activations and they cannot be guaranteed for any more than 30 days there’s no major work done for fitouts, but the beauty of working with creative people is that they come up with something that looks amazing. “After 30 days, if a commercial tenant has made an offer then the project will move out, otherwise they’ll stay the building.” This story first appeared in Inside Retail PREMIUM issue 1992.