Hobart to assess commercial retail strategy
Hobart City Council will meet to discuss an Inner City Action Plan, which will facilitate the development of a retail strategy in Tasmania's largest city.
Hobart lord mayor Rob Valentine remarked in September that while Hobart's retail outlook has always been a point of consideration when drawing up the Inner City Development Plan, now is the time to start putting thoughts into action.
"The next stage is to develop a retail strategy which addresses the future of retail in the city," Valentine said.
This document - which will consist of research into consumer behaviour, a retail audit and analysis of existing data, as well as workshops with local business stakeholders - will be a guide to the direction of retail in the Tasmanian city, as well as commercial property investment.
Valentine explained: "It will also help council to guide investment attraction by identifying any gaps in the CBD product mix and offering. The development of a retail strategy is timely in addressing some of the issues in relation to how the CBD and in particular, the retail sector, is currently performing."
The Mercury reported earlier this month that, according to a study carried out by the publication's website, the average Tasmanian goes shopping for non-grocery items between two and four days a week.
Suburban shopping centres, according to the study, are becoming an increasingly popular alternative to the city's CBD.
This, the newspaper suggested, may be a result of a lack of free parking in the city centre or more convenient shopping closer to home.
