Retail Shopping Strips Forum

Victoria is celebrated for its vibrant and successful retail environment, from its landmark laneways through to local strip shopping centres.

However, retail traders face challenges in areas where there are high numbers of retail premises vacant, including Chapel Street, Bridge Road, Acland Street, Lygon Street and precincts in regional Victoria.

To better understand the challenges faced by some local strip shopping precincts in metropolitan and regional Victoria, the Victorian Government hosted a forum on 11 November 2019.

The purpose of the Retail Shopping Strip Forum was to gather insights on policies that have successfully supported retail strips and build a deeper understanding of the factors that drive vacancy rates.

The following four challenges were investigated by forum participants:

• What are the key issues of retail strip precincts?
• Who is supporting reduced retail strip vacancy rates and what detracts from solving issues?
• What will shape the evolution of retail strips?
• What is the role of government in supporting evolution of retail precincts?

Responses to these four questions have been summarised in the Retail Shopping Strip Forum: Key Themes and Insights Report.