THE ENDURING STRENGTH OF SEASIDE RETAIL STRIPS IN VICTORIA: A DIRECTOR’S PERSPECTIVE

By Kather­ine Dean, Direc­tor – Miglic Dean

Vic­to­ri­an sea­side towns have always held a strong emo­tion­al pull for both locals and vis­i­tors. As some­one who works close­ly with busi­ness­es nav­i­gat­ing growth, brand pres­ence, and com­mer­cial strat­e­gy and hav­ing spent time in Sor­ren­to for a num­ber of sum­mers now, I’ve had time to analyse how retail thrives in this coastal loca­tion (cur­rent­ly full retail occu­pa­tion by the way!) Sub­urbs like Sor­ren­to demon­strate a par­tic­u­lar­ly resilient form of retail ecol­o­gy — one that thrives on a bal­anced mix of uses, sea­son­al ver­sa­til­i­ty, and strong anchor tenants.

A Dis­tinc­tive Retail Mix that Sup­ports Com­mu­ni­ty and Tourism

The suc­cess of sea­side retail strips lies in the care­ful lay­er­ing of offer­ings. These precincts typ­i­cal­ly combine:

• Dai­ly needs retail

Super­mar­kets, bak­eries, phar­ma­cies, and fresh food traders pro­vide con­sis­tent, all year trade.

• Lifestyle and expe­ri­en­tial stores

Inde­pen­dent and nation­al fash­ion brands, home­wares, surf shops, well­ness spaces, and spe­cial­ty gift retail­ers appeal to both locals and visitors.

• Food and bev­er­age destinations

Cafés, ice cream shops, wine bars, casu­al din­ing, and more ele­vat­ed restau­rant expe­ri­ences cre­ate vibrant foot traf­fic from morn­ing through evening.

In Sorrento’s Ocean Beach Road precinct, what stands out is the inter­de­pen­dence. Neces­si­ty based retail ensures sta­ble foun­da­tions, while dis­cre­tionary and expe­ri­en­tial oper­a­tors cap­ture the vis­i­tor econ­o­my. This mix sup­ports resilience through sea­son­al fluc­tu­a­tions and fos­ters a diverse, active streetscape.

IGA as the Local Hub: More Than Just a Supermarket

A key ingre­di­ent in the strength of these towns is the pres­ence of a well-per­form­ing, inde­pen­dent­ly oper­at­ed IGA super­mar­ket. In coastal strips, an IGA isn’t mere­ly a super­mar­ket — it becomes the social and com­mer­cial anchor.

Why IGA plays a piv­otal role:

1. Reli­able Foot Traffic

The super­mar­ket often serves as the town’s most con­sis­tent­ly vis­it­ed retail­er. Sur­round­ing busi­ness­es nat­u­ral­ly ben­e­fit from this steady flow of people.

2. Com­mu­ni­ty Identity

IGA stores in region­al and coastal areas tend to be local­ly owned and deeply embed­ded in com­mu­ni­ty life. This builds trust, loy­al­ty, and local pride.

3. Localised Convenience

IGAs excel at tai­lor­ing their offer­ing — stock­ing arti­san prod­ucts, pre­mi­um fresh foods, and sea­son­al hol­i­day essen­tials that reflect the char­ac­ter and needs of the town.

4. The Anchor Effect

Just as major shop­ping cen­tres depend on anchor ten­ants, coastal strips rely on IGA to gen­er­ate grav­i­ty. Retail­ers posi­tioned near­by — from casu­al din­ing to appar­el — ben­e­fit great­ly from this cen­tral activ­i­ty hub.

Sea­son­al­i­ty Strength­ens, Rather Than Weak­ens, These Precincts

Coastal retail strips expe­ri­ence dra­mat­ic swings in pop­u­la­tion between the qui­eter win­ter months and the vibrant sum­mer peak. But rather than under­min­ing sta­bil­i­ty, this sea­son­al­i­ty actu­al­ly fuels a bal­anced ecosystem.

• Sum­mer peaks sup­port high mar­gin dis­cre­tionary cat­e­gories such as lifestyle retail, fash­ion, sur­fwear, gifts, and hospitality.

• Off peak peri­ods main­tain con­sis­tent trade through locals and retirees, sup­port­ing super­mar­kets, ser­vices, and every­day essentials.

• Shoul­der sea­sons bring steady week­end vis­i­ta­tion, pro­vid­ing reli­able incre­men­tal revenue.

This cycli­cal rhythm cre­ates unusu­al resilience. Vacan­cy rates tend to be low, demand for well locat­ed sites remains strong, and busi­ness­es learn to tai­lor their offer­ings to match the flow of visitors.

The Emo­tion­al Eco­nom­ics of Coastal Retail

Retail­ing in sea­side towns ben­e­fits from a pow­er­ful behav­iour­al fac­tor: hol­i­day psy­chol­o­gy. Vis­i­tors are relaxed, unhur­ried, and more open to brows­ing and dis­cre­tionary spend­ing. Locals, too, form deep loy­al­ty to stores that reflect the per­son­al­i­ty of their town.

Togeth­er, these forces cre­ate strong engage­ment and often high­er spend per cus­tomer, par­tic­u­lar­ly in cat­e­gories like home­wares, lifestyle goods, spe­cial­ty foods, and wellness.

A Mod­el of Retail That’s Here to Stay

In an era of online shop­ping and homogenised retail expe­ri­ences, the suc­cess of shop­ping strips in towns like Sor­ren­to shows how pow­er­ful place-based retail can be. These precincts suc­ceed because they offer:

• a bal­anced, com­ple­men­tary retail mix

• a strong anchor super­mar­ket such as IGA

• a dual local-and-vis­i­ta­tion cus­tomer base

• an authen­tic sense of com­mu­ni­ty identity

The result is a robust and sus­tain­able retail envi­ron­ment — one that con­tin­ues to evolve while pre­serv­ing the coastal char­ac­ter peo­ple love.