CBD pedestrian numbers up as shoppers ‘re-engage’ with bricks and mortar stores

New store offerings that buck the online shopping trend are driving an increase in pedestrian numbers on Auckland’s main street.

Foot traffic numbers recorded by Heart of the City at one of Queen Street’s busiest intersections (210 Queen Street) reached just over 855,000 in July this year, compared to around 810,000 at the same time last year.

Chris Wilkinson, managing director of retail consultant company First Retail Group, said the pedestrian trend is going up as people “re-engage with retail stores”.

“Whilst online [shopping] continues to grow, we think there are also people who want to get back into stores and look at merchandise,” said Mr Wilkinson.

“A good example of that was Topshop… when was the last time you saw that many people wanting to go into a shop?” he said, referring to the March opening of the brand’s flagship store on Queen Street.

Heart of Auckland City Centre Manager, Tania Loveridge, said the pedestrian figures collected by the organisation show a clear increase.

“We’ve seen an increase in pedestrian counts in Queen Street… specifically during the week,” said Ms Loveridge.

“But what we have been starting to see also is more people coming in the weekends.”

A new Farmers department store is set to open in the former Whitcoulls building in mid-November, and there are reports that Tiffany’s and Chanel stores are also on the way, all of which are expected to drive more people into the CBD.

Other international brands like Gucci, Louis Vuitton, and Prada have also set up shop on Queen Street.

Ms Loveridge said she believes the foot traffic will keep rising as reasons to come into the city grow and change.

The high foot traffic recorded in the area is one of the reasons Farmers is returning to Queen Street.

“Without a doubt, it’s one of the best sites on Queen Street,” said Kevin Turner, group general manager of finance for James Pascoe Limited, the company that owns and operates Farmers stores.

“[The location]’s got one of the highest foot traffic counts on the street and it’s bigger than the previous Farmers too,” he said.

For the year of 2014, there were just over nine and a half million pedestrians on Queen Street recorded.