Retail News CRM

Tag: gold coast

  • QIC Opens 6,842-Square-Metre Racquet Club at Robina Town Centre

    QIC Opens 6,842-Square-Metre Racquet Club at Robina Town Centre

    QIC Real Estate opened a 6,842-square-metre Racquet Club venue at Robina Town Centre on the Gold Coast in September 2026, adding 13 courts to the shopping complex.

    Built outdoors, the project features seven padel courts, six pickleball courts, athlete recovery facilities and a clubhouse food and beverage venue.

    Landlords pivot to social sports

    The project gives major retail space to racquet sports over traditional specialty stores or standard entertainment anchors. Sally Harding, head of alternative income at QIC, noted the shift in asset management: “Some of the most exciting opportunities in our portfolio come from looking at land in new ways; not just where the next store goes but how we create places that get people active and connected.”

    Retail landlords across Asia-Pacific face structural shifts in department store footprints and apparel tenancies. Turning outdoor land and rooftops into sports hubs drives footfall during weekday evenings and weekend mornings. Conventional mall traffic softens during those periods. The risk lies in operational intensity: leisure operators need steady community engagement to justify square footage that produces lower base rent per square metre than luxury or specialty retail tenancies.

    Alternative income and regional footprint

    Founded in Sydney in 2023, Racquet Club previously built permanent facilities in Sydney and Canberra alongside temporary pop-ups. The Gold Coast venue serves as the company’s third permanent Australian location and its second-largest site to date.

    Robina Town Centre celebrated its 30th anniversary in April 2026. That milestone followed a 2024 institutional marketing partnership between QIC, the Australian Sports Commission and the Australian Institute of Sport to lift on-site sports participation.

    Clubhouse launch schedule

    Court bookings at the Robina venue are active now. The adjoining clubhouse food and beverage operation opens before the end of September 2026.

  • Australian Luxury Eyewear Brand Valley Eyewear Collapses, Assets Ordered for Urgent Sale

    Australian Luxury Eyewear Brand Valley Eyewear Collapses, Assets Ordered for Urgent Sale

    Valley Eyewear, an Australian luxury sunglasses brand based in Gold Coast, has been placed into liquidation following a Federal Court order. The court has appointed Worrells’ James Robba and Jason Bettles as liquidators, instructing them to proceed with an urgent sale of the business and its assets.

    These assets include approximately $600,000 worth of stock, optical equipment, intellectual property, customer databases, and digital and social media holdings. The company is permitted to continue trading until August 24, which has been set as the deadline for expressions of interest from potential buyers.

    Court Order Follows Internal Dispute

    Founded in 2011 by Michael Crawley, Tenielle Crawley, and Matthew Grippo, Valley Eyewear achieved significant international reach, selling in over 20 countries and maintaining more than 100 Australian stockists, alongside numerous overseas retail points. The brand gained recognition through endorsements by celebrities such as Chris Hemsworth and Margot Robbie.

    The collapse also impacts House of Valley, a related entity established to operate Valley Eyewear’s Burleigh Heads store and optometrist, which opened in 2024. The liquidation decision comes after a court battle between the company’s founders, with the Crawleys filing an order against the companies and Grippo. Financial records reportedly indicate that Valley Eyewear had outstanding debts to various suppliers, banks, utilities, and email service providers.

    Liquidators Seek Buyer For Remaining Assets

    The liquidators will provide further details to creditors, employees, and other stakeholders as their investigation progresses. The urgent sale aims to salvage value from the business, which had built a strong reputation in the eyewear market since its inception.

  • Dosa Hut opens first Gold Coast Restaurant, Australia

    Dosa Hut opens first Gold Coast Restaurant, Australia

    Indian restaurant chain Dosa Hut has opened its first Gold Coast store at Crestwood Plaza in the central part of the region. The 165sqm store in Molendinar will offer both dine-in and takeaway options.

    The Melbourne-based chain, which already has restaurants across Victoria, New South Wales, and the Australian Capital Territory, said the Gold Coast store is the 20th location for the group.

    Tanaka Jabangwe, Knight Frank associate director of retail leasing, negotiated the five-year lease. He said Dosa Hut had been looking for the right opportunity to open a store in the growing Gold Coast region for some time before leasing the Crestwood Plaza space.

    “Dosa Hut was seeking a central location in a suburban catchment with ease of access to major road networks, and Crestwood Plaza fit the bill in every aspect,” Jabangwe said.

    “The convenience center is situated on Olsen Avenue, which is a very busy thoroughfare with plenty of traffic passing estimated at circa 57,000 cars daily, which offered great exposure for the restaurant.”

    A Dosa Hut spokesperson said the location offered a perceived geographical center to serve both the northern catchment and parts of southern Gold Coast with ease.

    “We are confident in our food and believe the Gold Coast will appreciate the quality, authentic Indian food we have on offer.”

    Crestwood Plaza convenience center fronts the Crestwood Heights residential estate is adjacent to Bunnings Warehouse and opposite Griffith University’s future development land.

    The center features over 190 car parks, a full line Supa IGA as an anchor tenant and 17 other specialty stores.