In the era of cheap Ali Baba knock-offs, Temu dupes and the sheer scale of Amazon’s vast and inexpensive product array, local malls offering real-deal mega brands at discount prices are the social experience du jour.
By Murray Bevan, FNZ Publisher
When Forbes announces that ‘Outlet malls are emerging as hotspots for luxury brands’ you know you’re onto a good thing, which is why well-heeled Aucklanders should embrace, not cringe at, Auckland Airport’s glittering new toy: Mānawa Bay.
With 103 brands listed on the destination mall’s website, Mānawa Bay is delivering on the masstige (see definition here) demand for the post-Pandemic sugar rush that customers are crying out for. Especially in New Zealand’s recessionary economy of 2024, highlighted by mass public sector layoffs and a general ‘Cost of Living Crisis’, what a welcome sight it is to have a plethora of shiny new stores open their doors, all offering cheaper-than-high-street prices from day one.
@akicurtis Manawa Bay: The new premium outlet shopping mall near Auckland Airport. Here’s a sneak peak into the stores, food selections and the iconic Lindt cafe 🛍️ #nz #auckland #shopping #fy #fyp #trending #fashion
And in the midst of fashion’s local downturn, which has been well documented on this website, how refreshing also to have brands both local and international double-down on their investment into New Zealand by opening, not closing a store, amirite?
Business of Fashion reported in May ‘24 that the average price of luxury goods in Europe had increased by as much as 52% since 2019, which, if you have a penchant for the finer things in life, would make one hell of a difference to your shopping budget (unless you were on this list). It’s no surprise then that brands (not just luxury) have started to seek out new pastures, and make price offerings a visible strategy of their brand building as we work our way out of Inflation Hell.
My initial perception of Mānawa Bay, possibly like many others, was negative. This was influenced almost solely by the bad press it got on opening weekend, when it was reported that thousands of customers had flocked to the mall, in search of the aforementioned retail sugar rush, only to clog the main traffic routes to the airport. Now, if you’re Auckland Airport this is kind of a win-win, as the peak shopping times (Christmas, School Holidays etc) will all line up with peak travel times, and seeing as Auckland Airport owns Mānawa Bay, they’ll be clipping the ticket whatever you’re out there for. But I’m not here to moan about customer cues for newly-opened fashion outlets; when Topshop Topman opened on Queen Street in the mid 2000s there was a queue of 1200 people waiting to get in, and I was as happy as Larry.
I visited Mānawa Bay on Saturday 12th October at 3.30pm, and had no problem finding a park. Finding a toilet, now that was a whole other story, but once I’d sorted that out I was good to go. The thing that immediately hit me was the scale of the stores – if I’m not wrong, the Tommy Hilfiger store at Mānawa Bay was about four times bigger than the brand’s Commercial Bay, Auckland flagship. If you do the maths, these outlets stores aren’t selling end-of-line stuff that hasn’t sold, they’re shipping in brand new gear and marking it down slightly, with enough margin to still make the business tick over.
In terms of overall experience, Mānawa Bay is definitely not Westfield Newmarket, but I don’t think it’s trying to be. It’ll be a loooong time before we see a New Zealand outlet mall with Prada, Gucci, Jimmy Choo and Louis Vuitton stores, and some of those brands don’t engage in outlet malls, wherever they’re located. Mānawa Bay’s timing is perfect and its tone and positioning isn’t bad either – the selection is huge, the food offerings are comforting and quick, and by what I saw there are thousands of Kiwis who are just fine making this retail environment their go-to weekend destination.