KEY POINTS:
Sylvia Park retailers are no longer complaining about the deathly quiet weekdays that gave it the nickname Spooky Park.
The scariest part of the centre now - on Saturdays and Sundays at least - is finding an empty place in the 3200-space carpark.
The fourth and final part of the development is set to open on June 28.
Stage 4 sees 40 stores linking the 10- screen Hoyts cinema and restaurants to the Pak'nSave supermarket.
Sylvia Park owners Kiwi Property Income Trust (KPIT) say Stage 4 will boost sales for the rest of mall - but not as much as Stage 3 did on March 29. "Our figures show April trading revenue for some of the Stage 1 and Stage 2 food stores (such as the supermarkets) have increased 24-30 per cent, with some speciality stores up as much as 38 per cent," chief executive Angus McNaughton said.
McNaughton said the growth after the early development was not in doubt because of residential growth and development in the area near Mt Wellington.
He said quiet weekday trading was common to all malls and to be expected when the mall was being developed.
In mid-March, some prospective tenants nicknamed it Spooky Park as it was so quiet from Monday-Wednesday.
Small retailers told the Business Herald they were nervous about sustaining the stores while the venue was developed.
The eerie emptiness left some retailers with time on their hands and some grumbled about the cut KPIT was taking in their tenancy agreements from sales during the development stage.
KPIT says it is charging an occupancy cost of 15.8 per cent for speciality stores, which it says is the same as Australian malls.
McNaughton appeased Stage 1 and 2 tenants, saying Stage 3 would deliver growth to the rest of the mall.
KPIT provides only vague sales figures to support that claim. Retailers approached by the Business Herald confirmed Stage 3 opening on March 29 had helped the rest of the centre.
McNaughton said that the mall's carparks were full at weekends and that had a flow-on effect to Monday and the rest of the week.
Weekend trading at Sylvia Park had improved from good to great and that was translating into weekday sales figures, McNaughton said.
The proportion of trading on weekend remained similar to other malls at about 38 per cent, he said.
The boost from Stage 3 customers will be a relief to supermarkets that have sustained high overheads such as staffing during the difficult start-up phase.
Pak'nSave, Warehouse Extra and Foodtown have indicated they have allowed for a long-term investment in the Sylvia Park area which is being developed.
