By Claire Moffat, www.applianceretailer.com.au
Longtime Narta member, Bing Lee will increase its NSW footprint when it opens a second store central Albury in October. This follows the establishment of its first Victorian store in the Wodonga Homemaker Centre on the Murray Valley Highway last year.
The retailer will occupy 539sqm tenancy on the ground floor of the Mate’s Building which is already home to another Narta member, JB Hi Fi, along with Harris Scarfe and Store and Order whichopened in late April.
Crowe Horwath Property Securities, which manages the Mate’s Building on behalf of a local syndicate of owner. Crowe Horwath senior manager, David Baird told The Border Mail, that it was “important that we source the right tenants for our syndicates. We are excited that Bing Lee has agreed to come on as a strong retail tenant which will complement the existing retailers in Mate’s.”
Baird confirmed that a development application for the Bing Lee store had been lodged with Albury Council and once approval has been granted fit out will start.
“Bing Lee now fills the retail space of the new extension and enriches the retail market for our region,” Baird said.
“The syndicate, consisting solely of local investors, purchased the building with the vision of developing it to enhance the retail footprint of the Albury-Wodonga region," he added.
The building’s upper level had been vacant since the mid-1980s when partly occupied by Venture.
Bing Lee has more than 40 stores in NSW and presently employs around 15 people in its Wodonga store which is managed by Anthony Cowan. However, staffing levels for the Mate’s Building store haven’t been confirmed.
Bing Lee moved into the space at the Wodonga Homemaker Centre previously occupied by Warehouse Sales before its sudden closure in late 2013.
This article first appeared on www.applianceretailer.com.au