Business remains strong, according to Fossil Outlet store manager Michael Correnti, who told Jeweller that the DFO South Wharf store was the highest-ranking store in terms of sales in the entire Australian Fossil chain.
In contrast to other retailers who have reportedly said sales are slow, Correnti insisted trade has barely been affected by the shopping centre’s high-profile woes.
“We are not worried at all with the recent drama. Traffic flow has dropped slightly but not substantially. We have the highest total sales in the past year compared to all other Fossil stores,” he said.
Fossil’s DFO South Wharf store is the only Fossil outlet shop in Victoria and the biggest Fossil store in Australia. It opened in South Wharf last December, two months after the launch of the shopping centre.
“Business was slow in the beginning but it has really picked up in the past five months,” said Correnti.
Fossil’s outlet store model has proved popular with DFO South Wharf customers. Correnti claimed that many of the other stores in the centre are only half-outlet stores.
The Fossil store manager believes a lack of advertising and South Wharf’s inaccessibility for public transport users could be the reason why the direct factory outlet has struggled.
It is becoming increasingly common for jewellers to open stores in big shopping centres, but DFO’s demise so soon after its launch raises questions about how jewellers can ensure longevity in premises that they do not own.
According to Correnti, shopping centre stores have been a boon for Fossil in Australia. The brand’s top two stores in the country are both outlet shops situated in malls.
“Jewellers in big shopping centres reap the benefits of an increased traffic flow,” he said.
Correnti confirmed that, as of last Friday, DFO centre management had not spoken to the store owners about its financial problems. Last week the shopping centre was saved from receivership, despite the $450 million debt it owes four banks.
The DFO South Wharf centre contains two other jewellers – Wallace Bishop and Swatch.
Interestingly, the Queensland-based Wallace Bishop only recently expanded into Victoria, with its first outlet being in the original DFO centre in Spencer Street that changed its name when the DFO South Wharf centre opened last October.
Both Swatch and Wallace Bishop declined to comment for this story.