Dress Smart
 Dress Smart as viewed from Galway Street, Onehunga. | |
 | |
| Location | Onehunga, Auckland; Hornby, Christchurch |
|---|---|
| Address | 151 Arthur Street, Onehunga, Auckland 1061, New Zealand; 409 Main South Road, Hornby, Christchurch |
| Opening date | 1995 |
| Developer | Argyle Estates[1] |
| Owner | Lendlease[2] |
| Stores and services | 100+ (Auckland); 45+ (Christchurch) |
| Floors | 2 |
| Website | dress-smart |
Dress Smart is a franchise of shopping centres in New Zealand that specialises in outlet stores.
History
[edit]Dress Smart opened in October 1995 as New Zealand's first factory outlet shopping centre. The company was created by John Bougen, was inspired by a factory outlet centre between Vancouver and Seattle.[3]
The first centre was located in Onehunga, Auckland. On a site that was once the premises of a 3 Guys supermarket and some neighbouring stores.[4] Twenty stores were at the centre on opening day including Just Jeans, Michael Hill, and Rodd & Gunn that still operate stores at the centre and the since closed The Body Shop, Lane Walker Rudkin (now Canterbury), Country Road, Esprit, Nautica, Overland, Pumpkin Patch.[3] Due to the centres popularity retailiers opened in the nearby Paynes Lane until expansion led to its demolition and move underground in 1999.[5]
Dress Smart opened a Christchurch (Hornby) shopping centre in 1998.[5] Also in 1998 AMP Asset Management acquired half of Dress Smart.[5]
In 1999, Dress Smart was granted resource consent to double the size of its Onehunga shopping centre.[5] Dress Smart opened in Wellington (Tawa) in October 2000.[5]
In 2003 the three centres were sold to ING Retail Property Fund Australia.[6]
A Hamilton shopping centre opened in 2006 as part of The Base.[7]
Dress Smart completed an expansion of its Onehunga and Hornby centres in 2005, the Onehunga store count was brought to 110.[8]
Dress Smart was sold in 2010 to the Lend Lease Corporation.[6]
The Wellington shopping centre was sold in 2013 and rebranded to Outlet Centre.[9]
Dress Smart Hornby was listed for sale in 2025.[10]
Centres
[edit]| Name | Size | Opened | Closed |
|---|---|---|---|
| Auckland / Onehunga | 13,202 m2 (142,105 sq ft) | October 1995[3] | open |
| Christchurch / Hornby | 7,125 m2 (76,693 sq ft)[10] | 1998 | open |
| Wellington / Tawa | October 1999[5] | 2013[9] (sold and rebranded to Outlet Centre) | |
| Hamilton / Te Rapa | 2006 | (now The Base) |
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ Argyle Estates Archived July 22, 2013, at the Wayback Machine About Us. (Accessed 16 July 2013.)
- ^ Australia's Lend Lease Corp given approval to buy Dress Smart outlet chain New Zealand Herald. 2 June 2010. (Accessed 16 July 2013.)
- ^ a b c Masters, Catherine (10 October 2025). "Dress Smart at 30: How a toilet stop at a 's***ty' US mall sparked a Kiwi shopping revolution". Oneroof. Retrieved 11 October 2025.
- ^ Onehunga shop bonanza New Zealand Herald. 9 June 1999. (Accessed 16 July 2013.)
- ^ a b c d e f "Onehunga shop bonanza". The New Zealand Herald. 9 June 1999. Retrieved 16 July 2013.
- ^ a b Gibson, Anne. "Australia's Lend Lease Corp given approval to buy Dress Smart outlet chain". The New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 16 September 2024.
- ^ Holloway, Bruce (13 July 2009). "Dress Smart says all is fine after business closures". www.stuff.co.nz. Retrieved 11 October 2025.
- ^ "Dress-Smart Expansions Near Completion | Scoop News". www.scoop.co.nz. Retrieved 11 October 2025.
- ^ a b Winter, Chloe (7 April 2016). "Outlet City in Tawa sells to Porirua MegaCentre owner Thompson Property Group". www.stuff.co.nz. Retrieved 11 October 2025.
- ^ a b Daly, Michael (15 July 2025). "South Island's only dedicated outlet shopping centre for sale". www.stuff.co.nz. Retrieved 11 October 2025.
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