FuturePlace Interview Spotlight, Peter Huddle and Kirrily Lord

We recently sat down with Vicinity Centres leaders Peter Huddle (CEO) and Kirrily Lord (Group Director, Customer & Asset Management) to learn about their extensive experience and strategic insights into Australia’s evolving retail landscape. From addressing current cost-of-living pressures to enhancing shopper experiences, they discuss how Vicinity Centres is transforming its shopping centers to meet changing consumer demands, including their flagship Chadstone Mall redevelopment and initiatives in customer experience and sustainability. Explore the interview to discover valuable perspectives on the future of retail property management and the importance of creating community-integrated shopping destinations that cater to modern consumer needs.

FuturePlace: Kirrily, you have had a long career in Real Estate and Retail on both the Landlord and client side. What first drew you into this career and what do you love about it?

Kirrily Lord: I’ve had a fulfilling career spanning both sides of retail. I began at Myer, initially in financial services, before transitioning to business management. In this role, I partnered with the Myer buying team to introduce new and exciting products and concepts across various categories from around the globe. After several years, I moved to the landlord side, working with Westfield, AMP Capital Shopping Centres, Stockland, and now Vicinity Centres.

What I love most about this industry is the connection with customers. It might sound cliché, but I’m deeply motivated by our customers and the impact we can have on their experiences. This passion has driven me across all my roles and workplaces.

FuturePlace: Kirrily, you are the Group Director for Vicinity Centres. Can you tell us more about your role and what initiatives you have focused on over the last 3.5 years? What achievements are you most proud of?

Kirrily Lord: I joined Vicinity as Director of Property Management, where I led our asset teams, particularly through the challenges of COVID-19 and the transition back to business as usual. Over the past 18 months, I’ve taken on a new role that encompasses Property Management, Data, Insights and Innovation, Digital Transformation, Brand and Marketing, and Stakeholder Communications.

As a new team, we’ve been focused on laying the groundwork for a high-performance culture and aligning on key initiatives to enhance customer experiences. What am I most proud of is a question I get a lot … and honestly, I can’t say there is just one moment that stands out, but I always feel a great sense of pride when I see teams I am involved with working at their potential and creating value together. In my three and half years, I have witnessed this many times and it’s something that will never get old!

FuturePlace: Peter, you have had a long career in Retail including time in Brazil and the USA. What do you see as the major differences between Centres in North and South America and those in Australia?

Peter Huddle: The assets are different in every market. In Brazil shopping centres are smaller as there is the absence of department stores in the market. The centres are focussed on fashion and large-scale sit-down food offers and are very family orientated.
In the US the assets remain dominated by department stores who typically own or have long term tenure and control not only of the shopping centres but also how they get developed over time. Over the last 15 years the assets have diversified including bringing significant offers around food, leisure, entertainment and health but non-discretionary offers remain the domain of strip shops or stand-alone assets.

Within the key assets in Australia we have the benefit of all the above offers as well as being better integrated into communities. Where shopping centres overseas are often out of town, in Australia, our centres tend to be in suburbs which allows them to be a closer part of the community and be more accessible.

FuturePlace: Peter, you have been CEO and COO for Vicinity, what initiatives have you focused on and what achievements are you most proud of?

Peter Huddle: Initially it was establishing the right team and organising ourselves to be far more customer centric. COVID-19 hit and this became an even further priority for the business. More recently as CEO I have been focused on portfolio composition enhancements via acquisitions, divestments and development in additional to further culture enabling work such as setting our Vision and Purpose and Values and Behavior works

FuturePlace: What is your outlook for Retail in Australia and have your Centres and their tenants been heavily impacted by the recent cost-of-living crisis?

Peter & Kirrily: As expected, the overall retail sales environment remains relatively benign as elevated living costs continue to weigh on consumer spending. The final six months of 2024 were really a continuation of the sales environment in the first half. In my view, while unemployment remains at near historical lows, the catalyst for a meaningful change in consumption will be interest rate reductions.

That said, we are in a unique position with our diverse portfolio, and with shoppers increasingly value conscious, we saw strong visitation and sales growth across our DFO centres and wider portfolio during the Black Friday.

We believe that the outlook over the medium to long term for the retail property sector is positive, supported by population growth, limited supply of new retail, continued strong employment and the inevitability of interest rate reductions.

There has been a clear desire for retailers to secure their position in the best malls that win in their catchments, with many retailers seeking increased floor space for their flagship stores in our premium centres and we expect that to continue.

FuturePlace: You have undertaken a huge redevelopment of your flagship Chadstone Mall, and I know Food was a big part of the new offering – what else is changing within Chadstone?

Peter & Kirrily: Chadstone is an incredible asset and truly one of a kind in Australia. Chadstone’s evolution has always held our customers at its core, with a number of major developments over the past decades that have continuously pushed the boundaries and positioned it as the leading shopping centre in the country. The Market Pavilion is another exciting milestone consisting of more than 70 market-leading retailers, making Chadstone’s fresh food precinct significantly larger than it is today. The Market Pavilion will capture the diversity of Australia’s food capital – from everyday essentials to artisan produce and specialised buys.

We will also be opening our newest commercial building, One Middle Rd, mid next year and welcoming Adairs and Kmart teams to their new headquarters.
Chadstone is clearly the pinnacle of our portfolio but it’s not our only focus. We have a very thoughtful and strategic master plan over the assets that allows us to expand with different uses over time pending the right market conditions.

FuturePlace: How important is shopper experience for you? Beyond Food, what else is important to shoppers and how is Vicinity catering to this for your shoppers and tenants alike?

Peter & Kirrily: We know that the entire shopping experience for our customers is vitally important. From having the right retail-mix that suits our local communities, to the ease of parking, our amenities and even through to our navigation and wayfinding throughout centres. It’s also the unique and shared experiences we can offer our customers, giving them more reasons to visit our assets more often and stay longer.

Quite simply driving the right customer base to our assets to drive market share better than our competitors allows us to attract the key retailers. This is a symbiotic relationship obviously.

FuturePlace: How important is EV Infrastructure and how are you approaching this within your carparks across Australia?

Peter & Kirrily: EV infrastructure is something we know is becoming more important to our customers. Across our portfolio, we have around 60 electric vehicle chargers supplying over 80 charging ports. We will continue to assess the right locations and needs of our local communities across our portfolio. For our customers with EV vehicles, charging points provide further convenience, allowing them to charge their vehicle while they do their shopping, have a bite to eat or visit our entertainment precincts.

MALLS OF THE FUTURE summit