As of 30 October 2026, Super Retail Group has brought its four retail chains together in a 90 million dollar precinct at Fountain Gate Central in Narre Warren, in Melbourne's south-east, and marked its 800th store in the process. BCF, Rebel, Supercheap Auto and Macpac now trade side by side across 14,100 square metres on a former Bunnings site developed by BWP Group. It is the first time the group has opened stores for all four brands on the same day in one location, and the arrangement changes the economics of the site rather than just the shopfront count.
What 14,100 square metres buys a four-brand site
The precinct houses Victoria's first BCF Superstore, spanning more than 3,500 square metres with an expanded fishing, camping and four-wheel-drive range, and the largest Rebel experience zone in Australia, which includes a multi-purpose court for basketball, football and pickleball. The site also marks the Victorian debut of Macpac's latest store design, with a care and repair station and a footwear terrain trail, while Supercheap Auto widened its automotive and four-wheel-drive offer.
The shared infrastructure is where the arithmetic works. One car park, one access road and one back-of-house arrangement serve four fascias, so the cost per square metre of trading space falls without any single brand having to carry the full property burden. For a group running outdoor and automotive categories with bulky goods, parking is not a convenience feature but a conversion requirement, and sharing it is the cheapest capacity a retailer can buy.
Experience zones as a traffic instrument
The court, the repair station and the terrain trail are not decoration. They give customers a reason to arrive without a specific purchase in mind, and they extend dwell time in categories where the decision is slow and comparison-heavy. Managing director Paul Bradshaw described the investment as part of a plan to deliver a pipeline of new store openings that meets customers when and how they want to shop, and said customers value access to an in-store experience with the team and the range.
There is a trade-off worth naming. Experience space does not carry inventory, so it dilutes sales per square metre even while it lifts footfall. The bet is that the incremental visits convert at a high enough rate to pay for the space, and that the shared car park spreads the cost across four categories instead of one. A single-brand site could not make the same bet at the same price.
Why the 800th store matters more than the number
Reaching 800 stores is a scale statement, but the more useful signal is the format. At this size a group can negotiate national leases, run a single distribution backbone and test a precinct model without betting the company on it. If Fountain Gate Central performs, the template becomes repeatable; if it does not, the group has learned the answer at one site rather than across a rollout.
Two other routes to the same growth
Mecca took a different route at Macquarie Centre, doubling the size of an existing store and adding 40 brands instead of opening new locations. Upsizing keeps the catchment, the lease and the trained staff while expanding the range, which is often the cheaper way to grow sales per square metre once a centre is already busy with competitors. It also avoids the cannibalisation risk that comes with a second store in the same trade area.
Haigh's took a third route in Brisbane, opening two more stores at Westfield Chermside and Westfield Carindale within months of its Mt Gravatt debut. That is density by count rather than by size, and it works when the constraint is availability rather than range. Three retailers, three answers to the same question about where growth comes from, and each answer fits a different category structure.
What to measure in the first two quarters
The first metric is cross-shopping: what share of customers visit more than one fascia in a single trip. The second is car park utilisation at peak, because a shared site that cannot park its peak demand loses the very traffic it was built to capture. The third is sales per square metre by fascia, compared with the group's single-brand sites, which is the only number that can settle whether the precinct model travels.
| Retailer | Route to growth | Trade-off |
|---|---|---|
| Super Retail Group | Four fascias, one precinct | Shared costs, diluted sales per sqm |
| Mecca | Double one store, add 40 brands | Range growth without new catchment |
| Haigh's | Two more stores in one metro | Density, with cannibalisation risk |
FAQ
How many stores does Super Retail Group now have?
The Fountain Gate Central opening marks the group's 800th store across BCF, Rebel, Supercheap Auto and Macpac.
What is unusual about the Melbourne precinct?
It is the first time the group has opened stores for all four brands on the same day in one location, sharing a car park, access roads and back-of-house across 14,100 square metres.
What does each fascia contribute?
BCF brings Victoria's first Superstore at over 3,500 square metres, Rebel the largest experience zone in Australia, Macpac its latest design with a repair station, and Supercheap Auto a wider automotive range.
Why share a car park across four brands?
Bulky outdoor and automotive categories depend on parking for conversion. Sharing one car park lowers the property cost per square metre of trading space without any single brand carrying the full burden.
