As of 2 November 2026, Super Retail Group has opened all four of its retail brands side by side in a 90 million dollar precinct at Fountain Gate Central in Narre Warren, south-east Melbourne, marking its 800th store. The 14,100 sqm development is the first time BCF, Rebel, Supercheap Auto and Macpac have opened on the same day, and it turns one trade area into a shared catchment test for store selection rather than four separate site decisions.
Four banners under one roof
The format is a deliberate departure from the group's usual approach of opening banners in separate locations. BCF takes more than 3,500 sqm with an expanded fishing, camping and 4WD range, Rebel runs the largest experience zone in Australia including a multi-purpose court for basketball, football and pickleball, Macpac debuts its latest design with a care and repair station, and Supercheap Auto widens its automotive and 4WD offer.
Managing director Paul Bradshaw framed the opening as part of a pipeline plan to meet customers when and how they want to shop. Read through a store selection lens, the more important detail is that the group is testing whether one strong destination can carry four banners that normally rely on separate catchments, which changes how each site is modelled before a lease is signed.
What a shared catchment changes
Anchor tenants and dwell time
When four brands share a precinct, the visit is no longer a single-purpose trip. A customer who comes for camping gear may walk into the sports zone, and a repair drop-off at Macpac can turn into a browse at Rebel. That overlap is the commercial argument for the format, but it also means each banner's sales no longer measure its own catchment pull, so store performance has to be read at precinct level as well as at banner level.
The experience zones are the mechanism that keeps people on site. A multi-purpose court and a repair station are not merchandising fixtures, they are reasons to stay longer, and longer dwell time is what makes cross-banner browsing possible. For store selection, that shifts the weight from population within a radius to the mix of trip purposes a site can support.
The repair station as a footfall lever
Macpac's care and repair station is the clearest example of a service that creates repeat visits. Repair traffic arrives on a different rhythm from shopping traffic, and it brings customers back without a discount. In a shared precinct, those visits can be counted as a footfall source that feeds the other three banners, which is exactly the kind of signal a standard trade area model misses.
For brands evaluating similar sites, the practical question is whether the service offer is strong enough to generate its own traffic. A repair desk that only serves existing owners adds convenience but not new visits, while one that also handles third-party gear turns into a destination, and destinations are what justify a 14,100 sqm footprint in a suburban trade area.
The numbers behind the format
The precinct concentrates a large amount of space and a small number of jobs into a single development, which is typical of big-box formats. The table below sets out what the opening actually commits, because those figures are what a store selection team has to defend when the next site is proposed.
| Item | Figure | Why it matters for store selection |
|---|---|---|
| Precinct size | 14,100 sqm | Sets the minimum land parcel for a repeat |
| Investment | 90 million dollars | Needs four banners to share the payback |
| Group store count | 800th store | Signals the format is now part of the pipeline |
| BCF footprint | More than 3,500 sqm | Drives the camping and 4WD range depth |
| Jobs created | Almost 70 | Labour pool and service levels at opening |
| Share of development | About three quarters | Leaves room for complementary tenancies |
Each line changes the screening logic. A 14,100 sqm parcel with four anchors is a different property search from four 3,000 sqm sites, and the investment figure only works if the banners share traffic rather than compete for it. The 800th store milestone also matters, because a group at that scale can negotiate tenancy terms that a single banner cannot.
The jobs figure is smaller than the space might suggest, which points to how much of the format depends on self-service and experience zones rather than staffing density. That is a useful benchmark when modelling labour cost for a similar site, and it is the kind of number that rarely appears in a press release but decides whether a precinct model can be repeated.
Screening a shared-catchment site
The first step is the one most teams skip. If two banners serve the same trip purpose, putting them side by side mainly moves sales from one door to the next, and the precinct looks busy without adding revenue. Complementarity is what makes the shared catchment argument hold, and it has to be tested before the lease rather than explained after it.
Modelling at precinct level is the second discipline. A group that only tracks banner sales will see one store cannibalise another and conclude the format failed, when the real question is whether total precinct sales beat the sum of four standalone sites. That comparison, not the individual store result, is what decides whether the model gets repeated.
FAQ
Why open four brands on one site instead of four separate stores?
Because a single destination can generate more trip purposes than a standalone store. The precinct concentrates camping, sport, automotive and outdoor offers so one visit can serve several needs, which is the commercial case for the 14,100 sqm format.
How should performance be measured in a shared precinct?
At two levels. Banner sales show which offer is pulling, while precinct total sales show whether the format beats four standalone sites. Reading only banner sales will misread cannibalisation as failure.
What makes a service offer valuable for store selection?
Its ability to generate its own visits. A repair desk that only serves existing owners adds convenience, while one that attracts third-party gear becomes a destination and supports a larger footprint.
Does the 800th store milestone matter commercially?
Yes. A group at that scale can negotiate tenancy terms and share development costs across four banners, which is what makes a 90 million dollar precinct viable in a suburban trade area.
