{"id":47543,"date":"2023-10-20T15:54:05","date_gmt":"2023-10-20T15:54:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/startupsmart.test\/2023\/10\/20\/westfield-evicts-online-retailer-styletread-after-tenant-backlash-startupsmart\/"},"modified":"2023-10-20T15:54:05","modified_gmt":"2023-10-20T15:54:05","slug":"westfield-evicts-online-retailer-styletread-after-tenant-backlash-startupsmart","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/uncategorized\/westfield-evicts-online-retailer-styletread-after-tenant-backlash-startupsmart\/","title":{"rendered":"Westfield evicts online retailer StyleTread after tenant backlash – StartupSmart"},"content":{"rendered":"

Local online shoe retailer StyleTread is remaining tight-lipped about its clash with Westfield, after the start-up\u2019s kiosk was closed at Parramatta following a conflict with existing tenants.<\/p>\n

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Based in Sydney, StyleTread was founded in 2010 by Mark Rowland and Bjorn Behrendt, who used incubation capital from Lakestar, an institutional fund based in Zurich.<\/p>\n

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In May last year, the Nine Entertainment Company invested around $4 million in StyleTread, with the business reportedly valued at $20 million.<\/p>\n

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Then in March, StyleTread raised an impressive $12 million in a Series C funding round<\/a>, led by Melbourne-based venture capital firm Starfish Ventures.<\/p>\n

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Earlier this year, StyleTread opened a kiosk at Westfield Parramatta in Sydney, describing it as \u201cour way of bringing our online store to you in an exciting and interactive way\u201d.<\/p>\n

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\u201cWhile here in the kiosk, you can learn how to navigate our easy-to-use site [and] ask questions from our friendly Customer Happiness Ambassador,\u201d StyleTread said on its website.<\/p>\n

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\u201cAfter visiting us here at the kiosk, you can go home and shop from the convenience of your lounge room 24\/7.\u201d<\/p>\n

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However, it\u2019s been confirmed Westfield has evicted StyleTread from its Parramatta store following a backlash from existing tenants. Westfield could not be reached for comment.<\/p>\n

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Mazera Concepts Pty Ltd, who managed the commercial agreement with Westfield, confirmed Westfield made the decision to close the store as it was in conflict with existing tenants.<\/p>\n

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Meanwhile, Rowland said in a statement that even though StyleTread\u2019s time at Westfield Parramatta was short-lived, it was very beneficial to the company.<\/p>\n

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\u201cIn just under three weeks, StyleTread reached 400,000 potential new customers,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

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\u201cStyleTread will continue to explore new and innovative territory in the company\u2019s efforts to bring the convenience of shopping for shoes at StyleTread to all Australians.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Kiosk sites are becoming increasingly popular in major shopping centres, particularly as retail rents continue to rise.<\/p>\n

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But the StyleTread example suggests kiosk operators might not receive a warm welcome from their neighbouring tenants, who typically pay more rent.<\/p>\n

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In May, StartupSmart<\/i> spoke to Luke Manning<\/a>, business development manager at hairdressing franchise Just Cuts, after it unveiled a haircutting kiosk at Westfield Doncaster in Melbourne.<\/p>\n

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\u201cA lot of people are looking to have a business with less risk. The kiosk is transferable \u2013 that\u2019s the beauty of the kiosk,\u201d Manning said.<\/p>\n

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However, Manning said setting up a kiosk within a shopping centre is more difficult than opening a normal site.<\/p>\n

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\u201cBecause you\u2019re in a high foot traffic area, it\u2019s very regulated on what signage you can use, and what materials,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Local online shoe retailer StyleTread is remaining tight-lipped about its clash with Westfield, after the start-up\u2019s kiosk was closed at<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":58484,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22,1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47543"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=47543"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47543\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/58484"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=47543"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=47543"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=47543"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}