Karingal Hub Shopping Centre (colloquially known as "Karingal Hub," or "The Hub,") as well as its "Town Square" is a super-regional shopping centre in

Frankston, Victoria Frankston ( ) is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Located south-east of the Melbourne central business district via the Monash Freeway and EastLink, it is in the Local government areas of Victoria, local government area of the City ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

, approximately south of

Melbourne CBD The Melbourne central business district (colloquially known as "the City" or "the CBD", and gazetted simply as Melbourne) is the city centre of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. As of the 2021 census, the CBD had a population of 54,941, and is ...

. The complex has a combined gross leasable area of , 2,750 parking spaces and 200+ stores. It was acquired b
ISPT
or the Industry Superannuation Property Trust in July, 2013 and has been owned by other large corporations in the past such as

Vicinity Centres Vicinity Centres , previously known as Federation Centres and Centro Properties Group, is an Australian Real Estate Investment Trust specialising in the ownership and management of Australian shopping centres. As at December 2021, it had stake ...

, which owns its major competitor Bayside. It has the only

Big W Big W (stylised as BIG W) is an Australian chain of discount department stores, which was founded in regional New South Wales in 1964. The company is a division of the Woolworths Group and as of 2024 operated 179 stores, with around 18,000 emp ...

in and around the peninsula and features a multitude of popular shops, including a renovated and large playground within its Town Square as well as an additional smaller playground in the south of the building, close to the retailer aforementioned.

Town Square

The Town Square is a regional precinct for the locality of Karingal in

. It is situated on Karingal Drive and is managed by Karingal Hub. Its predecessor was constructed in 2005 under the name of 'Star Zone Karingal' which subsequently underwent major redevelopment in 2022 and was renamed and coined as the "Town Square" of Karingal. It boasts a multitude of shops and experiences such as its 12 screen Village Cinemas multiplex with 3 Gold Class facilities and 1 former state-of-the-art VMax auditorium , the Goodlife Health Gym as well as restaurants/fast-food stores like Grill'd,

Schnitz Schnitz is a Melbourne founded and based Australian food franchise operating in the fast-casual dining space, specialising in traditional Schnitzel dishes such as chicken, pork and beef schnitzel, and also offering a vegetarian patty, crumbed a ...

, Rashays, San Churro and more. Its original form of 'Star Zone Karingal' was the first of the range of centres that used the terminology of "Star Zone" under the Village Cinemas enterprise. The 2021 redevelopment of Karingal Hub would allow portions of the initial parking enclave to be repurposed, allowing the accommodation of new retail outlets and the construction of an expansive multi-level car park (see § History and Developments).

History & Developments

Early Years

Karingal Hub opened in 1978 with a simple L-shape designed mall including the two anchor tenants of Big W and

Safeway Safeway, Inc. is an American supermarket chain. The chain provides grocery items, food and general merchandise and a variety of specialty departments, such as bakery, delicatessen, floral and pharmacy, as well as Starbucks coffee shops, and veh ...

. Karingal Hub was managed by Jennings Properties, a part of AV Jennings of which developed the Karingal estate. Karingal Hub expanded in 1984, adding a third mall section with space for another large tenant. This would end up being occupied by Woolworths, who by 1985 owned Safeway, retaining the space (essentially two of the same supermarket) to keep a monopoly on the locality. Jennings Properties later became Centro in the 1990's (now Vicinity Centres after a

Novion Novion was an Australian Real Estate Investment Trust which invested in shopping centres across Australia. It was listed on the Australian Securities Exchange in October 1994 by John Gandel under the name Gandel Retail Trust' with six retail a ...

merger), and like other Centro shopping centres, Karingal Hub was later renamed to Centro Karingal. There were a number of minor additions during the 90's, including a new food court.

Growth

In 2005, the centre expanded. A new

Village Cinemas Village Cinemas is an Australian-based multinational film exhibition brand that mainly shows blockbusters, mainstream, children and family films and some arthouse, foreign language and documentary films. Since 2003, its Australian sites bec ...

(see § Town Square) and entertainment and wellbeing multiplex called ''Star Zone'' opened. This was to compete with Bayside Shopping Centre's plan to open an entertainment complex with a multi-screen cinema in Frankston's CBD, completing its construction a year after Karingal's Star Zone. The multiplex in Karingal was physically disconnected from the main centre but shared the same management and parking and could be traversed to and back safely using pedestrian paths. In 2006, redevelopment of the main shopping centre included the refurbishment of the inner and outer facades as well as an extension of the northwest portion where the current Best and Less and

River A river is a natural stream of fresh water that flows on land or inside Subterranean river, caves towards another body of water at a lower elevation, such as an ocean, lake, or another river. A river may run dry before reaching the end of ...

stores are currently located in addition to a large atrium food court and concourse, increasing the gross lettable area up by 12,500 square meters.

Acquisition and redesignation

In July, 2013, Karingal Hub was acquired b
ISPT
(the Industry Superannuation Property Trust) from Federation Centres (Centro's name before the

merger) for $115 million. In the same month, both of the Safeway stores in the centre were rebranded to Woolworths following the Woolworth Group 1985 acquisition of Safeway Pty Ltd and its decision to unify the branding.

2021 and onwards

Construction of Coles and Aldi precinct in Karingal Hub

In 2021, Karingal Hub unveiled a $160 million renovation and extension of its premises which included 12,000m

^

of new shopping space added on onto the existing

infrastructure Infrastructure is the set of facilities and systems that serve a country, city, or other area, and encompasses the services and facilities necessary for its economy, households and firms to function. Infrastructure is composed of public and pri ...

in three separate stages, connecting the two separate spaces of the main shopping mall and

entertainment Entertainment is a form of activity that holds the attention and Interest (emotion), interest of an audience or gives pleasure and delight. It can be an idea or a task, but it is more likely to be one of the activities or events that have deve ...

space, with the plan being under consideration since April 2013.

Stage 1

The first stage introduced Karingal Hub's new 'Fresh Food Precinct' which featured more than 28 fresh food and specialty retailers, including a new marketplace, Coles,

Aldi Aldi (German pronunciation: ), stylised as ALDI, is the common company brand name of two German multinational family-owned discount supermarket chains operating over 12,000 stores in 18 countries. The chain was founded by brothers Karl and ...

, a refurbished Woolworths as well as additional stores such as Baker's Delight, Poultry Plus,

Roll'd Roll'd is an Australian-based fast food chain which specialises in a range of traditional Vietnamese cuisine dishes, including Bánh mì, Pho, and rice paper rolls, which are marketed as Soldiers. The first store was opened by founders Bao ...

, Walker's Doughnuts, and more. It featured a huge open space in the heart of such area for specialty kiosks and events.

Stage 2

The second stage opened more than 40 stores that were featured in its 'Fashion and Lifestyle Precinct' which includes places like

Cotton On Cotton On Group is an Australian retail company known for its fashion, clothing and stationery brands. As of 2020, it has over 1,500 stores in 18 countries employing 22,000 people across eight brands: Cotton On, Cotton On Kids, Cotton On Body, ...

, Factorie, and more. This stage is regarded as a refurbishment and overhaul of the existing building as the centre's floor area remained unchanged. The construction included the shutdown of the southern Woolworths store in the centre due to the 'Fresh Food Precinct,' with its physical premises being divided and transformed into a Cotton On Megastore
Glue
and

Tk Maxx TK Maxx is a discount clothing and homewares retailer, founded in 1994. It is currently based in Watford, England. It is owned by American retailer TJ Maxx, who could not trade under the initials "TJ" in the United Kingdom due to the British d ...

. This stage also introduced the new

Food Court A food court (in Asia-Pacific also called food hall or hawker centre) is generally an indoor plaza or common area within a facility that is contiguous with the counters of multiple food Vendor, vendors and provides a common area for self-serve di ...

now located opposite

and adjacent

. The previous food court located to the north of the new one in addition to its large open space area was fully demolished and rebuilt, integrating into the fashion precinct. Some retailers such as

McDonald's McDonald's Corporation, doing business as McDonald's, is an American Multinational corporation, multinational fast food chain store, chain. As of 2024, it is the second largest by number of locations in the world, behind only the Chinese ch ...

has not returned to Karingal Hub after this renovation for unknown reasons, leading to a controversy, however evidence suggests that due to another

franchisee Franchising is based on a marketing concept which can be adopted by an organization as a strategy for business expansion. Where implemented, a franchisor licenses some or all of its know-how, procedures, intellectual property, use of its busines ...

of McDonald's being in a close proximity to Karingal Hub, they may have chosen not to reopen.

Stage 3

The third and final stage introduced the § Town Square which was an overhaul to the former "Star Zone Karingal" and includes the existing

in addition to a range of dining experiences, communal gathering and play areas. A new

escalator An escalator is a moving staircase which carries people between floors of a building or structure. It consists of a Electric motor, motor-driven chain of individually linked steps on a track which cycle on a pair of tracks which keep the st ...

and

lift Lift or LIFT may refer to: Physical devices * Elevator, or lift, a device used for raising and lowering people or goods ** Paternoster lift, a type of lift using a continuous chain of cars which do not stop ** Patient lift, or Hoyer lift, mobile ...

connects it vitally to the main and central section of Karingal Hub through the Fresh Food Precinct.

Retailers

Karingal Hub has a wide variety of

supermarket A supermarket is a self-service Retail#Types of outlets, shop offering a wide variety of food, Drink, beverages and Household goods, household products, organized into sections. Strictly speaking, a supermarket is larger and has a wider selecti ...

discount department stores Discount stores offer a retail format in which products are sold at prices that are in principle lower than an actual or supposed "full retail price". Discounters rely on bulk purchasing and efficient Logistics, distribution to keep down costs. ...

and

specialty store A specialty store is a shop/store that carries a deep assortment of brands, styles, or models within a relatively narrow category of goods. :Furniture retailers, Furniture stores, florists, sporting goods stores, and bookstores are all specialty s ...

s as well as a fantastic 12 screen theater and

gym A gym, short for gymnasium (: gymnasiums or gymnasia), is an indoor venue for exercise and sports. The word is derived from the ancient Greek term " gymnasion". They are commonly found in athletic and fitness centres, and as activity and learn ...

. Major retailers include Coles, Woolworths,

Hungry Jack's Hungry Jack's Pty Ltd. is an Australian fast food franchise of the Burger King Corporation. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of Competitive Foods Australia (with licensing from Restaurant Brands International), a privately held company owned by ...

TK Maxx TK Maxx is a discount clothing and homewares retailer, founded in 1994. It is currently based in Watford, England. It is owned by American retailer TJ Maxx, who could not trade under the initials "TJ" in the United Kingdom due to the British d ...

Best & Less Best & Less is an Australian retailer of clothing and household linens. As of October 2022, Best & Less has 182 stores as well as an online platform. History Best & Less was founded by Berel Ginges in January 1965, by occupying part of the grou ...

. As well as some minor retailers such as

The Reject Shop The Reject Shop is an Australian discount variety store chain selling a range of goods such as food, snacks, gift cards and party, health and beauty aids, cleaning supplies, storage, kitchenware, homewares and seasonal items in 375 store locat ...

Liquorland LiquorLand (sometimes referred to as Liquorland) is a franchise of independently owned bottle shops around New Zealand, operated by Foodstuffs. LiquorLand is part of the Airpoints loyalty scheme. Brands LiquorLand (1981-present) LiquorL ...

7-Eleven 7-Eleven, Inc. is an American convenience store chain, headquartered in Irving, Texas. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of Seven-Eleven Japan, which in turn is owned by the retail holdings company Seven & I Holdings. The chain was founde ...

Sushi Sushi

, ANZ,

Commonwealth Bank The Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA), also known as Commonwealth Bank or simply CommBank, is an Australian multinational bank with businesses across New Zealand, Asia, the United States, and the United Kingdom. It provides a variety of fi ...

, Goodlife Health Club
Rashays
& Grill'd.

Accessibility and Location

Outside view of completed Coles and Aldi precinct in Karingal Hub

Karingal Hub is located in the locality of

Karingal Karingal is a local area within the suburb of Frankston located in Melbourne, Victoria in Australia. It is in the local government area of the City of Frankston (app. 45 km South East from the Melbourne CBD). The locality has no predefin ...

, a medium sized district in Frankston, Victoria. It is located on 330 Cranbourne Road, beside the Eastlink freeway and adjacent to a Dan Murphys and

Mitre 10 Mitre 10 is an Australian retail and trade hardware store chain. Operations are based on a cooperative system, where the store owners are members of the National group. The chain name references the mitre joint. There are over 400 "Mitre 10" ...

, not directly correlated with the centre as many presume. The shopping centre has 3 levels of car parking including a new rooftop parking and two floors of shopping (when including the § Town Square, with disabled parking bays and bicycle racks at all major entrances, and

escalators An escalator is a moving staircase which carries people between floors of a building or structure. It consists of a motor-driven chain of individually linked steps on a track which cycle on a pair of tracks which keep the step tread horizon ...

/ lifts when necessary. The store can be accessed via bus, train, taxi, uber, car, walking, biking, and more.

Competition

Karingal Hub has two main local shopping centre competitors,

Bayside Shopping Centre Bayside Shopping Centre (colloquially known as "Bayside") is a regional Shopping center, shopping centre in Frankston, Victoria, Australia, approximately 40 kilometres (25 mi) south of Melbourne CBD. Since its opening in 1972, it has amassed a c ...

and the

Frankston Power Centre The Frankston Power Centre, also colloquially known as "The Power Centre" (previously the Frankston Homemaker Centre), is a hard goods retail park run by Spotlight Group within the approximate centre of Frankston, being around 40 kilometres sou ...

, both located less than 5 kilometres from Karingal Hub. Frankston Power Centre is primarily a hard goods mall, but some product categories overlap.

Gallery

File:Construction of Coles and Aldi precinct in Karingal Hub.jpg, Construction of Coles and Aldi precinct in Karingal Hub File:Back view of Karingal Hub's 'Happy Camp' Playground.png, Back view of Karingal Hub's 'Happy Camp' Playground File:Outside view of completed Coles and Aldi precinct in Karingal Hub.webp, Outside view of completed Coles and Aldi precinct in Karingal Hub File:Pylon electronic sign of Karingal Hub.jpg, Pylon electronic sign of Karingal Hub File:Karingal Hub sign outside the new "Town Square".jpg, Karingal Hub sign outside the new "Town Square"

References

External links

Karingal Hub Shopping Centre & Star Zone Karingal
{{Shopping centres in Victoria Shopping centres in Melbourne Shopping malls established in 1978 1978 establishments in Australia Buildings and structures in the City of Frankston