The Jam Factory
The Jam Factoryis a shopping and entertainment centre, located inChapel Street,South Yarra,a suburb ofMelbourne,Australia.The Jam Factory is owned by Newmark Capital. It is also the headquarters ofVillage Roadshow.
History
[edit]The Jam Factory was originally established as theVictorian Breweryin 1858, having a value of 150pounds.The brewery shut down in 1876, with the building and land then being purchased the same year by Robert Wright and Robert Payne, who began theVictoria Preserving Company.[1]
By 1880, it was named theRed Cross preserving company.During the fruit season it employed 230 people, and was the largest employer inPrahran.[1]William Peacock bought the premises and turned it into the 'OK' Jam Co in 1895 and resold it toHenry Jones IXL.Jam production continued in the building for this firm until 1970.[2]
At a cost of $20 million the site was redeveloped and opened on 9 October 1979 as a shopping centre[2]named The Jam Factory, offering modern fashion, gift stores and cafes, among others.Georgeshad a store. In 1995 it was redeveloped again.[2] Village Cinemastook the upstairs space. Georges moved out and many tenants changed.[3]
The shopping centre also housed the first AustralianBordersshop opening in 1998. It has since closed, along with the rest of the bankrupt chain, in 2011, when its regional parent company,REDgroup Retail,went into administration. The Borders space is now occupied byTopshop.[4][5]The Jam Factory was also chosen by Brazin to be the first site to reintroduceVirgin Megastoresin Australia opening in 2002. It was closed bySanityin 2010 with the Virgin space now occupied by the country's first Urban byTargetstore.[6][7][8]
Before these major tenants closed their Jam Factory outlets, its owner, Challenger, announced in June 2008 a $700 million redevelopment that did not proceed. It would have seen the historic factory building demolished and replaced with a new style shopping centre (54,000 square metres of shops, more than double the present size), apartment towers built on the car park closest to Virgin Megastore/Urban by Target, 8,000 square metres of office space, and a 100-room hotel. Challenger then attempted to sell the entire site in May 2009 for about $110 million without success.[2][7]In 2015 the Jam Factory was purchased by Newmark Capital.[9]
References
[edit]- ^ab"History".Jam Factory.Retrieved1 October2009.
- ^abcdPallisco, Marc (24 June 2008)."Jam Factory set for $700m revamp".WAtoday.Retrieved1 October2009.
- ^The Jam Factory tarted up for trendiesAustralian Financial Review3 August 1995
- ^Dykes, Daniel (26 June 2011)."Topshop in Australia".Retrieved26 June2011.
- ^Puchalski, Natalie (20 August 2011)."Topshop to make Australian debut in Jam Factory revamp".Sydney Morning Herald.Retrieved13 February2013.
- ^Lawson, Annie (16 April 2002)."Virgin plays to youth in rebirth of music Megastores".The Age.Retrieved13 February2013.
- ^abPallisco, Marc (3 September 2011)."Urban cool in Target sights".Sydney Morning Herald.Retrieved13 February2013.
- ^Pallisco, Marc (22 June 2011)."Wesfarmers to unveil new concept store, Urban at Target, in Melbourne".RealEstateSource.au.Retrieved13 February2013.
- ^Gurner, Qualitas to breathe life into Jam FactoryAustralian Financial Review29 March 2021