Burwood One

Burwood One is a suburban shopping centre in Burwood East, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Its historical significance is closely associated with the development of Australian discount retail: the site was selected for the first Kmart Australia store, which opened there in 1969 as the original Coles Burwood store. The shopping-centre site was subsequently redeveloped and became known as Burwood One, while Kmart continued operating as a major tenant. The centre serves the eastern Melbourne suburbs and combines supermarket, discount department-store, specialty retail, food, service and convenience uses. Its retail role is primarily local and catchment-based rather than national or luxury-oriented. The centre’s tenant mix and facilities have changed over time in response to suburban population growth, retail consolidation and changing consumer habits, but its association with Kmart remains a defining feature of its identity. Burwood One is distinct from Kmart Australia as a brand and business. Kmart is a national discount department-store chain owned by Wesfarmers’ Kmart Group, whereas Burwood One is the shopping-centre destination and property in which the original Kmart location was established. Publicly available reference material does not establish a founding person, a standalone listed company, a parent group or a precise opening date for the Burwood One centre under its current name. The centre’s documented retail history nevertheless reaches back to 30 April 1969, when the first Australian Kmart store opened on the site. Today, Burwood One functions as a neighbourhood shopping destination for everyday shopping. Its offering is centred on essential retail and services, including grocery and general merchandise, supported by food and other specialty tenants. The centre’s positioning is practical, accessible and value-oriented, reflecting the needs of suburban households rather than destination tourism or premium shopping.

Burwood One’s documented history is tied to the expansion of large-format suburban retail in Australia. In the late 1960s, G.J. Coles & Coy Limited and the United States-based S.S. Kresge Company formed the joint venture that established Kmart Australia. The first Australian store opened on 30 April 1969 at Burwood East in Melbourne. At opening, the location was designated Coles Burwood Store No. 1 and represented the introduction of the Kmart discount-department-store format to the Australian market. The Burwood East store became an important early example of the broad-format retail model being developed by Coles and Kresge. Early Kmart stores offered a wide assortment of general merchandise and, in some cases, operated alongside or in combination with grocery facilities. This approach reflected the growth of suburban shopping hubs that brought food, household products, clothing and other everyday purchases together in one location. The original retail site was later redeveloped as the Burwood One shopping centre. Although the physical centre changed from the original store configuration, Kmart remained associated with the location and continued as a key tenant. The continuity between the 1969 opening and the later Burwood One centre gives the property a notable place in Australian retail history: it is the location where the national Kmart Australia chain began. Over subsequent decades, Burwood One developed as a local shopping centre rather than as a standalone department-store site. Its role has been to serve nearby residents with routine grocery, household, apparel, food and service needs. The centre’s identity is therefore based on convenience and catchment retail, supported by an anchor tenant and a range of smaller specialty businesses. The available reference material does not provide a complete chronology of the centre’s redevelopment, ownership, tenant changes or management arrangements. It also does not identify a separate corporate brand owner or a founder for Burwood One. Those details should be confirmed through property records, centre publications or official historical material before being added to the dossier. What is established is the centre’s location in Burwood East, its association with the first Australian Kmart store, and its continuing role as a suburban shopping destination.

• 1969

  First Australian Kmart store opens at Burwood East

  [1]Kmart Australiaen.wikipedia.org

  The first Australian Kmart store opened on 30 April 1969 at the Burwood East site later redeveloped as Burwood One.

• Site redeveloped as Burwood One

  [1]Kmart Australiaen.wikipedia.org

  The original retail site was subsequently redeveloped into the Burwood One shopping centre, with Kmart remaining a tenant.

A practical suburban shopping centre serving everyday household needs in Melbourne’s eastern suburbs, with a historically significant Kmart anchor and a value-oriented convenience proposition.

• Retail property

  Shopping-centre retail and services

  Burwood One provides a mix of everyday retail, food and service businesses aimed at households in Melbourne’s eastern suburbs. The centre is not a manufacturer of products; its offering is delivered through tenants and is centred on convenience, general merchandise, grocery-related shopping and routine personal or household services.

• Discount department store · 1969

  Kmart Australia

  Kmart is the historically significant anchor associated with Burwood One. The first Australian Kmart store opened on the site in 1969, and Kmart continues to represent the centre’s strongest connection to the national retail chain’s origin in Australia.

• 1969

  First Australian Kmart store opens at the Burwood East site[1]Kmart Australiaen.wikipedia.org

  Other

  The first Australian Kmart store opened at Burwood East on 30 April 1969. The location was initially identified as Coles Burwood Store No. 1 and later became the site of Burwood One.

1. 1Kmart Australiaen.wikipedia.org
2. 2Burwood One official websiteburwoodone.com.au