National retail companies eye sites in Warrnambool

The long-serving city agent said he had been approached by a number of companies who were looking for a suitable location for a store, with most stating a preference for a CBD site.

Mr Ryan was able to secure a Liebig Street location for Country Road, which will open in mid-April.

"They saw Warrnambool as a great place to open a store and wanted to seize that opportunity," Mr Ryan said.

"It's a complete refurb inside and out - it's a big job. I think they will do very well."

He said the new store, along with interest from other companies, was a sign that there was renewed interest in the CBD.

Related content: Country Road to open in April

"It shows that things are in a far greater state than they were three of four years ago," Mr Ryan said.

However, he said there could be improvements made to Liebig Street to make it more attractive to companies wanting to open stores.

"Liebig Street is far better, however the real difficulty is those roundabouts and the lack of controlled crossings," he said.

"You've got to look after pedestrians, but you also need to have continuing traffic flow."

Mr Ryan said he believed the pedestrian crossings at the roundabout impeded that.

Country Road revealed to The Standard earlier this month the new store at 156 Liebig Street - next to the former Thomas Jewellers - would open in mid- April.

The store is set to open in mid-to-late April and will employ a team of five-to-eight staff members.

"We are starting recruitment this week," a company spokeswoman said.

She said the city had been on the company's radar for some time, with Country Road looking for a suitable site for six months.

"Country Road has established successful stores in resort and regional locations," she said.

"As a large coastal city, Warrnambool is a major tourist hub, which sees it experience strong seasonal growth.

"We also recognised that our closest store is over two and half hours' drive so we want to bring Country Road to our customers."

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