Shopping Centre Insiders

How does a struggling Melbourne shopping centre transform into a thriving destination pulling in record-breaking revenue? In this episode, we sit down with Precinct Director Jonathan Codman to unpack the bold, five-year transformation of The District Docklands into Melbourne's premier entertainment powerhouse. Discover how leading with 20+ experiential venues—from pop-ups like The Friends Experience to international hits like Prison Island—redefined consumer engagement, drove record visitor spend, and successfully weathered major urban disruptions. Whether you're fascinated by urban planning, commercial real estate, or the future of experiential retail, tune in now to learn how shifting from a pure retail play to an experience-first model built a resilient, multi-layered precinct!

Welcome to the very first episode of Shopping Centre Insiders!In this inaugural launch, we sit down with Mardi Ashkine, Head of Brand and Marketing at Chadstone, to unpack how the iconic precinct is chasing a massive $3 billion annual revenue target by completely tearing up the traditional retail playbook. We dive deep into Chadstone’s bold decision to ditch their traditional mid-year sales in favor of Light to Night—a massive, high-stakes winter arts and culture festival that rolled five distinct campaigns into one. Mardi shares the inside story of how they collaborated across the entire business to build immersive art installations with RONE, host the World’s Longest Dinner, and ultimately drive a 52% increase in customer dwell time. If you want to learn how to transition a brand from a transactional space into a cultural, experience-led destination that gets results, hit the download button and dive into our very first masterclass.