Retail expansions signal openings for Canberra's smaller operators

Spotlight opened its first ACT store in Gungahlin on 1 July 2026, taking a 2,587sqm space and hiring 45 staff drawn mainly from nearby suburbs. Fricken will follow with a flagship outlet in Canberra Centre, Civic, scheduled for early July 2026. These moves coincide with earlier openings by smaller operators that have already secured physical sites.

Who has moved first

Canberra Garms, run by local teenagers, opened its initial bricks-and-mortar outlet at 27 Lonsdale Street, Braddon during 2025. Verity Lane Market added House of Desserts as its first dedicated dessert stall in late 2025. Four other new venues launched across the city that year: Hanoi Holic on Allara Street, Sliceria at East Traders Hall in Campbell, 101c Hotpot in Dickson and AKALUCK Restaurant in Gungahlin.

The ACT records the highest percentage of new start-ups and small businesses nationally, with more than 34,000 private businesses now operating in the region. Roughly 29,000 of those are small firms, and about 60 per cent sit in northern suburbs including Braddon and Gungahlin. Canberra has averaged more than 1,500 new business registrations each year since 2018.

Where the pattern points next

Operators that secured sites early, such as Canberra Garms on Lonsdale Street and the dessert stall inside Verity Lane Market, have already locked in foot traffic before larger chains arrive. New entrants can track the same locations and the ACT Small Business Strategy 2023-2026, which flags small firms as key to local job security. Checking commercial listings through established channels remains the direct next step for any business seeking similar space.