Dress Smart is a franchise of shopping centres in New Zealand that specialises in outlet stores.
History Dress Smart opened in October 1995 as New Zealand's first factory outlet shopping centre. The company was created by John Bougen, was inspired by a factory outlet centre between Vancouver and Seattle.
The first centre was located in Onehunga, Auckland. On a site that was once the premises of a 3 Guys supermarket and some neighbouring stores.Onehunga shop bonanza New Zealand Herald. 9 June 1999. (Accessed 16 July 2013.) Twenty stores were at the centre on opening day including Just Jeans, Michael Hill, and Rodd & Gunn that still operate stores at the centre and the since closed The Body Shop, Lane Walker Rudkin (now Canterbury), Country Road, Esprit, Nautica, Overland, Pumpkin Patch. Due to the centres popularity retailiers opened in the nearby Paynes Lane until expansion led to its demolition and move underground in 1999.
Dress Smart opened a Christchurch (Hornby) shopping centre in 1998. Also in 1998 AMP Asset Management acquired half of Dress Smart.
In 1999, Dress Smart was granted resource consent to double the size of its Onehunga shopping centre. Dress Smart opened in Wellington (Tawa) in October 2000.
In 2003 the three centres were sold to ING Retail Property Fund Australia.
A Hamilton shopping centre opened in March 2006 as part of The Base.
Dress Smart completed an expansion of its Onehunga and Hornby centres in 2005, the Onehunga store count was brought to 110.
Dress Smart was sold in 2010 to the Lendlease.
The Wellington shopping centre was sold in 2013 and rebranded to Outlet Centre.
Dress Smart Hornby was listed for sale in 2025.
Centres NameSizeOpenedClosedAuckland / Onehunga22 October 1995openChristchurch / Hornby1998openWellington / TawaOctober 19992013 (sold and rebranded to Outlet Centre)Hamilton / Te Rapa1st March 2006(now The Base)
See also List of shopping centres in New Zealand
References