Harry Potter style shop for lease, built in 2m2 cupboard under stairs in Melbourne CBD

A small Harry Potter-style shopfront built in a cupboard-sized space under the stairs of an apartment building is being leased in Melbourne’s CBD.

The approximately 2 sqm store (potentially the smallest retail space in the city with four walls) faces Elizabeth Street, has a façade almost as wide as the door, and is just steps away from Flinders Street Station. It is several tens of meters away.

Zelman Ainsworth, head of Ainsworth Properties (AP), said the unusual space was “cozy” but big enough for a boy wizard or two.

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Ainsworth said: “We can fit two people comfortably.

“It’s hard to measure, but it’s about 2 square meters. The entrance of an old apartment building…the store is under the stairs and faces the street.”

The tiny space, with a ceiling of about 3 meters and a staircase slightly lower at the back, will be leased for about $20,000 a year.

Its dimensions aren’t too far off from the cupboard under the stairs where Harry Potter, the title character in J.K. Rowling’s children’s novels, grew up.

Tenants occupy the left side of what was once the large entrance to the building.

“This is a good store to sell one service or product, and it’s right by Flinders Street Station,” says Ainsworth.

“When you enter the building, people are standing in little booths or sitting on stools.”

Listed for the first time in nearly a decade, the space is up for grabs after long-term currency exchange tenants closed their doors during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Part of the Excelsior House building, which also has Hungry Jacks next to a tiny hole-in-the-wall storefront, it’s been surprisingly popular since it was listed for rent on Monday.

“On the first day of listing, we received inquiries from more than a dozen potential tenants,” said Ainsworth.

“From coffee booths to currency exchanges, there is a lot of interest. And some very unique businesses.”

A popular retail district is just meters from Flinders Street Station.

He added that demand reflects the rarity of such affordable entry points into the CBD street front.

“I’ve worked in the city’s retail market for 15 years and this is the smallest store I’ve seen,” said Ainsworth.

“There are stalls in the street, but this one has four walls and one door.”

Ainsworth said the store had long been owned by the same family who owned the large apartment.

Heritage appraisal documents show that the Excelsior House dates back to 1888 and was originally a five-story building lined with flower and fishmongers.

It was also home to the Shamrock Club for Irish immigrants until it was expanded to two stories in 1925.

Its upper floors are now apartments.

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