The mall welcomes over 800,000 visitors per week, with approximately 54 million annually,[4] making it by far the busiest and largest shopping precinct in Australia.
It features numerous luxury brands such as Tiffany & Co, Breitling, Tag Heuer, The Hour Glass (Rolex), Sephora, Bulgari and Cartier authorised dealers, as well as Gucci, Dior, Armani, Prada and Chanel, who operate concessions inside David Jones.
[10] During the late 19th century, Rundle Street had a tramline run through it, part of a large network of trams in Adelaide.
It also ran a child-minding service, with "special lady attendants" who looked after children in the circle seats while their mothers went shopping.
[13] The Edwardian façade was not substantially altered, but a new balcony verandah was added, which had access from the circle on warm nights.
During the late 1930s, after a change in ownership, the cinema was remodelled in Art Deco / Moderne style, with an openable roof.
[14] From 1960 the Rex started screening foreign films, and then new releases from MGM while their Metro Theatre was showing Ben Hur for 27 weeks.
It was an elaborate building of five storeys (some of it used as an hotel[21]), with a ticket box of marble, a wide arch at its front entrance, two sliding roofs for ventilation purposes, and a polished cedar staircase.
[24] Drake and his son continued to operate the cinema for many years, earning good profits,[17] and well-known organist Horace Weber played at the theatre.
[28] In 1953, it once again underwent renovations, with a new 40-foot (12 m) wide screen, allowing major films to be shown, and it was renamed to Sturt Theatre, then owned by Greater Union.
[18][29] The Regent Theatre, located at 101–107 Rundle Street/Mall, was designed by Cedric Ballantyne of Melbourne, in partnership with Adelaide architects English and Soward, a practice which at that time included Herbert Montefiore Jackman[30][c] (1897–1968).
[31] It was built by J. Reid Tyler,[30] under the personal supervision of cinema filmmaker and entrepreneur F. W. Thring by Hoyts,[17] and opened on 29 June 1928.
[30] Its ceiling was highly ornate, featuring hidden recessed lighting, and it had a 14-foot (4.3 m) wide staircase opposite the entrance that led up to the balcony foyer.
[34] Its decorations included Moroccan style details, period Louis XV furniture, and Arabesque filigree on the walls, some of which still remains.
Ian Hannaford, a former footballer who played in three premierships for the Port Adelaide Magpies, was the architect responsible for the design of the mall.
[42] In June 2015, it was announced that an additional cost of $3 million was required to complete the lighting system and to undertake further storm water works in the mall.
[47] It lies at the western end of the Mall, on the corner of King William Street, and was originally owned by John Rundle.
[citation needed] The Rundle Mall Fountain is one of a pair which formerly stood at the entrance to the Jubilee Exhibition Building on North Terrace between 1887 and 1962[48] (the other is now located in the Creswell Gardens).
painted in Victorian colours, was relocated to the centre of the intersection of the mall and Gawler Place; it was later moved to the entrance to Adelaide Arcade.
[50] Another set of sculptures includes a group of life-size bronze pigs – Horatio, Truffles, Augusta and Oliver[51] - rooting around a rubbish bin.
South African-born artist Marguerite Derricourt created the bronze sculptures in a national competition instigated by the City of Adelaide.