Westfield Chermside

Westfield Chermside is the largest shopping centre in Queensland, located in Brisbane's inner northern suburbs and is operated by The Westfield Group. The centre includes Myer, David Jones and Harris Scarfe department stores, Kmart, Target and Big W discount department stores, Coles and Woolworths supermarkets, a Borders book store, a JB HiFi electrical store, and 369 speciality stores, cafes, restaurants and other services, which are all on the first floor. This makes the first floor the largest single level in an Australian regional shopping centre. The second floor is only partial to the shopping centre and includes a Rebel Sport, a bowling alley, video game arcade and a 16-screen Event Cinemas complex. The centre contains the Chermside bus station, a major hub for buses north of Brisbane.

History

Chermside Drive-In Shopping Centre (Now Westfield Chermside) opened on 30 May 1957. It initially contained an Allan & Stark department store, a BCC supermarket and 22 speciality stores. Allan & Stark became Myer in 1959 when the latter company purchased the former. In 1965, the centre was air-conditioned and a restaurant was constructed. The original building that housed Myer was razed and a larger 3 level replacement building was opened in June 1977. Several renovations were completed in 1985, 1986 and 1987 adding another 29 stores and an underground car park to the centre. A business mall was constructed in February 1992.

The Westfield Group purchased the property from Coles-Myer in December 1996. In 1999, work began on a major redevelopment of the centre which was to nearly double its floor space. The redevelopment resulted in most of the existing structure being demolished, save for the Myer store and some pieces of adjoining mall, to make way for the larger complex. Stage one opened on August 9, which contained a Coles and a new bus interchange. In 2000, the second stage of the redevelopment opened, containing a Kmart, Bi-Lo (which existed until March 2008), Target and a 900 seat food court. A new Birch Carroll & Coyle cinema complex also opened, which took many customers away from the one then at Westfield Toombul.

In 2005, construction began on another expansion, which officially opened on October 19, 2006 and contained 2,300 more car parks, and over 100 new specialty stores. In August 2007, the two level David Jones store was officially opened and is located in the same expansion. The following year saw the opening of another department store on the site of the former Bi-Lo supermarket, however smaller, which is the first Harris Scarfe store in Brisbane.^[2]. [2]

In late 2009, the Apple Store opened in the centre.

Despite all its major successes during its ownership by Westfield, the centre has been blamed for the downturn in trade in surrounding shopping centres, especially Centro Toombul. In the case of Toombul, the ex-Westfield centre's trade has been affected during the 21st century, which has resulted in the closure of its Birch Carroll & Coyle cinemas, and of several other retailers.

Majors

• Myer Department Store
• David Jones Department Store
• Harris Scarfe Department Store (Former Bi-Lo Supermarket Site)
• Kmart Discount Department Store
• Target Discount Department Store
• Big W Discount Department Store
• Coles Supermarket
• Woolworths Supermarket
• Event Cinemas 16-screen Cinema complex
• JB Hi-Fi
• Borders Book Store
• Rebel Sport

See also

• Westfield Group
• Chermside

References

External links

• Westfield Chermside home page
• History of Westfield Chermside

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