Chadstone Shopping Centre

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Chadstone Shopping Centre

Location	Malvern East, Victoria, Australia
Coordinates	37°53′9″S 145°4′57″E / 37.88583°S 145.0825°E / -37.88583; 145.0825Coordinates: 37°53′9″S 145°4′57″E / 37.88583°S 145.0825°E / -37.88583; 145.0825
Opening date	October 1960
Developer	Colonial First State Property Management
Management	Colonial First State Property Management
Owner	John Gandel (50%) [2] CFS Retail Property Trust (50%)
No. of stores and services	>530[1]
No. of anchor tenants	11
Total retail floor area	126,258 m² (lettable)
Parking	9500
No. of floors	2 3 in Borders, Myer and David Jones
Website	chadstoneshopping.com.au

Chadstone Shopping Centre (also known as Chaddy to locals [3]) is a super-regional shopping centre located in the inner south-eastern suburb of Malvern East in the city of Melbourne, Australia. It is the biggest shopping centre in the Southern Hemisphere. The centre is one of the oldest and largest shopping centres in Australia, with over 530 stores and over 9500 free car parking spots. The centre boasts major anchor stores such as the Myer and David Jones department stores, Coles, Woolworths and Aldi supermarkets, and Kmart and Target discount department stores as well as a Hoyts cinema multiplex, an AMF bowling alley, a Borders store, an Apple Store, Dick Smith and JB Hi-Fi electronics stores and a majority of fashion specialty stores over other categories, with many high-end labels being tenants of the centre. There are also two office towers located at the southern side of the centre as well as two food courts.

[edit] History

The site of the current shopping centre was once extensive paddocks of the Convent of the Good Shepherd on which cattle grazed until the mid 1950s.

An aerial photograph of the area in which Chadstone Shopping Centre now stands, in 1945, with the current centre perimeter shown in red.

Opened in October 1960, (The Post Office on 3 October 1960)^[2] Chadstone Shopping Centre was the first self-contained regional shopping centre in Melbourne, and the largest ever built in Australia. The centre was built and owned by the Myer Emporium. The original shopping centre consisted of a single mall-way with Myer at the southern end and a Dickins supermarket at the northern end. In 1984 the centre had its first expansion. In 1985 Coles New World was relocated and a Target Discount Department Store was opened. In 1986 a Hoyts 8 Cinema Complex was opened.

In the early 1980s, the Myer Emporium sold the shopping centre to the Gandel Group, which has since managed and developed the complex. A major extension doubled the lettable area in the late 1980s. The Convent of the Good Shepherd was finally demolished to extend the carpark of the complex in this era.

Throughout the 1990s, the complex has undergone numerous developments. These include the development of multi-storey carparks due to the boundaries of the centre being built-up with no further room to expand. Approximately 20% of the original mall structure is left intact with this number to be reduced due to the construction of the West End Mall.

It has remained Australia's largest shopping centre thanks to regular development. Chadstone's main local rivals are Westfield Doncaster, Knox City + Ozone and Westfield Southland in Cheltenham.

[edit] Redevelopment

Exterior view of David Jones from the South-West side.

Chadstone is currently (as of 23 December 2007) undertaking a AUD$100 million upgrade of its own, with the Gandel Group extending Chadstone's lettable area to 190,000 m², which will once again make Chadstone the largest shopping centre in Australia.^[3] The new extension, dubbed 'Chadstone Place', will feature a Woolworths Supermarket, First Choice Liquor, Aldi and a Dick Smith Electronics Concept Store along with an airport-style waiting area bus interchange, two new health clubs (Contours and Fitness First Platinum) and a crèche. On 29 October 2007 the first section of the redevelopment was open. Named "The Loop Mall" it features 44 new stores including a redesigned Jetty Surf and new entrances opposite Kmart and Toys 'R' Us. The current redevelopment has seen almost one quarter of the centre closed, (the oldest section of the centre, from Sportsgirl to Mrs. Field's/Borders, is shut), from 31 May 2008, until late 2009.^[4]

The development also includes redesigning the roads leading into Chadstone to allow for better traffic flow into the centre. Construction commenced early 2007.

On the 22 of August 2009, 50 new shops, including Sportsgirl, Portmans, Esprit, Witchery, were opened. They will be followed by a golden strip of 11 luxury retailers, such as Chanel, Gucci, Louis Vuitton and Prada, all of whom will set up shop in the centre in November.^[5]

Upon completion there will be a total of 500 shops^[6] and 9,500 car spaces, more than any shopping centre in Australia.^[7]

[edit] Revenue and Profit

Chadstone Shopping Centre was the first shopping centre in Australia to have its total worth valued at over A$1 billion. Chadstone Shopping Centre's net income was $970 million in 2004. Its annual profit in (2004) was A$79.03 million , with its entirety of stores gaining an income of A$119.23 million.^[8] In 2004, Chadstone Shopping Centre had an Annual Traffic Movement of 16.7 million moving through the centre.^[8]

In 2007, the annual turnover was A$1 billion, making it the shopping centre in Australia with the highest annual turnover and the first to have an annual turnover of A$1 billion.^[6]

[edit] Transport

The 'Chadstone Corner' entrance, one of the main entrances flanked by bus stops.

Although the centre was created in the era of the motor vehicle, this fact is now severely limiting the growth of the complex. It is surrounded by over 9,500 car parking spaces on three parking levels, and yet it is still notoriously difficult to park there at times. The current upgrade will increase the number of parking spaces even further.

There are concerns from the City of Stonnington and City of Monash Councils and local residents about the motor vehicle congestion around it as well as competition from local street shopping strips. The nearest trains are at the Hughesdale and Oakleigh stations on the Cranbourne/Pakenham lines. Hughesdale is roughly a 10-minute walk from the shopping centre. On the Glen Waverley line is Holmesglen station, which is over a kilometre away down the busy Warrigal Road.

There are also many bus routes that use the shopping centre as an interchange, notably the newly introduced route 903 SmartBus.

In addition cycling access to and around the centre is poor.

[edit] Tenants

Interior view on the ground level looking west towards Myer.

Major tenants include Myer, David Jones, Kmart, Target, Coles, an AMF Bowling Centre, and a Hoyts Cinema Complex featuring 16 theatres (of which 7 are Cinemaxx with stadium seating and 5 include the higher-priced La Premiere seating). The many clothing stores range from globally renowned names like Armani, Ralph Lauren, and Speedo, right down to lesser known labels like Saba.

Major stores include:

• Myer Department Store 1960 - (relocated in the late 1990s to make way for centre expansion)
• David Jones Department Store - late 1990s
• Kmart Discount Department Store - 1995
• Target Discount Department Store - 1985
• Coles Supermarkete - 1982
• JB Hi-Fi
• Hoyts 16 Cinemas December - 1999
• AMF Bowling Centre
• Borders Books
• Dick Smith Electronics
• Apple Store - 13 September 2008
• Woolworths Supermarket - 29 October 2008 (First Safeway store to open/rebranded as Woolworths)
• Aldi - 29 October 2008

Luxury Stores:

• Chanel
• Louis Vuitton
• Prada
• Tiffany & Co
• Gucci
• Burberry
• Jimmy Choo
• Coach
• Ralph Lauren
• Omega
• Hugo Boss
• Miu Miu

Past Major stores include:

• Buckley & Nunn Department Store 1960, later closed.
• Dickins Supermarket 1960 - 1982
• McEwan's Hardware Store 1985 - 1997
• BI-LO Supermarket 1990s - 2006?

[edit] See also

• Malvern East, Victoria

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Chadstone Shopping Centre official website
• November 2002 newspaper article on Chadstone vs. Knox City
• Chadstone Development Discussions - Middle Road Redevelopment: Unofficial News & Photos