Westfield Whitford City
Westfield Whitford City is a major shopping centre located in Hillarys, east of St. Mark's Anglican Community School in Perth,Western Australia. The centre is owned by the Westfield Group. It is located approximately 18 kilometres (11 miles) north west of the Perth CBD on Marmion Avenue. The shopping centre was built on the former Red Cattle Ridge site in 1977. In 2006, the shopping centre had an annual turnover of $395.4 million and approximately 7.2 million customer visits. The trade-area population surrounding the shopping location is about 224,410 and the total retail spending in trade area is $2.3 billion.[1][2]
 The entrance of Westfield Whitford City | |
| |
| Location | Hillarys, Western Australia, Australia |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 31°47′50″S 115°45′00″E |
| Opening date | 21 March 1978 |
| Management | Scentre Group |
| Owner | Scentre Group |
| No. of stores and services | 299 |
| No. of anchor tenants | 4 |
| Total retail floor area | 76,463 m2 |
| No. of floors | 1 |
| Parking | 4165 |
| Website | westfield |
History and development
Whitford City opened on 21 March 1978. The former department-store chain Aherns had an outlet at Whitford City until 1985. Whitford City is currently Perth's largest shopping centre without a flagship department store, such as a Myer or David Jones. The shopping centre has officially been part of the Westfield Group since 2004 and is currently home to over 240 speciality stores. In July 2014, the Westfield Group became two companies, Scentre Group and Westfield Corporation. The centre is now owned and managed by Scentre Group.[3]
Redevelopments
in 1989, development commenced on a major extension to the centre. The redevelopment was completed in 1990, and included an extension on the far west side of the centre, including a Target discount department store. In 1993, two new fast food restaurants, Hungry Jack's and KFC opened, along with roof-top parking going along Target and the west side of the mall.
In 1996, a Grand Cinemas complex called Prithis, and a now closed Intencity video arcade were added to the centre. A year later in 1997, the cinema was rebranded to Greater Union, making it the third one in Western Australia. While Westfield Whitford City has been gradually upgraded over the years, the most extensive development occurred between 2002 and 2004. The centre was expanded to about twice its original size and over 100 new stores were added to the centre. Woolworths was relocated to the far west of the centre and a new Best & Less store was built. Along with that, the cinema was once again rebranded as Grand Cinemas, along with Joondalup. A new fresh food mall and restaurant precinct called The Piazza, which was located on top of the Dampier Avenue entrance, were both added. Upon completion, the centre was re-branded as part of the Westfield Shopping Centre Group.
Another major development occurred in 2016-2017. Construction started around August 2016 and added a fully refurbished Al Fresco dining area where the Piazza was. The dining area includes 10 dining outlets with one bar. The development also included an 8 screen Event Cinemas complex replacing Grand Cinemas. The new cinema complex has four basic screens, two VMAX screens and 2 Gold Class screens. The development was completed on 21 September 2017 and had a total cost of $80 million.
In June 2019, a new Aldi supermarket was announced to open in the centre, in between the Fresh Food Market and Target. It opened on October 7, 2020.
On January 13, 2021, it was announced that Target would close it's Whitford City store by mid-2021 after over 30 years. The store would be converted into a Kmart by Mid-2021.
Major Tenants
Current Stores
- BIG W - Discount Department Store, opened in 1978 with the centre
- Target - Discount Department Store, opened in 1990 as part of a redevelopment. Set to be replaced by Kmart in mid 2021
- Woolworths - Supermarket, opened in 1978 with the centre
- Coles - Supermarket, opened in 2012, replacing IGA
- Event Cinemas - Cinema, opened in 2017 along with a redevelopment to the outdoor dining piazza
- ALDI - Supermarket, opened in 2020 taking some space formerly occupied by Target
- Rebel - Sports Store, opened in 2004, with the new redevelopment. It then moved to a larger location near the Food Court in 2016
- Best & Less - Discount Fashion Store, opened in 2004 as part of the new redevelopment
Former Stores
- Bunnings Warehouse - Warehouse, opened in 2000, opposite the shopping centre. The store was later acquired by Westfield. The store closed in August 2020.
- Aherns - Department Store, opened in 1978 along with the centre. The store closed in the late 80s
- Greater Union and Grand Cinemas - Cinemas, Greater Union was introduced in 1997, but was rebranded into Grand Cinemas in 2004, following a deal between the two cinemas. Grand Cinemas closed in 2016 due to an unknown reason involving the new redevelopment. Event Cinemas (Formerly Greater Union) took over the space.
- Progressive Supa IGA - Supermarket, opened in 2006, formerly Action Supermarket. Has since been replaced by Coles
- Lincraft - Opened in 2004, closed in January 2021.
Upcoming Stores
- Kmart - To open in Mid-2021. Was announced on January 13, 2021 as another wave of Target stores in Australia would be converted into Kmart stores, following the retailers struggle.
- The Reject Shop - To open in 2021. Was announced late 2020 being located near the Food Court.
- David Jones - Currently put on hold. Was announced in 2008, with an opening year in 2012, but was then shelved in 2014. It was then announced again in 2017, but has since been put on hold again.
Future
After stage 1 of the most recent redevelopment opened on 21 September 2017, a second stage of redevelopment was confirmed. Stage 2 is expected to be completed in the next few years.
Previously, David Jones had announced in 2008 that the company would open a 13,500 m2 (145,000 sq ft) two-level store within the centre complex in early 2012 as part of a proposed $200 million redevelopment of Whitford City. According to initial development plans presented by the company, the store would be located in a reconfigured space where Progressive IGA formerly existed, and the area surrounding the existing Big W would be reconfigured. Although the store did not eventuate, the stage 2 redevelopment was expected include a David Jones department store based on an agreement with the company to open 3 new David Jones stores in all Westfield shopping centres in Western Australia from 2017. In 2019, it was confirmed that David Jones would be shelved once again with development shifting towards another retailer to be announced soon.[4][5]
Transport
The centre is bounded by the major roads of Marmion Avenue and Whitfords Avenue in Hillarys. Bus routes 460, 461 and 462 also service the centre from the Whitfords railway station and Joondalup railway station.
Gallery
The sign of Westfield Whitford City.
The interior of Westfield Whitford City, where the Target department store is at the end.
The food court in Westfield Whitford City.
References
- "City of Joondalup - Westfield Whitford City". Retrieved 15 August 2020.
- "Hemp Harvests: Brand Identity". Autumn.Studio. Retrieved 15 August 2020.
- Condon, Turi (20 June 2014). "Westfield restructure a success: Lowy". The Australian Business Review. Retrieved 14 October 2014.
- http://www.davidjones.com.au/images/corp/pdf/New_&_Refurbished_Stores_Slides.pdf Archived 12 September 2009 at the Wayback Machine
- https://www.google.com/search?q=westfield+whitfords&rlz=1C1CHBF_en-gbAU818AU818&oq=westfiel&aqs=chrome.0.69i59l2j69i57j69i60l2j69i59.1267j0j7&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8&safe=active&ssui=on#lpqa=d,3,a,AIe9_BHVBnWjBJvk55vq2QEm0wl-_NlBhzjX_u0gOLSfYF0nVALSUpLM-ruuGL-8q_U1TVqSsaqLZd_RG459IZ0UhFMA0OCNcumGRoloYlnsRU2G-ibK3th4MNQMWw9tXASOyEmiPdrj }}