[Photo by Owen]
Normally I am one who tries to avoid worshipping at Belconnen’s Grand High Temple to Consumerism. Tonight, however, it would seem that the fates (and a wife desperate to get the Christmas shopping out of the way) conspired against me, and so it was that I found myself joining the throng of Friday night shoppers. The crowds seemed a little larger and enthusiastic than I would have expected for a typical Friday night.
Christmas? I wondered.
Possibly.
But, it would seem that the crowds were out in force tonight to see the newly opened arm of the centre.
From what I can gather, we seem to have a new Aldi, the Dan (Jim??) Murphy’s has moved (unless they have added a second one?) and there seems to be a new coffee shop that has some comfy sofas to sit on (maybe its not new, but I haven’t noticed it before). There is a fruit and vege store. Otherwise, it seems to mostly be boarded-up shop fronts that proclaim the future arrival of “lifestyle shops”. There is a new escalator with a large area where you can look out a window and view the carpark (which is huge and, despite the heaving masses, had swathes of empty spots). The bus station is directly accessible from the shopping centre.
As I said, I’m not a huge fan of the Westfield style super-mall that has come to dominate our retail landscape. Nonetheless, the prols who were wondering around, slack-jawed and wide-eyed, seemed to be impressed by the changes.
So. What do we all think of the new extension?
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Has anybody else noticed how narrow the walkways are upstairs in the new section. it is going to be terrible trying to get though there when the shops open.
vg said :
Oh ha, ha, ha, VG. Very funny……
Anyway, you miss the point entirely — the point being “a few weeks away” does not equate to “just around the corner” in my book.
I haven’t seen the new mall yet, but will be up there next week for a meeting. sounds to me that it is so much better than the hyperdome, with the new stores closing nearly every day.
Mr Gillespie said :
They have their own car parks but you have to pay for them.
People park there then move their car every 3 hours.
Mr Gillespie said :
Isn’t every time a female news presenter appears on TV Xmas for you?
colourful sydney racing identity said :
What do you mean Christmas is RAPIDLY approaching? Come on, it’s still WEEKS away!!
My wife tells me that Borders is going in where Dan Murphy was.
I have just been to the new section of Belconnen mall, I agree with most people about the unevenness of the floor throughout the centre. But the new section is nice, Bread top seems to be a big big winner I could not believe how busy it was. I tried a couple of items and they were great. I don’t like how much packaging they use, it slows them down in serving people and does seem wasteful. I was keen to get in and check out Ziggy’s Garden Fresh’s Organic section that I read about in the paper a couple of weeks back, the section is a bit of a fizzer. They only seem to stock avocados, tomatoes and potatoes and the prices were the highest I’ve seen for Organics. They also had a small section of organic tinned goods that also seemed over priced.
Now that Dan Murphy’s has moved down stairs does anybody know who will be taking over that large shop upstairs? I noticed that Harris Scaf (allens) is advertising for staff in Belconnen but I thought they were going in the new section near Dick Smith and Target.
GBT said :
When I’m in Perth for Christmas I always do my shopping at about 3pm on Christmas Eve – the shops are practically deserted. Not so much here, due to the early knock-off for public servants, but there’s still something to be said for leaving it until a bit closer to the day.
Mr Waffle said :
I have been waiting for ages for these stores. Maybe the 20 minute Westfield survey that I did about a year ago paid off. I demanded for these 2 stores come to Westfield Belconnen!!
Glancing down this morning from level three (where the uneven concrete dominates) down to level two I noticed the slippery new tiles have now been covered over by long strips of carpet!
I went to the Canberra Centre on Friday and the Dendy car park, where there would normally be plenty of space on the second level, had the first three levels practically full.
If there’s one thing people love, it’s getting their Christmas shopping done early to “beat the rush.” Hah! Not likely.
They’d have to pay if they stayed more than 3 hours wouldn’t they?
Don’t those public service departments have their own carparks??
Mr Gillespie said :
Calm down and stop yelling. Are you really surprised that a shopping centre carpark would be full when there has just been a major refurb and xmas is rapidly approaching?
If you could not anticipate that, you are not equipped with the appropriate powers to drive and should immediately hand in your licence.
Mr Gillespie said :
Several public service departments are located near by, What more do you expect ?
I am already aware of the alternative, Racing Identity — the nearest bus stop is a 1km walk through the pouring rain.
Just pointing out what a ridiculous waste of time and money upgrading the carpark seems to have turned out. BAD IMPRESSION for their first days. What a joke!!
Mr Gillespie said :
We have this thing called public transport. try it.
Rangi said :
I’m surprised it took 20 posts before someone bit.
Oh, and if you wanna go to this nice new Westfield DON’T BOTHER TRYING TO FIND A PARK because despite the nice big new carpark, the f&*ken thing is FULL, EVEN ON A MONDAY, WHAT IS WRONG WITH PEOPLE AND PARKING??? It just seems to be getting worse and worse!!!!!!!!!
Shopping malls are like Harvey Norman: Middle-class catnip. (I say this as a former disciple of the church of Westfield Belconnen.)
I completely understand the draw of the mall, but even with the expansion/renovation I need to have exhausted all other avenues of retail supply before I will set foot in the place these days – and even then the crowd of consumer zombies makes me want to reach for a crowbar.