Chadstone Shopping Centre
Known as the fashion capital of the fashion capital, Chadstone is the largest shopping centre in the Southern Hemisphere. The centre opened on 3 October 1960 and was the first self contained regional shopping centre in Melbourne. After numerous expansions over the years, it is now the biggest shopping centre in Australia with 129,924m2 of shop floor space, about 530 stores and more than 9300 free car parking spaces.Shopping Centre Website
The centre, known colloquially as Chaddy , 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 featuring 16 theatres (of which 7 are Cinemax with stadium seating and 5 include the higher-priced La Premiere seating), an AMF bowling alley, an Apple Store, Dick Smith and JB Hi-Fi electronics stores and more than 500 specialty stores, of which the majority are fashion-related, including numerous high-end labels.
The many clothing and luxury stores range from global and well renowned names including Louis Vuitton, Chanel, Tiffany & Co, Ralph Lauren, ck Calvin Klein, Pandora, Guess, Levi s, Nike, Country Road, Emporio Armani, Calvin Klein Jeans and Speedo, right down to other labels such as SABA. Its huge variety of stores has turned Chadstone into a magnet for serious shoppers. It attracts as many as 68,000 visitors on its busiest trading days and attracts about 400,000 tourists a year from interstate and 200,000 from overseas.
History: The site of the Chadstone Shopping Centre was once extensive paddocks of the Convent of the Good Shepherd on which cattle grazed until the mid-1950s. The initial 30 acres (12 ha) of land was sold to Myer in March 1958. Chadstone Shopping Centre was the first self-contained regional shopping centre in Melbourne, and the largest built in Australia to that time. The Centre was designed as a car-based centre when this was the norm and it remains highly dependent on cars for customer access. It was built and owned by the Myer Emporium, and marked the transformation of shopping in Australia from the traditional central city and strip-shopping precincts to the now familiar mall-type shopping centre.
The original shopping centre consisted of a single open-air mall with Myer at the southern end and a Dickins supermarket at the northern end; following the US pattern of shopping malls. The first major change was made to the centre in 1967: the mall was roofed over with translucent fibreglass, an acknowledgement that the open mall did not suit the Melbourne climate. During the same period a bowling alley and auditorium were opened, and the Dickens store was altered to be more easily accessed from the mall. In the early 1980s, the Myer Emporium sold the shopping centre to the Gandel Group, which has since managed and developed the complex.
In 1984 the centre had its first expansion: in 1985 Coles New World was relocated and a Target Discount Department Store was opened, and in 1986 a Hoyts 8 Cinema Complex was opened. A major extension doubled the lettable area in the late 1980s, and during the same era the Convent of the Good Shepherd was demolished to extend the carpark of the complex. The last major redevelopment, commencing in early 2007, impacted on almost a quarter of the centre, from 31 May 2008, until November 2009. The development included redesigning the roads leading into Chadstone to allow for better traffic flow into the centre.
The centre s owners have further expansions in their sights which they would like to see include a 180-room hotel and 15,000m2 of offices, to take total floor space to 221,217m2, including 156,924m2 of shop floor space.
Transport: The nearest railway stations are at Hughesdale and Oakleigh on the Cranbourne/Pakenham lines and Holmesglen on the Glen Waverley line. Hughesdale station is about 10 minutes walk from the shopping centre; Holmesglen is about 30 minutes. 14 bus routes serive the Centre, many connecting with those stations.
For visitors to Melbourne, Chadstone offers a free fashion bus service from the city centre that includes special offers at more than 200 stores.
Location: Chadstone Shopping Centre, 1341 Dandenong Road, Chadstone VIC
