The Myer Centre, Brisbane
Encyclopedia
Queen Street Mall, Brisbane
The Queen Street Mall is a pedestrian mall on Queen Street in the centre of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.It is Brisbane's predominant retail district, featuring shopping centres, hotels, restaurant and coffee shops, cinemas, clothing, music, jewellery and book stores, newsagencies, and banks...
and Elizabeth Street
Elizabeth Street, Brisbane
Elizabeth Street in Brisbane, Australia is a major street in the centre of the city. The street was established at the beginning of settlement in Brisbane as a penal colony...
in Brisbane
Brisbane
Brisbane is the capital and most populous city in the Australian state of Queensland and the third most populous city in Australia. Brisbane's metropolitan area has a population of over 2 million, and the South East Queensland urban conurbation, centred around Brisbane, encompasses a population of...
, Queensland
Queensland
Queensland is a state of Australia, occupying the north-eastern section of the mainland continent. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Australia and New South Wales to the west, south-west and south respectively. To the east, Queensland is bordered by the Coral Sea and Pacific Ocean...
, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
. It is an nine-floor shopping complex which includes Queensland's largest Myer
Myer
Myer is Australia's largest department store chain, retailing a broad range of merchandise including women's, men's and children's clothing, footwear and accessories; cosmetics and fragrance; homewares; electrical; furniture and bedding; toys; books and stationery; food and confectionery; and...
department store, and is open to the public seven days a week. The Myer Centre has the added benefit of being the hub for the Brisbane CBD. Most buses originate and end near or under the Myer Centre. The Myer Centre Car Park is also one of the largest car parks in the heart of the city with easy access to everything in the city.
Stores
The Myer Centre is home to approximately 170 stores including:- 4 Level MyerMyerMyer is Australia's largest department store chain, retailing a broad range of merchandise including women's, men's and children's clothing, footwear and accessories; cosmetics and fragrance; homewares; electrical; furniture and bedding; toys; books and stationery; food and confectionery; and...
department store - Coles SupermarketColes SupermarketsColes Supermarkets is an Australian supermarket chain owned by Wesfarmers. It has 741 stores nationally Coles Supermarkets is an Australian supermarket chain owned by Wesfarmers. It has 741 stores nationally Coles Supermarkets is an Australian supermarket chain owned by Wesfarmers. It has 741...
- 2 Level TargetTarget (Australia)Target Australia Pty Ltd is an Australian department store chain owned by Wesfarmers . It operates 172 Target stores and 119 Target Country stores making 291 combined stores with its head office located in North Geelong, Victoria. It sells clothing, cosmetics, toys, homewares, electrical and...
- ABC ShopAustralian Broadcasting CorporationThe Australian Broadcasting Corporation, commonly referred to as "the ABC" , is Australia's national public broadcaster...
- Mind Games (a chess, board game, jigsaw and puzzle store)
- Australian GeographicAustralian GeographicThe Australian Geographic is a quarterly geographical magazine-style journal created by Dick Smith in 1985. It focuses mainly on stories about Australia, or about Australian people in other countries...
shop - Lowes MenswearLowes MenswearLowes Menswear is an Australian menswear chain established in 1898. They primarily sell workwear, suits, clothes for larger men, and schoolwear. Lowes has recently added ladieswear, surfwear, and boyswear....
- Best and LessBest and LessBest & Less Pty Ltd is an Australian retailer of clothing and household linens.-History:Best & Less was founded by Berel Ginges, and opened its first store in Mascot, New South Wales on 27 May 1965.In April 1998, Best & Less was acquired by Pepkor...
- NewsagenciesNewsagentA newsagent's shop , newsagency or newsstand is a business that sells newspapers, magazines, cigarettes, snacks and often items of local interest. In Britain and Australia, these businesses are termed newsagents...
- Pharmacies
- Food court (including StarbucksStarbucksStarbucks Corporation is an international coffee and coffeehouse chain based in Seattle, Washington. Starbucks is the largest coffeehouse company in the world, with 17,009 stores in 55 countries, including over 11,000 in the United States, over 1,000 in Canada, over 700 in the United Kingdom, and...
) - Shanghai Noodle House
- Book shops, computer shops
- Electrical goods stores
- Razor shop
- Souvenir shops
- Birch Carroll & Coyle cinema complex
- Oxfam Shop
Layout
- Level S (named after the former Sizzler restaurant): no longer open to the general public
- Level T (Lower Target level): TargetTarget (Australia)Target Australia Pty Ltd is an Australian department store chain owned by Wesfarmers . It operates 172 Target stores and 119 Target Country stores making 291 combined stores with its head office located in North Geelong, Victoria. It sells clothing, cosmetics, toys, homewares, electrical and...
- Level A (Albert Street entrance): Queen Street bus station, TargetTarget (Australia)Target Australia Pty Ltd is an Australian department store chain owned by Wesfarmers . It operates 172 Target stores and 119 Target Country stores making 291 combined stores with its head office located in North Geelong, Victoria. It sells clothing, cosmetics, toys, homewares, electrical and...
, food court - Level E (Elizabeth Street entrance): Coles CentralColes SupermarketsColes Supermarkets is an Australian supermarket chain owned by Wesfarmers. It has 741 stores nationally Coles Supermarkets is an Australian supermarket chain owned by Wesfarmers. It has 741 stores nationally Coles Supermarkets is an Australian supermarket chain owned by Wesfarmers. It has 741...
, food court, specialty stores - Level Q (Queen Street entrance): MyerMyerMyer is Australia's largest department store chain, retailing a broad range of merchandise including women's, men's and children's clothing, footwear and accessories; cosmetics and fragrance; homewares; electrical; furniture and bedding; toys; books and stationery; food and confectionery; and...
, specialty stores - Level 1 (first floor above any street level): MyerMyerMyer is Australia's largest department store chain, retailing a broad range of merchandise including women's, men's and children's clothing, footwear and accessories; cosmetics and fragrance; homewares; electrical; furniture and bedding; toys; books and stationery; food and confectionery; and...
, LincraftLincraftLincraft is a retail chain in Australia that specialises in the sale of homewares, including crafts, material, and patterns. As of May 2009, it has 44 locations around Australia.Lincraft was founded in 1938 by Leo Ross as a stall shop in Melbourne....
, specialty stores - Level 2 (second floor above street levels): MyerMyerMyer is Australia's largest department store chain, retailing a broad range of merchandise including women's, men's and children's clothing, footwear and accessories; cosmetics and fragrance; homewares; electrical; furniture and bedding; toys; books and stationery; food and confectionery; and...
, LincraftLincraftLincraft is a retail chain in Australia that specialises in the sale of homewares, including crafts, material, and patterns. As of May 2009, it has 44 locations around Australia.Lincraft was founded in 1938 by Leo Ross as a stall shop in Melbourne....
, Best and LessBest and LessBest & Less Pty Ltd is an Australian retailer of clothing and household linens.-History:Best & Less was founded by Berel Ginges, and opened its first store in Mascot, New South Wales on 27 May 1965.In April 1998, Best & Less was acquired by Pepkor...
, MedicareMedicare (Australia)Medicare is Australia's publicly funded universal health care system, operated by the government authority Medicare Australia. Medicare is intended to provide affordable treatment by doctors and in public hospitals for all resident citizens and permanent residents except for those on Norfolk Island...
, Oxfam Shop - Level 3 (third floor above street levels): MyerMyerMyer is Australia's largest department store chain, retailing a broad range of merchandise including women's, men's and children's clothing, footwear and accessories; cosmetics and fragrance; homewares; electrical; furniture and bedding; toys; books and stationery; food and confectionery; and...
(accessed from within store only), Birch Carroll & Coyle cinemas - Level 4 (fourth floor above street levels): MyerMyerMyer is Australia's largest department store chain, retailing a broad range of merchandise including women's, men's and children's clothing, footwear and accessories; cosmetics and fragrance; homewares; electrical; furniture and bedding; toys; books and stationery; food and confectionery; and...
(accessed from within store only) - Roof: Centre Management
History
A MyerMyer
Myer is Australia's largest department store chain, retailing a broad range of merchandise including women's, men's and children's clothing, footwear and accessories; cosmetics and fragrance; homewares; electrical; furniture and bedding; toys; books and stationery; food and confectionery; and...
store originally extended from Queen Street to Adelaide Street, from the early 1900s, before The Myer Centre shopping complex opened in April 1988 (just in time for Brisbane's World Expo '88
Expo '88
World Expo 88, also known as Expo '88, was a World's Fair held in Brisbane, the state capital of Queensland, Australia, during a six-month period between Saturday, 30 April 1988 and Sunday, 30 October 1988...
). In November 1998 it was purchased by Gandel Retail Trust for $371 million, making it the second largest property transaction in Australia's history at that time.
The construction project by the Remm Group Pty Ltd went for 18 months, and required excavation of 375,000 cubic metres of earth, to a depth of 22 metres (eight metres below the Brisbane River
Brisbane River
The Brisbane River is the longest river in south east Queensland, Australia, and flows through the city of Brisbane, before emptying into Moreton Bay. John Oxley was the first European to explore the river who named it after the Governor of New South Wales, Thomas Brisbane in 1823...
level), which was the largest urban excavation in Australia at that time.
Previously located on the site was four historic buildings of the Hotel Carlton (1885), New York Hotel (1860), Newspaper House, from which the Brisbane Telegraph was first published, and the Barry and Roberts department store. Using facadism
Facadism
Façadism is the practice of demolishing a building but leaving its facade intact for the purposes of building new structures in it or around it....
, the facades of those buildings have been retained and restored.
The area where the cinemas now are was originally used as a fun park called 'Tops'. It was closed down and demolished in 2000, with the fun park parts sold off. The fun park comprised various small shops, an amusement centre, a 'swing ship', a 'dragon train' and a 'ferris wheel'. When the theme park was operating, screams of excitement and terror could be heard from the patrons of both the swing ship and the dragon train.
In the past, the centre's tenants included fairly substantial nightclubs. In the early 1990s, the basement area (subsequently occupied by Sizzler
Sizzler
Sizzler is a United States-based restaurant chain with headquarters in Culver City, California. The chain serves steak, seafood, and salad , as well as similar items.-History:...
) hosted "The Funkyard", a nightspot with an emphasis on the "alternative" guitar rock of the era. The Funkyard hosted live gigs; for example, the U.S. band Destroy All Monsters played there, with Ron Asheton of the Stooges on guitar. Another former tenant of the centre which played host to live music was the "Metropolis" nightclub, adjacent to the bus tunnel on Level "A", near the place now occupied by glamour photography shop "Starshots". Irish "shoegaze" band My Bloody Valentine played at Metropolis in 1991, supported by Straitjacket Fits (from New Zealand) and the Underground Lovers.
Bus
Queen Street Bus Station on the Albert StreetAlbert Street, Brisbane
Albert Street is a road in Brisbane, Australia. It was named after Prince Albert, the Prince Consort of Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom, and it runs between George Street and Edward Street, and from Alice Street to Wickham Terrace....
level of the complex.
Train
The Myer Centre is also within easy walking distance of three train stations:- Central StationCentral railway station, BrisbaneCentral railway station is, as the name suggests, the central railway station for the Queensland Rail City network in the Brisbane central business district, the state capital of Queensland, Australia...
- South Brisbane StationSouth Brisbane railway station, BrisbaneSouth Brisbane Station is a railway station in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. It is part of the Queensland Rail City network and is located in Zone 1 of the TransLink integrated public transport system...
- Roma Street StationRoma Street railway station, BrisbaneRoma Street railway station is a major railway station in the Brisbane central business district, the state capital of Queensland, Australia. It was Brisbane's first railway station, opening in 1876...
.