Westfield Belconnen
Encyclopedia
Canberra
Canberra is the capital city of Australia. With a population of over 345,000, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth-largest city overall. The city is located at the northern end of the Australian Capital Territory , south-west of Sydney, and north-east of Melbourne...
suburb of Belconnen
Belconnen, Australian Capital Territory
Belconnen is a suburb of Canberra, Australia in the district of Belconnen. It contains the Belconnen Town Centre, Lake Ginninderra and several residential areas. It is bounded by Ginninderra Drive, Aikman Drive, Eastern Valley Way, Belconnen Way and Coulter Drive...
, Australia. The shopping centre is one of the largest in Canberra, featuring around 270 specialty stores.
Westfield Belconnen is serviced by ACTION
ACTION
ACTION is a public bus service operating in Canberra, ACT, Australia. It is operated by the ACT Department of Territory and Municipal Services...
buses. The Westfield bus station is on the corner of Lathlain Street and Cohen Street with direct access into the centre. Westfield Belconnen provides commuters with an indoor bus lounge with free WiFi
WIFI
WIFI is a radio station broadcasting a brokered format. Licensed to Florence, New Jersey, USA, the station is currently operated by Florence Broadcasting Partners, LLC.This station was previously owned by Real Life Broadcasting...
provided by Westfield. 4 large carparks (Red, Blue, Yellow and Green) are accessible via Benjamin Way, Emu Bank, Lathlain Street, Joynton Smith Drive and Cohen Street.
Carparks
- Red - previously called Lakeside Carpark. 3 levels aligning to Centre entrances. Entry gained off Benjamin Way and via Yellow Carpark.
- Blue - Previously called Southern Carpark, or Myer car park. 3 Levels aligning to Centre entrances. Entry off Benjamin Way and via Green Carpark.
- Green - Underneath Hoyts. Ground level, however aligned with Level 2 of the centre. Entry off Cohen Street or via Yellow car park.
- Yellow - Fresh food. 2 Levels - 2 and 3 aligning with centre entries. Entry gained via Joynton Smith Drive, Emu Bank/Luxton Street, Lathlain Street and via Red and Green car park.
The car parks offer 3 hours free per vehicle per day. Westfield Belconnen uses SKIDATA APT 450 access control technologies in the car parks.
Major Stores
- Target
- 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...
- KmartKmart AustraliaKmart Australia Limited is a discount department store chain owned by Wesfarmers. It operates 172 stores in Australia and 15 in New Zealand, with its head office located in Mulgrave, Victoria. Wesfarmers uses the Kmart name under licence from Sears Holdings Corporation.-History:Kmart Australia...
- Woolworths
- ColesColes 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...
- AldiALDIALDI Einkauf GmbH & Co. oHG, doing business as ', short for "Albrecht Discount", is a discount supermarket chain based in Germany...
- Crazy John'sCrazy John'sCrazy John's is a mobile phone retail chain in Australia started by late Turkish/Australian businessman John Ilhan. Crazy John's is the largest independent phone retailer in Australia, employing more than 700 people with over 120 retail stores. Following his death, Mr Ilhan's wife Patricia sold...
- Toys "R" Us
- Dick Smith ElectronicsDick Smith ElectronicsDick Smith is an international electronics retailer, founded in 1968 by Richard "Dick" Smith. Today, it is a subsidiary of Woolworths Limited, incorporating Tandy, and the remaining Dick Smith Powerhouse Stores...
- JB Hi-FiJB Hi-FiJB Hi-Fi is an Australian CD, DVD, Blu-ray disc, video game and consumer electronics chain store.-History:JB Hi-Fi was established in Melbourne suburb of Keilor East by John Barbuto in 1974...
- Dan Murphy'sDan Murphy'sDan Murphy's is an Australian big box liquor supermarket chain owned by Woolworths Limited, who also owns BWS, another liquor chain with smaller stores.-History:...
- Dymocks
- Hot Dollar
- Best & Less
- The Reject ShopThe Reject ShopThe Reject Shop is an Australian discount variety store chain. Founded in 1981 as a "seconds" store in South Yarra, Victoria, the company currently operates over 190 stores in Victoria, South Australia, New South Wales, Western Australia, Queensland, Tasmania and Australian Capital Territory...
- PricelinePriceline (Australia)Priceline is a health and beauty retailer with stores in every state and territory in Australia. The Priceline brand has two store types; a traditional Priceline and Priceline Pharmacy. As of March 2010 there were over 330 Priceline branded stores throughout Australia...
- Rebel Sport
- HoytsHoytsThe Hoyts Group is an Australian company consisting of Hoyts Exhibition, Hoyts Distribution and Val Morgan.Hoyts Exhibition manages 450 screens across 40 Australian and 10 New Zealand cinema complexes; making it Australia's second largest cinema chain. Val Morgan, the cinema advertising arm of the...
- IntencityIntencityIntencity is a chain of video arcades owned by Australian company Village Roadshow Limited, with arcade locations in most states of Australia. The chain was originally launched in 1995 as part of a venture called Village Nine Leisure ....
- 200+ speciality stores
History
December 1975 - The bulk earthworks on the site for the Belconnen Mall were commenced.September 1976 - Construction of the $24 million Belconnen Mall commenced for the Canberra Commercial Development Authority.
August 1977 - The final concrete was poured in stage-1 of the Belconnen Mall construction.
February 1978 - First day of trading following the completion of stage-1 construction and the initial fit out of the Belconnen Mall. The Mall was designed by Cameron, Chisholm & Nicol and built by the joint venture partnership of T. H. O’Connor Pty. Ltd. and Costain Australia Limited for the Canberra Commercial Development Authority and was irreverently referred to as “Pead’s Palace”.
July 1978 - Stage-2 of the Belconnen Mall; featuring the “Centre Stage area”, a spiral staircase, a 23-person glass lift and an additional 60 traders was opened.
October 1978 - With the final stage of the initial Belconnen Mall construction completed, the centre was officially opened by the Minister for the Capital Territory, Robert Paul (Bob) Ellicott. The Belconnen Mall was branded as "The Big One" as at the time it was the largest shopping centre in the Southern Hemisphere
Southern Hemisphere
The Southern Hemisphere is the part of Earth that lies south of the equator. The word hemisphere literally means 'half ball' or "half sphere"...
, complete with the second 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 in the world. Belconnen Mall boasts Canberra's first Travelators (in lieu of escalators), Canberra's first multi-storey car parks and is a favourable design of the decade.
1980 - An integral link in the elevated pedestrian network between the bus interchange and Belconnen Mall, the Belconnen Churches Centre on the corner of Benjamin Way and Joynton Smith Drive was completed.
August 1981 - Athol Williams of the Shop, Distributive and Allied Employees’ Association met, in the original Belconnen Mall Childcare Centre, with employees of the retail establishments in the Mall to discuss the divisive issue of retail trading hours.
December 1985 - An agreement was reached between the Commonwealth Government, the Canberra Commercial Development Authority and a prospective purchaser for the sale of the Belconnen Mall.
February - March 1986 - The Minister for Territories, Gordon Glen Denton Scholes, by notice in the Commonwealth gazette of this date, abolished the Canberra Commercial Development Authority (operators of the Belconnen Mall).
The Commonwealth Government completed the 87 million dollar sale, agreered to in December 1985, of the Belconnen Mall to the joint venture partnership of the Commonwealth Superannuation Fund Investment Trust and the Westfield Trust (Westfield Property Group).
1989 - Refurbishment of Westfield Shoppingtown (the former Belconnen Mall) commenced.
May 1995 - The Westfield Shoppingtown (formerly the Belconnen Mall) commenced construction of a $14 million entertainment complex including a ten-screen cinema complex, interactive indoor games site (Intencity), variety stores and restaurants.
2009 - Construction begins on the replacement of the mall's original Travelators.
2009 - Expansion of the mall has begun.
2010 - Westfield expansion of Fresh Food opens along with the Yellow car park
31 March 2011 - Unveiling of the "Beautiful new Belconnen" - major refurbishments in the existing centre and opening of new stores including a Target.