Westfield Whitford City

Westfield Whitford City
	View of the Westfield Whitford City sign in front of the northern end of the centre
Coordinates	31°47′47″S 115°44′58″E / 31.796516°S 115.749401°E
Opening date	21 March 1978; 45 years ago
Management	Scentre Group
Owner	Scentre Group
No. of stores and services	280
No. of anchor tenants	6
Total retail floor area	84,759 m2 (912,340 sq ft)
No. of floors	2
Parking	4107
Website	Official website

Westfield Whitford City, formerly Whitford City Shopping Centre, is a major shopping centre located in Hillarys, east of St. Mark's Anglican Community School in Perth, Western Australia. Built in 1977 on the former Red Cattle Ridge site at Marmion Avenue approximately 18 kilometres (11 miles) north of the Perth central business district, the centre is owned by the Scentre Group.

In 2006 the shopping centre had a 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 that area is $2.3 billion.^[1]^[2]

History[edit]

Whitford City opened on 21 March 1978 and had an Aherns department store until 1985, one of Western Australia's first Big W discount department stores, a Woolworths supermarket, and 50 specialty stores. The centre cost $16 million and had a floor area of 22,307 square metres (240,110 sq ft). The centre also had outdoor facilities and a library, and a petrol station was built near the centre shortly after the opening.

Whitford City is currently Perth's largest shopping centre without a flagship department store such as 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), with ownership and management transferring to Scentre Group.^[3]

1989–1990[edit]

In 1985, works were approved for a new redevelopment to the centre to increase the size to 39,447 square metres (424,600 sq ft). This new redevelopment was set to include a relocated Woolworths supermarket, and a new Food Court featuring a McDonald's. The addition of the new food court however, would cause the Aherns department store to be demolished. Since then, Westfield Whitford City has not had a department store such as Myer or David Jones. The redevelopment was completed by 1990.

1991–1993[edit]

Shortly after completion of the previous redevelopment, another redevelopment was approved that increased the floor area of the complex to 52,517 square metres (565,290 sq ft). The new redevelopment included a new Target discount department store, expanded the west side of the mall featuring over 40 specialty stores, and the existing mall was renovated including Big W. In 1993, two new fast food restaurants, a Hungry Jack's and a KFC, were built outside the centre, completing the redevelopment.

1992–1996[edit]

In 1992, construction of a 6-screen cinema complex was approved. The redevelopment was completed in 1996 which included a Greater Union Cinemas, an Intencity arcade and a Lone Star Steakhouse & Saloon. The Greater Union occupied the second floor beside the Food Court.

2001–2004[edit]

In 2001, redevelopment was approved that increased the floor area of the centre to 76,463 square metres (823,040 sq ft). The $80 million redevelopment included the following.

A new mall to the upper-west side of the centre.
A relocated Woolworths supermarket.
A new Fresh Food Market.
A new Rebel and Best & Less mini-major store.
Expanded parking, and fast food restaurants.
Renovations to the entire existing mall.
A new outdoor dining area named the "Piazza" with featured a view onto Whitfords Avenue.

Upon completion of the redevelopment, Greater Union sold their cinema in the centre to Grand Cinemas in 2004, and Whitford City was sold to Westfield which rebranded the centre to Westfield Whitford City and overhauled signage and entrances.

2016–2017[edit]

On 8 July 2016 Scentre Group announced a $80 million redevelopment that focused on the outdoor Piazza and included the following.

A complete demolishing of the existing Piazza and cinema complex.
A new 8-screen Event Cinemas complex featuring two "V-Max" and "Gold Class" screens.
12 new dining restaurants including the first micro-brewery in Western Australia, The Whitfords Brewing Company.
A new iPlay located in the basement floor featuring an arcade and bowling alley.
A relocated Rebel near the Food Court.
An overhauled Fresh Food Market with a renovated Woolworths supermarket.

The redevelopment opened on 20 September 2017, increasing the floor area of the complex to 84,759 square metres (912,340 sq ft), making it the third largest shopping centre in the northern side of Perth, behind Lakeside Joondalup Shopping City and Karrinyup Shopping Centre.

Transport[edit]

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[edit]

The sign of Westfield Whitford City.
The interior of Westfield Whitford City in 2006, where the former Target discount-department store is at the end.
The food court in Westfield Whitford City.
The exterior of the original centre built in 1978, which has been extensively remodeled since.
The former outdoor dining piazza built in 2004 which was recently demolished to make way for a new one.
A north-east view of the centre, showing the old Big W department store.
The former Action Supermarket. Since the closure it became a Progressive Supa IGA, and is currently a Coles supermarket.
An entrance to Westfield Whitford City, which was added shortly after Westfield purchased the centre.
Another entrance to the centre, near Commonwealth Bank.
The entrance to the Big W department store, which has stood in the centre since the opening.
The entrance to the Woolworths supermarket in the Fresh Food Market. Since then, the Woolworths and surrounding area has been refurbished.