Westfield Southland
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| Location | Cheltenham, Victoria, Australia |
|---|---|
| Opening date | September 1967 |
| Management | Westfield Group |
| Owner | Jointly Owned: |
| No. of stores and services | 487 [1] |
| Total retail floor area | ~132,824 m² [2] |
| No. of floors | 3 |
| Parking | 6000 |
| Website | www.westfield.com/southland |
Southland Shopping Centre, also known as Westfield Southland, is a large retail complex located in the suburb of Cheltenham, approximately 16 kilometres from the Melbourne CBD in Australia. Southland's floor area of 128,000 m² makes it the fourth largest shopping centre in Melbourne and the fifth largest in Australia. Southland has the 2nd highest number of shops in a shopping centre in the Southern hemisphere, behind Westfield Parramatta.
History
Southland was one of Melbourne's premier shopping centres at the time of its opening in 1968. It was quite a small shopping centre with only a few stores such as a Myer department store, Woolworths supermarket, and a special roof garden.
During Southland's history, many renovations and facelifts have shaped the centre, such as the first expansion in 1987 and the development of a Village Cinemas complex and food court in 1990.
In March 1998, a major upgrade commenced with an expansion of the centre to an additional site across the Nepean Highway, via a bridge with shops on it. The former cinemas and food court were demolished, and the wide, multi-level pedestrian bridge was added, linking the old core of the centre to the former Cheltenham Market site on the other side of the highway. During this time, the Myer anchor moved from the original to the new site. Construction also included a new larger cinema complex and a youth-oriented mall called The Street, which opened in April 1999. The development was completed by late 1999.
Majors
It features 3 department stores, 3 discount department stores, 3 supermarkets, 2 electrical (computers, television etc) retailers and a 16 screen Village Cinemas multiplex. The majors include:
- David Jones department store
- Harris Scarfe department store
- Myer department store
- Big W discount department store, which is one of the largest in Australia
- Kmart discount department store
- Target discount department store
- Safeway supermarket
- Coles supermarket
- Bi-Lo supermarket
- Dick Smith Electronics Powerhouse electrical store
- Harvey Norman electrical store
- Village Cinemas 16 screen cinema multiplex
Southland in Film and Television
A large number of scenes for the Seven Network soapie Kath & Kim are filmed at Southland. In the programme the centre is designated as Fountain Gate Shopping Centre, where some of the shopping scenes are also filmed.
Multiple Stores
Southland, due to its large size, features multiple instances of food outlets within its confines. For example, there are three Gloria Jean's stores and Donut King kiosks and two Muffin Break stores that service separate sections.
There are also two Angus & Robertson bookstores and two McDonald's stores.