The final stage of Scentre Group’s $790 million redevelopment of Westfield Newmarket in Auckland opened on Thursday, with David Jones, Country Road, Cos and Dr. Martens among the retailers opening new stores in time for Christmas.
Fifty new stores in total opened their doors today, including a 7000sqm David Jones department store, a Country Road flagship, a Forever New store and the country’s first Cos, Dr. Martens, HypeDC and Politix stores. Other international retailers to open today include Maje and Sandro Paris.
To celebrate the launch, David Jones is gifting $50 vouchers to the first 50 customers to walk through its doors, and customers who spend $100 or more receive a free tote designed by one of three New Zealand designers – Karen Walker, Deadly Ponies or Kate Sylvester – while stocks last.
Sustainable design, community connection
The Country Road flagship is the first retail store in New Zealand to target a five-star Green Star rating from the New Zealand Green Building Council. The store design includes several sustainable elements, such as parquetry flooring reclaimed from old buildings, fitting room hooks revitalised from ocean plastic, curtains made from recycled polyester, fixtures and tables made from recycled plastic and wool wall hangings salvaged from leftover yarn.
Country Road has already received five-star Green Star ratings for its Chadstone flagship, which features many of the same design elements as the Newmarket store, and its warehouse facility in Australia.
Other openings across the centre today include Majestic Tea Bar, Whitcoulls, Specsavers, Life Pharmacy, Phone Zone, The Beauty Bar and Parlour, Just Cuts and Shaver Shop, as well as several food retailers. These include The Market, a unique fresh food setting incorporating New Zealand’s best produce, Taiping, Bird on a Wire, Red Rabbit Coffee Co, St Pierre’s K10 Sushi Train and Bowl and Arrow.
The completion of the redevelopment demonstrates Scentre Group’s commitment to listening to customers and delivering what they want in a Living Centre experience, according to Scentre Group’s chief operating officer Greg Miles.
“Our purpose as an organisation is to create extraordinary places, connecting and enriching communities. We do this by staying focused on what our customers want and curating the best mix of retail products, services and experiences,” Miles said in a statement.
While construction of the centre is now complete, there are still several openings in the works. An H&M store is set to open on December 12, an Event Cinema featuring Vmax and Gold Class is due to open in January and a luxury precinct housing more than 20 luxury and international brands is set to open later in 2020.
