Hornsby Westfield: City Beach shuts doors along with string of other shops
Residents are up in arms over the recent closure of stores at Westfield Hornsby which has left it looking bare, including surf style clothing store City Beach.
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A string of popular stores have recently closed at Westfield Hornsby which has sparked concern among residents.
It comes after Myer shut its doors in January marking the end of an era for the retail giant with the likes of City Beach, Jo Mercer, Gelatissimo, Jamaica Blue, Hungry Jack’s and Jett’s Fitness joining the list.
A resident posted a picture to a community group on Facebook which showed a sign outside the City Beachstore this week which read “closed forever”.
City Beach head of retail Ben Nau confirmed the level 3 store closed yesterday, which is now boarded up.
“The reason we closed it was because we came to the end of our lease and Westfield was moving stores around,” Mr Nau said.
“It’s not off the books, if the right site came up we would look into it because Hornsby had been a valued customer.
“We just want to make sure we would get the right tenancy and we don’t have the opportunity at this point.”
He said the company was “no different to the other retailers” when it came to being impacted by COVID-19 but he reassured loyal customers that they were “alive and well” with shopping available online and the nearest store located in Macquarie.
Mr Nau said staff were offered opportunities to work at other stores located across Sydney.
“We repurposed our casual and full-time team members to work at surrounding stores.”
The shop next door in the shopping mall operating as Jett’s Fitness has also closed down with the option for members to transfer to Fitness Firstat the same rate.
Hornsby Heights resident Belinda Dooley-Third said Westfield had become like a “service centre”.
“With all the shops closing down, there’s no reason to go in there,” Ms Dooley-Third said.
“There are nail salons, massage parlours, phone repair shops but where are the clothing stores?”
She said the rise of online shopping and COVID-19 had led to the demise of local shopping.
“There were two Jamaica Blue cafes in Hornsby. The owner of one of them knew my son’s name and would give him an extra marshmallow.
“You don’t get that personal connection from an online store.”
Local celebrant and Hornsby Heights resident Julie Dominish said all the “good choices” had disappeared.
“It feels like Hornsby Westfield has neglected the community. Even when we had some of the major shops like Myer we just ended up with end of season stock.
“When the redevelopment was first opened there was a range of shops that covered all demographics and budgets. There was Best and Less but there was also a Ralph Lauren Polo shop.”
Father of three Phil Grindley said people were forced to travel to Macquarie because of the lack of options.
“As a male there are really very few options left now. Now that City Beach has closed, there’s nowhere in Hornsby for me to shop for my son when he needs board shorts. I used to go there for Mr Zogs Sexwax air freshener.
“Hungry Jack’s has closed too so people who want a whopper are going to have to drive to Dural. If we start losing that sort of retail we’re also losing jobs for kids in high school and university and I think that’s a real blow.
“Perhaps shops are being put under enormous pressure by Westfield to keep up with lease payments but they haven’t been able to get the sales through the door.”
Scentre Group, which is responsible for the Westfield store, said City Beach was set to be replaced with Harvey Norman.
“We’re looking forward to welcoming Harvey Norman to Westfield Hornsby later in the year, with the retailer opening on level three,” Westfield Hornsby centre manager Will Faraden said.
“We’re also excited to announce Barbeques Galore will be opening in the centre this spring with a new store experience, also on level three, adding to our strong home and technology offer.
“We’ll have more retailer news to share with our customers soon.”