Flashback: How Pacific Fair grew in the 1990s to be the Gold Coast’s biggest shopping centre
PACIFIC Fair first opened in 1977 but didn’t become the famous giant pink shopping centre until the dawn of the 1990s. Here’s how it happened and how it came close to having its own monorail.
History
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IT took a very 80s paint job and more than $200 million but Pacific Fair was transformed to become the famous ‘pink palace’ known around the world.
The year was 1987 and the Broadbeach shopping centre had been open for 10 years, during which the face of the Gold Coast had change dramatically.
PACIFIC FAIR’S HISTORY, PART 1
Pacific Fair had become the city’s leading shopping centre as Southport’s famous Sundale waned in the face of increased competition from the New Australia Fair shopping centre which had expanded from the old Scarborough Fair.
But with developer Robin Loh already eyeing off a shopping centre at Robina and the nearby Oasis under construction, Pacific Fair’s new owners, AMP decided to give the old centre a new look, one distinct and eye-catching.
The $100 million new-look centre was to include more space for Myer and Coles, a third department store, a second supermarket and 100 more specialty shops.
A bridge across Little Tallebudgera Creek would also be added to connect Pacific Fair and the Gold Coast Highway.
AMP property manager Mr Brian Bubbers told the media the expansions were designed to meet the needs of the growing Gold Coast population and the tourism boom.
Half those who visited Pacific Fair were locals, the rest tourists, he said.
“The centre has not been upgraded for 10 years and, by today’s standards, is not covering all the things a customer wants,’” Mr Bubbers said.
By 1987 more than 13 million people visit at Pacific Fair each year, with retail sales in excess of $180 million.
With the revamp under way, a further $160 million was announced in 1989 to further expand the centre by 87,500sq m.
By that year the centre was turning over $215 million annually and AMP said the centre would have a brand-new look for the 1990s, a “pink palace”.
The project was expected to be completed in 1992 and would be marketed as “Australia’s shopping resort’’.
The first stage, known as The Village, opened in 1990 and saw the old teepees and kiosks in the heart of the centre replaced by new shops.
They included an Everything Australian souvenir shop a Devonshire tea shop called Danny’s By The Billabong.
By 1992, pink facade that made headlines was erected and the new Myer store was open.
The department shop was marketed as having a central atrium and waterfall, a large skylight and glass-backed lifts which allowed locals to look out over the coastal strip.
“With its own bridge across the canal from the highway and a pastel pink facade, the new Myer is higher on bold attraction than just about any other top shop,” a report on opening day said.
“Inside, the place is a gawkers’ paradise and they’ve been arriving in busloads to drink in the pink-marble ambience.
“The central atrium, zooming up four levels, is lit by special daylight spots that kid you into thinking you’re actually copping a suntan while you shop.”
As the Gold Coast struggled against the early 1990s recession, Pacific Fair proved to be a major exception for employers, with thousands of people taking up new positions in the shops while the nearby Oasis struggled to fill its shops.
It was another five years before tinseltown came to Pacific Fair in the form of one of the world’s biggest celebrities and an out-of-this-world release.
By 1997 McDonnell and East was gone and in its place stood long-time anchor stores Toys R Us and Target.
The Centre’s state-of-the-art cinema opened in early 1997 and was the Gold Coast’s largest, having 12 theatres and screening the special edition re-release of Star Wars, the same film which topped the box office the year Pacific Fair opened.
More than 3000 people attended the cinema on its opening day.
Just three months later, Hollywood superstar George Clooney spent a day at Pacific Fair and opened its Warner Bros shop while attending the premier of the infamous box office bomb Batman and Robin.
Department store Daimaru arrived in 1998 after another big expansion of the centre but lasted just four years.
By the late 2000s, the pink facade had faded and AMP planned a major revamp which stalled in the face of the global financial crisis.
More than $650 million was finally spent between 2014-16 to finally abandon the pink palace look and redevelop Pacific Fair to become a modern 21st century centre.
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