Eastland: Ringwood shopping centre says it is ‘evolving’ with office and corporate projects

It’s copped flak for trying to appeal to the top end of town, but a major eastern suburbs shopping centre says it has new retailers coming to please punters.

Readers have shared their thoughts on Eastland, five years after it was revamped. Picture: Wayne Taylor.

Managers of one of Melbourne’s biggest shopping centres have admitted elements of its transformation haven’t gone to plan, five years on from its glitzy overhaul.

But it defended the performance of its high-end retailers, saying their introduction has received strong community support.

The centre underwent a major $600 million redevelopment between 2013 and 2016, and expanded by 50 per cent.

It included the introduction of a middle corridor of boutique retailers, which has had ongoing changes and constant new arrivals and departures due to low foot traffic.

Eastland general manager Greg Balmforth said the centre was a “magnetic and evolving” destination and it was standard for shopping centres to “remix” its offerings to tailor to the community’s needs.

He said many of its more than 300 retailers, and the centre as a whole, was performing strongly despite the impact of COVID-19.

“Our community has supported the centre over the last several decades through its many stages of evolution,” Ms Balmforth said.

“As with any remix or development, elements of the offer sometimes require recalibration.

“Since the last major development, we have identified instances where the market hasn’t responded to specific offers as it was envisioned and we have refined, or are working to refine, the offer as appropriate.”

Readers shared their thoughts on Eastland’s transformation following Leader’s opinion piece on the centre’s offerings earlier this month.

On Maroondah Leader’s Facebook page, Adam Hasse said the said the centre had “gone from lower and middle class to upper class,” and Michael Pepping said it was “trying too hard”.

Carmel Blood agreed saying the approach had “lost a lot of consumers”.

Lauren West disagreed, saying the centre “has a good mix of stores for everyone”, while Kathryn Joanna said local shoppers “needed a few nicer options out this way”.

“Not everyone who lives in Ringwood wants to exclusively shop at Kmart and Big W. They’re great stores, but it’s nice to have other options,” she wrote.

Cate Martin said she loved the centre’s outdoor dining in Town Square, but Alison Ohalloran said she was turned off by its paid parking.

Mr Balmforth said Eastland was focused on upcoming projects tailoring to the corporate market and office workers.
They include the Watermans Business Centre on level three near Town Square, and the 11-storey EastCo tower next to Ringwood railway station, which will be home to the Department of Transport.

“Our team remains firmly committed to the ongoing evolution of Eastland, delivering a dynamic town centre experience with day and night-time vibrancy and corporate amenity to serve the whole-life needs of our community,” he said.

Mr Balmforth also said the centre was on the verge of announcing new retailers but it was “too early to share specific details”.

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