Thousands of shoppers visit Chadstone, Fountain Gate
Thousands of shoppers have hit major shopping centres in Melbourne’s east and outer southeast in recent days, with customers revealing what they’ve been longing for the most.
Leader
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Traders at large centres across Melbourne are starting to see signs of life as thousands of cashed-up shoppers splurge at major retailers.
Chadstone and Fountain Gate welcomed crowds of shoppers on the weekend, with queues at Myer, Apple and fashion retailers including Champion and Uniqlo.
Myer, which recently reopened, was busy with lines of people at fitting rooms when Leader visited.
A Myer Chadstone employee, who asked not to be named, said customers were thrilled the store had reopened.
“A lot of customers have told us that online shopping hasn’t been for them, so they’re really happy they can try on clothes again and just generally browse,” she said.
However workers in stores at both centres spent a lot of time stopping people breaking store rules – such as using specific entry and exit points – and directing them to queue up.
Traffic controllers were also spotted at Chadstone in recent weeks, directing queues of cars into carparks.
Scentre Group, who manages Westfield centres including Fountain Gate, Eastland and Knox, revealed about 80 per cent of stores had reopened across Australian Westfield Living Centres.
Customer visitation at the week ending May 24 had returned to 80 per cent of what it had been in May the year prior.
Scentre Group customer Experience group director Phil McAveety said the latest customer research showed more customers feel more confident to go shopping.
“Customers have told us they feel reassured by the visible and practical safety measures in place at our centres,” Mr McAveety said
“Unsurprisingly, when asked to nominate the top three things they want to do when more restrictions ease, customers have told us it is going out for a meal, spending time with loved ones and going out shopping,” he said.
“Top three purchases customers want to make in person are winter fashion, homewares and shoes.”
Vicinity Centres, who manages Chadstone, chief executive Grant Kelley said its portfolio of shopping centres had seen “early signs of recovery”, with a consistent increase in centre visitation.
“Combined with government stimulus measures and the resilience and the speed with which the pandemic has been contained, this has restored confidence among retailers to reopen and customers to return safely,” Mr Kelley said.
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“The retail environment remains uncertain and we expect challenging conditions to persist for the remainder of this year,” he said.
“While customer numbers have been better than expected, we are supporting our retailers, both those who continued to operate throughout this time.”