Warrawong Plaza
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Warrawong Plaza (formerly Westfield Warrawong) is a major shopping centre located in
Warrawong Warrawong is a suburb of Wollongong in the Illawarra region of New South Wales, Australia. It is situated on the northeast corner of Lake Illawarra. Warrawong is 74 kilometers from Sydney CBD. Warrawong is home to Warrawong Plaza, one of thre ...
, a suburb of
Wollongong, New South Wales Wollongong ( ), colloquially referred to as The Gong, is a city located in the Illawarra region of New South Wales, Australia. The name is believed to originate from the Dharawal language, meaning either 'five islands/clouds', 'ground near wat ...
, Australia. With a retail floor area of , it is currently the third largest shopping centre in the Illawarra region.


History and development

Warrawong Plaza originally opened in 1960 as Lake Market Shopping Centre. The centre has a current catchment area of 246,680 persons, and retail spending in the catchment area estimated at 2.3 billion (2005).


Redevelopments

Upon acquisition by The
Westfield Group Westfield Group was an Australian shopping centre company that existed from 1960 to 2014, when it split into two independent companies: Scentre Group, which owns and operates the Australian and New Zealand Westfield shopping centre portfolio ...
in 1985, the centre was extensively redeveloped and relaunched as Westfield Warrawong in 1988. Further extensions were conducted in 1996, adding a
Big W Big W (stylized as BIG W) is an Australian chain of discount department stores, which was founded in regional New South Wales in 1964. The company is a division of Woolworths Group and as at 2019 operated 176 stores, with around 22,000 employee ...
to the centre. Previously, a Big W department store had been an occupant of the centre from 1965, however due to a change in retailing strategy by parent company
Woolworths Limited Woolworths Group Limited is an Australian trans-Tasman retailer headquartered in Bella Vista, Sydney, with extensive operations throughout Australia and New Zealand. It is the largest company in Australia by revenue and the second-largest in N ...
, the then-two-level store was sold to
David Jones Limited David Jones Pty Limited, trading as David Jones (colloquially DJs), is an Australian High-End department store, owned since 2014 by South African retail group Woolworths Holdings Limited. David Jones was founded in 1838 by David Jones, a Welsh ...
on 19 April 1971 and converted to a David Jones store which in turn was closed in January 1986. By 2011, the centre had grown to with 140 retailers.


Acquisition by The Blackstone Group

In August 2015,
Scentre Group Scentre Group Limited is a shopping centre company with retail destinations operating under the Westfield brand in Australia and New Zealand. The corporation undertakes ownership, development, design, construction, funds/asset management, proper ...
announced it had sold Westfield Warrawong to 151 Property, a subsidiary of
The Blackstone Group Blackstone Inc. is an American alternative investment management company based in New York City. Blackstone's private equity business has been one of the largest investors in leveraged buyouts in the last three decades, while its real estate b ...
along with three other centres as part of sell-off of "non-strategic" assets for a total of $783 Million. At the same time it was announced that
Jones Lang LaSalle Jones Lang LaSalle Incorporated (JLL) is a global commercial real estate services company, founded in the United Kingdom with offices in 80 countries. The company also provides investment management services worldwide, including services to insti ...
would be responsible for the management of the centre. On 11 September 2015, the new management unveiled the new name, Warrawong Plaza, and branding going forward.


Events

In 1999, the centre received significant global coverage of its efforts to deal with shoplifting and anti-social behaviour. In an effort to discourage local youth using the centre as a gathering place, the management used the centre's public address system to play older style music, including Bing Crosby's 1938 song "My Heart Is Taking Lessons". On 21 September 2004, a man sitting beside a tree outside the centre was the victim of a vehicle accident. The man died after being hit by an out of control sedan as he sat next to a tree outside the centre. In March 2005, local bus company Premier Illawarra gave serious consideration to suspending one of its Thursday evening services from the centre due to months of increased vandalism and anti-social behaviour in surrounding streets around the centre. Despite the efforts of bus inspectors and transit police, very little had been achieved to curb the problems.


Transport

The centre is serviced by a public bus service operated by Premier Illawarra.


Facilities

Major retailers of Warrawong Plaza include Coles,
Aldi Aldi (stylised as ALDI) is the common company brand name of two German multinational family-owned discount supermarket chains operating over 10,000 stores in 20 countries. The chain was founded by brothers Karl and Theo Albrecht in 1946, when ...
,
Target Target may refer to: Physical items * Shooting target, used in marksmanship training and various shooting sports ** Bullseye (target), the goal one for which one aims in many of these sports ** Aiming point, in field artillery, f ...
,
BIG W Big W (stylized as BIG W) is an Australian chain of discount department stores, which was founded in regional New South Wales in 1964. The company is a division of Woolworths Group and as at 2019 operated 176 stores, with around 22,000 employee ...
,
Hoyts The Hoyts Group of companies in Australia and New Zealand includes Hoyts Cinemas and Val Morgan. Hoyts operates more than 450 cinema screens and 55,000 seats, making it Australia's second largest movie exhibitor after Event Hospita ...
,
TK Maxx TK Maxx is a subsidiary of the American apparel and home goods company TJX Companies based in Framingham, Massachusetts. The stores operate throughout the United Kingdom, Australia, Ireland, Germany, Poland, Austria and the Netherlands, totall ...
,
JB Hi-Fi JB Hi-Fi Limited is an Australian consumer electronics and home appliances retail company. It is publicly listed on the Australian Securities Exchange. Its headquarters are located in Southbank, Melbourne, Victoria. The company has 316 store ...
,
Rebel A rebel is a participant in a rebellion. Rebel or rebels may also refer to: People * Rebel (given name) * Rebel (surname) * Patriot (American Revolution), during the American Revolution * American Southerners, as a form of self-identification; ...
,
Best and Less Best & Less is an Australian retailer of clothing and household linens. As of 2020, Best&Less has 246 stores as well as an online platform. History Best & Less was founded by Berel Ginges in January 1965, by occupying part of the ground floor of ...
and Lincraft.


References


External links

* {{Shopping centres in New South Wales Shopping centres in New South Wales Buildings and structures in Wollongong Former Westfield centres in Australia Shopping malls established in 1960 1960 establishments in Australia