Centro Toombul
Encyclopedia
Centro Toombul is a regional shopping centre located in the locality of Toombul which is part of Nundah
Nundah, Queensland
Nundah is an inner suburb in the city of Brisbane, Australia, located approximately 8 kilometers north-east of the Brisbane central business district, in the local government area of the City of Brisbane....

, a suburb
Suburb
The word suburb mostly refers to a residential area, either existing as part of a city or as a separate residential community within commuting distance of a city . Some suburbs have a degree of administrative autonomy, and most have lower population density than inner city neighborhoods...

 of the city
City
A city is a relatively large and permanent settlement. Although there is no agreement on how a city is distinguished from a town within general English language meanings, many cities have a particular administrative, legal, or historical status based on local law.For example, in the U.S...

 of Brisbane
Brisbane
Brisbane is the capital and most populous city in the Australian state of Queensland and the third most populous city in Australia. Brisbane's metropolitan area has a population of over 2 million, and the South East Queensland urban conurbation, centred around Brisbane, encompasses a population of...

 in the state of Queensland
Queensland
Queensland is a state of Australia, occupying the north-eastern section of the mainland continent. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Australia and New South Wales to the west, south-west and south respectively. To the east, Queensland is bordered by the Coral Sea and Pacific Ocean...

, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

. The centre is currently anchored by a Kmart
Kmart Australia
Kmart Australia Limited is a discount department store chain owned by Wesfarmers. It operates 172 stores in Australia and 15 in New Zealand, with its head office located in Mulgrave, Victoria. Wesfarmers uses the Kmart name under licence from Sears Holdings Corporation.-History:Kmart Australia...

 discount department store, Coles
Coles Supermarkets
Coles Supermarkets is an Australian supermarket chain owned by Wesfarmers. It has 741 stores nationally Coles Supermarkets is an Australian supermarket chain owned by Wesfarmers. It has 741 stores nationally Coles Supermarkets is an Australian supermarket chain owned by Wesfarmers. It has 741...

 supermarket, BI-LO
BI-LO (Australia)
BI-LO is an Australian supermarket chain owned by Wesfarmers . Once a chain of 180 outlets, most BI-LO supermarkets were re-branded as Coles Supermarkets during 2006 and 2007. In October 2008, Coles stated it was looking to create a new chain to replace the remaining BI-LO stores...

 supermarket and Aldi
ALDI
ALDI Einkauf GmbH & Co. oHG, doing business as ', short for "Albrecht Discount", is a discount supermarket chain based in Germany...

 Food Store plus over 180 specialty stores including Homeart and Best & Less. The centre was built and opened on 11 October 1967 by The Westfield Group
The Westfield Group
The Westfield Group is an Australian shopping centre group undertaking ownership, development, design, construction, funds/asset management, property management, leasing and marketing activities...

. Over the years it has been extended from its original form with several extensions, the most recent being the new Aldi store and Fresh Life fresh food mall (recently finished) plus a new Diner's Life food court (to be constructed). At one stage in the 1990s it was the largest shopping centre on Brisbane's northside, a title it held until Westfield Chermside
Westfield Chermside
Westfield Chermside is the largest shopping centre in Queensland, located in Brisbane's inner northern suburbs, the second-largest in Australia, behind Chadstone Shopping Centre in Melbourne, and is operated by the Westfield Group. Entertainment facilities include an Event Cinemas 16-screen cinema...

's redevelopment in 1999-2000.

History

In the mid 1960s, The Westfield Group was looking to expand interstate into Queensland. Co-founder of Westfield, Frank Lowy
Frank Lowy
Frank Lowy, AC is an Australian-Israeli businessman. He is a co-founder of the Westfield Group, operator of over 100 shopping centres in Australia, New Zealand, the United States and Great Britain...

 sent his brother John and an engineer to the state to scout for potential sites in Brisbane. A local real estate agent, Donald Petrie, showed them the current site, located on a flood plain with a creek flowing through it in a growing area of the city. Later, the Westfield founders travelled to Brisbane to inspect the site. Realising the commercial potential of the area, the company purchased the property. To overcome the flooding issues, Westfield employed experts at a local university to develop a plan. The solution was to fill and raise one half of the site to build the centre and construct a bridge across the creek.

There were also problems finding a department store to anchor the centre and filling the specialty retail spaces at the centre. As Toombul was close to the Chermside Shopping Centre
Westfield Chermside
Westfield Chermside is the largest shopping centre in Queensland, located in Brisbane's inner northern suburbs, the second-largest in Australia, behind Chadstone Shopping Centre in Melbourne, and is operated by the Westfield Group. Entertainment facilities include an Event Cinemas 16-screen cinema...

, which was anchored by a department store, other department stores were cautious about opening so close. Another problem was Westfield was an unknown developer outside of New South Wales, making it hard to attract retailers. Frank Lowy and Donald Petrie resorted to walking the streets of Brisbane's CBD to find retailers to occupy the centre. It paid off as the centre was 100% leased at opening. Due to Westfield's relationship with Coles (having built some Coles stores in Sydney), the retailer was committed from the beginning of the development to opening a store at the centre.

The centre opened as Westfield Shopping Town Toombul on Wednesday 11 October 1967. It was originally anchored by a Barry and Roberts Department store, Coles supermarket, Bayards store and 60 specialty stores. It was the first shopping centre in Brisbane built with air-conditioning (Chermside was converted in 1965) and had off-street parking for up to 1500 vehicles. One of its main features was a water fountain located in the centre of the mall.

By the early 1970s, the Bayards store had closed down leaving room for another anchor to open at the centre. Westfield had negotiated a deal with David Jones to open a store at Toombul. This was an unusual move for the retailer at the time as they had their own development and construction company and only opened suburban stores in their own 'Garden City' shopping centres. The 2 level David Jones department store opened in 1972 and was the first extension for the centre. It was also the first David Jones store to open in a Westfield owned shopping centre.

For a brief time in the 1970s, Toombul was anchored by 2 Department stores, a rarity for an Australian shopping centre at the time. Sometime in the 1970s a single screen cinema opened at the centre, the second extension to the centre. By the mid 1970s, Barry and Roberts had closed down their Toombul store, leaving David Jones as the sole department store anchor. In 1978 the discount department store chain Target had opened a store in part of the former Barry and Roberts store. A food court was also opened at this time.

A street and 2 residential blocks adjoining the centre were bought in the late 1970s and construction of the third major extension began. In 1980, the extension opened with a new mall, bus station, extension to the second level of David Jones, Best & Less and Kmart discount department store. The total number of specialty stores at the centre increased to over 140. In 1982, the Target store closed down, leaving David Jones, Kmart and Coles as the anchors. The fourth major extension opened in 1989 on the part of the site occupied by the former Barry and Roberts store. The extension added a BI-LO supermarket and new specialty stores on the lower level and an 8 screen Birch, Carroll and Coyle multiplex cinema plus a new food court and Sizzler
Sizzler
Sizzler is a United States-based restaurant chain with headquarters in Culver City, California. The chain serves steak, seafood, and salad , as well as similar items.-History:...

 restaurant on the upper mezzanine level. The rest of the centre was refurbished along with this extension.

The 1990s were probably Westfield Toombul's last successful decade, and by the early 1990s, it was the largest shopping centre on Brisbane's northside and the only centre on the northside with a multiplex cinema. The number of specialty stores at the centre totalled over 180. The centre held this title until 1999 when the redeveloped Westfield Chermside opened. Although the now much larger Chermside centre didn't greatly affect the retail trade of Toombul, it did affect the trade of the cinema. The more modern, larger 16 screen Birch, Carroll and Coyle multiplex with Gold Class cinemas and entertainment precinct built at Chermside drew much of its clientele from the same catchment area as the Toombul multiplex, with many preferring to go to Chermside. After the redevelopment of Chermside completed in 2000, Toombul became overlooked by Westfield, with the company preferring to focus on promoting the upgraded Chermside centre.

In 2003, the external facade was modernised, a new bus station constructed and an outdoor dining precinct was added where the former bus station was located. The famous "big T" sign, first erected on centre's opening in 1967, was dismantled. This was the last construction work done by Westfield. In July 2003, the centre was acquired by the Centro Properties Group
Centro Properties Group
Centro Properties Group, commonly known as 'Centro', is an Australian company which provides retail property ownership and management services. It is a listed company with securities traded on the Australian Securities Exchange. The multinational company owns and operates shopping centres in...

 in a stock trade deal involving Toombul and other Westfield properties in exchange for Centro's interest in the AMP Shopping Centre Trust. As a result, the centre changed its name from Westfield Toombul to Centro Toombul.

In 2005, Centro announced a 2 stage extension to the centre. The first stage added an Aldi Food Store, Fresh Life fresh food mall and additional specialty stores. The second stage was to add Diner's Life food court and new rooftop car park by November 2006. During the extensions the cinemas were removed and the space re-purposed.

The future of the centre is uncertain, due to increased competition from rival centres at Chermside, Nundah and Brisbane Airport
Brisbane Airport
Brisbane Airport is the sole passenger airport serving Brisbane and the third busiest in Australia, after Melbourne and Sydney Airports. Brisbane Airport has won many awards. Located in the suburb with the same name, the airport serves the city of Brisbane and the surrounding metropolitan area...

, as well as due to the aging superstructure of the building itself. Much of the blame for the decline, even while the surrounding area is booming, has been laid at the feet of Centro citing poor management practices.

On the 21st of August 2008, it was announced that Centro Toombul was for sale.

On the 20th Of July 2010, David Jones announced that it would terminate its lease at Centro Toombul ending the store's 35 year long relationship with the centre. The store space will be taken over by discount department store Target after David Jones closes on 29 January 2011.

On October 6 2011, Target opened at Toombul. The 6,574 square metre store features the full suite of Target’s new store design which includes a co-ordinated women’s fashion area with a major boulevard for accessories, a beauty shop in the middle of the store with a cosmetics bar for makeovers and a state of the art home entertainment department.

There are rumours that the 8-Screen Multiplex Cinema will reopen late 2012 with new furnishings. It is unannounced who the franchiser of this cinema will be at this stage.

External links

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