Westfield Riccarton
Shopping mall in Christchurch, New Zealand
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Westfield Riccarton, also known by its former name Riccarton Mall, is a large retail complex located in the Christchurch, New Zealand, suburb of Riccarton. First opened on 3 November 1965, it is Christchurch's oldest shopping mall.[1] The complex is currently anchored by Farmers, Kmart, H&M, Pak'nSave, Rebel Sport, Chemist Warehouse Group, JB Hi-Fi and Hoyts.[2]
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| Location | Riccarton, New Zealand |
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| Coordinates | 43°31′51.38″S 172°35′51.62″E |
| Address | 129 Riccarton Road |
| Opening date | 3 November 1965 |
| Developer | Riccarton Mall Ltd. |
| Owner | Scentre Group |
| Stores and services | 162 |
| Anchor tenants | 7 |
| Floor area | 54,000 m2 (580,000 sq ft) |
| Floors | 2 |
| Parking | 2,400 (Lighted Lot, Parking garage) |
| Website | www |
History
Early history
Construction of Riccarton Mall began in February 1965. It was officially opened by John McAlpine, MP for Selwyn and Minister of Transport, on 2 November 1965 and opened to shoppers the following day. The initial mall covered 67,000 square feet (6,200 m2) and cost £525,000 to construct ($22.6 million in December 2021 dollars).[3][4] It contained 20 retailers including three anchor tenants: The Farmers' supermarket and department store (owned by the New Zealand Farmers' Co-operative Association of Canterbury), a Four Square-New World supermarket, and a McKenzie's department store.[3]
A 20,000-square-foot (1,900 m2) extension to the mall opened in November 1970 along with a fourth anchor tenant: Calder Mackay & Co. department store, which at the time had just been acquired by the Farmers Trading Company of Auckland.[5] A new 20,000 sq ft (1,900 m2) New World supermarket opened in July 1974, followed two months later by a 10,000-square-foot (930 m2) extension housing four stores, bringing the mall to 123,000 square feet (11,400 m2).[6]
In November 1979, a third major extension opened and expanded the mall to 19,070 m2 (205,300 sq ft). The expansion included a 460 m2 (5,000 sq ft) Smiths City Market and 12 stores, bringing the mall to 50 stores.[7]
Riccarton Mall was extensively remodeled in 1992 with most stores relocating to new premises within the mall; Farmers Trading Company (now simply Farmers) is one of the few stores to remain in its original location. The remodel introduced a food court into the mall and a new rooftop car park.[citation needed]
Westfield era
In 2003 the Westfield Group began a NZD$90 million redevelopment of the shopping centre which was completed in 2005. A strong focus of the redevelopment was a leisure component, with the introduction of the six-screen Hoyts Cinema multiplex, which features the second-largest projection screen in New Zealand. In addition to the cinema, a restaurant and café area was constructed at the Rotherham Street end of the mall.
On 28 May 2009, the mall opened phase one of a new $75m expansion.[8]
The latest redevelopment included 40 new retailers and a new café court. An additional cinema screen was added to the existing Hoyts Multiplex. The first stage of development, a new four-level car park building with space for 400 cars, was completed in January 2009. The expansion increased the size of the mall to approximately 54,000 square metres.[citation needed]
Annual sales for the full year 2018 were $535.6 million.[9]
