When was westfields built

It also has a global program to redevelop its shopping centers and to develop new shopping centers. Westfield Group was founded by Frank P. The Westfield Group had origins in the western suburbs of Sydney. The centre was opened by John Saunders and Frank Lowy.

The company was floated on the Australian Stock Exchange in and built another five centres in New South Wales before expanding into Victoria and Queensland in Westfield seems to form clusters of centres around particular cities or within a small number of states. They built considerable holdings on the east coast and in California before expanding in the Mid-West. By , the company owned centres in 15 US states.

In the s, Westfield began a major expansion to New Zealand, where they mostly bought existing shopping centres of the Fletchers company, progressively rebranding them. Only in , with Westfield Albany, has the company opened a fully new centre in the country. The funds will be used to repay debt and invest in businesses offering higher return.

But it also shows where Australian retail could be headed next. Westfield has been at the heart of Australian retail innovation and development since Frank Lowy and Jeno Schwarcz later John Saunders formed a partnership in the mids. Both holocaust survivors, they arrived in Australia with next to nothing and built an empire. Read more: The economics of the money-back guarantee.

Westfield Place was one of the first shopping centres to open in Australia and was reflective of transformative changes occurring in retail at the time. Rapid growth in car ownership , and support for home ownership by both sides of politics brought a massive demographic shift as Australians flocked to the suburbs. This upended established retail geographies. City department stores had to open suburban branches to survive.

At the same time, Coles and Woolworths, which began as variety store chains, were moving into food retailing by buying up traditional grocery chains.

These retail firms required sites in the suburbs big enough to house modern stores. They also needed space for parking. In America, similar trends had seen the emergence of a new retail form, the shopping centre. Shopping centres solved the problem of traffic congestion that was beginning to plague suburban high streets and offered a social space for people to congregate. These centres also provided a curated mix of shops that could be shaped to meet market needs, and facilitated the expansion of retail chains.

Air conditioning added to their appeal. Westfield was but one of numerous small developers seizing opportunities in a rapidly changing market. In , a new centre in Burwood, Sydney, was the first to carry the Westfield logo.

The first centre in Queensland, at Toombul, followed in , with Doncaster Shoppingtown opening in Melbourne in. In the 70s, the company made its first move into the USA. International expansion continued, with the group eventually owning properties around the world. By it was the largest retail property group in the world.