Westfield Parramatta

infobox shopping mall
shopping_mall_name = Westfield Parramattа

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image_width = 250
caption =
location =
opening_date = 1975
owner= The Westfield Group
manager=
developer=
number_of_stores = 456 [ [http://www.westfield.com/parramatta/ourstores/ Westfield ] ]
number_of_anchors = 11
floor_area =
parking =
floors=
website = [http://www.westfield.com/parramatta/ westfield.com/parramatta]
footnotes =

Westfield Parramatta is a shopping centre in Parramatta, a suburb of Sydney, New South Wales. The centre is owned and managed by The Westfield Group and has a net leasable area of approximately 139,000 m² and built over five levels, as of October 2006 it contains 525 shops [ [http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2007/03/08/1173166897954.html Will Castle Hill get Australia's biggest mall? - National - smh.com.au ] ] . The centre is currently the third largest in Australia after Knox City Shopping Centre and Westfield Fountain Gate, both in Melbourne. It has 456 specialty stores, cafes, restaurants and other services. With a recent renovation complete it has allowed more stores and more room for consumers to shop as well as making it easier to access the station via public transport. The centre is connected to Parramatta railway station.

See: List of Shopping Centres in Australia by size

Description

The centre has been redeveloped several times, the first in 1988, and most notably in 1994-1996 when the centre increased in size from approximately 80,000 m² to its current size of 126,000 m². Fact|date=July 2007 It is the largest shopping centre in New South Wales. [http://westfield.com/corporate/pdf/reports/2005AnnualReports/Group_AR_210306.pdf]

In 2006, Westfield opened a multi-cinema complex across Fitzwilliam Street from the main building, connected by a glass bridge from Level 4 of the main building to the complex. Replacing the old Village Cinemas complex, the Greater Union cinema complex contains 3 Gold Class Screens, 1 GMAX Theatre and 7 Normal Movie Cinemas. The new 11-screen cinemas opened on 22 June 2006.

The centre houses three McDonald's outlets — the most in any one building, and the highest density of outlets outside of the Sydney CBD. Fact|date=March 2008

Industrial disputes

In May 2003, the Liquor, Hospitality and Miscellaneous Union took action against Westfield Parramatta's cleaning contractor P&H Property Services, claiming employees are frequently paid late or on returning from vacations, which is in breach of their employment conditions. [cite web
url = http://workers.labor.net.au/176/news8_westfield.html61749357456.html
title = Westfield Cleaners to Down Mops
publisher = Liquor, Hospitality and Miscellaneous Union
date = 2003-5-2
accessdate = 2006-11-27 ] .

Community exhibitions

Westfield Parramatta, as a busy community thoroughfare, is used by community organisations to raise awareness of wide ranging issues. On November 2006, Federal Member for Parramatta Julie Owens opened the Seventy7 Shoes exhibition organised by YWCA to raise the issue of domestic violence [cite web
url = http://www.ywca-sydney.com.au/events.asp
title = Seventy7 Shoes Exhibition
publisher = YWCA
date = 2006-10-6
accessdate = 2006-11-27 ] .

Celebrity appearances

Due to the size of the centre stage area Westfield Parramatta is frequently visited by celebrities and media personalities. In 2006 this included Australian Idol contestants, Dean Geyer, Ricky Muscat, Jessica Mauboy, Chris Murphy and Damien Leith, with a crowd of about 5000 in attendance.

In July 2006, three actors from the popular Australian soap opera Neighbours visited the shopping complex: Sam Clark as "Ringo Brown", Natalie Blair as "Carmella Cammeniti" and Stefan Dennis as "Paul Robinson". [cite web
url = http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2006/10/28/1161749357456.html
title = Keen teens scream for Dean
publisher = Sydney Morning Herald
date = 2006-10-29
author = Daniel Dasey
accessdate = 2006-11-27 ] [cite web
url = http://www.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/story/0,22049,20661192-5006009,00.html
title = Fans squeal for Idols
publisher = The Daily Telegraph
date = 2006-10-29
author = Stephen Corby
accessdate = 2006-11-27 ] .Jennifer Hawkins also made an appearance, as did Trinny & Susannah in 2008.

tores

Major stores at the centre include:

*Coles
*David Jones
*Kmart
*Lincraft
*Myer
*Target
*Woolworths
*Greater Union
*JB Hi-Fi
*Toys "R" Us

References

External links

* [http://www.westfield.com/parramatta/ Westfield Parramatta]