This is your behind-the-scenes look at the final stage of Pacific Werribee’s $400 million redevelopment.
Pacific Werribee centre manager Jonathan Codman took Star Weekly on a tour of stage three of the redevelopment last week. It will open to the public on July 28.
The anchor retailer for this section is the two-level Myer, which will be more than three times the size of the existing department store and will stock Topshop, Topman and MAC Cosmetics, among 90 new brands.
The new section will also feature 30 new retailers to Pacific Werribee, including H&M, Uniqlo, Kikki.K, Swarovski, Mecca Maxima, Seed Heritage, Sportsgirl, Peter Alexander, Decjuba, Sportscraft and Bardot.
The new section is, in a word, expansive – about 750 metres long.
Many of the stores are spacious and many have “double-height” shop fronts; that is, front display windows that span two levels.
The building works are already complete and shop fit-outs are in progress.
The new section begins at the already existing JB Hi-Fi and links up with an upgraded Kmart and Village Cinemas.
Upstairs, the second floor of Myer will open out to a Timezone and Squires Loft restaurant, both due to open later this year.
Mr Codman said Pacific Werribee was fast becoming the go-to shopping centre for not just local residents but people from Geelong and Ballarat.
About 250,000 people are expected to go through the doors in the four days following the opening of stage three.
“People from Wyndham were driving to Highpoint or the city to do their shopping; now they’re coming here,” he said. “We’re keeping the business in Wyndham.
“We used feedback from customers to determine the retailers we’ve brought on board,” he said.
He said the revamped Pacific Werribee retail line-up was almost complete.
Early next year, he added, the original Myer store and surrounding area would be revamped to become a fresh food precinct that would include an ALDI supermarket, green grocer, deli and other fresh food retailers.
