News

**MSE Lawrence** · 18-11-2008, 5:10 PM

This is the discussion to link on the back of Martin's blog. Please read the blog first, as this discussion follows it.

Read Martin's 'Is Westfield going to be a white elephant?' Blog.

Click reply to discuss below.

Horace · 18-11-2008, 5:16 PM

I don't think that it is - we have a Westfield Shopping Centre here in the Midlands called Merry Hill (known locally as Merry Hell), it is always heaving with shoppers. I do think that Merry Hill probably has more parking spaces than Westfield in White City though

Where the rich are concerned there is no credit crunch - they spend money like water, you only need to know how much money John Lewis make in one department in one day to be aware of that.

satsuki · 18-11-2008, 10:19 PM

That's funny, I was there yesterday with my mum and it was packed - right around the same time MSE claims to have been there.

ernie1 · 19-11-2008, 7:52 AM

The Trafford centre was like a ghost town for months after it opened,
We would be watching films in empty cinemas and have the whole place to ourselves in the evenings, it took people ages to get use to the idea of going there.

BillScarab · 19-11-2008, 8:23 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Horace

I don't think that it is - we have a Westfield Shopping Centre here in the Midlands called Merry Hill (known locally as Merry Hell), it is always heaving with shoppers. I do think that Merry Hill probably has more parking spaces than Westfield in White City though

Where the rich are concerned there is no credit crunch - they spend money like water, you only need to know how much money John Lewis make in one department in one day to be aware of that.

Merry Hill is different though, it's been there for 20 years and is an established centre. Trying to open a massive new centre at the moment is a different proposition.

Minerva69 · 19-11-2008, 9:58 AM

Coming from "oop north" I'm not likely to be visiting this one in the near future, but in Bradford they kicked out the existing retailers and demolished half the city centre to build a Westfield shopping centre. Several years later and the centre of Bradford still looks like a building site and the Westfield centre has never been built because they can't get anyone to sign up to rent space in it

Are the days of large shopping centres numbered?

White Boots · 19-11-2008, 10:19 AM

I have been to Westfield three times now, twice at the weekend and once during the week. The weekend trips were hellish - the place was so packed that it was difficult to move around. It took ages to walk from one shop to another because of the sheer volume of people and there were massive queues in every shop. The mid-week visit was certainly quieter although the shopping centre was still what I would describe as "very busy". I'm not sure exactly what time the MSE staff were there, but please tell us so we can go at that time too and avoid the huge crowds that have been my experience of the place so far!

dawnfuller · 19-11-2008, 11:15 AM

hi,
We went there on Saturday.
First impression WOW.
Then same stuff bigger floor space.
Think its aimed at people with a huge wallet or window shoppers rather than normal families wanting to go shopping.
£45.00 jeans Topshop - normal
£105.00 jeans All Saints Store

Please see my thread Which Shopping Center Is Best and Why.

vikingaero · 19-11-2008, 2:20 PM

One of my friends visited Westfield and it took her 3 hours to get there by car, 3 hours to return home and £12 for parking. Then she got lost and entered the Congestion Charging Zone and that's another £8!

She said the shops were nice but OTT.

She's going to stick to Bluey and Lakeside now!

wintersunshine · 19-11-2008, 2:53 PM

I live in West London and everyone tells me it's heaving, so I haven't been yet. Traffic around it is now a complete nightmare, so if you do go - get the tube.

Seahorse1 · 19-11-2008, 2:59 PM

Hopefully it won't. Admittedly I have only been there once and that was the Saturday of the week it opened. Given where it is you cannot expect it to be busy all the time but come weekends or evenings I bet it will be packed. Each time friends have been there it ihas been packed. I hate the West End so am hapy to have somewhere nearer. Hammersmith where I live is dire. I don't care that Oxford Streeet has several branches of the same shops all along its route I cannot do that anymore.

Just wait until I am paid and I will be back there! I didn't even mind some young whippersnappers complaining that people (me) walked too slow

- that was me 20 years ago

.

I am happy that is is 'upmarket to the rest of the Bush because it shouldn't affect the market or the number of middle eastern grocers etc etc.

markalun · 20-11-2008, 11:21 AM

I live round the corner from Westfield, every time we've popped in it's been absolutely heaving, too busy to get a table to eat and so on. Would be interested to know how many people are in there *buying* rather than just having a look about though.

hefferwump · 20-11-2008, 11:47 AM

it was reasonably busy yesterday but they opened the eden centre high wycombe about 6 months ago same sort of thing all upmarket thats not doing very well either the local council keep bragging about the footfall but thats all it has its just a short cut from the bus station to the rest of the town all the shops are struggleing with the possable exception of tesco & 1 has already closed

Fat Bee Slim · 20-11-2008, 12:48 PM

I went there with my partner 2 weeks ago and was shocked at how poor the design was. In no particular order, these were the problems we found:

No fast food restaurants, so after walking around for a couple of hours and getting thirsty, your options are to buy something in WHSmith and drink it while walking around, or go to Costa Coffee...trouble is, every coffee shop was queuing out of the door!! Fast food might not be everyone's cup of tea, but it is necessary at times. Also, when taking kids shopping, although it might be better to buy them something 'proper', it's a lot more expensive to do so inside Westfield!!

Secondly, after buying our drinks and walking around with them, we got tired and wanted to sit down. For such a huge centre, I was shocked at the lack of seating available - and in most areas where there is somewhere to sit, we found it taken up by single-person armchairs, not benches! So only 4 or 6 people could sit in each area. That meant that LOADS of people were sitting around on the floor - not something I wanted to do and it certainly didn't look very good.

Thirdly, after drinking the aforementioned drink, we queued for the toilets; on the ground floor, the mens toilet had 3 urinals. Which meant there was a long queue. In West Quay (Southampton) the shopping centre is about a quarter of the size of Westfield and yet it has hundreds of toilets! The ladies was apparently worse, only 6 cubiles on the ground floor, so you can imagine the size of the queue there on a Saturday afternoon!

After the difficulty getting a refreshing drink and a sit down, to say nothing of the pain of queuing for the loo, we left...and don't intend to return! Give me Bluewater or Lakeside anyday!

Fulham_Mark · 20-11-2008, 1:57 PM

BEAUTIFUL!

I hate shopping, I've never been to any sort of big Mall ever but since WestField is near I popped in on last Friday night.

It's stunning, almost beautiful. I really had to drag myself away. I was on my bike but couldn't stop myself buying clothes and lumbering them all home.

The shops aren't allowed to spoil the place with their brands and colours, this makes the place relaxing and easy on the eye. The building is a coherant entity rather than a mish-mash of signs and colours.

The roof is like the fancy one in the British Museum - curves glass panels. There are leather seating area and open plan cafes.

Shepherds Bush is a bit dark and seedy yet the same people are inside Westfield as are outside - inside it's one big happy family, hoodies and gang-members and grannies. What a difference bright surroundings can make.

Last night I went to Oxford Street to meet a friend and my stress-levels hit the roof. Worst is that you hate people for walking a bit slow or getting in your way. It's not like they are doing anything wrong.

The trains from the new station are completely packed and it's now impossible to get on at Olympia.

Southern are cutting back on their services from December....great! Once again it takes the rail companies to screw things up for us

MothballsWallet · 20-11-2008, 8:18 PM

There are Westfield centres in Oz and NZ (I'm assuming the White City one's owned by the same parent company) - and the one near me when I was in Auckland was always busy. But it was in the downtown area, near the ferry port and CBD (central business district).

But, perhaps the centre's fortunes depend a lot on attracting people to deliberately go there, rather than relying on casual (passer by) custom? I guess we'll know soon enough if HM Govt shifts its elephantine bottom to help ease the current situation for all and not just the rich party donors... *sarcastic smile*

Bargainetta · 03-12-2008, 11:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BillScarab

Merry Hill is different though, it's been there for 20 years and is an established centre. Trying to open a massive new centre at the moment is a different proposition.

Re your quote on Canada. I have been REALLY envious of some of the clothes some friends have brought back from there. They have inherited French style but also American practicality - everything washes like a dream and wasn't overpriced! So if you yourself are Canadian, take my advice and go easy on yourself.