Centre of celebrations

Westfield's Chris Connelly and Casey Mayor Amanda Stapledon cut the anniversary cake.

By LACHLAN MOORHEAD

WESTFIELD Fountain Gate celebrated its anniversary in style over the weekend.
Last Saturday the popular shopping centre marked the one year anniversary since its $320 million re-development with a range of events and activities for more than 1000 parents and children.
Centre manager Jonathan Codman said the response to the store’s development in recent times had been extremely encouraging.
“The weekend was a fun exercise, it was very popular and really busy,” he said.
“There was lot of positive feedback for how the centre looks and, secondly, the new retailers have been included into the area.”
Some of these new retailers include fashion store Trade Secret, which opened recently, in addition to another 150 stores that have been introduced over the past 12 months and have provided a further 1200 job opportunities.
Mr Codman said there was continued interest from employers and customers alike who wanted to be at Westfield Fountain Gate.
“It’s getting better and better, it’s more popular and there’s lots of customers not just locally but also from other areas,” he said.
“We took this opportunity to upgrade a lot of the centre, we introduced a lot of new retailers, including Myer which was a big inclusion for us.
“The weekend was a celebration of the development 12 months ago.”
Casey Mayor Amanda Stapledon also attended the anniversary celebrations, which included her joining the Westfield Fountain Gate team in cutting their first birthday cake.
And while the weekend was a reflection of how far the centre had come in the last year, Mr Codman said it was also an opportunity to look towards the future.
“Our extension to the Village Cinemas is something we are regularly asked about and are really excited for.”