Superiority complex - a look at Westfield Stratford City
 |
| The massive Westfield Stratford site |
TO STEAL the M&S slogan, this shopping centre isn't just big, this is Westfield big.
Within 18 months, shopping habits in east London will be transformed.
Millions of people will be flocking to a centre that will is almost 20 per cent larger than the colossal Westfield London in Shepherd's Bush.
Westfield Stratford City is nestled between Stratford station and the rapidly-emerging Olympic Park.
It may look like a building site at the moment, but work is progressing quickly and bosses expect to be open well in advance of the 2011 Christmas run-up. Westfield SC director John Burton said the Docklands market - mostly connected within a single train ride - will be important to the project's success.
"Something like this is long overdue in east London," he said. "If you live in the west, you have the West End, Brent Bross, the King's Road. Apart from Canary Wharf there is nothing that really attracts the imagination."
So how far is Westfield trying to compete with Canary Wharf's shopping malls? Burton added: "Canary Wharf is a great offer at the moment but it's constrained simply for the fact it was never designed to be a shopping centre. I don't see us having a marked impact on its day business but we have a very strong offer in the evening or at the weekend."
The nature of the 'anchor' stores already on board tells you much about the type of shopper expected, with John Lewis, Marks and Spencer and Waitrose all signed up.
Some have sneered that Westfield SC will be more 'Primark than Prada', but boutique shops at top-end prices are very much part of the plan.
Mr Burton emphasises, however, how 'east' this development will be, with an outdoor range of independent stores designed to pay homage to the Shoreditch-type shopping experience.
Permission for a shopping centre here was granted long before London won the right to stage the 2012 Games. Burton admits it is "questionable" how quickly the project would have got off the ground without the Olympics carrot, but says there is little chance of it becoming a post-2012 white elephant.
"With four million people within 45 minutes of us, it ticks all the boxes we needed to tick to justify investing £1.5 billion."
INVESTORS in Westfield London hoped for up to 20 million shoppers in its first year.
As it was, more than 23 million made the trip to Shepherd's Bush, silencing those who thought it would struggle through the recession.
"We weren't surprised at the figures, but incredibly encouraged given the background of what was happening with the economy," said Westfield's John Burton.
"London has taken quite a quite a hit in terms of employment and investment but the underlying mood and resilience of London is remarkably strong.