Westfield Parramatta is a super regional shopping centre in the Parramatta Central Business District. Reflecting Parramatta's status as Sydney's second CBD, Westfield Parramatta serves a large resident and worker population; its trade area larger than the average of large regional centers in Australia. Westfield Parramatta has 5 levels of retail and 9 levels of car parking spread across 5 city blocks. Two pedestrian air bridges connect the central portion of the centre with the western and eastern peripheries. Level 1 is wholly underground and connects to the Parramatta Transport Interchange. A 3 level office tower sits atop the shopping centre near the corner of Church and Argyle Streets. The centre features two food courts, two full line department stores, two discount department stores, 3 supermarkets, a fresh food market, an 11 screen cinema complex, a gymnasium and a medical centre among specialty retailers. The centre houses two McDonald's & Oporto outlets, one kiosk in the lower food court, and one kiosk in the upper food court.
Location
Westfield Parramatta is located in the southern part of the Parramatta CBD occupying a number of city blocks bordered by Church Street, Argyle Street, Marsden Street, O'Connell Street and Campbell Street. It is connected to the Parramatta Transport Interchange and Parramatta railway station via an underground retail concourse and pedestrian link.
Origins
The site upon which Westfield Parramatta currently stands has had a long history of retail. In 1933, Grace Bros. opened their first Sydney suburban department store on a site on the corner of Church and Argyle Streets. This block, bounded by Aird and Marsden Streets, was predominantly occupied by retail properties and expanded the Parramatta town centre south of the railway line. That original Grace Bros. store was later incorporated into the first stage development of the new Westfield Parramatta, opening in 1975 as the largest shopping centre in Australia at the time. Later stage redevelopments of the sites now occupied by the current Westfield Parramatta involved archaeological digs which uncovered artifacts dating back to the earliest days of Colonial settlement, reflecting Parramatta's history as the second oldest settlement in Australia.
Redevelopment and expansion
The first redevelopment of Westfield Parramatta took place between 1988 and 1989. This was followed by a large scale expansion of the centre completed in 1996.
1996 redevelopment
The 1996 redevelopment saw Westfield Parramatta regain its position as the largest shopping centre in Australia, with approximately 127,000m² of retail space. This expansion included the development of two separate blocks in the Parramatta CBD west of the main centre. A multi-storey retail air bridge over Marsden Street and Aird Street connected the two new sections to the existing centre's levels 3, 4 and 5. Department store David Jones relocated to Westfield Parramatta from its stand alone store on Church Street in the north of the Parramatta CBD, joining Grace Bros in the expanded centre. Village Cinemas expanded from a 4 screen complex to an 8 screen complex while a new food court and fresh food market were opened on level 5.
2006 redevelopment
In 2006, Westfield completed a major redevelopment and expansion of its Parramatta centre. A city block east of the existing centre on the corner of Church Street and Argyle Street was developed as a multi-storey cinema and lifestyle complex, connected to the main centre by a pedestrian air bridge at level 4 and an underground retail arcade at level 1. Greater Union opened an 11 screen complex featuring 3 Gold Class theatres, 1 GMAX theatre and 7 regular movie cinemas replacing the existing Village Cinemas. At street level beneath the cinemas, and fronting Parramatta's Transport Interchange, is a concourse of restaurants and cafes with direct access to the cinemas via an external escalator. The underground retail arcade links the centre's level 1 with Parramatta Railway Station's main concourse as well as the Parramatta Transport Interchange. It provides for an extension of the level 1 foodcourt featuring cafes and takeaway food retailers as well as a fresh food market, a mini supermarket and second Woolworths metro supermarket. A feature of the redeveloped food-court are the electronic passenger destination indicator boards for services out of Parramatta Railway Station. The existing centre saw minor redevelopment of retail areas adjacent to the new pedestrian air bridge as well as an upgraded facade. The expansion added approximately 70 new specialty shops in addition to the cinemas and close to 200 new car spaces. Following the expansion Westfield Parramatta's gross retail floor area reached its current size of 137,407m² and near 500 stores
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 holidays, which is in breach of their employment conditions.
