Castle Towers Shopping Centre, or known locally, simply as "Towers", is a super-regional shopping centre located in the north-western suburbs of Sydney, Australia. With over 300 stores and a lettable area of over 112,000 m², Castle Towers is one of the largest shopping centres in the southern hemisphere, measured in terms of the amount of lettable retail floorspace located under one roof. The shopping complex is owned by the Queensland Investment Corporation, the owner of other major Australian shopping centres including Westpoint Blacktown and Robina Town Centre Shopping Centres. This article does not cite any references or sources. ... In retail, an anchor store, or draw tenant, is one of the larger stores in a shopping mall, usually a department store in a major retail chain, such as Macys or JCPenney. ... Gross leasable area (GLA) in the retail development industry is a term applied to shopping malls, lifestyle centers, outlet malls and other retail centers to indicate the amount of floor space available to be rented. ... A square metre (US spelling: square meter) is by definition the area enclosed by a square with sides each 1 metre long. ... Westpoint Blacktown is a large shopping centre situated in Sydneys western suburbs that is owned by the Queensland Investment Corporation (QIC). ... Robina Town Centre is a large shopping centre in the suburb of Robina, Queensland. ...

Castle Towers receives approximately 20 million customers per year, spending AUD$650 million, which is one of the highest annual turnover of any shopping centre in Australia.^{[citation needed]}

It has a net leasable area of approximately 112,000 square metres and is one of only six shopping centres in the Sydney metropolitan area to contain two full-line department stores, the others being Westfield Bondi Junction, Westfield Parramatta, Warringah Mall, Westfield Hornsby and Westfield Miranda. Soon the centre will boast the only Harris Scarfe in Sydney and the second centre to have all 3 Australian department stores. Westfield Bondi Junction is a shopping centre located in the suburb of Bondi Junction in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. ... Westfield Parramatta is a shopping centre in Parramatta, a suburb of Sydney, New South Wales. ... Warringah Mall is a large indoor/outdoor shopping centre on Sydneys Northern Beaches in the suburb of Brookvale. ... Westfield Hornsby is a large shopping centre in the suburb of Hornsby, New South Wales. ... Westfield Shopping centre, Miranda Westfield Shopping centre, Miranda Westfield Miranda (also known as Miranda Fair), owned and managed by the Westfield Group, is a large shopping centre (mall) in the suburb of Miranda in the Local Government Area of Sutherland Shire in southern Sydney in the state of New South...

History

Castle Towers opened in 1982 with Kmart, Coles and Norman Ross as the major retailers. The centre was expanded to include David Jones and Franklins in November 1991. In August 1993, the Greater Union site was launched and in October of the same year Target replaced Norman Ross. In September 1999, the second Greater Union site opened, as well as 44 specialty retailers including the Piazza restaurant precinct. In April 2000, Target and David Jones launched their extensions with the addition of Bi-Lo and a further 76 stores. In August 2001 the final stage of the centre opened including a two level Grace Bros (now Myer) and 34 upmarket fashion retailers. ^[1]

Design and Stores

The shopping centre has 3 main floors The Upper Level, Middle Level and Lower Level. Fresh Food stores, lower class specialty shops and the supermarkets are on the lower floor. On the middle level there is Discount Department stores and department stores as well as middle class fashion and specialty retailers. On the upper level there is department stores and cinemas and Up market fashion stores. The upper class fashion stores include Lisa Ho, Polo Ralph Lauren, Queenspark, Morrissey and David Lawrence, which makes it different to most shopping centres. The centre has 5000 indoor car parking spaces and 1000 outdoor spaces. This does not cite any references or sources. ... Polo Ralph Lauren (NYSE: RL) is American fashion designer Ralph Laurens luxury lifestyle company. ... For other uses, see Morrissey (disambiguation). ... David Lawrence can refer to many different People: David L. Lawrence is the former Pennsylvania governer. ...

Eshhhayyss Braaahhh!!

Major stores at the centre include:

• David Jones (Middle and Upper Levels)
• Myer (Middle and Upper Levels)
• Target (Middle Level)
• Kmart (Middle Level)
• Coles (Lower Level)
• Greater Union 10 cinema screen complex and separate 6 cinema screen complex (Upper Level)
• Fitness First (Upper Level)
• Lincraft (Upper Level)
• Dan Murphy's Liquor (Lower Level)
• Gloria Jean's Coffees. (Lower and Upper level). No longer worth visiting since the resignation of a certain sexy beast in August of 2007.

Future Majors: David Jones Limited (ASX: ), colloquially known as DJs, is an Australian retailing company. ... Myer Emporium. ... Target Australia Pty Ltd is an Australian discount department store chain owned by Coles Group. ... For the Australasian department store chain, see Kmart Australia. ... The name Coles has many meanings: Coles in business: Coles Supermarkets is a supermarket chain in Australia Coles Myer, owner of the Coles supermarket chain. ... Greater Union is an Australian chain of cinema multiplexes. ... Fitness First is a chain of health clubs that claims to be the largest in the United Kingdom, Europe, Australia and the Asia-Pacific region. ... Lincraft is a retail chain in Australia that specialises in the sale of homewares, including crafts, material, and patterns. ... Dan Murphys is an Australian liquor seller, with many locations across Australia. ... The Gloria Jeans Coffees logo Escape the Daily Grind Gloria Jean’s Coffees is one of the worlds largest chains of specialty coffee retailers and is also one of the fastest growing franchise organisations in Australia. ...

• Big W Opening Late 2010
• Woolworths Opening Late 2010
• Harris Scarfe Opening Late 2010

The centre has two food courts and a cafeteria precinct. It also has an area dedicated to dine-in restaurants and evening entertainment called "The Piazza." Big W is the second largest discount department store in Australia, with over 120 stores located nationwide. ... F.W. Woolworth Company the original USA based chain of high street shops. ... A Harris Scarfe store in Tasmania Harris Scarfe Department Stores was founded in South Australia in 1850 in Adelaide, South Australia. ...

Castle Towers is one of the largest shopping centres in the Southern Hemisphere (currently number 12) (this does not include shopping centres spanning floors of sky scrapers). When extended, the centre will reach 170,000sqm making it the largest shopping centre in the southern hemisphere if rivaling Chadstone Shopping Centre in Victoria isn't bigger when its finished its expansion.^{[citation needed]} Chadstone Shopping Centre (also known as Chaddy to local residents) is a shopping centre located in the south-eastern suburbs of Melbourne, Australia. ...

Redevelopment

A recent Development Application (DA) to Baulkham Hills Shire Council will see the centre jump in size to 172,000 square metres of leasable area, making it the largest shopping centre in Australia and the Southern Hemisphere (Knox City in Melbourne is currently the largest), it's current position being 12th. The reconstruction will see the relocation of the cinemas, the food court and the addition of another discount department store and supermarket. The redevelopment will take place on the Southern tip of the centre site, and expand westwards, crossing Pennant Street and opening up towards Kentwell Avenue, and expand around the Castle Grand library and apartment building. The plans would include bridges, tunnels and crossings through Pennant Street. The cost of the redevelopment is expected to be around AUD$500 Million.

Before the expansion can start the following projects must be constructed:

• Eastern Ring Road, diverting traffic from Castle Hill Town Centre
• Castle Hill Bus Terminal, a transport interchange for the busy Town Centre.
• Terminus street precinct redevelopment Stage 1.

The key to the reconstruction is the closing of Castle Street between Pennant Street and Old Northern Road. Closing Castle Street will allow greater pedestrian access and will provide a key link between the two current shopping precincts. The development will surround the heritage listed Castle Hill Primary School building (built in the 1890s) and the old Police Station. The QIC will use the area around the buildings and name that precinct of the shopping centre "Heritage Square". Suggested uses for the heritage listed buildings are cafes, historical museums, and specialty stores.

The redevelopment will be incorporated into the Council's Castle Hill Town Centre Plan, which includes the partial closure of Old Northern Road, and diverting the main traffic flow along a reconstructed Terminus Street behind Castle Mall. This will allow the Castle Hill Town Centre to be more pedestrian friendly. It will also provide greater access for public transport (buses and taxis) along Old Northern Road, with links open to the future North-West Rail Link, which will include a train station in the area called Castle Hill railway station.But current plans being submitted to council include another 5000 car park spaces ontop of the 5000 they already have.

If redevelopment applications are approved there will be:

• Big W
• Woolworths
• Harris Scarfe
• Borders
• JB HiFi
• Bay Swiss
• Dick Smith Electronics Powerhouse
• 4 new cinemas and 2 new G-Max cinemas for the Greater Union Cinema Complex
• New Cafes and Restaurants
• New specialty stores

Big W is the second largest discount department store in Australia, with over 120 stores located nationwide. ... F.W. Woolworth Company the original USA based chain of high street shops. ... A Harris Scarfe store in Tasmania Harris Scarfe Department Stores was founded in South Australia in 1850 in Adelaide, South Australia. ... Borders Books and Music (NYSE: BGP) is a North American chain of bookstores, with some branches overseas. ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ...

References

1. ^ http://www.castletowers.com.au/about_us/history.cfm?dynID=5

External links

• Castle Towers webpage

• Castle Towers is at coordinates 33°43′50″S 151°00′22″E / -33.73045, 151.0062028 (Castle Towers)Coordinates: 33°43′50″S 151°00′22″E / -33.73045, 151.0062028 (Castle Towers)