Melbourne's Chadstone Centre

The trademark of the first major shopping precinct in Greater Melbourne. At the time of its opening, the centre was said to "closely follow the American pattern in style, design and services." In fact, "Chaddy" was modeled after San Francisco's STONESTOWN CENTER.
Graphic from the Meyer Emporium

The mall's primary anchor store, Melbourne-based Myer Emporium, is seen in this vintage view. A note for those readers in the United States: the name of the complex is pronounced "Chad-stun" in the Land Down Under. 

Photo from State Library of Victoria

The Myer mallway entrance, on the northeast side of the 3-level store structure.
Photo from State Library of Victoria

A vintage view of the sprawling CHADSTONE complex, taken from the roof of the Myer store. At left centre is the large Garden Plaza and Indoor Garden pavilion. Back in the day, mall patrons would congregate at the Plaza area and enjoy free jazz concerts.

Photo from State Library of Victoria

The Upper Mall concourse in the original "Chaddy."
Photo from State Library of Victoria

A vintage view of the Lower Mall level, which was accessed from a set of escalators seen far in the background. This subterranean floor hosted services such as a Veterinary Clinic, Pets Parking Lot pet-minding centre, Children's Day Nursery child-minding centre and Kiddieland. This attraction included amusements such as fiberglass Thunderbird racing cars, swan rides and mini-helicopters.
Photo from State Library of Victoria

A layout of Melbourne's "compact city in the suburbs," which housed seventy-three tenant spaces. Its bi-level car park could accommodate up to 2,500 autos. At the time of this plan, CHADSTONE was located in the Malvern East suburb, in the City of Malvern local government area.

CHADSTONE CENTRE TENANTS 1960:

MYER EMPORIUM (with Strawberry Room Restaurant) / BUCKLEY & NUNN department store / FOY & GIBSON department store / ROCKMANS department store /  G.J. COLES & COY variety store / JAMES McEWAN & COMPANY Hardware / PATERSONS Home Furnishings / S.E. DICKENS supermarket / Angus & Robertson books / Mrs. N.M. Bowyer, public stenographer / Bradman's Suburban Stores accessories / Brash's electrical / Brighter Homes-Smith & Walton Paints / Burton School of Motoring / Cann's ladies' wear / Chadstone Bistro / Chadstone Centre News Agency / Chadstone ladies' wear / Chadstone Liquor Centre / Chadstone Motor Parts / Children's Day Nursery child-minding centre / Coles & Girard opticians / Commercial Bank of Australia / Commonwealth Savings Bank / Thomas Cook & Son (Asia) travel agency / Countryside Kitchens cakes / Downyflake Food Corporation coffee shop / W.T Dyer Sea Foods / Edments Jewelry / Exotic Aquarium & Pet Supplies / Fletcher Jones & Staff ladies' & men's wear / Herald & Son advertising divisions / Herbert Adams cakes / Hilton's of Chadstone ladies' wear / Hospital Benefits Association of Victoria / Peter Issacson press office & stationery / A.G. Johnstone men's hairdresser / Kiddieland / K.A. Lee Home Furnishings / Lindsey & McKenzie drapers / London Baby Carriages baby furniture / Martin & Pleasance chemists (pharmacy) / G.F. Mason fruiterer / Maternity Faire maternity & children's wear / Kenneth McDowell rubber goods / McKenna's Junior Shoe Salon / Medical-Dental Centre / Melbourne Sports Depot sporting goods / Mercantile Mutual Insurance Company / Model Dairy milk bar & dairy / Naytura Cafe & Store health foods / Newman's Chocolates & Candies / Oggi (Chadstone) ladies' wear / Pets Parking Lot pet-minding centre / Portman's ladies' wear / Post Office / Progress Press press office & stationery / Prouds Jewelry / Public Benefit Shoes / Royena Nurseries / Saks the Florist / Sportsgirl ladies' wear / Spotless (Chadstone) dry cleaners / State Savings Bank of Australia / Sussan Lingerie & Sportswear / Sutton's Delicatessen / The Leviathan men's wear / The Myer Babywear Shop / The National Bank of Asia / Tim the Toyman / A.E. Vauhan Tatt's agency / Arthur J. Veall electrical / Wade's Chadstone Meats / R.H. Wagner & Sons photo supplies / George Waldrop men's wear / John Warlow Studios / J.B. Were & Son stock & sharebrokers / Williams The Shoemen / F.H. Wiltshire & Associates veterinary clinic 

We now switch to full-colour images. Above is a late 1960s view of the southern end of the Upper Mall at CHADSTONE. This was back in the day, when the Coles conglomerate was still operating variety-type stores.
Photo from Historic Melbourne Pics / Ebay Postcard Collection

In this vintage view of the Upper Mall, we see the fibreglass panel roof that had been installed -in 1967- as partial protection from inclement weather. The shopping concourse would be fully-enclosed and climate-controlled in the 1980s.

Photo from http://www.victorianplaces.com.au / NuColor Vue / John Young Collection

Melbourne's Myer Emporium, who built CHADSTONE, followed with NORTHLAND CENTRE. The first of three directionally-designated enclosed malls, it was dedicated in October 1966. The original complex contained seventy-three stores and services. Today, NORTHLAND CENTRE houses over 330, with a lettable area of 1,025,900 square feet. 
Graphic from the Myer Emporium

The second of Melbourne's directional malls was EASTLAND CENTRE. Dedicated in October 1967, the shopping precinct contained forty stores under its roof. It was demolished, save for its Myer anchor store, in the mid-1990s. A new retail complex was dedicated in 1995. In the 2020s, it encompasses 1,410,000 lettable square feet and contains over 350 shops.

Drawing from the Myer Emporium

Lastly, there was SOUTHLAND CENTRE, which was completed in September 1968. The Myer Emporium proposed a WESTLAND mall in 1973, but it was never built...at least by Myer. Another company developed a retail complex. It opened -as HIGHPOINT WEST CENTRE- in 1975. The WESTFIELD SOUTHLAND shopping precinct currently encompasses 1,390,400 lettable square feet, with a retail roster of over 400 shops. 
Graphic from the Myer Emporium

DONCASTER WESTFIELD SHOPPINGTOWN was the first foray into the Melbourne market by Sydney's on-the-grow Westfield Development Corporation (today's Scentre Group). The fully-enclosed DONCASTER shopping precinct first traded to the public in September 1969.  It was expanded in the late 1970s, early 1990s and early 2000s. Today, WESTFIELD DONCASTER encompasses 1,291,700 lettable square feet and contains over 400 shops and services.
Drawing from the Westfield Development Corporation

Returning to our focus on "Chaddy," the first of many mall extensions was done between 1985 and 1986. The original shopping precinct was enclosed, with a new supermarket and 2-level Northeast Wing built. Moreover, the north end grocery was replaced by a vertically-stacked Target discount store and 8-screen cinema. 

A diagram depicting the various extensions done at CHADSTONE CENTRE between the mid-1980s and early 2000s. With all of the reconstruction, there is now little -if any- of the original 1960 mall remaining. Note: after some political rezoning in 1994, the mall was now situated in the newly-created City of Stonnington local government area (but still considered to be within its Malvern East suburb).  

The south end of "Chaddy" was rebuilt in the late 1990s, as part of a Stage 20 project. The original (circa-1960) Myer was demolished, with the new store -seen here- being dedicated in November 1998. It was joined by a David Jones department store one year later. These were linked by a curving, sunlit galleria concourse, completed in December 1999.
Photo from Wikipedia / "Raider2044" 

A "Stage 30" expansion, known as Chadstone Place, opened between late 2008 and early 2009. This "outdoor-style" addition consisted of 1 and 2-level structures, with a single-level parking deck covering a building on its east end. Chadstone Place housed several exterior-entranced stores, a "Fresh Food Precinct," al fresco dining area and 4-storey office tower.    
Photo from http://www.e-brochures.com.au / The Buchanon Group

A Woolworths supermarket, anchoring the new Chadstone Place addition, debuted in October 2008. The mega mall now featured three food stores; Woolworths, Aldi and the existing Coles. There was also a Colonial Fresh Markets fruit & produce store.
Photo from Wikipedia / "Alpha"

By 2009, the Melburnian shopping precinct is promoted as "The Fashion Capital." In this diagram, we see its Ground Level (or Upper Mall). The area in yellow (mostly composing the original -1960- structure) is being redeveloped. When this West Mall project is completed, the shopping complex will encompasses 2 million lettable square feet. Parking provisions will be provided for 9,500 autos.

Original graphic from http://www.chadstoneshopping.com.au

Work got underway on the "Stage 33" (West Mall redevelopment) project in May 2008. The 278 million dollar retrofit, which encompassed 463,000 square feet, was completed in November 2009.

Photo from http://www.worldarchitecturenews.com 

The north end of Australia's largest shopping mall was rebuilt between 2014 and 2017. A new & improved Entertainment Zone was enclosed with a glass gridshell roof; the first such structure built in Australia. When construction dust settled, the mall encompassed a whopping 2,260,400 lettable square feet, with a retail roster of 550 stores and services. There was now free parking for 10,000 autos.
Photo from Wikipedia / "Wpcpey"

Click on image for a larger view

The "Stage 40" renovation installed two new food facilities. A Dining Terrace was situated on a new Level 1 (actually a third floor), with the Food Central complex filling a reconstructed section of Lower Ground Level space.
Photo from http://futurefood.com.au

We wind down our "Chaddy" excursion with a circa-2019 Ground Level store map. Before the most recent remodeling, the mall consisted of 2 floors; the Lower and Ground Levels. With the newly-rebuilt Entertainment Zone (bounded in dark gray), there are now 4; Lower Ground Level, Ground Level, Level 1 and Level 2. Moreover, the mega mall's six car parks are now designated by the letters "A" through "F."
Original graphic from http://www.chadstoneshopping.com.au 

A "Stage 38" project enlarged the existing Myer (or "F") Car Park and added the 11-storey Chadstone Tower 1, an 85 million dollar office facility. 

Photo from http://www.colliers.com.au

CHADSTONE CENTRE
Dandernong Road / Princes Highway and Chadstone Road
City of Malvern (City of Stonnington), Victoria

The first large-scale shopping precinct in The Land Down Under was developed on a 33-acre plot, located 9 miles southeast of Melbourne's Central Business District. CHADSTONE ["Chad-stun"] CENTRE was technically the second mall-type shopping precinct in Greater Melbourne. A small, community-class complex, known as BELL STREET MALL, had opened in the City of Banyule, a northeastern suburb, in 1956.  

The land on which CHADSTONE was built was originally occupied by the Convent of the Good Shepherd, which had been dedicated in December 1883. Melbourne's Myer Emporium department stores acquired portions of the property in 1958, 1963 and 1984, with the final purchase being made in 1999.   

The CHADSTONE mall was developed by the Myer Emporium and designed by a joint effort of Los Angeles-based Welton Becket & Associates and Tompkins & Shaw, of Melbourne. The complex was modeled after San Francisco's STONESTOWN CENTER (1952), which had also been envisaged by the Welton Becket firm of Los Angeles.

Construction commenced on the 6 million pound* CHADSTONE shopping precinct in February 1959. It was dedicated, by Victoria Premier (Sir) Henry Bolte, on October 3, 1960. The open-air complex encompassed 355,200 lettable square feet. It consisted of an Upper Mall concourse, with a partial Lower Mall sales floor on its north end.

On the south end stood a 3-level (153,000 square foot) Myer department store. There were a total of seventy-three tenant spaces. These contained stores such as Foy & Gibson, Buckley & Nunn, McEwans Hardware, Patersons Home Furnishings, a G.J. Coles & Coy variety store and S.E. Dickens supermarket (at the time, the largest grocery store in the nation).

The Upper Mall shopping concourse was flanked by a single block of stores at the centre of the complex. On the opposite side was a large, open Garden Plaza. This included an Indoor Garden pavilion and glass-enclosed kiosk which housed a studio for radio station 3UZ.

From its inception, CHADSTONE was a "one stop & shop" facility. Services were included, such as a public auditorium, medical and dental clinic, post office, veterinary clinic and Kiddieland child-minding centre. An American-style bowling alley was added in 1964. Known as Chadstone Bowl, it was the first subterranean bowling alley in Australia.

The first of many expansions at CHADSTONE was completed in March 1963, when a fourth floor was dedicated at the Myer anchor store. The structure now encompassed 200,000 square feet.

Commercial competition arrived with the completion of THE GLEN CENTRE {4.4 miles northeast}. This thirty-two-shop complex first traded to the public in 1967. It was a small, community-class complex that would be substantially enlarged over the ensuing years.

Next came SOUTHLAND CENTRE {5 miles southwest}, in 1968. Also developed by the Myer Emporium, it did not become a retail rival of CHADSTONE until it was acquired by the Westfield conglomerate in 1994 and renamed WESTFIELD SOUTHLAND. Lastly, there was KNOX CITY CENTRE {8.5 miles northeast}. Encompassing eighty-three stores in its original stage, this shopping precinct first traded to the public in 1977. 

The Myer Emporium sought to buy into Sydney's Grace Brothers department store chain; the dominant Australian merchandiser. In order to do this, it became necessary to sell the CHADSTONE property. In March 1983, Melbourne's John Gandel (the Gandel Group) became the centre's new proprietor. 

At the time of the change in ownership, the mall enveloped 430,500 lettable square feet. A 3-stage renovation soon got underway. Phase One consisted of the enclosure of the existing mall.

Phase Two involved the supermarket on the northeast end of the complex, which had been operating under the Coles New World banner since 1982. It was demolished and a new location built. A 2-level Northeast Wing was constructed, which contained the new Coles supermarket. This store was dedicated in October 1985. 

Phase Three involved building a 2-level structure on the original Dickens-Coles supermarket site. Known as the Entertainment Zone, it housed a 1-level (96,800 square foot) Target on its upper floor, which opened in late 1985. Hoyts Chadstone, a lower floor 8-plex, showed its first features on December 13, 1986.

In April 1994, Sydney's Colonial First State Retail Properties Trust acquired a 50-percent interest in the shopping centre. It was soon being enlarged. A 1-level (77,500 square foot) Kmart was retrofitted into the Lower Mall. The discount department store first traded to the public on July 10, 1995. The first of six car park structures was also built.  

America's RTKL Architects were engaged to design the next expansion. It would consist of a 2-level Loop Mall, constructed along the southeast side of the centre. Its vaulted-roof concourses would converge on a glass-enclosed atrium. These modifications were completed in 1996. CHADSTONE now encompassed approximately 1,011,800 lettable square feet and housed 325 stores. 

In the spring of 1997, the Myer store, at the south end of the complex, was knocked down. It was replaced by a curving, 2-level wing of shops; this anchored by 2 newly-built department stores. A 3-level (242,100 square foot) Myer opened in November 1998. David Jones' 3-level (163,000 square foot) store welcomed its first shoppers in November 1999. 

In December of the same year, an expanded -17-screen- Hoyts multiplex was completed. CHADSTONE CENTRE now spanned approximately 1,364,700 lettable square feet and contained around 385 stores and services.

In February 2007, CHADSTONE embarked upon another major upgrade. Costing upwards of 100 million dollars*, the Chadstone Place extension was an outward-facing collection of Main Street-style shops. The new wing included a 4-storey office tower, Woolworths supermarket and other "mini majors", such as a First Choice Liquors Superstore and Dick Smith Electronics. 

Woolworths and Aldi stores first traded to the public on October 29, 2008. The remainder of new stores were in operation by December of the same year. The mall now encompassed approximately 1,842,900 lettable square feet. It reclaimed the title of Australia's largest shopping centre, a distinction it had held between October 1960 and October 1965.

Work had commenced on a West Mall renovation in March 2008. This project saw the west end of the existing mall gutted and replaced by a 2-level cache of luxury retailers, including Louis Vuitton, Prada, Tiffany & Company and Gucci. These stores began trading to the public in August 2009. With this latest spate of renovations, CHADSTONE CENTRE encompassed 2,045,100 lettable square feet. 

Yet another expansion of "Chaddy" was approved by the local governing body in November 2012. The mid-1980s-vintage Entertainment Zone (Target and Hoyts Chadstone) were demolished in June 2014. Construction commenced on a new 4-level Entertainment Zone in September. 

This 660 million dollar structure housed a new Target store, state-of-the-art (13-screen) Hoyts megaplex and sixty trendy retailers. These included Uniqlo, Sephora, Maje, Sandro and the nation's first Legoland Discovery Centre. Covering the area was Australia's first glass gridshell roof, which enclosed nearly 75,300 square feet.

The 1-level (77,500 square foot) Target began trading to the public on September 10, 2015. Two food facilities debuted October 13, 2016. The Dining Terrace, featuring seven full-service restaurants, included Burger Project By Neil Perry, Fonda Mexican and Woodstock Pizzicheria. Food Central, comprised of twenty-three vendors, featured Sauced Pasta Bar, Royal Stacks and Soul Origin.

The new Hoyts Chadstone megaplex, encompassing 2-levels, showed first features on October 16, 2016. A final refurbishment phase added an 11-storey office tower and expanded parking deck; these built adjacent to the existing Myer store. An 11-storey (248-room) hotel was also proposed.

With its most recent renovations, the CHADSTONE mall covered a total of 68.4 acres, spanned approximately 2,260,400 lettable square feet and housed over 550 stores and services. The super-sized shopping hub is currently owned by a 50/50 joint venture of Melbourne's Gandel Group and Vicinity Centres, also based in Melbourne. 

* Prior to February 1966, the official currency in the Land Down Under was the Australian Pound. Decimal currency was introduced in 1966, when the Australian Dollar made its debut.

Sources:

The Age (Melbourne, Australia)
http://www.victorianplaces.com.au
http://www.stonnington.vic.gov.au
http://www.chadstoneshopping.com.au
http://espace.library.uq.edu.au
http://www.theaustralian.com
http://www.chadstoneplace.com
http://www.shoppingcentrenews.com
https://sacsc.co.za / South African Council of Shopping Centers
"Chadstone Shopping Centre" article on Wikipedia