Whats the deal with Shoppingtown?

Yes, it's being redone to be MASSIVE! New cinemas and David Jones etc is going in. Wont be done till next year though.

best advice at the moment, only visit shoppingtown if you really have to. Parking horrendous, and more shops seem to be closing down every minute. Go to eastland instead. I wonder is anyone out in Ringwood, can tell us if they have noticed increased activity in their shopping centre.

I head out to Eastland a fair bit as it's bigger than the pines, and of course because Shoppo just plain sucks at the moment with all the development. (can't wait till it's finished though!). Overall, Eastlands is pretty good, but the traffic has certainly increased a little, but you can still park there easy enough.

Hi guys

Shoppingtown is REALLY coming along, don't know when it will be finished though. Does anyone have an ETA on when it will be finished?

AJ

Dude! Everything is on Wikipedia...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Westfield_Doncaster

Wikipedia ? haha :) i should have guessed. Not long before people will say 'Dude! Everything is on SA...'

:)

Shoppingtown just opened up a bunch of new shops, and all i can is WOW!!

Still no David Jones, Borders or cinemas just yet, but they are coming very soon.

The new food court also just opened, and I must say it's probably one of the best I have ever seen in a shopping complex. There's one place called Dumpling King, and all they sell is dumplings.....tasty!!!!

I was at Shoppingtown on the weekend. Parking is an absolute disaster (though we did manage to get lucky) but they have opened alot more shops including Target and Big W. It really is going to be Melbourne's best place to shop once David Jones opens in October.

Try parking at the Doncaster Hotel across the road, people don't know about it and it's a small walk over the road.

Anybody know if the David Jones will be full size. Ive seen David Jones stores like Chadstone which are over 4 levels, have all of the stock of the city store. Then there's the one out at the Glen in Mount Waverley which is very small.

What's going on with the restaurant precinct? I hear they are talking about 4/5 star dining?

Doncaster Shoppingtown just keeps getting bigger. On a recent visit I discovered Target and Big W have opened. As has an entire section devoted to kids (Esprit Kids, Pumpkin Patch etc). Also noticed more car parks.

Also found out Groove Train will be opening there in the restaurant section. As well as three other restaurants (all applying for liquor licenses).

And Borders will be a double storey one, you can tell from signs on the new staircase opening up between the food court and cinema level.

Hi guys,

Looks like Shoppo is open for business! Ill be checking out the new David Jones and Myer stores and will be giving my full opinion here in the next week or so. Can't wait to try out the new cinemas!

AJ

All i can say is WOW!!!

I went on the Friday it opened, and bought a brand new Zegna suit at David Jones and got a full 20% off. Was very happy indeed.

The new section down near Myer and David Jones is very upper class. Reminiscent of some of the new malls in LA and New York. It's good to see the whole fashion section has been done really well. no longer do i need to go all the way out to Chadstone to buy clothes.

There's so much cool stuff to say about the new Shoppingtown. I'm yet to try out the new Village Cinemas, but that will be soon as I expect to go in the next week or so.

Finally...I don't need to say much more other that than....they have a KoKo Black Chocolate Shop!!! WHOHOOO!!

Only downside is that I don't think people have quite gotten used to the parking just yet, so it can be a bit difficult at peak hours.

AJ

Only downside is that I don't think people have quite gotten used to the parking just yet, so it can be a bit difficult at peak hours."
That has to be an understatement ! I love what they've done to the centre with all the fab shops and department stores, but surely they could get the parking situation right. I don't have a problem with the ticketing system but there aren't enough exits. It can take up to an hour to get out of the place at closing time. I can only imagine what nightmare its going to be the closer it gets to Christmas ! Plus its become a danger zone !

hehehe...DArgy thanks for bumping this thread. Now that I have become a bit of a regular at 'shoppo' I know the best times to go, and have a more informed opinion. You are spot on about the parking, people still really haven't gotten used to it all, and that leads me to believe it's not the people that are clogging the lanes, it's that the problem lies with the center design. There are simply not enough exits. I think Chadstone has about 4 exits, and Shoppingtown only has about 2?

I hope they put in another exit somewhere, although I have no idea where.

Christmas is going to be a nightmare, that's why I think it's best to do alot of shopping online, and avoid the crowds :)

Oh, I also got a chance to check ou the cinemas, and they are AMAZING. I highly recommend them. Hopefully seeing the new James Bond movie this weekend...CAN'T WAIT!!

AJ

I hope management reads your comment about avoiding Shoppingtown and shopping online. They will be onto the parking issue right away ! (we hope ) I love shopping online as well, and there are plenty more bargains . Check this site out http://www.buckscoop.com.au/forums/

Not for everyone, but I discovered valet parking!

It costs $10, they park your car, give you a remote key button to press when you are ready to leave and you can get in and out of the centre via a special entrance. Also pack your shopping bags in the car when you leave.

I regularly shop in the city and it costs $10-$20 to park (like Melbourne Central) so I felt it was a cheap option to avoid weekend parking hassles, I now just valet it.

It wasn't very busy in the valet, not sure whether it will catch on.

No I doubt it will, why pay $10 when you can park for free? Centre management would love the idea to catch on, hmmmmm that's probably why they have only limited exits...................................

Why not pay $10 I say! If it means that I don't have to drive around for an hour like I did last weekend, then $10 is just fine with me.

I would agree that it's not worth it if you can park for free, but that's just the problem - everyone goes there now and you can't find a park anywhere.

I wrote to management and they are keen to improve the situation. This is the email I received :

"Thankyou for taking the time to contact us in relation to our new Westfield Doncaster. Your feedback is important to us and allows us to continually improve our shopping centre.

We acknowledge your comments in relation to the time taken to exit last time you visited our centre. Whilst we will not be in a position to do any civil works prior to Christmas we will work together to ensure that we manage the car park traffic as efficiently as possible so that the customer experience is not compromised by unnecessary or avoidable delays.



Once again I thankyou for taking the time and I hope that you will give us the opportunity to better meet your needs in the future "

Sound good to me.........

Hi DArgy,

Fantastic that you are so proactive, and even better that they at least responded with a nice email (even though it didn't really say much). I'm wondering how they can improve the situation though? It's not like there are any more roads connecting to Shoppingtown that an exit can be created on.

AJ

I tried (and liked) valet parking too!

The main carpark is a major problem, I dont know how they can fix and after 10 minutes driving we went to valet. (swore I would never do it).

Valet's not very busy at the moment and quite cheap for now, $10.

They helped my wife with loading her shopping into the car - even left a 500ml Westfield branded water in the cup holder.

Felt like you needed to tip the three guys that help you with your car.

When paying got a loyalty card - 5th time using valet is free.

Would I use it again, yes.

You're probably right AJ but at least they are aware of our discomfort. As for the valet parking, I think its an unecessary luxury and that is why most people chose to avoid it. I stress the point again that its not so much finding a spot, in fact the ticketing system is working because as you enter a section there is an indication of how many spots remaining in green. Its getting out especially at peak times that is the problem.............. 5th time using valet parking is free, let me do the numbers, um spend $50 on a service that could cost you nothing and then get one free, yippeee ! Maybe I should try it : )