EVOLUTION OF WESTFIELD MIRANDA: Westfield Miranda extensions (1984-1985)

The success of Westfield Miranda during the 1970's and increasing population growth across the Sutherland Shire led to Westfield deciding to embark on another expansion.

Farmers would be rebranded as Myer in 1976

In 1982, plans for extensions were rejected by Sutherland Council. The scheme proposed expansion over the railway line and into Karimbla Road.

During the same year, Myer purchased Grace Bros. In early 1983, Myer made the decision to withdraw from NSW citing poor sales and focus on growing the Grace Bros brand across the state.

Source: Anon. 1983. "New jobs for Miranda staff". The St George and Sutherland Shire Leader, February 16: 3.

The majority of Myer stores were converted to Grace Bros. Some stores were closed altogether e.g. Gordon.

As Grace Bros was already a tenant in Westfield Miranda, it was decided that Myer would vacate the space.

This allowed Westfield to subdivide the space once occupied by the store. You will notice that some of that layout still remains, even after redevelopment and upgrades in 2014.

Source: Anon. 1983. "Myer Miranda Fair to be redeveloped". The St George and Sutherland Shire Leader, May 11: 38.

In mid 1983, Harvey Norman moved into what was the top floor of Farmers/Myer and would remain there for a decade before moving to Caringbah.

The extensions and upgrades were completed in three stages - April 1984, August 1984 and March 1985.

Upon completion, Big W had moved in. Woolworths moved from level 2 to level 3. Best and Less and Franklins opened stores. Parking facilities were also expanded to extend over Wandella Road onto land behind Miranda Public School. The expansion of the carpark caused controversy.

The number of shops had doubled again - 160 retailers under the one roof.

One departure was the Miranda branch of Sutherland Library, moving to its current site in Wandella Road.

Below are some scans from The St George and Sutherland Shire Leader from 1984 and 1985 to promote the upgrades and selected advertisements.

April 1984 - Stage 1

August 1984 - Stage 2

March 1985 - Stage 3

Property Advert of the Week: Park Plaza, Hurstville by Meriton (1995)

Below is a 1995 advertisement by Meriton Apartments promoting apartments in the Park Plaza Complex in Hurstville.

Source: Meriton Premier Apartments. 1995. "Park Plaza" (Advertisement). The Sydney Morning Herald, April 8: 101. 

EVOLUTION OF WESTFIELD MIRANDA: Westfield Miranda Expansion Completed II (1971) - Retail Advertisements

Last week was an overview of the first expansion of Westfield Miranda (Miranda Fair), this week I am sharing some of the advertisements as published from The St George and Sutherland Shire Leader
on September 15 1971.

Grace Bros

Farmers

Woolworths Family Centre

The Whistling Prawn

Mansours

Kenrays

Katies

Soul Pattinson Chemists

Safeways

Bush'a Hygrade Means

Igloo Deli

Property Advert of the Week: Hitter Homes (1969)

Below is a 1969 advertisement for new homes in Bass Hill.

Source: Hitter Homes. 1969. "Luxury Homes in Bass Hill" (Advertisement). The Daily Telegraph, July 5: 24.

EVOLUTION OF WESTFIELD MIRANDA: Westfield Miranda Expansion Completed (1971)

In September 1971, just eighteen months after approval, the expanded Miranda Fair complex was completed and opened to the public.

The expansion made it the first shopping complex in Sydney to offer two department stores under one roof - Farmer's and Grace Bros. Grace Bros would trade over four levels. In 2019, Myer still maintain space on three of the four levels with Woolworths relocating into the vacant space as part of the 2014 expansion.

Woolworths had expanded to become a Woolworths Family Centre which was a hypermart comprising of BigW and Woolworths in the one shop.

Nock & Kirbys completed what became "the big 4".

Below is a map of the complex following the 1971 expansion as published in The Sydney Morning Herald on September 14, 1971. I recall a person who superimposed the map below with a 2014 map of the complex on the Skyscrapercity forums around 2015 but has since been removed. It is interesting to note that the Woolworths Family Centre for encompasses what is now BigW (plus more) and the escalators in the middle of Farmers is now an atrium surrounded by shops

Sydney newspapers published special supplements to mark the expansion along with The St George and Sutherland Shire Leader. 

A special feature of the centre was the creation of a 10 000 sq/foot Cameila Court given the local interest in Cameilas with the E. G. Waterhouse National Camellia Garden located nearby in Caringbah.

A snapshot

• 56 000 sq/m of retail and commercial space (up from 18 000 sq/m).
• 75 retailers (up from 20).
• Miranda Library was doubled in size.
• Five level office building (completed in 1972) would house professional tenants including doctors, lawyers and accountants.

Property Advert of the Week: Regency, Chatswood (2001)

Back in 2014, I shared an advertisement promoting the sale of apartments in The Regency Towers at Chatswood. Below is one from 2001:

Source: Australand. 2001. "A plan for living" (Advertisement). The Sydney Morning Herald, November 17: 19A (Domain Liftout).

Remember This? Cityrail periodical tickets Ad (1991)

I am in the process of unearthing some further material on the evolution of Westfield Miranda. This week "Remember This" returns to fill in the gap.

Below is a 1991 advertisement by Cityrail promoting the sale of periodical tickets. The introduction of the Opal Card in recent years and the travel cap (originally $60 per week, now $50) has marked the end of such tickets. Reduced fare journeys are also available to regular commuters on a weekly basis e.g. a person making return trips to and from work five days a week saves 10% along. Opal also $2 discounts for transfers to other modes of public transport in a journey, which was not available with paper tickets for single or return trips.

How about a person who does alot of travel in one day? $15 maximum daily travel cap.

The abolition of periodical tickets did hurt some as they were attracted by the big savings on offer by paying upfront.

Commuters were promised up to 196 free trips if they bought a yearly ticket. The advertisement was published in The Daily Telegraph Mirror on June 3, 1991.

Property Advert of the Week: Shereline Homes (1969)

Below is an advertisement for the "Montclair" which was a builder designed home from Shereline Homes dating from 1969. You could view this and other display homes in Pennant Hills Road, Carlingford. The home is still standing at 750 Pennant Hills Road, Carlingford.

Source: Shereline Homes Pty. Ltd. 1969. "Shereline Homes" (Advertisement). The Daily Telegraph, July 5: 25.