Westfield Fountain Gate is a super-regional shopping centre located in

Narre Warren Narre Warren ( ) is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 38 km southeast of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Casey local government area. Narre Warren recorded a population of 27,689 at the 2021 ce ...

in the south-eastern suburbs of

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

, Australia. It is the second largest shopping centre in Australia by both floor area and number of anchor tenants. However, it is the largest shopping centre in Australia with all 3

discount department stores Discount stores offer a retail format in which products are sold at prices that are in principle lower than an actual or supposed "full retail price". Discounters rely on bulk purchasing and efficient Logistics, distribution to keep down costs. ...

Big W Big W (stylised as BIG W) is an Australian chain of discount department stores, which was founded in regional New South Wales in 1964. The company is a division of the Woolworths Group and as of 2024 operated 179 stores, with around 18,000 emp ...

Target Target may refer to: Warfare and shooting * Shooting target, used in marksmanship training and various shooting sports ** Bullseye (target), the goal one for which one aims in many of these sports ** Aiming point, in field artille ...

and

Kmart Kmart ( ), formerly legally registered as Kmart Corporation, now operated by Transformco, is a department-store chain and online retailer in the United States and Territories of the United States, its territories. It operates four remaining Kma ...

History

Fountain Gate Shopping Centre, constructed by Overland Construction Corporation, was inaugurated by the

Governor of Victoria The governor of Victoria is the representative of Monarchy of Australia, the monarch, currently King Charles III, in the Australian state of Victoria (state), Victoria. The governor is appointed by the monarch on the advice of the premier of V ...

Henry Winneke Sir Henry Arthur Winneke, (20 October 1908 – 28 December 1985) was a Chief Justice of Victoria and the 21st Governor of Victoria, from 1974 to 1982. Early life and career Winneke was born on 20 October 1908 to the descendants of German immig ...

, on 11 March 1980. Initially, the centre boasted two major retailers:

and Coles New World. Alongside them were 48 other shops and the Hotel Fountain Gate, a

pub A pub (short for public house) is in several countries a drinking establishment licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term first appeared in England in the late 17th century, to differentiate private ho ...

and restaurant. In 1984, a

Safeway Safeway, Inc. is an American supermarket chain. The chain provides grocery items, food and general merchandise and a variety of specialty departments, such as bakery, delicatessen, floral and pharmacy, as well as Starbucks coffee shops, and veh ...

supermarket was erected to the south of Kmart, enriching the centre's offerings. The evolution continued in 1988 with the addition of a second floor to the shopping complex. This expansion welcomed a Forges department store (now

), a Harry Heath’s Supermarket (later replaced with a relocated Coles New World), a food court, and an array of 40 more shops. The following September saw the inauguration of the adjacent homemaker centre. The centre underwent significant redevelopment when it was acquired by the

Westfield Group Westfield Group was an Australian shopping centre company that existed from 1960 to 2014, when it split into two independent companies: Scentre Group, which owns and operates the Australian and New Zealand Westfield shopping centre portfolio; ...

in July 1995. This redevelopment transformed the centre into a much larger complex, culminating in 2001. Notable additions included a new eastern wing on the ground floor, featuring a revamped food court, an entertainment precinct housing a

Village A village is a human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand. Although villages are often located in rural areas, the term urban v ...

cinema, a

department store, an

Aldi Aldi (German pronunciation: ), stylised as ALDI, is the common company brand name of two German multinational family-owned discount supermarket chains operating over 12,000 stores in 18 countries. The chain was founded by brothers Karl and ...

supermarket, a relocated

(later rebranded as Woolworths), and various specialty shops. Additionally, a Bi-Lo supermarket was added to the second floor alongside an array of more shops. Furthermore, the former Safeway premises were repurposed to accommodate additional stores, including

The Reject Shop The Reject Shop is an Australian discount variety store chain selling a range of goods such as food, snacks, gift cards and party, health and beauty aids, cleaning supplies, storage, kitchenware, homewares and seasonal items in 375 store locat ...

, a

Dimmeys Dimmeys is an Australia, Australian discount department store chain. Founded as a Victorian gold rush, gold-rush era drapery "Dimelow & Gaylard's", in rural Maryborough, Victoria, Maryborough, the business became colloquially known as 'Dimmeys'. ...

(later replaced with

Harris Scarfe Harris Scarfe is an Australian retailer that sells bed linen, kitchenware, homewares, electrical appliances and apparel. It was founded in 1849 in Adelaide, South Australia and has more than 50 stores nationally. In 2015, ownership of Harris Sc ...

), an

Australia Post Australia Post, formally the Australian Postal Corporation and also known as AusPost, is an Australian Government-State-owned enterprise, owned corporation that provides postal services throughout Australia. Australia Post's head office is loca ...

office, and various other shops. A major expansion of the complex took place between 2011 and 2012. Approved by the

City of Casey The City of Casey is a local government area in Victoria, Australia in the outer south-eastern suburbs of Melbourne. Casey is Victoria's most populous municipality, with a 2021 population of 365,239. It has an area of . The city is named afte ...

in December 2007, the extension featured a new two-level 12,000m²

Myer Myer (stylised MYER) is an Australian mid-range to upscale department store. It trades in all Australian states and one of Australia's two self-governing territories. Myer retails a broad range of products across women's, men's, and child ...

store, a new 4,200m² Coles store, in a new location near the former Bi-Lo, with the existing store shell being reconfigured with space for two new minor anchor stores, as well as providing increased retail space for

, which increased from 6,884m² to 8,368m². David Jones had been set to open a store in the new expansion but terminated the contract with Westfield in July 2010, with Myer replacing David Jones in the expansion. David Jones had been trying to exit its contract with

since 2003 as Fountain Gate did not fit the company's strategy or target demographic. Four new minor anchor retail spaces were constructed, as well as 114 new specialty store spaces and 1,500 new car parking spaces, with new ground-level parking surrounding the centre and new rooftop parking above the new mall areas. It is the location of the first-ever

Krispy Kreme Krispy Kreme, Inc. (previously Krispy Kreme Doughnuts, Inc.) is an American multinational doughnut company and coffeehouse chain. Krispy Kreme was founded by Vernon Rudolph (1915–1973), who bought a yeast-raised recipe from a New Orleans ch ...

in Victoria. A new building has been added to the complex which is the City of Casey's vibrant new entertainment precinct, it is the creative and community heart of the region. This is the new home of the Narre Warren Library.

In popular culture

Fountain Gate Shopping Centre is named as the mall frequented by the characters in the popular television series ''

Kath & Kim ''Kath & Kim'' (also written as ''Kath and Kim'') is an Australian sitcom originally airing in the prime-time slot on ABC Television from 2002 to 2005 and subsequently on the Seven Network in 2007 and 2022. The show was produced by Riley and T ...

''. Scenes in the show were filmed at Fountain Gate and at

Westfield Southland Westfield Southland (previously known as Southland Centre) is a shopping centre in the suburb of Cheltenham, Victoria, Cheltenham in Melbourne, Australia. Southland has a floor area of 129,180m², making it one of the biggest shopping centres in ...

. Fountain Gate Shopping Centre was a filming location in the feature film ''

Bad Eggs ''Bad Eggs'' is a 2003 Australian comedy movie, written and directed by Tony Martin. It stars Mick Molloy, Bob Franklin and Judith Lucy, with Alan Brough, Bill Hunter, Marshall Napier, Nicholas Bell, Steven Vidler, Shaun Micallef, Roby ...

'' where, in the first scene, a car rolls into the actual shopping centre; in the film, the mall is named ''Crystal Heights Shop Kingdom''.

Transport

Narre Warren railway station Narre Warren railway station is a commuter railway station on the Pakenham line, which is part of the Melbourne railway network. It serves the south-eastern suburb of Narre Warren, in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Narre Warren station is a ...

is approximately 1 km away from the centre and is linked by a number of bus routes to Westfield Fountain Gate. Some regional buses also stop at Fountain Gate. The Hallam Bypass, a new section of the

Monash Freeway The Monash Freeway is a major urban freeway in Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia, linking Melbourne's CBD to its south-eastern suburbs and beyond to the Gippsland region. It carries up to 180,000 vehicles per day and is one of Australi ...

opened in 2003, passes beside the complex and can be viewed from the windows in the food court. A trail known as the Hallam Bypass Trail, constructed at the same time, runs beside the centre on the north-east side, providing access for

cyclists Cycling, also known as bicycling or biking, is the activity of riding a bicycle or other types of pedal-driven human-powered vehicles such as balance bikes, unicycles, tricycles, and quadricycles. Cycling is practised around the world for pur ...

and

pedestrian A pedestrian is a person traveling on foot, by wheelchair or with other mobility aids. Streets and roads often have a designated footpath for pedestrian traffic, called the '' sidewalk'' in North American English, the ''pavement'' in British En ...

References

External links

*
Westfield Fountain Gate website - Development update
{{Shopping centres in Victoria Buildings and structures in the City of Casey Shopping centres in Melbourne Shopping malls established in 1970 Fountain Gate 1970 establishments in Australia