Pacific Epping
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Pacific Epping is a
shopping centre A shopping center in American English, shopping centre in English in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth English (see American and British English spelling differences#-re, -er, spelling differences), shopping complex, shopping arcade, ...
in
Epping, Victoria Epping is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, north of Melbourne's central business district, located within the City of Whittlesea local government area. Epping recorded a population of 33,489 at the 2021 census. Boundaries and ter ...
, a suburb of
Melbourne, Australia Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung/ or ) is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second most-populous city in Australia, after Sydney. The city's name generally refers to a metropolitan area also known ...
. It opened in 1996. It is located on the corner of High Street and Cooper Street, away from
Epping railway station, Melbourne Epping railway station is a commuter railway station on the Mernda line, which is part of the Melbourne railway network, and serves the northern suburb of the same name in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It opened on 23 December 1889 and, si ...
, and approximately north of the
Melbourne CBD The Melbourne central business district (colloquially known as "the City" or "the CBD", and gazetted simply as Melbourne) is the city centre of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. As of the 2021 census, the CBD had a population of 54,941, and is ...
. Until September 2013, the shopping centre was known as Epping Plaza. The centre is still sometimes referred to as Epping Plaza, including the Epping Plaza Hotel and the bus stops which are called Epping Plaza SC.


History

Originally soft-opening in 1995 with only Target and Coles, and April 1996 with everything else, Epping Plaza Shopping Centre was officially opened on 29 October 1996 by The Hon. Robert Maclellan, M.L.A. In November 1997, the dining and entertainment complex opened to the public, with a 10 auditorium Reading Cinemas complex (previously known as Epping 10 Cinema until Reading Cinemas' acquired Anderson Multiplex in 2004), Epping Plaza Hotel and indoor restaurants. However, TGI Fridays and La Familigia would not be added to this area until 2001. In mid-2007, Epping Plaza underwent a major extension to the west of the existing plaza and the total number of stores grew to 218. Further development in 2009 included the extension and refurbishment of the Fresh Food Hall, now named "Hunter & Gatherer". The area to the north of Hunter & Gatherer was also refurbished. Between December 2012 and January 2013, construction commenced on the renovation of the dining and entertainment complex, later known by the time of its completion of the Urban Dining in October 2013, resulting in the removal of the indoor dining area which originally doubled as a shortcut to Reading Cinemas. Stage 5 added 11 restaurants and cafés in a street-style setting on the Cooper Street side of Epping Plaza, in addition to a renovation of Reading Cinemas and many of the surrounding dining and entertainment venues nearby, where
Reading Cinemas Reading Cinemas ( ) is a group of cinema chains operating in the United States, New Zealand, and Australia. They are owned by Reading International, a U.S.-based company. History 20th century In the late 1980s, through his holding company ...
built two extra auditoriums for Gold Lounge and rebuilt the front side of the interior, as well as a complete rebuild of the exterior itself. The completion of Stage 5 rebranded the shopping centre to Pacific Epping. in June 2018 QIC assumed Management rights and 50% ownership of the centre. Quest Apartment Hotels announced in January 2017 that it would build a 96-room hotel that would include an additional 1300sqm of new restaurants at Pacific Epping after securing a lease. Production has completed in late 2018, opening new dining and entertainment complexes to go along with it, further expanding the Urban Diner section. In 2019, a 2-story childcare centre and gym were built near JB-Hi-Fi and ALDI.
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 ...
closed its store in the centre in early 2021 and was replaced by
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 ...
. In November 2023, the Hunter and Gatherer fresh food precinct closed to undergo further redevelopment; it reopened in December 2024, consisting of over 20 shops and a completely renovated Woolworths supermarket.


Tenants

Major retailers in Pacific Epping include: * Coles - supermarket * Woolworths - supermarket *
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 *
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 ...
- discount department store *
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 ...
- discount department store *
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 ...
- department store *
JB Hi-Fi JB Hi-Fi Limited is an Australian consumer electronics retail company. It is publicly listed on the Australian Securities Exchange. Its headquarters are located in Southbank, Melbourne, Victoria. As of June 2024, the company operates 330 sto ...
- consumer goods *
Best & Less Best & Less is an Australian retailer of clothing and household linens. As of October 2022, Best & Less has 182 stores as well as an online platform. History Best & Less was founded by Berel Ginges in January 1965, by occupying part of the grou ...
- apparel * Cotton On Mega - apparel *
Reading Cinemas Reading Cinemas ( ) is a group of cinema chains operating in the United States, New Zealand, and Australia. They are owned by Reading International, a U.S.-based company. History 20th century In the late 1980s, through his holding company ...
- movie theatres.


Incidents

On 3 October 2006, a small fire broke out in cinema six of Reading cinemas forcing the evacuation 40 people. Water from fire sprinklers trigged by the blaze also caused damage to the Harris Scarfe department store located below the cinema. Police believe the blaze was deliberately lit. On 3 December 2008, shoppers and staff at the shopping centre were evacuated after a wall fell five metres inside Big W's garden centre. Police initially feared Big W's northern wall, which was attached to the fallen one, could also collapse, adding "It was an absolute miracle no one died." The collapse caused Big W, surrounding stores and part of the underground car park to be evacuated and the Big W entrance to the centre to be closed off. It is thought that a burst pipe may have caused the collapse. No one was injured. Police praised the actions of the staff of Big W Epping and Epping Plaza. One of the first cases of swine flu in Australia unconnected with foreign travel was detected at Epping Plaza. A staff member at
McDonald's McDonald's Corporation, doing business as McDonald's, is an American Multinational corporation, multinational fast food chain store, chain. As of 2024, it is the second largest by number of locations in the world, behind only the Chinese ch ...
was diagnosed with swine flu virus, and the McDonald's branch was immediately closed. On 21 June 2024, a gun was fired outside Pacific Epping. Two males, aged 16 and 22, self-reported to hospital due to injuries sustained from the incident.


See also

*
List of shopping centres in Australia A list is a set of discrete items of information collected and set forth in some format for utility, entertainment, or other purposes. A list may be memorialized in any number of ways, including existing only in the mind of the list-maker, bu ...


References


External links

* {{Shopping centres in Victoria Shopping centres in Melbourne Shopping malls established in 1996 Buildings and structures in the City of Whittlesea 1996 establishments in Australia