Roselands shopping centre’s food market level is to undergo a $90 million upgrade introducing a new fresh food precinct including two new supermarkets.
The upgrade has already started with the closure of the former Food for Less which will become an enlarged Woolworths. Aldi will also open an outlet adjacent to the new Woolworths.
Work on reviving the centre’s 2000sqm food retailing level will be completed by July next year.
It will be the first stage of a multi-million dollar upgrade of the 61,000sqm centre.
The food retailing space will be redesigned to include five new specialty areas, including a Market Hall, Market Place, Atrium, Laneway and Pantry, each offering a diverse range of fresh produce.
New travellators and priority parking will be installed for customers’ ease of access.
The centre’s existing anchor tenants Coles, Target and Myer will remain.
The food retailing floor will remain open as the work progresses.
Roselands centre manager Leigh Galvin said the upgraded food hall will have a fresh food market feel.
“This is not only a place to shop but is also critical to the community as a meeting place,” Mr Galvin said.
“The refurbishment will give us a much warmer environment for people to come to. We want to make it a destination for food.”
Roselands development manager Trent Delahunty said the new design will return the space to a traditional market-hall for food.
“We want a place where people will come and talk to retailers about their produce, where it comes from and how to cook it,” he said.
“We want the customers to feel the seasonality of the produce.”
Roselands was Australia’s first enclosed shopping centre and many of the food retailers have been there for more than 25 to 30 years.
Mr Galvin this tradition and loyalty will be a feature of the multi-million dollar refurbishment.
All the existing 70 retailers will be staying including A and C Chickens who has been at the centre for 30 years.
“Some of our retailers are so well-known to customers because their parents knew them when they first shopped here,” Mr Galvin said.
The new fresh food marketplace is being designed by interior designers Michelle Taylor Retail Design Concepts, responsible for the upgrade of the Top Ryde shopping centre, and architects Buckan Group whose work includes the upgrade of Maitland Mall.
Future works will include al fresco dining and hoepfully a cinema.
