Retail News

BankWest to open at Lake Haven
BankWest have committed to a 128m2 tenancy at Lake Haven Shopping Centre as part of the bank's rollout of a network of branches in NSW. The new branch will provide for a complete range of financial services and will extend trading hours including Thursday night, Saturday and Sunday.

Centre Manager, Mike Cochrane, said "We are really excited to have BankWest select Lake Haven as a preferred location for one of it new branches. It reconfirms the strength of the financial services offer provided by the shopping centre for its customers. Lake Haven really is a one stop destination for financial services requirements".

The new BankWest branch is planned to open in the north mall late May and is the first on the Central Coast. In July last year the Perth-based WestBank announced that it intended to compete directly with the nation’s big four banks with plans to establish 160 new branches in the eastern states.

Owned by the UK’s HBOS since 2003, BankWest will be establishing branches in New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland and South Australia. HBOS Australia chief executive David Willis said, “It is the most significant branch roll-out from scratch that Australia has seen.”

Council approves Erina Fair extension for K-Mart
Gosford Council has approved a Development Application by Lend Lease Retail for extensions to the Erina Fair Shopping Centre. Expected to cost $22.5 million the extensions add 6,633 sqm of floor space to the Centre. The proposed alterations and additions involve:
• Extending the existing ‘Home and Lifestyle’ building to accommodate a K-mart Discount Department Store;
• Extending the former Bay Swiss store which will be re-branded as Freedom Home; and
• Car park extensions.

Wesfarmers to keep K-Mart
Wesfarmers has announced it will keep the struggling Coles general merchandise K-Mart chain. It had considered selling off K-Mart after it took over the Coles empire last year. However, in a late March announcement the group said it had concluded its strategic review of K-Mart and decided to retain the chain and invest in its continuing improvement.

Wesfarmers CEO Richard Goyder said the board was encouraged by the better performance of the K-Mart business in the latter months of the first half of the financial year and the prospects of growth. "The focus on an enhanced product offer and a better value proposition for customers will continue," he said in a statement. "The board will monitor performance over time, as it does with all Wesfarmers-owned businesses."

Cookie Man opens at Westfield Tuggerah
Annette and Greg Francis have opened a Cookie Man and Baskin Robbins outlet at Westfield Tuggerah.
The outlet on Level 1 comprises 40sqm and is leased for 5 years. The franchise is the first Cookie Man and Baskin Robbins franchise to be located in the centre. The Francis’ have operated a Cookie Man franchise at Stockland Bay Village for the past 3 years.
Another Cookie Man franchise on the Central Coast is located at Imperial Centre Gosford.

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