Westgate

retail king

Singapore – Westgate (西城), the premier family and lifestyle mall located in Jurong East, will open its doors to shoppers on 2 December 2013. It will assemble an exciting array of fashion, lifestyle and F&B offerings under one roof, bringing brands that used to be the exclusive domain of shopping malls in town to the west of Singapore.

The seven-storey mall from Basement 2 to Level 5 houses more than 250 brands over a net lettable area of 410,000 square feet (“sq ft”), similar to Raffles City Singapore’s retail area. It is strategically located in the heart of the up-and-coming Jurong Gateway precinct, and is the only development with direct connections to both the Jurong East MRT and bus interchanges.

On the fashion and accessories front, premium brands opening at Westgate include Kate Spade Saturday, AƖX Armani Exchange, COS (Collection of Style), Giordano Ladies, Sacoor Brothers, GISELLAblu and Pandora. Global Work, a casual fashion brand from Japan catering to men, women and kids will be debuting in Singapore at Westgate.

In the beauty space, French cosmetics brand Yves Rocher, a pioneer in the use of plants and other natural elements in beauty products, will mark its Singapore debut at Westgate. Another popular French brand L’Occitane, will open its first store outside town at the mall.

About 25% of Westgate’s retail space has been set aside for F&B, presenting diners with a wide selection of about 60 restaurants, cafés and food kiosks. Popular F&B outlets opening their first branch outside the city at Westgate include Ippudo, Tonkatsu Ma Maison, Tsukada Nojo, Osaka Ohsho, Ryoshi Sushi Ikeikemaru, 4 Fingers, MK Steamboat and Royce. Huang Ji Huang, the popular stewed pot restaurant with about 400 outlets in China, will open its first overseas restaurant at Westgate. In addition, Tim Ho Wan, the popular dim sum restaurant from Hong Kong, will open a new branch at the mall.

Fans of Japanese cuisine will be delighted with Westgate’s significant cluster of Japanese restaurants. Excluding the Food Republic food court, about 30% of the mall’s dine-in F&B outlets are Japanese. These include new-to-market Kino****a, the Osaka restaurant credited with igniting the teppan nabe (“hot iron pot”) food craze, and Robata Robata, a robatayaki grill concept developed by Singapore’s Shin Group.

Further enhancing the Japanese theme is anchor tenant Isetan, which will be opening its first supermarket outside Orchard Road at the mall. The upscale supermarket will be the first in Singapore’s west to sell Japanese wagyu beef. It will feature a number of new concepts, including Johan Paris bakery, a popular Japanese bakery known for its traditional French breads; J-Dining, a Western delicatessen serving take-away meals; Nagomi Deli, a Japanese delicatessen counter; Coffee Station by UCC, which sells premium coffee beans from the top Japanese coffee factory; Fuji Flower Style, a Japanese florist; and Juice Bar by Yaoya, Singapore’s first Japanese fruit juice shop. At Bacchus, the wine store operated by wine specialist Don Tay, Isetan will introduce a sit-in counter that will allow customers to enjoy wines with ham and cheese from Tierney’s. Over at the department store, shoppers can look forward to popular Japanese fashion and lifestyle brands such as ans accessories, ladies wear labels Nice Claup, Majestic Legon, Cochinillo, Remind Me & Forever, and more.

More lifestyle offerings are available at anchor tenant Samsung’s largest and first triplex Samsung Experience Store in Singapore spanning about 6,000 sq ft. The special standalone triplex store enjoys vantage visibility from Jurong East MRT station. Consumers will be able to enjoy interactive hands-on experience with the devices displayed in the store and trained Samsung Ambassadors will be on site to share tips relating to product usage and content applications across Samsung’s wide range of products including smartphones, tablets, cameras and selected range of after-market and original Samsung accessories. This is the first Samsung Experience Store that incorporates a bistro and beer garden, thus allowing consumers to grab a bite or have a drink while immersing in the Samsung experience.

In addition, book lovers can seek solace in Borders, which will be returning to Singapore under the management of Popular Holdings with an 8,000 sq ft store on Level 4. Fitness enthusiasts can visit Fitness First Platinum, which occupies 14,000 sq ft of space on Level 5.

For a limited time only, Westgate will be featuring pop-up stores showcasing local designers and more. Fashion designer Alfie Leong will be bringing back his well-received multi-label pop-up store Workshop Element (W.E.) at Westgate. Local designers participating in this showcase include AWOL, Womb, Ling Wu and Mash-Up. The Emporium, a multi-disciplinary collaboration between two homegrown businesses – Triologie (womenswear) and IndyK (womenswear, bags and shoes), together with brands such as Stones that Rock (ladies jewellery), Desti Saint (ladies handbags), furniture store Galanga Living and The Emporium Home – will also operate a pop-up store. In addition, local online shopping website Modajar will be holding a temporary showcase of its multi-label collection of designer men’s and women’s apparel, accessories and footwear sourced from Europe, United Kingdom and South Korea.

Engaging the community with social spaces and the arts

Beyond its retail and lifestyle offerings, Westgate seeks to promote family and social bonding with purpose-built community spaces. These include Westgate Wonderland, the mall’s signature 11,000 sq ft thematic outdoor playground on Level 4, which will be open to the public for free. Shoppers who accumulate a minimum spend at Westgate can also redeem their children’s free admission to the Kids Club on Level 5, a supervised play area with a 4,600-sq ft outdoor playground and an indoor clubhouse. Both outdoor playgrounds will open in early 2014.

The heart of Westgate will be The Courtyard, a low-rise dining precinct which is built to resemble a vibrant shopping street with community spaces for people to meet and socialise. Shoppers can enjoy a unique idyllic dining experience amidst a garden setting at The Courtyard, which houses F&B outlets such as Paul Bakery, Brotzeit, Café Crema, Poulet, Miam Miam and Skinny Pizza.

Shoppers are welcome to take a pleasant stroll in The Courtyard along the Westgate art trail, which includes four sculptures installed at different spots. Taking pride of place at the mall entrance is The Panda Family sculpture by French pop art artist Julien Marinetti, who is known for using his bronze sculptures as three-dimensional canvas. The specially commissioned art piece features a family of four pandas in a sitting posture. The panda subject hints at the proximity of Westgate to the Chinese Garden, whose pagoda and pavilions have long been prominent in the landscape of Jurong. The other three sculptures are caricatures by Belgium artist Kirk De Keyzer, who gave his signature playful twist to snapshots of mundane daily activities, namely The Loudspeaker, The Walk and The Tightrope Walker.

Adding to the convivial atmosphere at The Courtyard will be performances by endorsed buskers under the National Arts Council Busking Scheme. In fact, Westgate enjoys the distinction of being the first mall in Singapore to feature such endorsed buskers within its premises. This sets it apart from other shopping malls, where busking currently takes place at the public pedestrian areas outside the malls.

Ms Wee Su Lin, Development Manager of Westgate, said, “After two years in the making, we are excited to unveil Westgate as the premier family and lifestyle mall in Jurong East. We are pleased to work with established and new entrant retailers to bring city lifestyle to the western part of Singapore, as well as deliver original offerings that fulfill the potential of our strategic location in the up-and-coming Jurong Gateway precinct. We hope that the mall’s extensive retail and lifestyle offerings, together with its shopper-centric social spaces, will anchor Westgate firmly in the community and become the place where families living in the west and beyond, can enjoy themselves and spend the day.”

Source: CapitaMalls Asia