Afternoon:
14°c
I have a guilty secret: I am a mall lover. I'm not even that fussy. When I lived in W2, Whiteley's was the object of my affections, even though it has a ropey past (this was before Café Anglais and Food Inc) and half the shops were empty, or discount suitcase emporiums. That didn't stop me drifting round the floors for hours in a daze.
But soon I'll have a new love. The Westfield centre is opening on my doorstep at the end of the month. We already have a history: I've been checking it out every day for years and I've watched this strange fortress rise slowly from the ashes of White City, complete with pointy glass bits, giant red logo and shiny new Tube station. I couldn't wait until 30 October to burst through the doors so I got myself in in disguise in a hard hat and reflective jacket last Friday.
For a Whiteley's fan, it was almost too much. Vast wobbly glass ceilings, “competitive shop fits” — “Even Next have raised their game!” chirped one excited PR girl. A luxury wing, with granite floors and Louis Vuitton, Tiffany's, Prada, Chanel and more. Plus a vast food court with an open “theatre-style” kitchen — you can throw a frisbee across 13 restaurants, apparently. (There are 49 restaurants in all.) Most exciting is the 14-screen cinema (“Cinema de Lux”!) on the top floor that wants to rival Leicester Square for premieres — it's got waitress service, leather seats, and “no rain on the red carpet”, as marketing pointed out. All in all, it's big, brash and bold, in a so-bad-surely-it-must-be-good kind of way.
But while I wish this muscular Aussie newcomer every success, I fear for our more fragile English counterparts in Kensington High Street and Notting Hill. The western extension of the C-charge tilts the balance in Westfield's favour (it's outside the zone); surely Boris has to kill off the extension if he doesn't want to wipe out the villagey commerce west London is famous for.
My other concern is for my new friend's cultural contribution — although there's a new library and hoodies are banned, its camouflage walls look vaguely threatening. If they wanted to tap into the English sense of community, an art gallery or concert hall might have made it seem a little less crude. In the current climate, “commerce or else” feels a tad crazy. Still, it could have been worse — first plans included a “Vegas-style casino”. Even I would have drawn the line at that.
Catherine Ostler is editor of ES Magazine.
Reader views (1)
There is an art gallery Ms Ostler, although attached to a retailer.
"“Even Next have raised their game!” chirped one excited PR girl"
Oh dear. PR gets in and reality goes straight out of the window. A fair number of the shop fits will not be finished by the 30th, Louis Vuitton one of them. Westfield themselves will have around 1200 people on site post 30th October, when they leave no-one knows. Latest news is that the air conditioning system wont be fully up and running, if at all, by opening time.
Good luck to the residents of Shepherds Bush and White City. Your lives are about to be changed...and you wont like it.
- Westfold, London, UK
