STORY TOWN: Riccarton

WESTFIELD MALL THROUGH THE YEARS

“Construction of Riccarton Mall began in February 1965. It was officially opened by John McAlpine, MP for Selwyn and Minister of Transport, on 2 November 1965 and opened to shoppers the following day. The initial mall covered 67,000 square feet (6,200 m2) and cost £525,000 to construct ($22.6 million in December 2021 dollars). It contained 20 retailers including three anchor tenants: The Farmers’ supermarket and department store (owned by the New Zealand Farmers’ Co-operative Association of Canterbury), a Four Square-New World supermarket, and a McKenzie’s department store.

A 20,000-square-foot (1,900 m2) extension to the mall opened in November 1970 along with a fourth anchor tenant: Calder Mackay & Co. department store, which at the time had just been acquired by the Farmers Trading Company of Auckland. A new 20,000 sq ft (1,900 m2) New World supermarket opened in July 1974, followed two months later by a 10,000-square-foot (930 m2) extension housing four stores, bringing the mall to 123,000 square feet (11,400 m2).

In November 1979, a third major extension opened and expanded the mall to 19,070 m2 (205,300 sq ft). The expansion included a 460 m2 (5,000 sq ft) Smiths City Market and 12 stores, bringing the mall to 50 stores.

Riccarton Mall was extensively remodeled in 1992 with most stores relocating to new premises within the mall; Farmers Trading Company (now simply Farmers) is one of the few stores to remain in its original location. The remodel introduced a food court into the mall and a new rooftop car park”. – Westfield on Wikipedia

These images relate to the Mall as a witness to social, cultural and political events.

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