.gif)
Westfield - Welcome to the White City
It's already been hailed by its supporters as the retail event of the decade and reviled by its critics the "death of the city high street". But now that it has finally opened, the big question on everyone's lips is: "Can Westfield live up to its own hype?" Elizabeth Troake was on the scene prior to its opening weekend.
Looking around, it's all rather unassuming: on my left stands a long row of terraced houses and on my right an old community hall. It's all a bit unremarkable, even scruffy in places...and then your eyes are drawn to the imposing white building looming at the end of the road, towering like an enormous wave over the houses and shops of White City.
At odds with its surroundings, Westfield London is a shopping centre on a par with the megamalls seen across the pond. It's the biggest inner-city shopping centre ever constructed in Europe and filled to the brim with some of the biggest and best retail names. But the feral, hooded youths lounging in the doorways of the Uxbridge road this morning won't find fast food and discounters within Westfield's walls - they'll have to make do instead with Kitchen Italia, Wahaca, Kurt Geiger and Hobbs.
The day I visited the Westfield centre, Friday 31st October, was only the second day of opening and the last dress rehearsal before the weekend, which would bring 500,000 shoppers from all over London and the wider United Kingdom.
It must be said that the centre certainly had the feel of a last rehearsal before the opening night. Even before the clock had reached double figures dozens of ushers were to be seen, strategically positioned around every paved walkway leading to the centre in order to shepherd the guests in the most orderly fashion possible.
Inside, the stage was set, with white pillars rising from a vast entrance hall towards a stunning, undulating glass roof. In the centre of the atrium, beneath a full lighting rig, a white, double pronged catwalk jutted out, quiet for the moment but promising a gospel choir, orchestra and fashion show at times throughout the day.
In the Village, the centre's long-hyped designer section, enormous crystal chandeliers hung like frozen waterfalls against a delicate pink ceiling. The programme had promised the likes of Gucci, Versace and Mulberry. However the prima donas of this show will be arriving fashionably, inevitably late. In this corner of Westfield shopfronts that promise diamonds and luxury handbags display only workmen, who flutter around like surly butterflies with ladders and hammers.
Disappointing, yes, but not overly concerning as, on balance, the UK's latest and greatest shopping destination is truly spectacular. Besides, Westfield had plenty of other shops, mall cafés, restaurants, gyms and hairdressers to keep me entertained. In addition to this is the unparalleled range of services across the mall, such as personal stylists to glam you up and chauffeur-driven cars to take you home. (My personal favourite of these services is the "Kidspotter", essentially an electronic ASBO-type tag that parents attach to their kids who can then be tracked throughout the mall should they get themselves lost).
This level of service, spearheaded by a formidable "concierge team" is another thing that sets Westfield apart. This department features a 60-strong team of customer service personnel, trained to the standard of a five star hotel and who speak 14 languages between them. Westfield prides itself on this line-up - "at the top of their profession, highly trained, very experienced and care passionately about delivering excellent customer service".
So far, so good. With good-looking, well-merchandised shops and helpful, highly trained staff, Westfield is considerably more smooth, polished and formidable than I had expected. Despite 5% of stores remaining unopened for the time being and a few escalators out of order, I have to say that retail's new behemoth more than lived up to my expectations. It was almost too easy to waste a day there.
However, as I stepped out of the White City, I reflected that, whilst the Westfield group is already established in the UK, with the opening of its London mall the company has put an enormous man-eating tiger amongst the London pigeons.
Of course, you cannot construct a retail complex on this scale without making a few enemies along the way, and there are many critics around who would love nothing more than to see this titanic enterprise hit an iceberg.
Some moralists are already criticising the sheer effrontery of opening such a "retail cathedral" when so many people in the UK face an uncertain future with their finances - more than a little unfair given that the project was initiated a number of years ago. Meanwhile, others have turned their noses up at the inner-city location, claiming that the mall will be the death of the "traditional city high street". Other critics hate the architecture, or are warning that the development will clog up Shepherds Bush and turn West London into London's newest and biggest car park.
But, despite the credit crunch and the inevitable chorus of critics, shoppers have not been dissuaded. On its opening day, it was reported that 150,000 people swarmed through the doors, with retailers reporting sales figures that were considerably higher than expected.
A Westfield London spokesman said: "We hit the half-million mark after four days, which was exceptional by any standards. We are confident it's going to continue. We've got Christmas coming up and there is genuine excitement about that."
Even taking into account the hype surrounding the opening, this doesn't sound like a "flash in the pan" success story and I have to say that, as I left on the tube from Shepherds Bush Market, Westfield looked pretty unsinkable to me.
So, like it or loathe it, this looks like it may be the future of UK shopping malls. There is no doubt that Westfield will certainly change the future of retail in London. And with Christmas coming up, if I were Oxford Street I would be looking nervously over my shoulder.
