Michelle Clarkson, Scentre Group’s Regional Manager Centre Experience, shares how Westfield Southland’s new entertainment and dining precinct is transforming the customer journey. By rethinking space and embracing customer insights, the centre has introduced family-friendly experiences, diverse dining, and refreshed retail — all designed to invite longer visits and deeper community engagement.
At Scentre Group, we’re focused on evolving our destinations to meet the needs of our customers. By reimagining how space is used, we’re unlocking new opportunities to deliver on our strategy and create the places more people choose to come, more often, for longer. We are repurposing existing space to make our destinations more productive, more engaging, and more reflective of the customers and communities we serve.
Key to our retail development pipeline is our ongoing focus on department stores. We are engaging our department store partners to consider how to better optimise their existing store footprints. A number of projects are underway or have been completed in line with this strategy.
Westfield Tea Tree Plaza in Adelaide introduced JB Hi-Fi, an expanded Timezone, and additional dining. At Westfield Burwood in Sydney, rebel, ALDI and JB Hi-Fi are set to join the retail mix. Our redevelopment at Westfield Bondi is also underway. We have taken back department store space on Level 1 of the centre to deliver a new rebel rCX concept store, and we’re excited to open Virgin Active’s new wellness concept soon. Now, we’re proud to unveil a new lineup of family experiences and dining retailers at Westfield Southland in Melbourne’s southeast.
Optimised for experience: a new chapter at Westfield Southland
Officially opened in June, the new entertainment and dining precinct at Westfield Southland is a showcase of what’s possible when strategy, design, and customer insight come together. Featuring a compelling mix of family-friendly entertainment, diverse dining options and new retail experiences, the offering has been designed to encourage longer visits and engagement from customers of all ages.
Anchoring the precinct is a state-of-the-art Timezone and Zone Bowling, offering fun for all ages. Families can also enjoy Little Amigos Kids Cafe, a thoughtfully designed space that blends play and relaxation. The dining offer has been elevated with the arrival of Kinn Thai Restaurant, Zeus Street Greek, and Yo-Chi; each bringing unique flavours to the centre.
We’re delighted to have also welcomed Toymate and Macpac, new retail partners catering to young families and outdoor enthusiasts. A refreshed David Jones has relaunched on Level 2, with Level 1 set to reopen later this year, further enriching the centre’s elevated retail offer.
The precinct’s design reflects the coastal lifestyle of the Bayside area of Southeast Melbourne, with updated seating, lush planting, new flooring and atmospheric lighting. A new escalator and lift will connect the Level 2 restaurants and entertainment with Timezone and Zone Bowling on Level 3, providing easy access throughout the precinct.
Opening celebrations brought the precinct to life with family-friendly events, entertainment and giveaways — reinforcing its role as a destination where people can shop, eat, play and connect, all under one roof. The reaction from customers has been positive, with many already enjoying the new dining options, family-friendly atmosphere and ease of access between levels.
Growing our engagement
The dining and entertainment redevelopment follows other exciting additions to the centre, including the launch of Adore Beauty’s first-ever physical store earlier this year. Spanning 150m2, the flagship concept blends immersive design with a personalised approach to beauty retail. The store has received positive customer feedback and demonstrates how we successfully bring a digital experience to life in our Westfield environments.
A team effort, a shared vision
Behind every detail is a team of dedicated people who care deeply about the centre experience. From concept to completion, this project has been a true collaboration.
As we welcome customers into the new precinct at Westfield Southland, we do so with immense pride in what our team has achieved and even greater anticipation for what’s to come.
The response from the community has been incredibly positive, and this is only the beginning. We invite everyone to visit, explore and enjoy the space: it’s been thoughtfully created for our community.
This article is published in the latest edition of SCN magazine – premium members can log in to view the digital magazine here. 
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