Visitors to Brisbane, Queensland delight in browsing through the vibrant pedestrian only Queen Street Mall. Situated in the central Brisbane business district five hundred metres of mall stretch from George Street to Edward Street that includes six major shopping centres with more than seven hundred retailers encouraging people to come to the Mall to shop. Queen Street Mall is considered as the best shopping experience that Brisbane offers, with Wintergarden, The Myer Centre and Queen Plaza all conveniently located there. Every year more than twenty six million people visit the Queen Street Mall.
Shopping Centres at the Mall
There are numerous shopping centres at the mall, the main ones are
Brisbane Arcade which opened its doors in 1923
Wintergarden opened in 1982
The Myer Centre in 1988
Broadway on the Mall opened in 1989
Queens Plaza, this century in 2005
As well as the Q &A building, Tattersall’s Arcade and
the Queen Adelaide Building
A fifteen metre high structure of covered steel, gives shade and protection from the weather. Near the George Street end of the mall, between the Queen Adelaide building and the Myer Centre, there is a stage with an eleven metre high roof. It is used for providing fashion shows, music and other performances of entertainment to people who visit the Queen Street Mall. The Queen Street Bus Station is located beneath the Queen Street Mall.
The Queens Plaza, a luxurious centre was built in two stages, with the second section finished in 2008. As the Queen Street Mall has important building facades that are on the heritage list, these were carefully preserved while building was in progress. The old facades gives the Queen Street Mall the lovely feeling and look of a bygone era.
History of the Queen Street Mall
The mall was opened in 1982 ready for the Commonwealth Games that would bring many visitors to Brisbane. Edward Street, between Queen Street and Albert Street became pedestrians only, with a section of Albert Street and George Street added in 1988 coinciding with Expo 88.
In 1999 the Mall underwent further upgrading to the amount of $25,000,000 with the former terracotta tiling replaced with granite, and the lane between George and Albert Streets incorporated into the Mall to make the Mall pedestrian only, as it is today.
Information on the Shops
Queens Plaza, the most upmarket of the shopping centres, has three levels of shopping with about eighty individual shops and stores. These, include the department store of David Jones, as well as luxury boutiques of Tiffany & Co., Chanel, Louis Vuitton, Bally, Salvatore Ferragamo, Max & Co., and MaxMara. Esprit is also among the outlets.
The Myer Centre is the biggest one in the Mall with two hundred shops over the six floors. The Wintergarden, a premier destination for shopping with stores like Georg Jensen, Lisa Ho and R.M. Williams, a tenpin bowling alley and a gymnasium.
Among the shopping centres and arcades at the Queen Street Mall are the Brisbane Arcade, Kathmandu, Dymocks and Guess, Q & A Building, The Queen Adelaide Building which houses Rebel Sport, and Tattersall’s Arcade.
