Westfield Southland

I used to love Southland when I was younger (18) but when I was in Melbourne recently and went back, I can barely remember what the appeal was.
It is a massive shopping centre, spanning two sections on either side of the road and a walkway over the highway. The walkway and section on the west section of the road was added about 15 years ago so that part is a bit nicer than the «old» section. Wiki tells me there’s over 400 shops in Southland and it has a pretty good range for whatever you’re looking for. But I would recommend knowing why you’re going there because there’s nothing worse than realising you need to go to David Jones when you’re on the Kmart side.
Probably the best section is the walkway as that’s where there’s the more upmarket clothing brands like Country Road, Witchery etc as well as Mimco and Kikki K. I’m not really a fan of the eating options at Southland — there’s a food court and more restaurant-​type options near the cinema.
There’s lots of parking for a shopping centre this size and you probably won’t have too much problem getting a spot — undercover parking is the most sought-​after in the summer. And it’s free parking, so that’s good.
All up, Southland is ok — definitely wasn’t the highlight of my holiday, more of a needs-​must place to visit but for the selection of shops, I can’t really complain.
Note: we had trouble finding a centre directory and had to ask at the assistance counters. I think they have a few touch screens around the place with maps on them.

I am a total fan of shopping centres, I know I know I am spose to dislike them with a passion and support local business etc etc but I just cannot help myself! I could spend hours and thousands of dollars inside southland! I get excited whenever I go to visit mum because it means a trip to southland is bound to happen.
You take your first step inside and everything it simply at your finger tips, electronics, furniture, clothing stores, food courts, pet stores, the list goes on and on. It is all just there! There is no hassle, there is sales, omgosh always so many sales. Then when you simply cannot shop anymore you just pop on over to village and relax and watch a movie. Remind me why I am spose to dislike shopping centres again?

Oh Westfield… you do get around. the world, that is!
Super deceivingly large mall… it’s not upper crust mall findings, but I did find a stellar café! And, being a tourist, it’s nice to walk the whole length (and many levels), as a purveyor of culture =)
The cinema here would be a lot of fun to patronize… I enjoyed seeing the food offerings outside of the court. Man alive… food ain’t cheap in this country! shocking, although i’ve been warned many times.
The clothing boutiques were pricey, and the styles were not commensurate to their tags. My nephew gloats over the EB Games store for his many systems of squandered, wasted hours of life with eyeballs glued to a telly.
I fancied a nice café for a large strong, flat white after the miles of walking. Too, the meat pies at some of the more gourmet end shoppes (the ones near the butcher shoppe and the Italian gourmet store!!) caused me to salivate.
Think this place spans a block… easily. Simple and straightforward. think somewhere in nondescript middle of Kmart-​land and Nordies/Sak’s world.

It’s a shopping centre, so what do you expect?
But seriously they have everything you want here. Movies, supermarket, JB Hifi. They’re trying to make the area over the bridge look ‘classy’. Slightly more upmarket clothing stores and whatnot. But don’t buy into it. Just get in, get what you need, and get out.
It’s definitely a lot nicer to wander around than Chadstone though, and much more organised.

Exactly what you’d expect from a large shopping centre. Nothing special but the usual decent assortment of shops.
Parking is a bit of a mess but that’s hardly unique to here.

This place has pretty much everything you could need. A good number of the major retail brands, plenty of places to have a coffee, TGI Friday’s, and so on. It doesn’t get as stupidly busy as Chadstone, and it usually isn’t too hard to find a car park. For those reasons alone, I almost like this place.
I do more and more of my shopping at Christmas time here just because it’s that little bit quieter than the other shopping centres. It’s still a bit crazy, but the crowd is that little bit more relaxed than some other places I could mention.