Westfield Riccarton Reopens

Following Saturday's earthquake in Christchurch, Westfield Riccarton has undergone an extensive review of the building and has been deemed structurally sound and ready for trade.

Pak N Save, Kmart, Borders, Briscoes and the vast majority of specialty retailers are already open for trade. Farmers, Rebel Sport, and Hoyts Cinemas are expected to open in the next few days. All car park areas are open.

Justin Lynch, Director, Westfield New Zealand said, "While the centre opened yesterday some stores remained closed while the clean-up and re-stocking continued. Most of those stores now have the ability to trade."

"We have taken a cautious, staged approach to reopening as we worked methodically through the safety assessment and certification of both the centre, car parks and individual stores."

"We have undertaken professional engineering and all necessary safety checks prior to opening the centre, this also has extended to the individual stores."

"Many of Westfield Riccarton staff and retailers are also coping with their own personal and family issues following the earthquake and need time focus on those. In recognition of this Westfield Riccarton will be open from 9:00am - 6:00pm every day this week, but will not be open for late night trading on Thursday and Friday this week."

"We are conscious of the hardship being suffered by many in the community. Riccarton has served as a community hub over many decades and is open again to customers for both retail and services".

"Westfield has donated $250,000 to the Mayoral Relief Fund to assist the city following Saturday's earthquake and is facilitating further fund relief collection by setting up collection points at each of our centres around the country. We are sure New Zealanders are keen to do all they could to help those affected by the quake and the collections are being well supported," said Mr Lynch.

ENDS

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