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Nov. 24th, 2004 06:44 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
xenithHaven't done a photo session lately, so I though we could check out the city's malls. (Big photos so they might take a little while to load on dialup)
We start in the Brisbane Mall, which is The Mall.
It was busy this afternoon. Brisbane St is the main street running through the central business district. Many years ago, someone had the clever idea of closing off the central part of it, and putting down pavers, trees, seats etc. Which obviously makes a more comfortable environment for customers & pedestrains. So this is the retail heart of the city.
Most of the city consists of two/three storey Victorian & early 19th C era buildings. While the lower parts of these shops are quite modern, the older architecture is visible above ground level.
Usually. Certainly this part of the city has always been attractive to developers. It's a bit busier on this side.
Looking in the other direction, we have Darth Vader's helmet. This is the St John St end. St John St was a victim of the demolish & replace fashion of the 1960s & 70s. Many of the older buildings survived though, you can just see one of the big, old bank buildings, on the right behind the helmet. The bank moved to cheaper premises a few years back and now it's occupied by some name brand retail chain store.
As are most of the buildings in the mall. On the left we have Sussan a fashion, chain; then Katies, a fashion chain that used to be part of Coles-Myer, the biggest retail company in the country.
The big building one the left is Myers, also part of the Coles-Myer family (bet you couldn't guess that) and it's THE city department store. This building is considered by many to be the tallest in the city, it's not, the Telecom building down the hill a bit is actually taller. On the 6th floor (the top retail floor, I think there's a 7th used for storage) there used to be a family reastaurant and you could walk out on the balcony, the bit sticking out, to look over the city.
In between the chain shops, but not obvious in that photo, is Birchalls.
Which is a bit of anomaly in a block of national chain stores, because it's a Tasmanian owned company. And it's been trading as a bookshop on the same site since 1844 (the sign in the window says they're 160 years old this month). It's Australia's oldest bookshops. Chain stores & department stores have come and gone but Birchalls just stays there. I won't say stays the same, because they've just remodelled the inside, which was a bit of a shock, because it's been much the same layout as far back as I can remember. I haven't had a chance to have a good look at the new setup but the book section has been considerably expanded, which is good. Birchalls is one of those shops that makes supporting the small guys easy. (Can you see the busker playing the guitar? Just left of the bush on the right hand side of the photo.)
Now we're moving on. From the end of the mall, looking down Brisbane St, we can see the old Princess, where the roof doesn't fall down. As you can see, the city centre is full of tall buildings and sterile footpaths. If the photo went a bit more to the right, you'd be able to see the entrance to the Quadrant Mall. The Quadrant is a qarter circle of street, where many years ago someone had the clever idea of closing off part of it, and putting down pavers, trees, seats and a fountain!
It's quieter than The Mall and not as overdeveloped.
You can see the curve in the street here, and there is Gourlays! Australia's oldest sweet shop, although it hasn't always been on the same site. Best place to buy sweets though, they've got jars behind the counter so you can buy acid drops & barley sugar by the scoopful, and shelves full of fancy packaged stuff that makes good presents.
And here's the flower cart at the other end of the Quadrant, just for finality.
We start in the Brisbane Mall, which is The Mall.
It was busy this afternoon. Brisbane St is the main street running through the central business district. Many years ago, someone had the clever idea of closing off the central part of it, and putting down pavers, trees, seats etc. Which obviously makes a more comfortable environment for customers & pedestrains. So this is the retail heart of the city.
Most of the city consists of two/three storey Victorian & early 19th C era buildings. While the lower parts of these shops are quite modern, the older architecture is visible above ground level.
Usually. Certainly this part of the city has always been attractive to developers. It's a bit busier on this side.
Looking in the other direction, we have Darth Vader's helmet. This is the St John St end. St John St was a victim of the demolish & replace fashion of the 1960s & 70s. Many of the older buildings survived though, you can just see one of the big, old bank buildings, on the right behind the helmet. The bank moved to cheaper premises a few years back and now it's occupied by some name brand retail chain store.
As are most of the buildings in the mall. On the left we have Sussan a fashion, chain; then Katies, a fashion chain that used to be part of Coles-Myer, the biggest retail company in the country.
The big building one the left is Myers, also part of the Coles-Myer family (bet you couldn't guess that) and it's THE city department store. This building is considered by many to be the tallest in the city, it's not, the Telecom building down the hill a bit is actually taller. On the 6th floor (the top retail floor, I think there's a 7th used for storage) there used to be a family reastaurant and you could walk out on the balcony, the bit sticking out, to look over the city.
In between the chain shops, but not obvious in that photo, is Birchalls.
Which is a bit of anomaly in a block of national chain stores, because it's a Tasmanian owned company. And it's been trading as a bookshop on the same site since 1844 (the sign in the window says they're 160 years old this month). It's Australia's oldest bookshops. Chain stores & department stores have come and gone but Birchalls just stays there. I won't say stays the same, because they've just remodelled the inside, which was a bit of a shock, because it's been much the same layout as far back as I can remember. I haven't had a chance to have a good look at the new setup but the book section has been considerably expanded, which is good. Birchalls is one of those shops that makes supporting the small guys easy. (Can you see the busker playing the guitar? Just left of the bush on the right hand side of the photo.)
Now we're moving on. From the end of the mall, looking down Brisbane St, we can see the old Princess, where the roof doesn't fall down. As you can see, the city centre is full of tall buildings and sterile footpaths. If the photo went a bit more to the right, you'd be able to see the entrance to the Quadrant Mall. The Quadrant is a qarter circle of street, where many years ago someone had the clever idea of closing off part of it, and putting down pavers, trees, seats and a fountain!
It's quieter than The Mall and not as overdeveloped.
You can see the curve in the street here, and there is Gourlays! Australia's oldest sweet shop, although it hasn't always been on the same site. Best place to buy sweets though, they've got jars behind the counter so you can buy acid drops & barley sugar by the scoopful, and shelves full of fancy packaged stuff that makes good presents.
And here's the flower cart at the other end of the Quadrant, just for finality.
