On Mother’s Day, Westfield Chermside is going all out with a variety of events, free gift bundles and unique gifts for all the wonderful mothers out there.
On Saturday, 13 May 2023, local artist Chloe Joy will be at Level 2 outside Seed to create unique cards for beautiful mums. Customers can choose a card with one of her original designs and have it personalised by Chloe, adding that finishing touch to Mother’s Day gift that is as unique as she is.
For Westfield Plus members, the calligrapher can design at least three personalised cards, which they can give on Mother’s Day. To claim the complimentary Mother’s Day calligraphy card, follow the instructions on the Westfield Plus App.
Westfield Chermside is also giving away Mother’s Day bundled gifts from Mecca, Bed Bath N Table, David Jones, Adairs, Harry Hartog, Habitania, Godfrey’s, Furla, Pandora, Camilla, Seafolly, AJE Athletica, and the Westfield department store until 14 May 2023.
To get this chance, shoppers may register on the app, scan and locate the Westfield Plus Mother’s Day competition offer. The winners’ names will be published on the app by 16 May 2023.
Attention, Chermside! Looking for fun and free activities that the whole family can enjoy over the school holidays? Join these upcoming events for all ages at Westfield Chermside this Easter 2023.
On Saturday 1 April, dress in your best pastels and “hop” on down to their free Hip-Hop Easter Disco. Plus, there will be a face painting booth on the day to complete your outfit! A live DJ will be playing all your favourite tunes, so get ready to whip out your best moves. Bookings are not required in this free event.
Exclusive for Easter 2023, Westfield Plus members will be able to enjoy some giveaways such as a free pair of bunny ears, which can be redeemed at the giveaway cart.
When
Saturday 1 April 2023
Time
4:00 pm & 6:00 pm
Where
Under the Dome (Level 2 Outdoor Dining Precinct)
Meet the Easter Bunny at Westfield Chermside
Photo credit: Tim Gouw/Pexels
The Easter Bunny is hopping in for visits to Westfield Chermside. Find them bringing smiles (and delicious chocolate) to everyone.
When
Thursday 6 April, Saturday 8 April, Sunday 9 April
Time
10:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m.
Where
Bouncing around the Centre
Westfield Centres Easter Key Trading Hours
Please note that in observance of Good Friday on 7 April 2023, all Westfield centres throughout Queensland will be closed.
All stores will be open from Saturday, 8 April, so you could shop for fresh produce, delicious Easter treats, and the annual stock up of chocolate eggs for an epic hunt for the kids.
Westfield Chermside gets cheesy with the arrival of Melt Brothers. The new venue is now serving deliciously gooey gourmet grilled cheese toasties with a modern twist.
The toastie-focused eatery, which also has venues at Myer Centre and Post Office Square, is the latest to join Westfield Chermside, opening its doors in early January 2023. Chermside locals are now able to enjoy one of Australia’s favourite comfort foods: cheese toasties.
Made from fresh ingredients, Melt Brothers offer cheesy toasties on fresh artisan sourdoughs including Mouse Trap (two cheeses) made with mozzarella, aged cheddar, thyme and dijon mustard; NY Bagel with Spread which is toasted New York Bagel with a choice of cream cheese, peanut butter and vegemite or strawberry jam; and Holy Cheesus made with ham of the bone, tomato chutney, mozzarella and aged cheddar.
MC Cheesy | Photo credit: Facebook / Melt Brothers
Also on offer are M.C. Cheesy with macaroni and cheese, bacon bits, smokey BBQ sauce, aioli, mozzarella and aged cheddar; Morning Glorywith maple bacon, one fried egg, sriracha mayo, mozzarella and aged cheddar; and Porky Pig made with smokey BBQ sauce, caramelised onion ham, maple bacon, aged cheddar and mozzarella cheese.
But if you are more into avo on toasts, you surely have to try Caprese or smashed avo with tomato, bocconcini and balsamic glaze; smashed avo with Smoked Salmon, feta and pepper; and the classic Smashed avo with Feta and dukkah spices.
Smoked Salmon Avo on Toast and Smoothies | Photo credit: Facebook / Melt Brothers
“Just came back from Canada and saw this place pop up. Thank god I gave it a go cuz them toasties are beautiful. Customer service was great. Chips are lovely too. Come check this place out!” – McLaren Péan (Gaming_Diamond)
“Very good customer service. Food came quick and staffs were friendly. Looking forward to coming back.” – Kai Low
“I had the pleasure of being one of the first customers to check out the new Melt Brothers store at Westfield Chermside today. What a refreshing change to fast food. The store is bright and extremely clean. The toastie and coffee were on point, heaps of flavour and the service was great. The staff were excited to be part of something new and exciting. Well down Melt Brothers I will be coming back for more cheesy delights 🧀” – Robyn Bradford
Melt Brothers is located at Shop Food Court 3 / 395 Hamilto Road, Chermside. For more information, check out their website here.
Look out for Santa Claus on Saturday, 12 November 2022, at 9:00 a.m. near Event Cinemas on Level 1. There will be music, dancing and cheer so let’s start the most wonderful time of year by welcoming the jolly man back to his red chair.
After two years of socially distanced Christmas photos, the highly anticipated tradition of family photos with Santa is back to its holly jolly best, with the man in red welcoming guests to once again stand by his side, join him on his red velvet throne, or even find a spot on his knee.
Bookings are now open for the full suite of Santa photography, including:
The introduction of Auslan Santa at Westfield Chermside, giving children who are Deaf or hard of hearing the chance to share their Christmas wish list directly with an Auslan-fluent Santa;
Sensitive Santa, where families can enjoy a relaxed, sensory-friendly experience; and
Pet Photography, for families whose children include their furry, feathered or scaled babies.
The festive season will be in full swing for families in all Westfield centres with Santa photography, surprise and delight moments, community gifting opportunities and festive celebrations as we officially welcome Mr Claus and his elves to town. To celebrate Santa’s arrival, Westfield Living Centres in Queensland will be decking the halls and hosting the following festivities:
Westfield Carindale
Santa has made his list and checked it twice. Customers will be asked to welcome Santa and his trusted elves in style to Westfield Carindale at 10am and 12pm, 12 November.
Holiday bites & delights at Westfield Carindale every Saturday in November from 10am: Throughout November, Chef Carmel will be coming to the centre and showcasing a range of quick, easy, and delicious dishes (both savory and sweet!) that anyone can recreate at home.
Westfield Coomera
Join Santa, Mrs Claus and their merry friends as they parade throughout the whole centre, bringing festive cheer from 10am and then again at 12pm, 12 November
Westfield Mt Gravatt
This year, Santa’s parade will be joined by stilt walkers, pianists, singers, and snowflake ballerinas to bring the festive cheer at 9am, 12 November.
Westfield Helensvale
From hip-hop dancing elves, magical fairies, a marching band and the arrival of Santa, Westfield Helensvale will be welcoming the Christmas magic into centre at 9:30 am, 12 November.
Westfield North Lakes
Santa will be arriving at Westfield North Lakes joined by your Minions Bob and Stuart, PAW Patrol’s Chase and Marshall and Smurf’s Papa Smurf, Smurfette, and many more memorable characters.
Join Rudolph and Mrs. Claus for a magical breakfast at Coffee Hit, exclusive to Westfield Plus members. Tickets will be available from Sunday 13 November.
The fun doesn’t stop with Santa’s Arrival! Until Wednesday 30 November, customers can be in to ‘Win Westfield’s Top Christmas Gifts’, entering the Westfield Plus Zone for a chance to win one of five prize packs stuffed with this Christmas’ must-have goodies.
Customers can visit their local Westfield centre website to discover the full line-up of festivities. Bookings are essential for Santa photography sessions and can be made online via: www.westfield.com.au
Westfield Chermside and selected Westfield Living centres will soon be visited by Auslan Santa, as part of a pilot program to bring Christmas cheer to deaf and hard-of-hearing children.
Following the success of the 2019-launched Westfield’s Sensitive Santa – a program for children with sensory processing challenges – Westfield announced the launch of Auslan Santa. The sessions, conducted in Australian Sign Language (Auslan) will be longer and will have helpers and an interpreter on hand to facilitate the activities.
Sensitive Santa started as a trial concept made available for those with sensory challenges, anxiety, disabilities, or families who simply require more time. It was initially trialled in one Westfield centre in 2017 before being rolled out to all 42 centres in 2019 across Australia and New Zealand.
“Auslan Santa continues our commitment to make the magical Santa experience more accessible to more of our customers. We are very proud to launch this pilot initiative in selected Westfield Living Centres this year, with a view to launch it more widely in 2023 and beyond.”
Scentre Group National Community Experience Manager, Pam Wilson
Auslan_Santa is coming to Westfield featuring the Callaghan family | Photo Credit: Dan Gosse
The new Auslan Santa program is developed in collaboration with Deaf Australia and will offer the Deaf and hard-of-hearing community the opportunity to visit select Westfield Living Centres in New South Wales, Victoria, and Queensland, including Westfield Chermside, to enjoy their own dedicated Auslan Santa session.
Auslan_Santa is coming to Westfield featuring the Callaghan family | Photo Credit: Dan Gosse
Deaf Australia is a peak Deaf-led organisation representing Deaf, Deafblind and hard-of-hearing people in Australia who use Auslan (aka Australian Sign Language) as their primary form of communication. In addition to supporting the development of Auslan Santa at Westfield, Deaf Australia and event service providers, Scene to Believe, have also been working to educate and train all Westfield Santas to better interact with Deaf and hard-of-hearing children.
Auslan_Santa is coming to Westfield featuring the Callaghan family | Photo Credit: Dan Gosse
Bookings are open for Auslan Santa in Queensland at Westfield Chermside on Friday 02 December 2022. Westfield Parramatta in New South Wales and Westfield Southland in Victoria will hold their separate Auslan Santa sessions.
New South Wales Westfield Parramatta Date: Saturday 26 November Time: 3pm – 6pm
Victoria Westfield Southland Date: Sunday 27 November Time: 3pm – 6pm
Bookings open to Westfield Plus members: 12 October 2022 Santa’s arrival in Westfield Centres: From 12 November 2022 Photography dates: From 12 November (may vary by centre) until 24 December 2022
Customers can find out more and book sessions by visiting the Westfield website.
Two women supporting thousands of families through their charities and an Aboriginal elder who has been mentoring young people for 30 years have been named Westfield Local Heroes for 2022 at Westfield Chermside.
Kerry Gordon, founder of Precious Wings charity, is this year’s Local Hero, receiving a $20,000 grant for her organisation. Ms Gordon is a paediatric nurse practitioner working in the Paediatric Palliative Care Service.
The creation of Precious Wings was driven by the experience of the loss of a child. Through the charity, Ms Gordon offers love, hope, understanding, and support to families, so they never feel alone after their bereavement. The charity also educates healthcare staff about caring for bereaved families.
Rebecca Adams | First Light Widowed Association
Like Ms Gordon, Rebecca Adams is also touching people’s lives. After losing her husband at 33, six weeks after their wedding, Ms Adams put her energy into helping others in her position.
She is one of the founders of First Light Widowed Association, which provides practical and emotional support to thousands of people.
Rebecca Adams (Photo supplied)
As a finalist of Westfield Local Heroes, Ms Adams received $5,000 to help her continue their work of her organisation.
Gary Cobbo | Kurbungui Youth and Family Development
Another finalist who received a $5,000 grant for his organisation was Uncle Gary Cobbo. He is a respected Aboriginal leader who has dedicated over three decades of his life mentoring and supporting hundreds of local young people.
At Kurbungui Youth and Family Development, he is always ready to offer people food and a safe place to have a yarn, efforts that he hopes will lead to life-changing interventions.
Garry Cobbo (Photo supplied)
Pam Wilson, National Community Experience Manager and creator of the Westfield Local Heroes program congratulated the recipients and thanked the communities for casting their votes to help determine the 2022 Westfield Local Heroes. “As we celebrate our fifth year of the Westfield Local Heroes program, we are once again overwhelmed by the inspiring nominations this year. Through the success of the program, we are proud to be able to continue to recognise and reward everyday people doing extraordinary work in our communities,” Ms Wilson said.
About the Westfield Local Heroes
Photo credit: westfield.com.au
Scentre Group’s Westfield Local Heroes program was established in 2018 to celebrate community role models whose work benefits others across a broad range of sectors, including family and youth support, health and wellbeing, inclusion and equity, community resilience and environmental sustainability.
They are nominated and voted by their communities, and they represent a diverse range of sectors. Westfield will award one Westfield Local Hero per Westfield centre a $20,000 grant for the organisation or group they represent, whilst finalists receive a $5,000 grant each.
Make your pick known for the 2022 Westfield Local Heroes and shine the spotlight on the inspiring individuals who make such a positive impact in their communities. Here are the nominees from Chermside.
The 2022 Westfield Local Heroes awards program recognises the people whose work and advocacy contributes to the upliftment of the community. About 126 grants will be given across Westfield outlets in Australia and New Zealand.
These individuals, and their organisation, are recognised for their work in in areas like family and youth support, health and wellbeing, inclusion and equity, community resilience, and environmental sustainability.
Here are the nominees from Chermside.
Kerry Gordon
Photo Credit: Westfield Local Heroes
Kerry, a paediatric nurse practitioner, is also the founder of Precious Wings, which helps families and educates the healthcare staff of those caring for the bereaved. If Kerry is successful, Precious Wings will use its funds to set up its new premises with storage racking, furniture, and IT equipment.
Rebecca Adams
Photo Credit: Westfield Local Heroes
Rebecca founded the First Light Widowed Association, which offers practical and emotional support for widows, especially those who have lost their spouses at a young age. If Rebecca is successful, the First Light Widowed Association will use its funds to cover the cost of producing information packs and running support events.
Uncle Gary Cobbo
Uncle Gary, a respected Aboriginal Elder runs the Kurbingui Youth and Family Development, which mentors hundreds of young locals. If Uncle Gary is successful, Kurbingui Youth and Family Development will use its funds to run programs that provide assistance and linkages to employment and training for the youth.
Winners of this recognition per centre will receive a $20,000 grant that will support their work for the organisation they represent. Each of the finalists, on the other hand, will get $5,000.
Some residents are appealing to the Scentre Group, owner and operator of Westfield Chermside, to temporarily remove their boom gates and allow free parking during weekends. If granted, residents hope the move will help ease the increasing traffic issues in the area exacerbated by the closure of Toombul Shopping Centre in Nundah.
As a result of the closure of the Toombul Shopping Centre in Nundah, traffic has become such a nightmare for those who live in the Chermside, Stafford and Lutwyche areas.
Customers have experienced more snarls than ever before as Toombul regulars flock to the surrounding retail precincts for alternative options.
Toombul had more than 1,700 car parking spaces at its premises but the shopping centre has permanently closed due to significant damages caused by the February floods.
Four-Hour Traffic Snarls in Westfield Chermside Area
Over the past weekends of May 2022, Westfield Chermside shoppers have complained about the nightmare traffic situation in the area, particularly instances of some locals taking up to four hours just to exit the car park.
Some motorists had been forced to ditch their cars for the day because they could no longer get out of the area. Those that managed to get out also ended up stuck in horrific bumper-to-bumper traffic outside.
Some said that this situation will become like the holiday rush traffic every weekend if no solutions are set in place.
“I was caught up in the madness on the weekend of Mother’s Day,” Glenda Macklin said. “I was stuck in the actual centre for two hours. The problem on that day was not that the boom gates were down, they were up, but there was that much traffic trying to get out of the centre and very very few exit points from the actual car park spots to down ramps.”
“I was on the second level and really there was only one exit to try and get down on to Kitty Hawk drive this was also joined by three or four other exits from different levels creating a mess on Kitty Hawk Drive,” she added.
“This is my local shopping centre and I have never seen it like this was the first time I’ve ever been caught in traffic like that at the centre.”
Asking for Help
In a statement, MP Anika Wells said that she has written to the Scentre Group concerning the boom gates and the free parking. The MP also said that she will ask the Federal Government to “commission a Gympie Road/Hamilton Road planning study to investigate the best solution to this notorious intersection.”
The Scentre Group has not made any comments about the traffic issues. Westfield Chermside has around 7,200 car parking spaces. In 2020, shoppers were upset when the Scentre Group cut the hours for free parking and the traffic issues did not improve.
The 18th of May 2022 will see Westfield Chermside’s Woolworths Food Court become one joint larger with the entry of Karen’s Diner.
Originally planned to open in South Bank, Karen’s Diner has made a name for itself through its satirical take on its name. Featuring 100% “rude staff,” Karen’s Diner is a place where customers can let loose and be a “Karen,” all in the spirit of fun, of course. (And no offense to polite Karens everywhere!)
As an added warning, the most Karen of all Karen, aka “The Manager”, might make a special appearance, so be prepared for extreme “rudeness” ever to come your way.
Apart from rude service and singing waiters, this one-of-a-kind restaurant also boasts a palate-pleasing burger menu along with fries, sweet treats, shakes, tap beers, wines and cocktails.
Photo Credit: Karen’s Diner / Facebook
If it is your first time experiencing Karen’s Diner, you might want to try The Basic Karen made with wagyu beef, American cheese, tomato, oak lettuce, beetroot and garlic mayo.
Or level up with “I Want to See the Manager” Karen with double patties and double slices of Manager cheese plus bacon, lettuce, pickles and Manager BBW mustard sauce.
The Westfield Chermside venue joins other Karen’s Diner locations in Sydney, Gold Coast, Melbourne and the UK. The one-of-a-kind restaurant may not stay for long in Chermside, though, so be sure to check out their store located at Level 1 near Woolworths Food Court.
Go ahead, book here and live out your Karen dreams.
If you love the idea of devouring ‘hot and fresh donuts’ any time of the day, you will be delighted to know that a development application has been submitted for a 24/7 Krispy Kreme at Westfield Chermside.
Scentre Limited, the company that owns Westfield Chermside, has submitted a development application to the Brisbane City Council for a new drive-through stand alone Krispy Kreme.
Plans (A005834339) revealed it would be located in an area that has only previously been used for carparking. The proposed development results in a net reduction of 53 ancillary car parking spaces in the Stage 1 area.
Based on the planning documents, the work will be done in two stages. Stage 1 involves the car park redevelopment, construction of the Krispy Kreme with drive-through facilities, and a pedestrian pathway.
Works for Stage 2 would include the refurbishment of the southwest shopping centre’s external forecourt area, to improve the arrival experience through provision of improved landscaping, casual seating areas and a defined pathway to the shopping centre entry.
It also includes refurbishment of part of Level 1 above the south-west shopping centre entry, to enable expansion of an existing tenancy to create a larger tenancy area and kiosk for use as food and drink outlets.
“The refurbishments proposed to the south-west shopping centre entry forecourt area will provide sub-tropical ground level landscaping and a water feature, casual seating areas and breakout space, and a safe and well-defined pathway to the shopping centre entry,” the town planning report reads.
At present, there are 31 stores in Australia and seven of which are in Queensland. But this one in Chermside, if approved, would be the first 24/7 outlet for the renowned brand in QLD. The first Krispy Kreme outside the United States was also established in Australia way back in 2003 at Penrith.
