Shepherds bush has over the last 20 years become a sleazy mix of cheap restaurants and Middle East £1 per item shops, until now. Suddenly Westfield opened up at the end of October 2008, and there is a new Bond St. atmosphere inside this huge Mall.
De Beers, Tiffany & Co., Dior, Mulberry, Zadig & Voltaire, Myla, Montblanc, Kurt Geiger, and a host of other overpriced stores have been conned into setting up shop in Shepherds Bush thanks to The Westfield Group’s Australian owners brilliant marketing. To add to the fantasy, all of this can be washed down in Searcys Champagne Bar with your Platinum Credit Card, parked within easy access of the Shepherds Bush sleaze. You can sit and stare at the marble floors and crystal chandeliers while pondering the Ski slopes, before you climb into your Ferrari and exit into the Shepherds Bush traffic.
Bear in mind, this is in a time of a deepening recession and the Credit Crunch.
I keep moaning that people are disappearing into a fantasy world of Avatars, Dungeons & Dragons and other computer games—but here we have serious upmarket stores who have joined this fantasy trek. I simply cannot imagine anyone going to buy a £500,000 diamond from the De Beers cartel in Shepherds Bush.
The sheer arrogance of Westfield’s Australian owners who thought they could impose a Mayfair into the Shepherds Bush environs and expect to make a profit. Even without the recessionary downturn, it was an idiotic placing, but now it merits the “Cretins of the Year” award.
I always understood that market research was de rigueur before one opened a business in a location—but clearly; no one has bothered in this case.
I’m watching for the “Closed” signs to appear sometime next year.
