Consumerism gone mad

Do you ever wonder how these massive new shopping complexes will survive in the face of the 'economic meltdown' the media is on about lately? My mate S. works at Westfield in Doncaster, which has just been reborn/rebuilt/renovated, whatever you want to call it. It has stayed open during the rebuilding process, with a limited number of businesses operating, but last week it was officially opened by the Premier, in spite of a few shops that were still not complete. I dropped S. off to work on Friday after we spent the morning at a needlework exhibition, and as I had the rest of the afternoon free, I thought I may as well go on a tour of inspection.
S. had told me the complex was actually quite beautiful, which I thought was an interesting comment, as we have discussed the topic of consumerism in the recent past, and agreed that giant shopping centres are not good places to be, for a variety of reasons. But that's another topic. This time I had to agree that Doncaster Westfield is a spectacular place, and very attractive. Here are some photos I took:






The clientele at this shopping centre is at the upper end of the affluent population of Melbourne, and it is very obvious they are the target of the shops, by the brand names and prices. No opshops here!! I managed to find a couple of items in my field of interest and my price range:
A bottle of calligraphers ink in a gorgeous shade of turquoise blue, at a shop specialising in paper and pens...I could have spent a week browsing in there!
And a plastic template - just right for sizing fabric postcards and ATCs!