CAVENDISH Square, the regional shopping and entertainment centre in Cape Town's southern suburbs, is undergoing a R90m refurbishment, primarily driven by the relocation of the Claremont Woolworths outlet into the centre.

Construction started yesterday, and is scheduled to end next February.

The move of Woolworths from its stand-alone Claremont store to Cavendish supports the theory that large shopping and entertainment centres are edging out smaller centres in popularity.

'We are enjoying strong trading performances in vibrant and sociable shopping centres,' says Woolworths' real estate development division head Paul Simpson. 'It makes good business sense to seize the opportunity to move into state-of-the-art premises in a leading centre like Cavendish Square.'

He says the Claremont store will be redeveloped for new retail activity, and discussions are already under way with potential tenants.

Woolworths will be taking 7000m² on the lower ground and ground floors of Cavendish Square next April after a reconfiguration of the space, which currently houses Stuttafords.

Stuttafords is moving to a 3000m² store on the first floor. The refurbishment will also result in 20 shops on the southern side of the lower ground floor relocating to other premises in the centre to make way for Woolworths.

'Woolworths will be a prized addition to Cavendish Square and its retail mix will be valued by fellow tenants and customers,' says the centre's general manager, Roy Lighton. 'We expect Woolworths' loyal following, along with other changes, to boost our total monthly visitors to more than 1,2-million.'

Simpson says the Woolworths store will reflect the new design concepts that recently won the company best department store design in the 2001 International Store Design Competition.

It will feature a new concept foods area, together with 'W Collections' clothing for men and women and a new Bath & Body shop.

Lighton says the area previously occupied by the Shell service station on Cavendish Street will be revamped into additional retail space by October.

This is the second large refurbishment of Cavendish Square in four years. The centre went through a R185m refurbishment in 1998.

The latest project is just one of a string of shopping centre facelifts across the country.

Jun 26 2002 12:00:00:000AM Sibonelo Radebe Business Day 1st Edition