WATCH: Mandurah Forum opens

Swarms of shoppers turned out for the grand opening of the newly refurbished Mandurah Forum shopping centre.

The $350 million forum redevelopment plan has finally finished with the brand new Mandurah Forum officially opening this morning.

The centre, which has almost doubled in size to 64,000 sqm, features major retailers David Jones and Mecca Maxima, both sporting new-look stores the first of their kind in Western Australia.

Swedish fashion giant H&M anchors one end of the centre with a new fashion mall connecting the major retailers.

A special opening ceremony was held this morning starting with a welcome to country from Franklin Nannup, 

The ceremony included speeches by Vicinity CEO and Managing Director Grant Kelley, ISPT Fund Manager Mark Bassett, State Member for Mandurah David Templeman and Federal Member for Canning Andrew Hastie.

Formal proceedings ended with a musical item performed by Mandurah Primary School students and Elder George Walley. 

Vicinity CEO and Managing Director Grant Kelley said Vicinity and its partners were pleased to have delivered the project on time and within budget.

“Our $350 million dollar investment in the Mandurah Forum redevelopment is as much about investing in the centre as it is in the future of Mandurah and the Peel region, and creating a great place for the people in this area to shop, play and dine," he said.

“Importantly, we know the redevelopment has helped create a boost in the local economy which includes about 700 new, ongoing jobs in retail, service and hospitality for the local community at the centre.

“Mandurah now has a shopping and dining precinct of the calibre that any city in Australia would be proud of.”

 Mandurah Forum Centre Manager Jacqueline McKenzie said she was looking forward to hearing from customers about the redeveloped centre throughout the day.

“I am delighted to finally reveal the completed centre to our customers and our retailers, who now have the best retail experience in the region right on their doorstep," she said. 
 
“The new centre is a true one-stop shopping and dining destination which caters for the whole family as well as the thousands of visitors we welcome to the area each year with exciting fresh food, fashion and lifestyle offerings.
 
“The local community has been deeply involved in this redevelopment and patient throughout this process. I hope they are as excited as we are to have this new community hub in the heart of our amazing city.”

From today there will be centre-wide celebrations with giveaways, live music, food tasting, shows from Paw Patrol and goodie bag giveaways across the stores and centre. 

We captured all the events of the morning.