Barkly Square Excursion

Barkly Square has almost finished all of its major renovations and design updates, and because the new JB Hifi opened there on Friday I thought I would have a look around today and buy a cheap DVD. It's good that the sparkly bear renos are almost done - I'm sick of all the 'coming soon' signs and lack of parking and traffic funnelling and all of that. It's still the place where I normally do the majority of my grocery shopping. Barkly Square are aiming for a new market, according to its website:

The circa $17Million development aims to deliver a centre that provides the daily needs and services of its gentrifying catchment with a focus on convenience, a new Fresh Food Market Hall, Café precinct, Services and Lifestyle offer. Barkly Square will captivate its customers both new and old.

Don't you hate the expression "gentrifying catchment"? I am teaching a subject on the city and cultural studies at the moment and in the last few weeks I have been teaching a module on gentrification, mall space and themed space, so I am thinking about making Barkly Square a case study in this week's classes too. Looking through the new Barkly Square, I was a little disappointed by the changes. There is certainly a move to push out all of the small gift store and $2 junk stores and make it more like a "Victoria Gardens" shopping centre, but I liked those places and I would certainly prefer looking through these then all of the new storage stores and kitchen stores et al. But really, how is the introduction of a JB Hifi a movement toward serving its 'gentrifying catchment'? Wouldn't it be better for the shopping centre to introduce a new Readings chain or something a little more bourgeois?  And the movie section of the JB Hifi store was a big disappointment, all I wanted was 1.The Truman Show or 2. True Romance and both were out of stock. I have no desire at this point to visit the centre beyond my usual supermarket shopping visits and occasional Kmart side trips.

Frontage of the new JB Hifi in Barkly Square, next to the new Specsavers. I'm hoping the new "Cafe Precinct" outside is going to be the saving grace of the centre.

For a moment, I considered what kind of impact watching this Andy Samberg/Adam Sandler vehicle would have on my life. Maybe it would lead to a profound life change and a new, mature approach to handling business and personal relationships. Maybe it is the greatest comedy film of all time. Maybe, after watching this film, life can only be judged by 'before I first watched That's My Boy' and 'after I watched That's My Boy'. But the moment passed - not today will I have such revelations.

And these are cheap DVDs I ended up buying: