Melbourne Central The Art of Christmas Shopping

Written by Samantha and Sidonia on 05 December 2013.

Melbourne Central has begun the silly season with ‘The Art of Christmas’ presenting an assortment of interactive themed activities, becoming a part of the Centre’s unique canvas this December.

‘The Art of Christmas’ will look to enhance the shopping experience, not only by making the holiday easier to navigate, but creating a more enjoyable and fun experience. The Centre’s industrial Christmas installations reflect the vibrant and dynamic nature of Melbourne Central with customers stopping in their tracks day and night with the number of illuminated and fluorescent lights causing the Centre to come alive. Melbourne Central will unveil the series of specially commissioned Christmas installations including an 11 metre high Christmas tree in Shot Tower Square, along with custom designed wrapping paper by beloved local artist Emily Green, packaged up by gift-wrapping experts.

Exploring the art of mastering the silly season, the Centre will also include a designated complimentary concierge to help navigate any Christmas wish lists, personal styling and shopping services and extended trading hours over the busy period.

For those keen to share the love, ‘Many Happy Returns’ will be back providing shoppers with the chance to return unwanted gifts, or make a donation, spreading the Christmas cheer to those less fortunate.

The World Loves Melbourne was part of an Insta Tour of Melbourne Central (with 8 others) to check out the latest offerings...

Melbourne Central is celebrating The Art of Christmas with an amazing contemporary tree drawing the eye up and displaying the history of Melbourne Central. What a colourful and engaging display! Menzies Lane is adorned with handcrafted hanging wreaths, box sculptures including carnival bulbs, LEDs and fairy lights are suspended from Shot Tower Square, while a unique 11-metre-high tree crafted from scaffolding and wound with lights has been revealed.

We have enjoyed many shopping visits to Melbourne Central with its premium brands and parking accessibility. It's right in the heart of the action in the CBD, and is a "one stop shop" for your retail shopping needs.

The Tour started off with a visit to T2 - @T2BT, a premium tea destination with a bevvy of gift ideas. Packaged loose leaf teas and T2 gifts are perfect for Christmas.

T2 offers Australia’s biggest range of beautiful, fragrant teas from all around the world.

T2 is cherished by tea devotees all over the world – it’s the tea that thousands of people start and end the day with. With 40 stores nationwide (and now NZ!), T2 is Australia’s leading tea retailer, offering the country’s largest range of premium, fragrant tea and tea wares from all around the globe.

A select range of T2 teas is also served in some of the best restaurants and cafes throughout Australia while packaged T2 tea can also be found on the shelves of leading food purveyors.

T2 has unfurled and blossomed over the last 17 years, and now sells enough tea per month to make 8 million cups! The iconic brand is beautifully packaged up in an experience that is both unique and immersive; a celebration of the centuries-old art of tea-making.

Then it was on to #Give and #Many Happy Returns... From Boxing Day – 8am, Shot Tower Square.

Many Happy Returns will be back providing shoppers with the chance to return unwanted gifts, or make a donation, spreading the Christmas cheer to those less fortunate.

Shoppers can re-gift those presents that just weren’t right, passing them on to someone less fortunate for ‘tis the season of giving! All gifts will go to The Salvation Army, and for every gift donated, Streat will give a coffee in return.

STREAT is serving excellent coffee 7 days a week from its location in Melbourne Central. It's a great place to visit during your Christmas shopping expedition for that caffinated recharge!

Says #STREAT - "We just ran a survey of our customers, and get this: most people say that they drink our coffee because it tastes good. Seems logical, but this is cause for celebration for a social enterprise. We want to be known for the quality of our product, not the pity story that might convince people to purchase with us once. So without further ado, let’s talk about our coffee."

We also visited @MoziAustralia and @Limedrop were amazing stylish destinations where you can purchase unique gifts.

Established in 2005 by Melbourne-based sisters Camilla & Olivia Tipler, MOZI celebrates the world's beauty through colour and theme. MOZI applies their distinctive designs to delightful ranges of functional and affordable products that are whimsical, charming and fun.

Pop up shops - like Limedrop are an exciting development. This is the 5th popup. Limedrop impress with their range and use of resin and rosewood, as well as their overall colourful visual appeal. Limedrop is an Australian fashion label that captures the imagination and spirit of possibilities. The brand is known for its use of clear lines, bold colours, structured pieces and exclusive prints peppered with a sense of playful irreverence.

Upon completing a degree in Fashion at the prestigious Queensland University of Technology, Clea Garrick moved to Melbourne in 2006 where she launched Limedrop. Based on the concept of travel the label captures the essence of freedom, discovery, independence and modernity of Australian fashion.

Synonymous for her use of bold silhouettes, electric digital prints and distinctive tailoring, Limedrop has now diversified into a complementary range of luxurious under garments under the label Elle De, organic cherrywood and rosewood accessories; including their now famous floral headpieces, which Vogue Australia listed as the top three bridal trends for 2012.

Also exciting is that Melbourne Central are three weeks into launching Personal Shopping - with four personal stylists to choose from! The stylists offer that desirable tailored & educational experience, appointments via Melbourne Central website.

Whether you're browsing in a group, shopping for a special occasion or just hunting for the hottest heels, why not enlist the help of one of Melbourne's top-tier stylists? Fashionistas Raquel Ryan, Sally Mackinnon, Elaine Marshall and Prue Chilcott are now on hand to help you navigate the city's premier fashion offerings – both in Melbourne Central and beyond.

Offering citywide professional styling and personal shopping services for men and women!

Services:

Personal and professional styling
Personal shopping
Group bookings
Special occasional shopping such Spring Racing, Engagements, mother and daughter group shopping
Suitable for men and women

Customer Booking Process:

Book at the Melbourne Central website
Select one of the 4 stylists
Stylist will confirm booking and time via return email
At least 50% payment is to be provided by the guest before appointment and full payment must be made on the day
Complete registration form and submit to stylist prior to styling session
Meet Stylist at the Melbourne Central Stylist hub on Level 2
You will also receive a follow up email from your stylist post your session

Stylist Pricing:

1.5 hours: $150

2 hours: $250
3 hours: $320

2 or more people
2 hours: $290
3 hours: $400

Group bookings price on application

Personal shopping from $75 per hour

We checked out the hashtags of the stylists, #MCSTYLISTS and #STYLE_SPACE.

We then visited @helloemilygreen for the Wrapping Station. The gifts are wrapped professionally using premium paper. Don't forget this stop when you shop at Melbourne Central. Emily Green is a designer and jewellery maker of note. A gold coin donation is all it takes to have Christmas gifts adorned with Emily Green’s stylish splashes of colour with all proceeds donated to Melbourne’s homeless youth training and support enterprise STREAT. From Friday 13 December – Ground Floor and Level 2.

After designer gift-wrapping, present tips from fashion and design bloggers Lucy Feagins and Erin Maxwell, expert store and city directions or a reusable calico tote to replace all that plastic, the Melbourne Central complimentary concierge is here to help. From 13 December - Ground Floor and Level 2.

We then enjoyed a brief visit to the #on3entertainment level of Melbourne Central, where you can see movies or enjoy cocktails in the bars, for example. Even more fun for your shopping trip!

The next visit on the tour was a personal favourite, @Cupcake Central. There are so many treats to be devoured here, notable Red Velvet cupcakes!

Says Cupcake Central - "We’re different here because we actually do what we preach. We use free-range eggs, high grade Madagascar Bourbon Vanilla, Belgian Callebaut chocolate & cocoa, Philly cream cheese, Riverina Full Cream Milk and the list goes on. We don’t want our customers biting into a pretty cupcake only to be disappointed by an artificial cheap taste. That’s not what we’re about. We want you to be able to taste the flavour of the cupcake and indulge properly."

Cupcake Central - gorgeous vintage feel with stunning and delicious cupcakes.

Cupcake Central run a decorating masterclass and children's cupcake decorating during the school holidays...

Key Trading Hours:

• 16th December–23rd December

Weekdays 10am–9pm

Weekends 10am–6pm

• Christmas Eve, 24th December

10am–6pm

• Christmas Day, 25th December

CLOSED

• Boxing Day, 26th December

8am–9pm

• New Years Day, 1st January

CLOSED

Located on the corner of Lonsdale & Swanston Streets Melbourne Central is easily accessible via public transport with trams stopping every 5 minutes and trains every 2 minutes during peak times along with over 820 car parks making it the perfect destination to start and finish you CBD experience.

Melbourne Central is a stunning place to visit for your Christmas Shopping. Amazingly in the last 2 years Melbourne Central have added another 50 stores!

Thanks to Melbourne Central for a great tour and for gift box goodies including @Gormanclothing, @T2BT, @CrumplerHQ, and #SelfCentredDaySpa.

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