West Elm Melbourne officially opens on Chapel Street this morning and last night they threw a celebration party. I couldn’t make it but I sent along Kathryn Bamford, who took a few snaps for us.
The who’s who of the design zoo were out in numbers last night at the West Elm South Yarra opening party. Melbourne certainly pulled out its finest weather (not) and decided a last minute downpour of rain would add to the excitement of the new store on Chapel Street.
When you first walk in, there is the most stunning green wall by GSky Plant Systems. Stylist Mr Jason Grant said the store looked great and was definitely bigger than the Bondi one.
Who better than the lovely store manager Dimitri, to give me the low down on the new store and all things West Elm? Funnily enough, he used to manage one of my other favourite Melbourne stores, Meizai. He was excited to see the store buzzing with the 350+ people and explained that the turnaround for furniture items purchased is 5 days (which in my opinion is much better than the usual 6-8 weeks most stores quote you).
He spoke about the West Elm Market Cafe, which is a new concept for us Australian West Elm lovers (the Sydney store doesn’t have one and only two stores in Canada have it. YAY! WIN for Melbourne). He said “The Market Cafe has all the essential functional pieces that you would need in your home, we have you covered for your kitchen, dining and laundry.”
With gorgeous exposed brick walls as you walk up the stairs to the second floor, there is certainly a New York vibe in the store. West Elm has paid homage and stayed true to the brand and has definitely brought a bit of Brooklyn to Melbourne!
As in the Bondi store, they’re selling some gorgeous goods from local Etsy sellers. I especially loved these little bowls and egg cups. How cute are they?
Upstairs, linen lovers were in heaven with walls lined with the stuff. I have to say I’ve always been a massive fan of West Elm’s rugs, they are such a great buy for how great they look, and especially at the prices they are, and even better at the moment they are having a sale on them! All the usual bells and whistles like candles, photo frames and vases were on offer and getting snapped up quickly by guests, who were allowed to purchase on the night.
West Elm certainly didn’t disappoint and delivered a great night! I love that they have brought their affordable and acccessible products to Melbourne.
What do you think of the new store? Will you be heading to Chapel Street this weekend?
11 replies on “First look inside West Elm Melbourne: opening today!”
hi Jen
I went last night to the opening. It was such an amazing store and I will definitely be going back to make some purchases.
Yvette
x
It looked like it was packed! Glad you enjoyed. Can’t wait to check it out next time I’m in Melbourne!
OMG, LOVE, LOVE, LOVE! I wish I was in Melbourne to go and check out this store.
Sounds really good and pics are inspiring, I love the 5 day turnaround. I will definitely check it out next time I get to chapel st.
Hi Jen,
Thank you for the lovely article, we’re so happy to hear that you liked our Green Wall 🙂 It’s also our first installation in Australia, so it’s quite exciting ( http://gsky.com/projects/west-elm-melbourne-green-wall/ ).
The grand opening looked like a blast, we wish we could have been there, but at least we were when it was under construction. Anyway, can’t wait to hear your thoughts when you see it in person!
Looks amazing Vicki! I can’t wait to check it out myself!
Thank you for featuring the Etsy items on your blog!
We are thrilled to be collaborating with West Elm, we loved seeing our plates, egg cups and herb markers on display on the night.
Visit our Etsy store for a larger selection of goodies: http://www.etsy.com/shop/perchdecor
Love West Elm is NYC – absolutely going to love it here!!!!
The store looks great. I wish I lived in Melbourne so I could come take a look!
Does anyone by any chance know the artist of the artwork that’s in the photo behind Dimitri?
Love the store! I had been waiting for months for it to open in Melbourne since I found out that they were coming to Oz. My visit to the store on the 1st day of its opening ended in disappointment though, as I was geared to purchase a few items I had been drooling over on their website. Given the small space of the shop a limited range was expected but I guess I just wasn’t ready for not having the opportunity to see a single thing I had been wanting to buy. Unfortunately, I’m one of those people who needs to see and feel things before buying and now if I really wanted those things ( delivered from Sydney or US) I’d be taking a risk and I’m sure custom made furniture can’t be returned 🙁 and I hope Melbourne store will change their stock and include some of my favourite things. For a sofa, I might just have to look for other options now given the amount of time an order takes and I was hoping to get it for Christmas. I also noticed there were very limited lighting items. I’ll be going back to the shop for other things that are just divine – especially the bedding!
Hi Jen, I was at the store opening night also- what a shame you weren’t there, would have loved to say hello!
It was a great night out- the guests were certainly spoilt and the store itself, well, it was just gorgeous. So many things to choose from at a great price point. In fact, I took a client as my +1 and she ended up purchasing 2 sofas and an armchair (we had been circling those in the catalogue before the opening, but always good to see in the flesh). Here’s hoping PB and WS follow soon 🙂 Cx