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Story: Department stores and shopping malls

Cuba Mall, 2009

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Cuba Mall, 2009

In 2009 Wellington’s Cuba Mall had a mix of shops – including large retailers such as Farmers and Whitcoulls, as well as small designer studios and specialty shops. With its cafés, second-hand clothing shops and tattoo studios, and often buskers by the bucket fountain, it retained a raffish, bohemian air compared with the ‘golden mile’ shops of Lambton Quay and Willis Street.

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How to cite this page

Helen Laurenson, Department stores and shopping malls – The rise of shopping malls, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/en/photograph/22222/cuba-mall-2009 (accessed 4 June 2026).

Story by Helen Laurenson, published 4 February 2010.