Two million shoppers ... it's Westfield's wow factor

THE new Westfield shopping centre has attracted two million visitors in just over three weeks despite the worsening economic downturn.

The centre's owners have revealed it has passed the landmark figure with tens of thousands of shoppers visiting the £1.7 billion centre every day. Customer numbers have dipped since it passed the one million mark within 10 days of opening.

There were long queues at the Shepherd's Bush centre's tills at the weekend, even though some shops, including Gucci, Versace and Louis Vuitton, are yet to open. Security staff were forced to operate one-in, one-out queues at the most popular shop - Ugg Australia - leaving a long line outside.

The centre's buoyancy contrasts with Oxford Street, where stores have been forced to offer discounts of up to 70 per cent. Footfall figures for Oxford Street were up 2.1 per cent on Saturday, compared with the same day last year, but it was unclear whether those figures were translated into sales.

John Tyrell of the New West End Company, which represents retailers, said: "Customers are definitely being selective about what they are buying." He said the next week would be "critical".

Last month from Oxford Circus to Primark near Marble Arch, 43 per cent of the 80 shops had mid-season sales or other special offers.

Only a handful of Westfield shops have cut prices, including Jaeger and Debenhams, who are offering 25 per cent and 50 per cent discounts respectively. It also emerged today that the Westfield outlet of restaurant chain YO! Sushi has become the top grossing of the group's 40 restaurants with net sales of more than £50,000 a week.

Chief executive Robin Rowland said: "The Westfield opening has been absolutely astounding. To get a 35 per cent return on our investment, we would have to do £18,000 a week. It's very early days, but it looks like it could return 100per cent in the first year, so I'm very happy." Simon Holberton, spokesman for Westfield, said: "We have exceeded expectations and are delighted with the level of trading. Food has been doing very well, and we've been selling well across the board.

"The effects of the credit crunch have not been obvious. We are all aware of it, and some retailers have responded with changing their prices, but trading is strong and anyone who visits can see how popular the centre is."

Karen Neeson, Sunday store manager for Next, believed the economic climate had only had a marginal effect on Westfield takings.

She said: "The credit crunch hasn't forced us to put our prices down. We don't tend to panic about the economy and prefer to decide to have a sale when we want to have one. We have not exceeded expectations, but we have met them."

Neither Jaeger nor Debenhams were available for comment.