When we first moved to Frederiksberg seven years ago we found our local shopping centre small and quaint compared to the Bluewaters of the world. Fast forward five years and this place ticked all the boxes for my converted approach to consumerism. I had all the shops I needed. Around that time they started work on updating Frederiksberg Centre. A more modern face lift was on the cards and a new floor with twenty five new shops. The transformation seems to have taken a long time and in fact I was in the centre the day before the Grand Opening last week and some shops were still pretty much with saw dust on the floor. I heard a number of the new shops pulled all nighters to be ready in time.

Was it worth it? Copenhagen has two large central malls (Fields and Fisketorvet,) which on a general basis I tend to avoid. I enjoy shopping in the city centre and individual streets in Vesterbro and Frederiksberg but nowadays malls leave me pretty cold.

I have always liked Frederiksberg Centre and on the opening day I felt a little sad. It was very glossy, new and didn’t feel like my place. Plus there were more people than I have ever seen in one place in this city (barring special events such as the vigil after the shootings) and I feared there was that feeling of rabid consumerism I hate. People queueing outside a sports shop to buy something at knockdown price didn’t feel very ‘Danish’ to me. Plus the slightly scary woman dressed as a celebration cake wandering around randomly bursting into song was a little bizarre. The DJ however was a very good move.

I was prepared to give it a chance though. I returned the next day when the level of crazy had been dialled down a little and I had a chat with one of the people at the information desk and I started to get more of a handle on what they were trying to do. The new shops are mainly high-end fashion chains and I welcome  & Other Stores, Cos, Ganni and a super big H&M. I love Hay and Bahne so these are good additions. I thought it was very Danish not to have the usual food hall suspects serving burgers and junk but Paleo and 42 Raw (not my taste but can see the link between these places and the new stores). I looked around and realised that this wasn’t another Fields and is still my kind of place (and somewhere my bank balance is not going to welcome!)

Have you been yet? What do you think?