By Anhar Khanbhai

Melbourne’s Chadstone has trumped its peers across the country by being named the 'big gun' of shopping centres with annual sales of almost $1.3 billion.

That dwarfs its Sydney rival, Westfield's Bondi Junction with $972 million, according to Shopping Centre News.

Chadstone, Australia's biggest shopping centre, covering 176,000 square metres, managed a 1% sales growth.

Chadstone, which is co-owned by CFS Retail Trust and Gandel Property, is undergoing a $500 million refurbishment.

It was the first centre to stock GAP and has a wing of upmarket designer labels.

Despite clothes websites luring shoppers away from stores, many shoppers at Chadstone prefer to travel the distance to shop as the shopping center offers the convenience of free parking as well as top designer brands and local retailers such as K-mart, JB Hi-Fi, Myer and David Jones.