For those who hate winter, but love shopping, the soon-to-be opened Emporium Melbourne shopping centre is sure to appeal.

It will be possible for shoppers to jump off the train at Melbourne Central station and walk through Melbourne Central shopping centre, Emporium Melbourne and onto David Jones or Myer in Bourke Street Mall without their feet touching the footpath, and while “constantly faced with retail product,” says Emporium Melbourne centre manager Steve Edgerton.

Built on the site of the old Myer Emporium on Lonsdale Street between Swanston and Elizabeth streets, the $1.6 billion, seven-level Emporium Melbourne, comprising more than 48,000 square metrs of retail space, will finally open its doors on April 16, months after its intended opening last December.

The heritage-listed facade will house more than 225 spiffily fitted-out retailers, including the biggest offering of Australian designers under the one roof in the country, and four international retailers opening in Australia for the first time. One of the biggest, Japanese clothes brand Uniqlo, has had a pop-up shop here for months, but the Emporium flagship will be its first official store in the country.