Fashion Island marketing director Barbara Bentley said the shopping area was fully tenanted, and monthly sales turnovers were up.
''We have seen a huge difference in foot traffic and an uplift in sales consistently growing monthly turnovers by 50 to 60 per cent on last year.''
Australian retail chain Cotton On acquired Fashion Island in March 2016; It has undergone a revamp and features some new stores, including Dejcuba, Converse, Typo.
''We are thrilled to see the centre bustling and feedback to the changes so far have been extremely positive. Fashion Island will continue to grow and expand its offering over the coming year in line with the population growth and demands of the Papamoa region.''
"Plans are in place for further improvements along with supporting our local community through key events and initiatives".
Papamoa Plaza centre manager David Hill said it was the nearing the end of stage three of its $20-million redevelopment and it would be ''welcoming a whole bunch of new tenants before the end of July''.
The inside of the plaza would be full with 38 tenancies, and it was in negotiations with five restaurants for the evening dining precinct that could be up and trading in December, he said.
The final part of the project included large format stores; he said that would add an extra 6000 to 7000sq m of retail space.
''It's going to be huge, and we have got tenants that have doubled their turnover from last year on a month to month basis.''
Meanwhile, Mr Hill said Fashion Island completed its offering and ''they have done a fabulous job over there filling the stores''.
''I don't think we are competing for customers as some go there and some come here...they have catered to a sector of the market exceptionally well.''
Tauranga Chamber of Commerce chief executive Stan Gregec said it was great: ''to see Papamoa exploding - but maybe a little bit too fast for some people's liking".
Growth projections made as recently as five years ago were being outstripped, he said.
"The good news is that there is a lot of business to be done as people set themselves up in a new area. The chamber certainly wants to have a strong presence out Papamoa way.'
''We are picking up new members weekly from new people and businesses moving there.
"We plan to have a lot more events in Papamoa as a result.''
Infometrics regional economist Benje Patterson said Papamoa was ''ripe for development'' and ranked fourth among New Zealand's top population hotspots in a study it completed at the end of 2016.
That data predicted Papamoa's population would have grown by 74 per cent in the decade ending 2023 - and was expected to outperform Tauranga South.
''Tauranga has been booming for quite a long time, house prices have been going up, and it's also become increasingly expensive to take on commercial leases. As that begins to happen people begin to seek out lifestyle and business opportunities in surrounding areas and Papamoa activity has been pushed up as part of that trend.''
Papamoa ticked all those boxes as it was close to the city with good transport linkages and infrastructure, he said.
Job opportunities had also increased across the Bay he said with an intense spike in Tauranga.
''Tauranga has got a very good mix of employment opportunities from manual labour and contracting roles in the agriculture sector to more specialised fields in IT and all the professional and manufacturing roles.''
