Dozens of teary-eyed Woolworths staff walked up from the store with flowers to place at the memorial.
In silence,two Boost Juice attendants stabilised a wreath on an easel at the front of their store.
Outside Eckersley’s art shop,where police officer Amy Scott shot the offender Joel Cauchi dead,a police officer cried as she spoke with two members of the public.
Dozens of volunteers from the Salvation Army,Red Cross and Lifeline,as well as chaplains from NSW Police,wandered through the shopping centre and spoke with locals.
Local MP Kellie Sloane fought back tears as she joined mourners outside Tommy Hilfiger,where the tributes were building.
Anna Vozzo,who lives nearby and has shopped at the centre for years,said she walked through the centre to begin the process of healing after tragedy.
“What I’m feeling is a bit of survivor’s guilt,” she said. “But I consoled myself with the bravery and the courage that people had. That’s what’s keeping me going.”
“I kept saying to myself[when returning to the centre],‘Don’t let them win’. I don’t particularly know who ‘they’ are,but I’m not going to let them win. This was my happy place. It always was,and I think it will continue to be.”
Doors to the centre slid open at 11am. Just before,NSW Premier Chris Minns joined Police Commissioner Karen Webb and Elliott Rusanow,chief executive of centre operator Scentre Group.
The company had earlier on Thursday announced it would waive rent for store tenants from Saturday to Friday,inclusive.
Outside the centre,federal Opposition Leader Peter Dutton visited the scene of the ever-growing floral memorial and wrote a condolence note.
“To the many people affected by this horrible act,please know Australians in their millions have you in their thoughts and prayers,” he wrote.
“We live in the greatest country in the world and we unite at a period of national grief to emerge stronger.”