Quote:
Originally Posted by go_leafs_go02
And as a positive, that smart centre has not really caused Masonville any headaches. The plaza where Oakridge Mall was is thriving with Superstore as busy as ever and the plaza behind it still has practically all its original tenants from the mall. That's been there for 9 years or so by now, and it's working out quite well.
At the time the Smart Centre went up at Fanshawe/Hyde Park, I think they were predicting better growth patterns leading up to that location - it just never happened to this point, and now north of Fanshawe is partially a barren wasteland with that half built parking lot north of the Royal Bank and Tim Hortons.
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Well, in 2004 I lived in the Fanshawe/Hyde Park neighbourhood (actually near Gainsborough Road) and at that time there was quite a residential construction boom going on in the area, and the people who run Smart Centres were trying to capitalize on it by bulidng a massive 'power centre' type of retail establishment.
They just didn't anticipate the possibility that the North American economy would fail and bring that growth to a screeching halt, which is exactly what happened in 2008. Nor did they anticipate that the residential development would not grow to the point that was initially envisioned.
To my eyes, the Wal-Mart, the Future Shop store, and all of the other stores in that development now seem like orphans isolated in what is still more or less the middle of nowhere for London. I wouldn't be surprised to see more stores in that area closing up soon. The catchment area in northwest London simply isn't populous enough to really keep all of those stores alive.