Dead Malls of Canada - Page 12

vancityrox · #**221** Posted **Jun 23, 2010, 7:42 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Alexcaban

Plaza Côte-des-Neiges - Montreal

Haha. Yes that mall is horrible. The only good thing in there is the KAM SHING Chinese Restaurant. It is fantastic.

The Zellers isn't so bad either.

Taeolas · #**222** Posted **Jun 23, 2010, 12:11 PM**

Before renovating to become an outdoor mall, Fredericton Mall was getting pretty sad. Now though it's fully occupied (just no indoor section any more, all entrances are to the outside).

Brookside Mall across the river has always seemed sad to me. Zellers and Sobeys anchor it and keep it alive, but the indoor section always seems to be mostly empty. Doesn't help that they traded retail space for call centre space through the years, which, IMO, breaks up the flow in the mall.

Was down in Moncton, to Highfield Square last Christmas, and next to the downtown malls in Kitchener, ON, it had to be the deadest mall I've ever seen (And the saddest Bay store I've ever seen).

It'll be interesting to see how Kings Place (back in Fredericton) does coming up. It was fully rented I think, but it has some slots opening up soon, and I'm not sure how reliable some of those slots will be moving forward. Then again, I'm rarely there during the workday, which is when it would get most of its business, and most of the places that are there have endured for years.

MolsonExport · #**223** Posted **Jun 23, 2010, 1:27 PM**

Always the last to go. What does that tell you about the profitability of gov't lotteries?

Deadmalls.com

^\/The world famous Honeydale Mall (Etobicoca-cola)

deadmalls.com

^The Great Canadian Chew-Chew Train! A sign of revival! The London Mall has both a lotto booth and a Chew-Chew Train! Who says the chains are leaving?

MolsonExport · #**224** Posted **Jun 23, 2010, 1:38 PM**

I got hooked on reading the histories of the once thriving but now dead malls of canada. The three biggest factors (which are interrelated) seem to be:

1) the arrival of Walmart, which first converted Woolco's but later abandoned these locations (leading to a lemming-like exodus of other stores, and a subsequent overreliance on mom-&-pop dollarstores)

2) the endless greenfield developments further away from the core, like so called 'Smartcentres' (discrete, loosely connected big box developments interspersed with billions of acres of parking; of which the same architectural plan is executed ad naseum across the Canadian landscape).

3) outside of the biggest cities, the decline of downtown (evidenced by the defunct "Galleria" in London)

MolsonExport · #**225** Posted **Jun 23, 2010, 1:54 PM**

Wow, look at this dead mall in the USA! Makes the Honeydale mall look like the fukn Eaton Centre in DT Taranna! Behold the infamous Dixie Square Mall in Harvey, Illinois (featured in the Blues Bros. movie)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dixie_Square_Mall

wikipedia commons.

Alexcaban · #**226** Posted **Jun 23, 2010, 4:30 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by vancityrox

Haha. Yes that mall is horrible. The only good thing in there is the KAM SHING Chinese Restaurant. It is fantastic.

The Zellers isn't so bad either.

Got to be one of the best Chinese restaurants in Montreal!!

kirjtc2 · #**227** Posted **Jun 23, 2010, 5:08 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by MolsonExport

1) the arrival of Walmart, which first converted Woolco's but later abandoned these locations (leading to a lemming-like exodus of other stores, and a subsequent overreliance on mom-&-pop dollarstores)

Not to mention K-Mart leaving Canada entirely.

manny_santos · #**228** Posted **Jun 24, 2010, 12:52 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by MolsonExport

Always the last to go. What does that tell you about the profitability of gov't lotteries?

Last time I was in London's Treasure Island Mall in 2005, that was the only tenant. And that mall was no better off when the London Gardens was there.

Wonder if they have one of those Choo-choo trains too.

Stanz · #**229** Posted **Jun 24, 2010, 1:31 AM**

Penhorn in Dartmouth seems to be pretty dead.

http://www.flickr.com/search/?q=penhorn+mall&s=int&z=e

For anyone familiar with Trailer Park Boys, it was in the show a couple of times:

• Video Link

DHLawrence · #**230** Posted **Jun 24, 2010, 1:46 AM**

What's left of Woodbine Centre in Etobicoke was sold recently. Don't know who bought it.

SpongeG · #**231** Posted **Jun 24, 2010, 6:21 AM**

this is a dead mall in coquitlam - its an asian mall and it never really took off - most places have shut down, there is one asian grocery store, a food court and a handful of stores - yet they went ahead a couple years ago and added a large extension - granted its the base of the highrise but it sits empty

pictureninja.com

thenownews.com

artsmusicalstudio.com

MolsonExport · #**232** Posted **Jun 24, 2010, 1:09 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by manny_santos

Last time I was in London's Treasure Island Mall in 2005, that was the only tenant. And that mall was no better off when the London Gardens was there.

Wonder if they have one of those Choo-choo trains too.

Treasure Island? (I recall a place on the Gulf coast of Florida that goes by that name). London Gardens? I am not familiar with those places. Thrall me with tales of their decrepitude.

manny_santos · #**233** Posted **Jun 24, 2010, 3:30 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by MolsonExport

Treasure Island? (I recall a place on the Gulf coast of Florida that goes by that name). London Gardens? I am not familiar with those places. Thrall me with tales of their decrepitude.

For those not familiar - Back in the 1960s Treasure Island Mall was built on Wellington Road just south of Highway 401. The London Gardens, of course, was where the London Knights played until the JLC was built, although the place was better known as the London Ice House in later years. The main anchor for years was a Loblaws Superstore, which was later replaced by Zehr's. Zehr's moved out in 1996 when a new Loblaws opened on Southdale Road, and that space has been a Liquidation World ever since. Part of the London Gardens became United Furniture Warehouse at some point as well, and I think that's still there. During the 1990s the mall also included Discovery Zone (DZ, where kids wanna be!) and McDonald's. The mall has been known as the Superstore Mall since the 1980s.

I've only been inside the mall once, in 2005. The interior section wasn't big to begin with, no bigger than London Mall or the former Wonderland Mall.

Wonderland Mall itself was another dead mall story. Long story short, it was built in 1979, originally with Dominion as an anchor. The mall, at that time located outside London in Westminster Township (literally in the middle of nowhere at that time), had aspirations of expanding to about four times of its original size, but the expansion plans never materialized, especially once Westmount Mall expanded in the late 80s. Dominion exited sometime in the 80s and was replaced by Sears Outlet Store, which itself moved to London Mall in 1998 after K-Mart pulled out. The irony with Wonderland Mall is that it eventually evolved into a power centre within 11 years of London annexing Westminster, effectively killing Westmount - the very mall that stunted Wonderland Mall's growth.

The original Wonderland Mall building was extensively renovated and now houses The Athletic Club, Adventures on Wonderland (a kids play place), and Angelo's Bakery.

MolsonExport · #**234** Posted **Jun 24, 2010, 3:52 PM**

Thanks for the history. I know the long-ago Wonderland Mall area very well.

Darkoshvilli · #**235** Posted **Dec 31, 2010, 6:13 PM**

Cavendish mall.

They're demolishing half the mall for townhouses, semi-detached homes and single family homes. An aging population, the failure to extend Cavendish blvd beyond its current dead-end two blocks north of the mall and some key anchors like Eaton's and Canadian Tire leaving contributed to the decline of the mall.

manny_santos · #**236** Posted **Dec 31, 2010, 9:37 PM**

As MolsonExport knows I intend to get some photos of London's London Mall eventually. I have photos of the late Oakridge Mall in London, but they're on another computer and I need to track them down.

whatnext · #**237** Posted **Jan 1, 2011, 1:38 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by SpongeG

oh henderson centre in coquitlam which is across from coq centre is dead - it never took off and there is only a handful of stores - it does have an asian grocery store which is fairly busy - but T&T is across the street in coq centre which is always busier

oh and how could i forget International Village - it once boasted some high end shops even BCBG had a store, a big benetton sport store and some others than they all pulled ou slowly and now it just dire - only the theatre is good and even now that paramount is downtown its worse but it gets the indie fare which helps the food court was once quite busy but now is nothing much

That's a pretty striking mall - oh wait, it morphed into the Richmond Olympic Oval somehow over three years?!

SpongeG · #**238** Posted **Jan 1, 2011, 1:55 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by whatnext

That's a pretty striking mall - oh wait, it morphed into the Richmond Olympic Oval somehow over three years?!

haha thats weird

someone123 · #**239** Posted **Jan 1, 2011, 2:14 AM**

http://www.internationalvillagemall.ca/ has a bunch of pictures.

I'm not sure it qualifies as a "dead mall", although it's fairly empty.

Denscity · #**240** Posted **Jan 1, 2011, 2:56 AM**

International village is actually filling back up and is almost full now.