Dead Malls of Canada

[Proof Sheet]

Originally Posted by MolsonExport

We should come up with criteria for malls on the downswing.

What about those stores where you can purchase your family crest/tartan etc on some sort of plaque and they usually have some low end computer program will tell you about your ancestors and what your family name means etc.

Another one is those stores that sell Bob Marley and Jimi Hendrix towels, towels with 'this buds for you' with a marijuana leaf on it or various other head shop level of tackiness in the form of towels, posters, etc.

[harls]

Originally Posted by Proof Sheet

Another one is those stores that sell Bob Marley and Jimi Hendrix towels, towels with 'this buds for you' with a marijuana leaf on it or various other head shop level of tackiness in the form of towels, posters, etc.

Les Galeries d'Aylmer doesn't even have a store for that. Just a fold-out table in the middle of the concourse.

I'm wondering what is going to happen to that mall. They did a massive renovation when Zellers folded and added the usual dreck (Dollarama, Ardene). The new seniors complex that is currently under construction and replacing the the old Canadian Tire might give it a jolt of life. They are building a Super C on the ground floor, replacing the current one on the other side of the mall.

[TorontoDrew]

Originally Posted by Proof Sheet

What about those stores where you can purchase your family crest/tartan etc on some sort of plaque and they usually have some low end computer program will tell you about your ancestors and what your family name means etc.

Another one is those stores that sell Bob Marley and Jimi Hendrix towels, towels with 'this buds for you' with a marijuana leaf on it or various other head shop level of tackiness in the form of towels, posters, etc.

Lol I forgot about those. They still make them? I bought one for my dad when I was a kid from a Kiosk. My family crest has a black cock on it.

[esquire]

^ Ooh, good one. Another favorite is the sports collectibles shop where the same ludicrously overpriced hockey cards have been gathering dust for 20 years. Only twenty five bucks and you too can have a 1987 Wendel Clark card! Bonus points if they sell knockoff jerseys.

[HomeInMyShoes]

^I think I have a 1987 Wendel Clark card.

[O-tacular]

Originally Posted by harls

Les Galeries d'Aylmer doesn't even have a store for that. Just a fold-out table in the middle of the concourse.

I'm wondering what is going to happen to that mall. They did a massive renovation when Zellers folded and added the usual dreck (Dollarama, Ardene). The new seniors complex that is currently under construction and replacing the the old Canadian Tire might give it a jolt of life. They are building a Super C on the ground floor, replacing the current one on the other side of the mall.

Seniors Centre and jolt of life don’t belong in the same sentence lol!

[ssiguy]

Originally Posted by MolsonExport

yeah this is skid row in London. fringes are gentrifying (e.g., the pottery place, and farther down towards the Western Fair Market) but this part of Dund-ass is still largely scuzzville central.

The area is quickly rebounding thou. There are new interesting stores and restaurants and 3l high rise seniors buildings have been built there in the last 10 years. The city has been putting a concerted effort into revitalizing the area and it seems to be bearing fruit. It's still a little rough around the edges but it has definitely turned the corner and is becoming a bit of a magnet for alternative hipsters who are turned off by the high income restaurant enclave of Richmond Row. I think in 10 years it will be a bit of a go-to destination as it continues to develop and the population of the area continues to grow.

[manny_santos]

Originally Posted by Proof Sheet

What about this area
https://goo.gl/maps/1Rns9Ek8Za62

I remember being there in the 80's and it was pretty sketchy. It has a bit of a Brantford vibe about it in this image. Or Fargo could have been filmed there.

I took a walk through that area in November and it's much improved from what I remember in the 90s and early 2000s. There's quite a few good spots to eat and the Western Fair Farmers Market is a big plus. It still has some characters though - I saw one person yelling at at empty police car.

Now about Fargo...If a movie was filmed in London, it would be more likely called Farhi.

[manny_santos]

Originally Posted by hipster duck

In the City of Toronto, most of the malls seem to be doing well, even if they're not high end. Most of them became local malls for the working class immigrants who live in the slabs highrises nearby. Some of them are incredibly busy.

Agincourt Mall is an interesting one. It's very busy at either end, with its anchors being No Frills and Walmart. I haven't been in the mall itself, but I've seen pictures suggesting some empty storefronts.

Anyone here ever been to North York Sheridan Mall?

[MolsonExport]

Originally Posted by Proof Sheet

What about those stores where you can purchase your family crest/tartan etc on some sort of plaque and they usually have some low end computer program will tell you about your ancestors and what your family name means etc.

Another one is those stores that sell Bob Marley and Jimi Hendrix towels, towels with 'this buds for you' with a marijuana leaf on it or various other head shop level of tackiness in the form of towels, posters, etc.

most excellent mall downswing criteria.

Westmount mall in London had a "British Store" that sold the stuff mentioned in the first paragraph. Marginally interesting for about 20 minutes, but the customers were insufferably bitter people bemoaning immigrants and complaining about English football.

The second is the worst of all. You see these fucking towels (tapestries?) always at the local festivals downtown, and also in flea markets, and yes, when they start to appear in the mall, you know the place is desperate for tenants.
Who the fuck buys these towels? Another towel I always see is from Scarface (Al Pacino wincing in anger as he is firing his machine gun. "Say Hello to my Little Friend!!").

yeah, as someone mentioned, the places that sell only calendars...what kind of store can make it on such a limited range?

And (also mentioned) the Vietnamese-run place for manicures and pedicures (poor staff scrubbing the feet of Walmart Fatties wearing oversized tent-like shirts with Minnie Mouse embroidered on the front...one fatty was eating a soft-serve cone while some small vietnamese woman wearing a surgical mask was sanding down the corns on her gnarly fat stinky feet)

Headshops with their Jamaican flag colourings.

Granny stores. Places that sell handmade stuff by grannies, or sell materials to grannies so they can crochet, or whatnot.

Kumon. Or some other tutoring place.

And cellphone repair joints.

And maybe an indoor gym for tots. Or a place to race your remote control cars (Decarie Square Mall in Montreal had that on the basement floor...it was the deadest, most depressing mall in the entire province).

[Loco101]

I remember back in the late 1990s at the Galleria in downtown London, ON there was a store that sold only stamps. (not postage stamps) I bought a few animal ones and some ink pads just for the fun of it and still have them.

[MolsonExport]

still there i think!

[Proof Sheet]

Originally Posted by manny_santos

Agincourt Mall is an interesting one. It's very busy at either end, with its anchors being No Frills and Walmart. I haven't been in the mall itself, but I've seen pictures suggesting some empty storefronts.

Anyone here ever been to North York Sheridan Mall?

Agincourt Mall was my first real mall to visit when I moved to Toronto from the UK at age 8. In that era the UK was all 'high streets' and some were pedestrian only but malls hadn't really crossed the Atlantic then. Back then Agincourt Mall was quite active and if I recall it was a 2 minute walk for the seniors from the retirement home to the west. Loblaws was at one end and Woolco at the other end with probably 50-60 stores inbetween including a stereo/furniture store in the basement. Many parents left their kids in front of the TV's watching cartoons as they went to Loblaws to do their grocery shopping. In the middle of the mall there was the Agincourt Mall restaurant which had Jello and butterscotch pudding deserts and probably hot hamburger as a special. Woolco had the Red Grill restaurant and there was also a pinball arcade near the north entrance. There was also a branch of the library in the mall and a full TD bank and a Black's camera store and a travel agency and a Laura Secord..

I'm sure it has all changed now and gone down the crapper. I'm sure there is a store selling flags for the World Cup tournament and a store selling Bob Marley/Hendrix wall posters.

[Proof Sheet]

Originally Posted by Loco101

I remember back in the late 1990s at the Galleria in downtown London, ON there was a store that sold only stamps. (not postage stamps) I bought a few animal ones and some ink pads just for the fun of it and still have them.

Scarborough Town Centre had a store in the 70's that sold postage stamps for collectors including first day covers and speciality packs of stamps. Heavy thick carpeting if I recall and lots of wood panelling. I'm sure its gone now and replaced by a cell phone accessory store.

[esquire]

Originally Posted by HomeInMyShoes

^I think I have a 1987 Wendel Clark card.

Time to go to the mall and add another one to your collection!

[HomeInMyShoes]

Looks like a convict. Haha. I grew up watching Wendel Clark play against the Pats all the time. They might have had Wendel, but we had Garth Butcher and then later Stu Grimson. Damn, the Pats had the best enforcer names ever.

[kirjtc2]

Another one is those stores that sell Bob Marley and Jimi Hendrix towels, towels with 'this buds for you' with a marijuana leaf on it or various other head shop level of tackiness in the form of towels, posters, etc.

Originally Posted by esquire

^ Ooh, good one. Another favorite is the sports collectibles shop where the same ludicrously overpriced hockey cards have been gathering dust for 20 years. Only twenty five bucks and you too can have a 1987 Wendel Clark card! Bonus points if they sell knockoff jerseys.

Brookside Mall in Fredericton has both of those. Sobeys does very well, the liquor store does well, which is why it still looks busy from the outside; but the actual indoor mall is basically empty.

There's even a local band called Brookside Mall who does a lot of those melancholy kind of songs. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M2oCqnDNUqw

[WhipperSnapper]

Originally Posted by Proof Sheet

What about those stores where you can purchase your family crest/tartan etc on some sort of plaque and they usually have some low end computer program will tell you about your ancestors and what your family name means etc.

Another one is those stores that sell Bob Marley and Jimi Hendrix towels, towels with 'this buds for you' with a marijuana leaf on it or various other head shop level of tackiness in the form of towels, posters, etc.

There's dozens of online sites where you can look up and buy family crest schlock . Unlikely a brick and mortar can compete.

[WhipperSnapper]

Originally Posted by manny_santos

Agincourt Mall is an interesting one. It's very busy at either end, with its anchors being No Frills and Walmart. I haven't been in the mall itself, but I've seen pictures suggesting some empty storefronts.

Anyone here ever been to North York Sheridan Mall?

I'm personally finding a resurgence in some of the sub regional malls in Toronto as the regional malls go much higher end. Scarborough Town Centre has seen the greatest change in direction over the past few years.

[Taeolas]

Originally Posted by kirjtc2

Brookside Mall in Fredericton has both of those. Sobeys does very well, the liquor store does well, which is why it still looks busy from the outside; but the actual indoor mall is basically empty.

There's even a local band called Brookside Mall who does a lot of those melancholy kind of songs. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M2oCqnDNUqw

In Brookside Mall's case, they are even lower on the Dead scale. Ardene pulled out a year or so ago, and the Radio Shack never made the changeover to the Source.

It had Zellers as an anchor in the back, but Target wasn't even interested in buying it up. Zellers's warehouse was turned into a Surplus Furniture store, while the rest of the store is still empty.

Most of the mall has changed over to call centers and similar offices. It has a few food stores to support those centres, and that's about it.

The Gym, Sobeys, Lawtons and Liquor stores are the main reasons it looks 'busy' (and even then it doesn't look that busy).

The card store is surviving because it is one of the cheaper places to by CCG card packs in the city (like YuGiOh or Magic the Gathering). I sometimes think the mall has forgotten he even runs a store there and he is there rent free.

It's basically a Zombie mall at this stage. By all rights it should have either thrived (lots and lots of apartments around it, and located on a busy intersection), or it should have folded (no stores of note any more beside the anchors who all have outside entrances now) by now; but it is somehow still hanging on. And the North Side Freddy Big Box locus is located a few kms away, so it can't even survive off of that either.