West End Mall discussion

[DigitalNinja]

I was in the "mall" last week.
There are a lot of "renovations" going on inside with new professional clinics opened up.
There is still the muffin place there, I think treats? And another healthy way is opening up, but the rest is clinics, hearing, eyes, doctor, asshole treatment etc ...

[Jstaleness]

Actually the Tim's closed almost 2 years ago. There is pretty much nothing for food left in there now.

[Grav]

I try to stop in there whenever I am near to see whats going on. The food court has been gone for over a year and is now a dentist office. There is a Bell Aliant store in there, a Treats Cafe (every dead mall in this city has one) And they are renovating the space across from the former food court dentist office into a healthy way. So the mall is now catering to the professionals that will be working there. There are also de-mall renovations going on. Interesting enough the bay entrance still has old signage that reads "Hudsons Bay Company". Very rare for this day and age. There are many dead mall enthusiast forums full of people who would love to see the WEM.

If you stop in and go up the stairs there are a number of posters and renderings of what the finished product will look like. Maybe I will get pics soon. The Mall is still a very public friendly space. After the renovations there might be Fob scanners and security desks so check it out while you can!

[q12]

Halifax Shopping Centre going upscale

By BRUCE ERSKINE Business Reporter
Thu, Mar 10 - 4:55 AM

The Halifax Shopping Centre is moving on up.

"They’re making it high-end," an employee at one of the mall stores that will close at the end of March said Wednesday in an interview.

Stores advertising closing-out sales at the shopping centre include Fairweather, West 49, Athletes World, Suzy Shier and Stitches.

Other stores, including Pseudio and Spring, are relocating to larger spaces in the mall.

Stores reportedly moving into the mall this spring include the lingerie retailer Victoria’s Secret and Sirens.

Linda Townsend, the shopping centre’s director of marketing, confirmed that changes are afoot at the mall, but she wouldn’t disclose details.

"There are some moves going on, but nothing I can talk about," Townsend said Wednesday, citing legal and lease confidentiality issues.

"I’m not in a position to mention the changes that are occurring."

The Mumford Road shopping centre is owned by the Ontario Pension Board, which administers Ontario’s public service pension plan.

It has more than $16 billion in assets and owns real estate across Canada.

John Stewart, assistant manager of the Fairweather outlet in the mall, suggested that high rents and a decision to go "Park Lane" were behind some of the retail store changes.

Park Lane is a high-end mall in downtown Halifax.

Stewart, who lives near the shopping centre, is transferring to the Fairweather outlet in Bedford. While he wasn’t thrilled about the lengthy commute, he said he was luckier than part-time Fairweather workers who were laid off.

An employee at another shop that is closing called the situation "unfortunate" and questioned the mall’s upscale change in direction.

"People with money shop on Spring Garden Road," she said. "This area is not high income."

Staff at West 49 confirmed the Halifax store was closing at the end of March, when its lease expires, but referred questions to company headquarters in Burlington, Ont.

West 49 officials could not be reached Wednesday. The company has another outlet in Mic Mac Mall in Dartmouth.

The Athletes World outlet, whose lease also expires at the end of the month, is being replaced by an Aeropostale clothing store.

Some Athletes World staff are transferring to other locations, while others are out of a job, store employees said.

http://thechronicleherald.ca/Business/1232178.html

Posted this here since west end mall is part of Halifax Shopping Centre.

[cormiermax]

Old West End Mall commercial in the first few seconds of this video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9M6Ct...eature=related

[icetea93]

The new stores opening at Halifax Shopping Centre this year will be huge draws for Halifax. Among the confirmed stores are

Forever 21
Sephora
Victoria's Secret
Aeropostale (Halifax's second location)

Among the rumored stores:

Hollister Co.
Abercrombie & Fitch

I'm really hoping the last two open, they would be awesome to have here in Halifax!

[-Harlington-]

those should be downtown if anywhere

[gm_scott]

I really doubt Hollister or Abercrombie will come to Halifax anytime soon, but the other four should do really well.
Is Forever 21, Sephora, or Victoria's Secret going to Mic Mac?

[icetea93]

Originally Posted by gm_scott

I really doubt Hollister or Abercrombie will come to Halifax anytime soon, but the other four should do really well.
Is Forever 21, Sephora, or Victoria's Secret going to Mic Mac?

No, all the stores mentioned above are opening in Halifax Shopping Centre.

And I actually wouldn't be that surprised if they opened a Hollister/Abercrombie, seeing as they are already in most of the Canadian cities larger than Halifax (Toronto, Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton, Winnipeg) and some cities of similar size to Halifax like Kitchener or even cities smaller than Halifax like Newmarket. I've emailed Hollister and Abercrombie and they both essentially said "while we may open a store in Halifax NS, we can't provide any specific opening dates". We already have most of the stores that Winnipeg has, they are just getting their first Aeropostale this summer, by which time we will have two. Aeropostale has a similiar if not the same demographic as Hollister/Abercrombie, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed that we'll have one by the end of the year!

[kph06]

A worker in one of the stores closing said that Urban Outfitters was opening as well.

[halifaxboyns]

Well there are not my favorite stores; but anything that increases the retail sector should be good. Just can't stand all the skinny twink gay youngins all the time. God I'm getting old lol.

[gm_scott]

Originally Posted by icetea93

No, all the stores mentioned above are opening in Halifax Shopping Centre.

And I actually wouldn't be that surprised if they opened a Hollister/Abercrombie, seeing as they are already in most of the Canadian cities larger than Halifax (Toronto, Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton, Winnipeg) and some cities of similar size to Halifax like Kitchener or even cities smaller than Halifax like Newmarket. I've emailed Hollister and Abercrombie and they both essentially said "while we may open a store in Halifax NS, we can't provide any specific opening dates". We already have most of the stores that Winnipeg has, they are just getting their first Aeropostale this summer, by which time we will have two. Aeropostale has a similiar if not the same demographic as Hollister/Abercrombie, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed that we'll have one by the end of the year!

Looks like you've done your homework.
Last night I looked on the Abercrombie website and I only found three locations in Canada, but I didn't look at Hollisters website. There are a lot of those in Canada I did not know about. So maybe there is hope after all. I don't care too much though, I still do my clothes shopping in the states. But it would be great for Halifax if either opened.

[icetea93]

All these stores will only make retail in Halifax stronger and considering these are pretty significant destination stores, even more people from all over the Maritimes and even Atlantic Canada will come here to shop! (more than already do)

[MonctonRad]

Originally Posted by icetea93

All these stores will only make retail in Halifax stronger and considering these are pretty significant destination stores, even more people from all over the Maritimes and even Atlantic Canada will come here to shop! (more than already do)

Aeropostale is already in SJ and Moncton. Victoria's Secret and Bath & Bodyworks are opening at Champlain Place this year as well.

If you guys are able to get Hollister or Abercrombie however, that would be huge! Good luck with that.

[icetea93]

Originally Posted by MonctonRad

Aeropostale is already in SJ and Moncton. Victoria's Secret and Bath & Bodyworks are opening at Champlain Place this year as well.

If you guys are able to get Hollister or Abercrombie however, that would be huge! Good luck with that.

Oh yeah, I know that Moncton and SJ both have those mentioned stores. I should have clarified better I guess, I was more so referring to the Halifax-only (in Atlantic Canada) stores like Forever 21, Sephora, Urban Outfitters, and there has been a lot of talk about Hollister opening. I really hope Hollister opens because I agree, that would be huge for Halifax to have. I don't really know what the chances of it actually opening are, but it makes sense to me that Hollister/Abercrombie would be in Halifax's near future.

But it is great to see that a lot of international brands are finally opening all over Atlantic Canada, it's about time!

[Charles J. White]

Originally Posted by hfx_chris

Probably a Manchu Wok. It seems every food court seems to have both an A&W and a Manchu Wok.

There was a sub/deli place, a private Chinese place not a Manchu Wok, A&W, Tim Horton’s’, convenience store, a muffin/cookie place, and a restaurant in the Sears on the main floor - a very good restaurant in fact.

[Charles J. White]

Originally Posted by Keith P.

I don't exactly recall when West End Mall was built, but I believe it was mid-70s. The mall was never particularly great - it had a lot of the same chain stores the other malls had, i.e. Tip Top Tailors, Fairweather, etc; nothing all that unique. The area that was until recently Access Nova Scotia was originally a Sobeys store, but it was small even for the time.

The decor wasn't anything special as I recall. No fountains or anything like that. I remember a couple of planters and brass trim, typical 70s.

One thing that I just remembered was that there was an upstairs level that had a couple of hairstyling shops that you could access either by stairs or an elevator.

There was also a T-Shirt/Sweater shop on the 3rd floor

[-Harlington-]

This thread should be re-named to general mall discussion or something because thats what its becoming and there really isnt a mall thread on here i dont think.

[Grav]

Originally Posted by -Harlington-

those should be downtown if anywhere

Thats the first thing that came to mind when I heard the news. I agree 100%

Park Lane would be more ideal for a Hollister/ Victoria's secret since its close to all the universities. Too bad Crombie converted alot of park lane's third floor into offices. Now they dont have much room to grow unless they kick some current tenants out.

[icetea93]

Maybe a "Retail News in Halifax Thread" or something, or even "Retail News in Atlantic Canada"