salsa said:
Wow they are expanding again. One day I hope to see the mall's west side swallow up the whole parking lot right up to Dufferin St, so that the mall meets the street in a more urban way.
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They aren't expanding...rather just repurposing the now vacant former Sears space.
 
sixrings said:
Does this mean no Simmons? Also did Sears have a basement? I really really really want a lucky lanes bowling alley :(
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There's room for at least one more anchor at Yorkdale, if not two. Expansion plans include retail space up to Dufferin Street.

We were asked to remove the Restoration Hardware rendering from our article, and we're told we'll get new renderings shortly.
 
officedweller said:
There'll be some construction - Restoration Hardware will be 4 storeys - Sears (and the Bay before it) were not.
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If I recall correctly, this was a new Sears store that was built shortly after the revived eatons store closed (which turned into a temp Sears store). Is it a two story building right now?
 
samsonyuen said:
If I recall correctly, this was a new Sears store that was built shortly after the revived eatons store closed (which turned into a temp Sears store). Is it a two story building right now?
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I remember in the early 90s (or late 80s) the store was a new build for The Bay. Not very impressive - it had/has low ceilings compared to the older anchors at the mall. The other anchors were Simpsons (currently Hudson's Bay) and Eaton's. After The Bay moved into the former Simpsons store due to combination of the businesses, Sears took over the two floor Bay store. Then I guess the pattern somewhat repeated itself when Sears had an Eaton's and a Sears at the mall and eventually closed the eaton's.
 
I would love for Yorkdale to expand to Duffrin Street with a nice public square and restaurant patios out front or even elevated on a second storey, overlooking the square. It would make it a lot more urban and pedestrian friendly. A new hotel would be a good fit too. RIght now Duffrin is terrible but there is always hope for improvement and Yorkdale could be a good catalyst for change.
 
Wow...

Malls are dying in the US, yet Oxford has two cash cows in Yorkdale and Square One and is investing heavily in them.

An anomaly in North America?

Of course there's always cities like Bangkok that have first rate malls popping up on every block.
 
jaboober said:
Wow...

Malls are dying in the US, yet Oxford has two cash cows in Yorkdale and Square One and is investing heavily in them.

An anomaly in North America?

Of course there's always cities like Bangkok that have first rate malls popping up on every block.
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Well America is not the world. Malls are still popular in many places.
 
I think the big box anchor stores are a dying breed in the Canadian mall context. The malls themselves seem quite healthy on the surface. Expansions and revitalizations are occuring in most of them.

I just wish the Eaton Centre would be refurbished to its old glory.
 
WislaHD said:
I think the big box anchor stores are a dying breed in the Canadian mall context. The malls themselves seem quite healthy on the surface. Expansions and revitalizations are occuring in most of them.

I just wish the Eaton Centre would be refurbished to its old glory.
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Big anchors are dying off in part because of Apple Stores, believe it or not. They (Apple Stores) draw in just as much foot traffic as the giant anchors, leaving many to wonder why they're giving so much space and huge rent discounts to the anchors, when a relatively small store can do the same. They're starting to give Apple discounts on rent, and hike up rent for others (including the big boxes). And why not? It makes them more money and frees up more space for other retail.
 
zang said:
Big anchors are dying off in part because of Apple Stores, believe it or not. They (Apple Stores) draw in just as much foot traffic as the giant anchors, leaving many to wonder why they're giving so much space and huge rent discounts to the anchors, when a relatively small store can do the same.
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This logic seems perverse to me, as one cannot fill a mall with Apple stores, jewelry stores, Ferrari dealerships, and other big-margin, high-density stores -- there simply aren't that many available. Apple stores make vastly more money per square foot than almost any other kind of retailer, and so to use them as a benchmark when they are such an outlier is absurd.

At some point people need a place to go to buy cheap sweaters, inexpensive housewares, and low-cost furniture. If malls don't offer these kinds of places, folks won't go to them, except on the rare occasion when they need to replace their iPhone.
 
Tulse said:
At some point people need a place to go to buy cheap sweaters, inexpensive housewares, and low-cost furniture. If malls don't offer these kinds of places, folks won't go to them, except on the rare occasion when they need to replace their iPhone.
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Except Apple stores are in essence the new anchors - they bring in the segment of the demographic that will also spend on other "trendy" items. One can get cheap sweaters, houseware and furniture elsewhere - it is not necessarily the most profitable usage of limited square footage, nor are they necessarily willing to pay the premium at higher end malls. Also, I am willing to guess that higher end malls have better "staying" power - they are ones that will get renovated and maintain popularity/foot traffic, and you get a bit of a virtuous cycle from that point on.

As to the US - they are overbuilt compared to Canada and I would also hazard to guess that their stock is older than ours too.

AoD
 
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Tulse said:
This logic seems perverse to me, as one cannot fill a mall with Apple stores, jewelry stores, Ferrari dealerships, and other big-margin, high-density stores -- there simply aren't that many available. Apple stores make vastly more money per square foot than almost any other kind of retailer, and so to use them as a benchmark when they are such an outlier is absurd.

At some point people need a place to go to buy cheap sweaters, inexpensive housewares, and low-cost furniture. If malls don't offer these kinds of places, folks won't go to them, except on the rare occasion when they need to replace their iPhone.
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Except that an Apple Store will raise overall mall foot traffic by 10%. Malls don't particularly *care* what a store sells, just that it keeps their property busy and low-vacancy.
 
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