androiduk said:
Yeah I'd like to see that. A good start would be an attractive centre island, wider sidewalks and on street parking. Right now it's just a racetrack.
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Agreed. I can't see anyone wanting to stroll and shop along Avenue because it's basically a highway right now.

Does anyone have any scuttlebutt on what's happening with Hazelton Lanes? It seems like every time I walk through another business has either closed or moved out. A good chunk of the upstairs is currently vacant, and other than Whole Foods and TNT it seems like no one is exactly thriving. I wonder how long even a small mall can carry on with only two healthy tenants.
 
I like the renovations they've done to the centre court in Hazelton but for a mall in an upscale location i think they could do more (the bathrooms are never that clean).

I am puzzled why it doesn't do better given its location.

i think its viability is really at risk given the proposed developments of Cumberland and the Old Four Seasons which will add more retail with newer space.
 
I used to work at TNT in Hazelton Lanes...it was an odd mix of people coming in. The Yorkville Club/Whole Foods/TNT circuit people, people wandering in off the street, and a smattering of people who had no idea where they were or what TNT was. A substantial amount of Yorkville dowagers came in and lamented on the passing of what was once a grand shopping centre (difficult to believe). I was there for when the centre went through it's renos last year, which did much to improve the ambience but it still feels like a hospital. I'm sure the anchors- Whole Foods, TNT, and the Yorkville Club (soon to be Equinox) do well enough. However, plus-size luxury women's clothing label Marina Rinaldi is also in Hazelton Lanes, as is the luxury women's department store Andrew's. Ferrari-Maserati of Toronto, Brown's Shoes, Georges Rech, children's clothier Jacadi, etc. are some of the other well respected shops. It's unfortunate to have so many ho-hum and even downright kitsch shops in the mix, as well as the rather substantial amount of empty storefront, but I'm not convinced Hazelton Lanes isn't doing well- it's just a weirdo place in a very weirdo neighbourhood, charming in it's own way.
 
ardwold1 said:
I used to work at TNT in Hazelton Lanes...it was an odd mix of people coming in. The Yorkville Club/Whole Foods/TNT circuit people, people wandering in off the street, and a smattering of people who had no idea where they were or what TNT was. A substantial amount of Yorkville dowagers came in and lamented on the passing of what was once a grand shopping centre (difficult to believe). I was there for when the centre went through it's renos last year, which did much to improve the ambience but it still feels like a hospital. I'm sure the anchors- Whole Foods, TNT, and the Yorkville Club (soon to be Equinox) do well enough. However, plus-size luxury women's clothing label Marina Rinaldi is also in Hazelton Lanes, as is the luxury women's department store Andrew's. Ferrari-Maserati of Toronto, Brown's Shoes, Georges Rech, children's clothier Jacadi, etc. are some of the other well respected shops. It's unfortunate to have so many ho-hum and even downright kitsch shops in the mix, as well as the rather substantial amount of empty storefront, but I'm not convinced Hazelton Lanes isn't doing well- it's just a weirdo place in a very weirdo neighbourhood, charming in it's own way.
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The heyday of Hazelton Lanes was before its expansion - the centre more than doubled in size around the time of the 1989-1994 recession and I don't think ever fully recovered (high-end retail in Toronto was decimated during that period; if memory serves me right there was an Armani store on Bloor that closed, Polo Ralph Lauren closed their Hazelton Lanes Boutique, local high-end retailers like Ira Berg closed). Club Monaco was originally in the mall, as was Polo - according to wikipedia so was Hermes. The centre was never large enough to completely destroy the yorkville (as the Eaton Centre did to Yonge Street) and because of the way it interacts with the neighbourhood (poorly) its often an afterthought.

I think its one of those malls that isn't large enough nor rightly positioned (like Water Tower Place in Chicago) to help support the Bloor eco-system, so its becoming more of a neighbourhood place.
 
I wonder if hazelton lanes will die out like cumberland terrace.
 
taal said:
I wonder if hazelton lanes will die out like cumberland terrace.
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I think Whole Foods is the only thing that is keeping Hazelton Lanes alive - and if they were to leave (which I think is unlikely given the amount of space they need) then I think Hazelton Lanes would die. Hazelton Lanes has to be in major trouble with all vacancies and this seems to be getting worse not better. The owners have got to rethink their retail strategy. Someone earlier had posted that maybe it will simply become a small neighbourhood mall, and maybe that's the way to go because for some reason they certainly haven't been able to attract major retailers.
 
marsh said:
I think Whole Foods is the only thing that is keeping Hazelton Lanes alive - and if they were to leave (which I think is unlikely given the amount of space they need) then I think Hazelton Lanes would die. Hazelton Lanes has to be in major trouble with all vacancies and this seems to be getting worse not better. The owners have got to rethink their retail strategy. Someone earlier had posted that maybe it will simply become a small neighbourhood mall, and maybe that's the way to go because for some reason they certainly haven't been able to attract major retailers.
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TNT does well (according to ppl i know who work at head office) and I suspect that Andrew's does well too. Equinox recently bought the Yorkville Club. If you add up those four anchors - that's actually a significant amount of the total retail space available...

I think there's about 252,000 square feet.

Yorkville Club: 25,000+
Whole Foods:50,000+
TNT: 18,000+
Andrews: 10,000+ (I think)

That's probably about 45% of its Gross Leasing Area taken up by its anchors. I think their strategy has been to really understand that no one goes to browse at Hazelton Lanes, but people do go there for select key anchor stores. Hazelton Lanes is one of those weird places that doesn't look like its doing that well - but its occupancy is actually pretty good.
 
Don't know about TNT - but Andrews is always empty when I go in - I really wonder how much longer its going to last especially once Nordstroms comes to Canada - it seems to carry a lot of the same brands you can get at the Bay's The Room or Holt Renfrew (which some minor excpetions). Yorkville Club is being bought by Goodlife which meant to me it probably wasn't doing that well - that it wasn't getting the foot traffic it needed. Anyways I guess we'll see what happens.
 
marsh said:
Don't know about TNT - but Andrews is always empty when I go in - I really wonder how much longer its going to last especially once Nordstroms comes to Canada - it seems to carry a lot of the same brands you can get at the Bay's The Room or Holt Renfrew (which some minor excpetions). Yorkville Club is being bought by Goodlife which meant to me it probably wasn't doing that well - that it wasn't getting the foot traffic it needed. Anyways I guess we'll see what happens.
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Actually, Yorkville Club was bought by Equinox, a high end chain of health clubs - probably for its location and client list.
 
The Yorkville Club has been bought by Equinox, and the company is building a new gym above the previous one (and I've been told might include the current club in its newly configured space). I'm an Equinox member and currently use the Yorkville Club during the transition process- it's doing well.

TNT and Andrew's cater to a different clientele in the same milieu, and in this sense work together. When I worked at TNT we would often recommend Andrew's as an alternative for certain women, and salespeople at Andrew's would do the reverse. Much of the clientele of both stores are fiercely loyal- a certain famous auto-parts heiress would come in, work with her usual salesperson and drop $25,000 (this sort of thing was not uncommon with some of the more well-known last names of the city and beyond). TNT has also been undergoing an expansion, with its most recent store opening at Bayview Village. After working for the store I still can't say that I understand how or why it works- but it does. The same goes for Hazelton Lanes, I suppose- there seems to be something off with the whole thing, but it works, no matter how much I and I'm sure many people would love for that space to be freed up for something else (but then again, do we? Some of the more recent Yorkville development proposals are atrocious).
 
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ardwold1 said:
The Yorkville Club has been bought by Equinox, and the company is building a new gym above the previous one (and I've been told might include the current club in its newly configured space). I'm an Equinox member and currently use the Yorkville Club during the transition process- it's doing well.

TNT and Andrew's cater to a different clientele in the same milieu, and in this sense work together. When I worked at TNT we would often recommend Andrew's as an alternative for certain women, and salespeople at Andrew's would do the reverse. Much of the clientele of both stores are fiercely loyal- a certain famous auto-parts heiress would come in, work with her usual salesperson and drop $25,000 (this sort of thing was not uncommon with some of the more well-known last names of the city and beyond). TNT has also been undergoing an expansion, with its most recent store opening at Bayview Village. After working for the store I still can't say that I understand how or why it works- but it does. The same goes for Hazelton Lanes, I suppose- there seems to be something off with the whole thing, but it works, no matter how much I and I'm sure many people would love for that space to be freed up for something else (but then again, do we? Some of the more recent Yorkville development proposals are atrocious).
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I agree with you. Hazelton Lanes weirdly works. Unlike Cumberland Terrace it has four (five if you count Rexall) anchors who are all fairly Triple A (Equinox and Whole Foods especially) retailers. Also unlike Cumberland Terrace it already has condos above it that are successful and exclusive. Even discounting TNT and Andrews - Equinox and Whole Foods account for a good amount of space - why would a landlord condemn a mall that has that much space leased to good tenants? I don't see it going anywhere and hopefully First Capital can continue leasing it out to strong tenants that can't find the space they need in Yorkville.
 
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pw20 said:
I agree with you. Hazelton Lanes weirdly works. Unlike Cumberland Terrace it has four (five if you count Rexall) anchors who are all fairly Triple A (Equinox and Whole Foods especially) retailers. Also unlike Cumberland Terrace it already has condos above it that are successful and exclusive. Even discounting TNT and Andrews - Equinox and Whole Foods account for a good amount of space - why would a landlord condemn a mall that has that much space leased to good tenants? I don't see it going anywhere and hopefully First Capital can continue leasing it out to strong tenants that can't find the space they need in Yorkville.
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I'm also a member of Equinox and WF shopper. Once the Club has remodelled itself in Hazelton membership will increase greatly, I worked out at the Equinox Commerce Court location this evening - great spot. This will drive more shoppers into WF and vice versa, its a natural synergy. If the Mall's new owners could attract a small LCBO (not that Ontario vintages) and a proper drug store they'd have critical mass to attract smaller retailers. For example an Aroma, since there's nothing to eat aside from that nasty Hero burger joint and awful WF buffet. What about a world class spa, that would compliment the other commercial tenants.
One of the advantages of this mall is great parking underground.
 
Brown's at Hazelton Lanes finally closed. I really thought they'd be gone as soon as a street level store opened on Bloor. The store at Hazelton Lanes has looked dead since the other one opened. I mean, who really goes shoe shopping when they're lugging several bags of groceries from Whole Foods?? :p
 
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