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Indeed. Zellers could work if the landlord was serious about the running the mall but he isn't and HBC knows that. There is no way HBC would think of going back to Woodbine under current circumstances. It's no coincidence that Dollarama
and Tiger expanded after Target assumed the leases on 95% of the stores and then shut down like two years later.

I'll have a Zeller's opening up in The Bay at the Erin Mills Town Centre just up the road from me. It will be interesting to see exactly what the deal is here. Years ago when I lived in Etobicoke, Zeller's at Cloverdale was my go to place to get cheap stuff when I needed it. I guess a lot of that need has been fulfilled by Amazon now as I was never a fan of Wal-Mart. Interesting times ahead for sure.
 
From a business perspective, franchising is all about location. When Zellers was still part of the Woodbine Centre, the discount chain was surrounded by notable anchors
and name-brand stores.

Sears
Hudson's Bay
Music World
Sunrise Records
Bulk Barn
Cineplex Odeon

It's hard to believe now, but in the mid 1980's, the Woodbine Centre was the mall to shop at in Etobicoke. Fast forward two decades and most of those aforementioned shops
have closed down. Change of management aside, there's less incentive than ever for Hudson Bay to humour the idea of bringing Zellers back to the Woodbine.
 
Tim MacDonald said:
Indeed. Zellers could work if the landlord was serious about the running the mall but he isn't and HBC knows that. There is no way HBC would think of going back to Woodbine under current circumstances. It's no coincidence that Dollarama
and Tiger expanded after Target assumed the leases on 95% of the stores and then shut down like two years later.

I'll have a Zeller's opening up in The Bay at the Erin Mills Town Centre just up the road from me. It will be interesting to see exactly what the deal is here. Years ago when I lived in Etobicoke, Zeller's at Cloverdale was my go to place to get cheap stuff when I needed it. I guess a lot of that need has been fulfilled by Amazon now as I was never a fan of Wal-Mart. Interesting times ahead for sure.
Click to expand...
"Zellers could work if the landlord was serious about running the mall but he isn't and HBC knows that." Woodbine mall isn't in the Best condition, its better to go to that "vacant space" in Westwood Mall.
 
swigg said:
I think a no frills or other food chain would better serve the community rather than a Zellers, to be honest. Unless they're planning to sell groceries.
Click to expand...
Zellers should start selling groceries, THAT would make Zellers ICONIC
 
We have yet another grocery store opening nearby: Food World Supermarket on Highway 27 and Finch. The store is taking the place of a relatively-new banquet hall; that
used to sit right next to Burger King. Google maps tells me the supermarket will be opening on the 31st of this month.

Makes me wonder if this was the multicultural supermarket Woodbine was hinting at...
 
Justin Ziadeh said:
We have yet another grocery store opening nearby: Food World Supermarket on Highway 27 and Finch. The store is taking the place of a relatively-new banquet hall; that
used to sit right next to Burger King. Google maps tells me the supermarket will be opening on the 31st of this month.

Makes me wonder if this was the multicultural supermarket Woodbine was hinting at...
Click to expand...

I forgot about that 😆 It's just boxes now. Lovely use of the space. I'm thinking the only reason Woodbine is still alive right now is because of Fantasy Fair. Searching for woodbine on youtube nets a surprising number of hits for Fantasy Fair.
Doesn't this owner also own the plaza next to 2200 Islington in Rexdale?
 
Safer to purchase detached property than to set up shop in an aging mall. One of which probably won't be around next year.

Yes, the owner of the Woodbine Centre also owns the Rexdale Plaza. The actual building itself that says "Rexdale Mall" was once a Zellers
(and a Towers department store before that). Now, the entire Zellers building has been split up into about 12 smaller partitions (with a Chinese
grocer taking up the most space). Some liken the new setup to a Flea Market of sorts.

As I mentioned in the past, for anyone that has cherished memories of visiting Zellers/Towers in the Rexdale Mall ...don't go in.
 
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Justin Ziadeh said:
It's hard to believe now, but in the mid 1980's, the Woodbine Centre was the mall to shop at in Etobicoke.
Click to expand...
Well, only for North Etobicoke. If we wanted to gawk at Fantasy Fair we'd pop into Woodbine, but otherwise in South Etobicoke it's been Sherway ever since it opened.

42
 
On a trip to Etobicoke last weekend, I dropped by Woodbine to see if the mall was still operational.

* Woodbine Cinemas remains empty. I'm guessing the owner still hasn't found a theatre willing to step in.
* The Upper level of Zellers continues to be covered in boxes.
* As expected, the Fantasy Fair was relatively busy for a Saturday afternoon. The only saving grace of the mall.

I then proceeded to the only useful store in the mall: Dollarama; where I struck up a conversation with another shopper in regards to
Zellers making a comeback (not to Woodbine, mind you). The icing on the cake was hearing the rumour that Zellers restaurant may also be returning.

Wishful thinking aside, I then headed to my trusted movie standby: Dr. Flea's Flea Market. A relic of a bygone era; in a land where DVD's and VHS's
remain available for all eternity. Out of boredom and curiosity (okay, mostly boredom), I sought out the $5 DVD vendors. No luck,
 
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Justin Ziadeh said:
On a trip to Etobicoke last weekend, I dropped by Woodbine to see if the mall was still operational.

* Woodbine Cinemas remains empty. I'm guessing the owner still hasn't found a theatre willing to step in.
* The Upper level of Zellers continues to be covered in boxes.
* As expected, the Fantasy Fair was relatively busy for a Saturday afternoon. The only saving grace of the mall.

I then proceeded to the only useful store in the mall: Dollarama; where I struck up a conversation with another shopper in regards to
Zellers making a comeback (not to Woodbine, mind you). The icing on the cake was hearing the rumour that Zellers restaurant may also be returning.

Wishful thinking aside, I then headed to my trusted movie standby: Dr. Flea's Flea Market. A relic of a bygone era; in a land where DVD's and VHS's
remain available for all eternity. Out of boredom and curiosity (okay, mostly boredom), I sought out the $5 DVD vendors. No luck,
Click to expand...
ZELLERS SHOULD GO TO WESTWOOD SQUARE MALL!
 
I hadn’t been to Woodbine for two years. I went on Thursday after attending the gift show. It is an absolutely disaster! Absolutely filthy and disgusting!! Those tiles!! The old Zellers and Sears stores are filled with boxes and boxes of merchandise. Absolutely disgusting! I’m not sure how safety permits in retail work but those stores are piled high with boxes, it can’t be safe. It’s truly disgusting!
 
Mary James said:
I hadn’t been to Woodbine for two years. I went on Thursday after attending the gift show. It is an absolutely disaster! Absolutely filthy and disgusting!! Those tiles!! The old Zellers and Sears stores are filled with boxes and boxes of merchandise. Absolutely disgusting! I’m not sure how safety permits in retail work but those stores are piled high with boxes, it can’t be safe. It’s truly disgusting!
Click to expand...

The Old Zellers used to be one of the highlights of the Woodbine. Zellers Restaurant and clothing on the top floor. Electronics and toy sections on the bottom. In fact, I still remember the Queens Plate entrance with the blue Zeddy single-seat Ferris Wheel ride. Next to the ride were a couple gumball machines overlooking a usually-empty Queens Plate parking lot.

Every few weeks, I'd get my hair cut at the Zellers hair salon on the lower level (leading out to the former Imagine Cinemas); which, like many shops in the Woodbine, is now hidden behind walls of boxes.
Just as I was moving out of Rexdale, Target swooped in to take over - but never did. Could Target have saved the Woodbine? I doubt it. Woodbine was already on a steady decline before Target was
thinking about taking over. Even if Target had a presence in the mall, I don't think that presence would have lasted very long before the chain decided to cut their losses.

For every shop and area in Rexdale being redeveloped at the moment, Woodbine continues to stay the same.
 
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Hi!







I wanted to ask a question about the mall. Ive only visited about three times. Once, in 2003, when i was 4 years old, My friends and I visited in October 2022, and I revisted last Wendsday. I went back because when i visited in October, i was fascinated by the awful animatronics at the entrance with the ferris wheel.







When i was there last week, my friend and i went to this really disgusting liquidation store outside of the food court. It was filthy. It was piled high with boxes, and there was garbage all over the place. There was a plastic container filled with brown water in the middle of the store. The store is above the shop a lot.



I wanted to ask if the shop a lot and this stores location used to be where the zellers was? I didnt have time to go to the shop a lot because it was closed when i arrived around 6 PM. I noticed from photos online that it was as big as the filthy liquidation store above it so i figured they used to be the zellers
 
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