Dead Malls of Canada

[manny_santos]

Originally Posted by Djeffery

White Oaks Mall in London still has it's former-Woolco Walmart as well. They recently expanded to a Supercentre, although I don't think it's as big as the purpose-built Supercentre up in Hyde Park, as they didn't actually increase the footprint. They basically got rid of the auto centre and turned that space into store space (I don't think I've set foot inside it since, so I don't know if they put the groceries in that area or not).

Ironically, over the last 15 years, this Walmart was always rumoured to be closing and moving to its own property in south London. I remember talking to the former mall manager of White Oaks back then, and mentioned if Walmart was leaving. He said "I hope so, I can't wait, we can't do anything with this mall with that clientele here. The sooner they go, the better, we have big plans for that space". Walmart is still there, and he isn't lol.

Over on the east side, the former Woolco at Argyle Mall rebuilt a new Walmart at the other end of the property about 5 years after Walmart took over, and the rest of the mall has been totally rebuilt into store fronts and parking lot pads instead of an interior mall. Ironically, the only original structure is the old Woolco, which was gutted and now has a Staples, Sport Check, Fit 4 Less, Marks, Dollar Store, and a No Frills in the space. I recall hearing that particular Woolco was one of, if not the largest Woolco store in Canada.

I’m surprised Walmart has never expanded beyond the three stores they had in London when they took over Woolco, even though London’s population has increased by over 20% since then. The store at Oakridge Mall moved to Hyde Park in 2003, but to this day there is no Walmart in London’s southwest.