Dead Malls of Canada

[MolsonExport]

Decarie Square Mall, Montreal. I remember going to this mall in the early 80s. It has always been dead. Like a vampire shuffling around after dark, it doesn't realize it yet.

• Video Link

[megadude]

Visited the Skylon Tower in Niagara yesterday. Dated as hell but hey, it's an improvement from two years ago when the basement was completely abandoned other than the washroom.

It was Saturday at 4 and it was nice to see some lights on the games flashing. Not that there were many kids playing them. Actually, there were more people using the washroom than playing the games.

[MonctonRad]

The aesthetic kinda reminds me of the old Crystal Palace in Moncton (except Crystal Palace also had amusement park rides like an indoor roller coaster and a Tivoli swing.

Crystal Palace is now gone. The space has been converted into a Bass Pro Shop and an expansion to a Cineplex cinema (including an IMAX).

[Djeffery]

Funny, my last memory of the Skylon was using those washrooms after dinner at Margaritaville about 12 or so years ago lol.

[megadude]

Originally Posted by MonctonRad

The aesthetic kinda reminds me of the old Crystal Palace in Moncton (except Crystal Palace also had amusement park rides like an indoor roller coaster and a Tivoli swing.

Crystal Palace is now gone. The space has been converted into a Bass Pro Shop and an expansion to a Cineplex cinema (including an IMAX).

I wasn't aware of other Bass Pro locations other than the two I go to in Vaughan and Niagara. It was a huge deal when it opened in Vaughan. But I prefer fishing stuff from independent stores where it's easier to talk shop with someone.

I stopped by the Bass Pro in Niagara three years ago and the giant fish tank was like not even half full of the amount of fish they usually have. Don't know if that was a covid logistics thing or not. The Vaughan one I haven't been to in many years.

It's amazing how many big outdoor stores there are. Cabelas, Le Baron and Sail to name a few, with the last two being Canadian.

[megadude]

I should add, the tower itself had plenty of visitors going up to the observation deck, but half the retail and the amusement stuff downstairs was very much lacking. No surprise about the games though, Skylon is in the Fallsview section, which is more for adults. The kids love the Clifton Hill area, where there's multiple arcades with the big one being Great Canadian Midway, which I noticed has now expanded to another floor along the Boston Pizza and Lucky Strike bowling. Hard to compete with a giant arcade with rides that looks like this:




https://www.niagarafallshotels.com/niagara-falls-attraction/the-great-canadian-midway/

[Loco101]

Originally Posted by megadude

I wasn't aware of other Bass Pro locations other than the two I go to in Vaughan and Niagara. It was a huge deal when it opened in Vaughan. But I prefer fishing stuff from independent stores where it's easier to talk shop with someone.

I stopped by the Bass Pro in Niagara three years ago and the giant fish tank was like not even half full of the amount of fish they usually have. Don't know if that was a covid logistics thing or not. The Vaughan one I haven't been to in many years.

It's amazing how many big outdoor stores there are. Cabelas, Le Baron and Sail to name a few, with the last two being Canadian.

Cabela's has been part of the same company as Bass Pro for awhile. It appears that many of the Cabela's locations are becoming Bass Pros. I never knew this but just read that the Canadian Bass Pro headquarters is located in Winnipeg.

The larger stores are called Bass Pro Shops Outdoor World and the smaller ones are Bass Pro Shops Outposts. The Niagara, Barrie and Ottawa stores are outposts and the Vaughan one is a regular outdoor world one. It's surprising that there are only four stores in Ontario as Alberta has four locations.

Here are the locations on a map: https://www.cabelas.ca/find-a-store

I fish and really don't buy much at Bass Pro. I usually buy in town at a locally owned independent store and at Canadian Tire.

[Wigs]

Originally Posted by Wigs

I looked up the (North Bay) population estimates
2003: 55,247
2013: 54,041
2016: 52,924 (nadir)
2023: 58,388

https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/...023&referencePeriods=20030101%2C20230101

Just wanted to update North Bay's 2024 population estimate was 61,709
https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/tv.action?pid=1710015501

Originally Posted by megadude

Visited the Skylon Tower in Niagara yesterday. Dated as hell but hey, it's an improvement from two years ago when the basement was completely abandoned other than the washroom.

It was Saturday at 4 and it was nice to see some lights on the games flashing. Not that there were many kids playing them. Actually, there were more people using the washroom than playing the games.

A far cry of what the Skylon Amusement park used to be in the 1980s. My Dad's employer would have their family friendly Xmas party there. It was so much fun as kids. They also had midway carnival games, and one of those Wild West shooting games.


https://www.aphan.ca/images/skylonwheel.jpg

This was the list of rides they once had at the base of Skylon Tower.
https://www.aphan.ca/skylon.php

Once or twice a year in the 90s the Skylon Tower was used for clothing liquidation sales. Jeans, jackets, winter coats, boots, etc could be purchased from a variety of brands at fairly decent reduced prices. Before the outlet mall trend took hold.

The view from the top of the tower is still one of the best in all of Ontario.
My photos from March 2019

Ice still on American Falls with NFNY in background

The famous Horseshoe Falls

[MonctonRad]

Originally Posted by Loco101

Cabela's has been part of the same company as Bass Pro for awhile. It appears that many of the Cabela's locations are becoming Bass Pros. I never knew this but just read that the Canadian Bass Pro headquarters is located in Winnipeg.

The larger stores are called Bass Pro Shops Outdoor World and the smaller ones are Bass Pro Shops Outposts. The Niagara, Barrie and Ottawa stores are outposts and the Vaughan one is a regular outdoor world one. It's surprising that there are only four stores in Ontario as Alberta has four locations.

Moncton's store is one of the larger Outdoor World locations.

At one time, there was both a Bass Pro Outdoor World and a Cabela's in Moncton. There were only a few cities in all North America with both of the outdoor retailers.

After Cabela's was bought out, the Moncton store was closed. The old Cabela's is now a Rona.

[Loco101]

That's pretty wild that Moncton had both stores at the same time since it's about the same size as Greater Sudbury ON. Sudbury has neither and I don't think ever will.

I do know that Moncton is the big shopping destination in the Maritimes so it draws people from the whole region. I always thought it was so strange how the city could have more than Halifax when the HRM has a much larger population.

How are the indoor malls doing in both Moncton and Halifax?

[casper]

Originally Posted by megadude

I wasn't aware of other Bass Pro locations other than the two I go to in Vaughan and Niagara. It was a huge deal when it opened in Vaughan. But I prefer fishing stuff from independent stores where it's easier to talk shop with someone.

I stopped by the Bass Pro in Niagara three years ago and the giant fish tank was like not even half full of the amount of fish they usually have. Don't know if that was a covid logistics thing or not. The Vaughan one I haven't been to in many years.

It's amazing how many big outdoor stores there are. Cabelas, Le Baron and Sail to name a few, with the last two being Canadian.

There are quite common. I know the one is Saskatoon has been there for 15-20 years.

That one gets a lot of locals but also tourists. During hunting and fishing season in Saskatchewan there is a good amount of US hunters flying in. They usually overnight in Saskatoon before catching a bush plan the next day. I have been told a last minute visit to the store is fairly common.

There is one at Tsawwassen Mills in Metro Vancouver.

[MolsonExport]

How many abandoned RONAs litter the landscape? You can see them on the 401, in KW, in Missingsausage (https://ominous.app/browse/site/11032). There's two in London Ontario alone (Wonderland/Beaverbrook, Commissioners/Highbury). The bad news is that they sit vacant...forever.
You can see them here, you can see them there, you can see them everywhere.

[Taeolas]

As noted, Moncton was one of the few places to briefly have both Cabelas and BSP. I suspect it was due to the more rural nature of the Maritimes making those stores more popular, combined with the cachement area Moncton has (All of NB and PEI and a good chunk of Nova Scotia; and likely even Gaspe and Newfoundland to some extent).

When BSP bought Cabelas, they closed the Moncton Cabelas store, and it was left empty ever since. Since it was a custom built store with a unique exterior and footprint, it was hard to market to others.

Ronas just recently bought it as their first store in the Moncton area, and largely kept the building look intact. I don't know how well it is doing though. On the one hand, the Moncton construction market is still doing very well (just red hot now but still very active). On the other hand, this is prime Kent/Irving territory with multiple KBS stores and a Kent Distribution Centre in the area. Home Depot already has a presence and there are lots of Home Hardwares around too. So Rona's moved into an already very saturated market with a lot of inbuilt loyalty already.

I wish them well; but I wouldn't be surprised if the building empties out again within another year or two, especially if the Moncton construction market cools further.

[Djeffery]

Originally Posted by MolsonExport

How many abandoned RONAs litter the landscape? You can see them on the 401, in KW, in Missingsausage (https://ominous.app/browse/site/11032). There's two in London Ontario alone (Wonderland/Beaverbrook, Commissioners/Highbury). The bad news is that they sit vacant...forever.
You can see them here, you can see them there, you can see them everywhere.

The Highbury/Commissioners store hasn't been vacant since before COVID, it's an Activity Plex with several health and wellness businesses and a Funvilla in it. Before Lowe's took over Rona, this was supposed to become a Lowe's (the property was owned by the conglomerate that owned White Oaks Mall at the time, and a friend was ops manager at WOM and let me know they were working on that). Then the merger happened and Lowe's walked away from it.

There is a grocery store planned to go into the other one you mentioned but there has been no work going on in the several months since that small chain said they were going in there.

[MolsonExport]

Disclaimer: parts of this video are soul-sucking and many leave you feeling depressed.

• Video Link

[MolsonExport]

This summarizes everything I need to know about that horribly depressing arcade at the foot of the Skylon tower (which I visited in April of 2024).

Strangely that garbage pail makes me want to go upstairs. I have this weird fascination with abandoned urban places.

[itom 987]

The Skylon food court and arcade looks cheap, I bet the whole thing was built on a tight budget.

[hipster duck]

Originally Posted by MolsonExport

This summarizes everything I need to know about that horribly depressing arcade at the foot of the Skylon tower (which I visited in April of 2024).

Strangely that garbage pail makes me want to go upstairs. I have this weird fascination with abandoned urban places.

Wow, it looks even more dead now. I visited in 2020, right before Covid, and after my first child was born. Back then, at least, you could use the escalators. The arcade was so empty that my wife sat in the "Cruisin' USA" booth for over half an hour to breastfeed while I played 80s arcade games that I hadn't touched in over thirty years. Who knew that there was a "Garfield and Friends" version of Street Fighter?

[38 Geary]

I'm guessing kids these days just play games on their iPhones, iPads, Nintendo Switches, PS5s, PCs, etc.

[Gresto]

Depressing. The 1989 Sanyo CRT says it all in one image. Having grown up in the '80s, I have a sentimental affection for malls. I remember when Yorkdale was a regular mall with a Dominion, a Ziggy's deli, a PJ's Pets, a Coles and a W.H. Smith, a Marks & Spencer, et al -- instead of a mall that appeals to the nouveau riche and their aspirants. Amazingly, it's busier now than ever, while most other malls struggle to remain relevant and attractive in the social-media age.

I am also fascinated by abandoned monuments to post-industrial society, Molson. There's something distinctly eerie and thought-provoking about them. One has flashes in one's mind's eye of teeming throngs of avid, energetic people; and now there's nothing left but weeds and fading artifacts of lively times. It's almost archeological or anthropological to look at an abandoned mall or amusement park and try to discern why the people stopped coming, as if one were at an Inca dig site.