Dead Malls of Canada

[Doady]

I photographed the demolition of Bayside Mall in Sarnia last July, hundreds of pictures, I will begin sorting them out and editing them very soon. Not exactly cheerful or positive pictures, but no doubt they will be perceived as "Ontario-centric egotism" and "desperation" to some people here, some kind of attempt to promote the city or region and make it look better than it actually is. So I am not sure I will bother to make a thread for them on SSP, but you will be able to see them on my Flickr page at least (first link in my signature) and I will post a link to the Flickr album here too when I am done. I already started posting photothreads in the Ontario and Toronto subforums instead to limit their exposure to Canadians outside of Ontario, so if I make a new thread for these photos, I might just put it there too.

[north 42]

Originally Posted by Blitz

Windsor only has two indoor malls, Devonshire Mall and Tecumseh Mall.

Devonshire is doing very well and has become the largest shopping centre in Southwestern Ontario. Didn't see any vacant stores when I was in there last month. Tecumseh Mall has been hit hard by Covid and about 20% of the stores are currently vacant.

Yeah, University Mall is long gone and is now a plaza, but Central Mall still has 19 stores in it.

[ssiguy]

Originally Posted by Doady

I photographed the demolition of Bayside Mall in Sarnia last July, hundreds of pictures, I will begin sorting them out and editing them very soon. Not exactly cheerful or positive pictures, but no doubt they will be perceived as "Ontario-centric egotism" and "desperation" to some people here, some kind of attempt to promote the city or region and make it look better than it actually is. So I am not sure I will bother to make a thread for them on SSP, but you will be able to see them on my Flickr page at least (first link in my signature) and I will post a link to the Flickr album here too when I am done. I already started posting photothreads in the Ontario and Toronto subforums instead to limit their exposure to Canadians outside of Ontario, so if I make a new thread for these photos, I might just put it there too.

Please give up some pics and if someone says you are being too "Ontario-centric" then tell them to grow up and stop being so damn insecure.

I also really like talking about, and getting input from, our smaller Canadian cities as they don't get the attention or respect they deserve. On this forum most of us live in our big cities and it creates a real bias and does a disservice to the 50% of Canadians who don't live in our 6 biggest cities.

[Djeffery]

Thread is "Dead Malls of Canada", and last I looked, Sarnia hasn't drifted across the river yet, so I'd say at the very least, some pics in this thread would be great.

[MolsonExport]

Originally Posted by Doady

I photographed the demolition of Bayside Mall in Sarnia last July, hundreds of pictures, I will begin sorting them out and editing them very soon. Not exactly cheerful or positive pictures, but no doubt they will be perceived as "Ontario-centric egotism" and "desperation" to some people here, some kind of attempt to promote the city or region and make it look better than it actually is. So I am not sure I will bother to make a thread for them on SSP, but you will be able to see them on my Flickr page at least (first link in my signature) and I will post a link to the Flickr album here too when I am done. I already started posting photothreads in the Ontario and Toronto subforums instead to limit their exposure to Canadians outside of Ontario, so if I make a new thread for these photos, I might just put it there too.

looking forward to seeing these.

[MolsonExport]

no matter how dead the mall is, there is always a gumball machine or three:

some dying mall (Five Points Mall?) in Oshawa

Northern Reflections always manages to hang on well past the eleventh hour:

[MolsonExport]

• Video Link

[MolsonExport]

East York Town Centre. Dead, Dying, or Healthy?

wookies

[WhipperSnapper]

None of the above?

The vacant Target was being used as a temp mass vaccination clinic. It ain't healthy. It no longer is the only retail in this populous masterplanned community. I just don't see Costco outright killing it. Costco attracts a different demographic. It's not dying.

[JHikka]

Originally Posted by MolsonExport

East York Town Centre. Dead, Dying, or Healthy?

I got my second vaccine jab at East York Town Centre!

The vaccine services were in an upstairs portion that was completely gutted out from what used to be office space. The rest of the mall isn't doing too hot but the businesses that face externally are doing fine. That area has an incredible number of new Canadians, especially Afghans, and there's some good food spots nearby. There's a new (2018) Costco across the street that's always busy.

The new Ontario Line station will be located in behind the Costco IIRC.

[thewave46]

Originally Posted by MolsonExport

Northern Reflections always manages to hang on well past the eleventh hour

It honestly confounds me, that company.

It exists in dead malls, has no foot traffic and somehow hasn't gone broke.

Front for organized crime to launder money? Who knows?

[WhipperSnapper]

I have a theory. The dying malls I've been in are social hangouts for old people and I think Northern Reflections would rank near the top for boutique chain retail among old people too.

[O-tacular]

Originally Posted by MolsonExport

Northern Reflections always manages to hang on well past the eleventh hour:

This picture reminds me of perspective drawing assignments from University. The grid with the tiles is almost too perfect to look real. This picture is actually fascinatingly beautiful in its own way.

[MolsonExport]

Originally Posted by thewave46

It honestly confounds me, that company.

It exists in dead malls, has no foot traffic and somehow hasn't gone broke.

Front for organized crime to launder money? Who knows?

yep, there are a few, but Northern Reflections ranks near the top of the list.

Originally Posted by MolsonExport

We should come up with criteria for malls on the downswing.

Is it anchored by a liquidation mart and/or a discount food retailer (Food basics, no frills, Price Chopper, etc.)?
Did it used to have a Target, Walmart, or Zellers?
Is there an independent place that sells cardboard samosas (or cardboard pizza slices) that have been sitting under a hot lamp since Abe Lincoln was President, and also advertise "Fax" services and key cutting?
Are 20% of the stores selling cellphones, cellphone bling, and cellphone crap?
Is there a knock-off retail brand (e.g., Pizza Twice instead of Pizza Pizza?)?
Is the mall starting to fill with Dental clinics and places to get a prostate examination?
#1: Does the mall have a no-name, family-run dollar store ("Dollar-Valu", "Dollar Land", "Dollar Plus")?
Does the mall have those mechanical sofa chairs that take loonies for a massage?
Has at least one bank closed?
Are 50% or more of the customers seniors?
Does the place contain more than one place to buy hearing aids?
Have they drained the fountain at the mall centre and left it empty for years?
Do they advertise a "Mall Walkers" program (fitness for seniors by roaming the mall?)
If having a few remaining chain stores, are any/all of them Bentley/Ardene/The Source?
Does the mall's directory and/or website still list stores that have closed or moved away?
Does the mall contain empty storefronts papered over with signage saying "Coming soon!" (with no disclosure on what is coming soon) or "Exciting Retail opportunity!"
is there a flea market?
Is there a store that caters exclusively to Lord-of-the-Rings-obsessed losers, offering "the one ring", and "gollum's scat", and playing cards featuring fake nudes of Galadriel and Eowyn?

[HomeInMyShoes]

^^^It's fairly well-composed. A 50mm lens from the right distance would push it into the creepy straight zone. It is certainly a photo after my heart.

[manny_santos]

Originally Posted by MolsonExport

We should come up with criteria for malls on the downswing.

Is it anchored by a liquidation mart and/or a discount food retailer (Food basics, no frills, Price Chopper, etc.)?
Did it used to have a Target, Walmart, or Zellers?
Is there an independent place that sells cardboard samosas (or cardboard pizza slices) that have been sitting under a hot lamp since Abe Lincoln was President, and also advertise "Fax" services and key cutting?
Are 20% of the stores selling cellphones, cellphone bling, and cellphone crap?
Is there a knock-off retail brand (e.g., Pizza Twice instead of Pizza Pizza?)?
Is the mall starting to fill with Dental clinics and places to get a prostate examination?
#1: Does the mall have a no-name, family-run dollar store ("Dollar-Valu", "Dollar Land", "Dollar Plus")?
Does the mall have those mechanical sofa chairs that take loonies for a massage?
Has at least one bank closed?
Are 50% or more of the customers seniors?
Does the place contain more than one place to buy hearing aids?
Have they drained the fountain at the mall centre and left it empty for years?
Do they advertise a "Mall Walkers" program (fitness for seniors by roaming the mall?)
If having a few remaining chain stores, are any/all of them Bentley/Ardene/The Source?
Does the mall's directory and/or website still list stores that have closed or moved away?
Does the mall contain empty storefronts papered over with signage saying "Coming soon!" (with no disclosure on what is coming soon) or "Exciting Retail opportunity!"
is there a flea market?
Is there a store that caters exclusively to Lord-of-the-Rings-obsessed losers, offering "the one ring", and "gollum's scat", and playing cards featuring fake nudes of Galadriel and Eowyn?

I remember Masonville Place had a mall-walkers program back in the mid-2000s. So some vibrant malls have it too.

We have a mall in New Westminster, Royal Square Mall, which is a classic dying mall, at least on the inside. It contains a Tae-Kwan-Do studio, a piano lesson studio, a dental office, and a no-name dollar store. I only ever go inside as there's a BC Liquor Store, which is one of the quietest liquor stores I've ever been to.

The exterior of the mall is doing well, it has Safeway (not accessible from inside the mall), Starbucks, Pizza Hut, etc.

New West's other mall, Royal City Centre, is a real mix. Walmart is one of the anchors, also contains Winners and Dollarama, and the only chain restaurant in the food court is A&W. It's not dying, but it's not a vibrant mall either.

[O-tacular]

Originally Posted by MolsonExport View Post
We should come up with criteria for malls on the downswing.

Is it anchored by a liquidation mart and/or a discount food retailer (Food basics, no frills, Price Chopper, etc.)?
Did it used to have a Target, Walmart, or Zellers?
Is there an independent place that sells cardboard samosas (or cardboard pizza slices) that have been sitting under a hot lamp since Abe Lincoln was President, and also advertise "Fax" services and key cutting?
Are 20% of the stores selling cellphones, cellphone bling, and cellphone crap?
Is there a knock-off retail brand (e.g., Pizza Twice instead of Pizza Pizza?)?
Is the mall starting to fill with Dental clinics and places to get a prostate examination?
#1: Does the mall have a no-name, family-run dollar store ("Dollar-Valu", "Dollar Land", "Dollar Plus")?
Does the mall have those mechanical sofa chairs that take loonies for a massage?
Has at least one bank closed?
Are 50% or more of the customers seniors?
Does the place contain more than one place to buy hearing aids?
Have they drained the fountain at the mall centre and left it empty for years?
Do they advertise a "Mall Walkers" program (fitness for seniors by roaming the mall?)
If having a few remaining chain stores, are any/all of them Bentley/Ardene/The Source?
Does the mall's directory and/or website still list stores that have closed or moved away?
Does the mall contain empty storefronts papered over with signage saying "Coming soon!" (with no disclosure on what is coming soon) or "Exciting Retail opportunity!"
is there a flea market?
Is there a store that caters exclusively to Lord-of-the-Rings-obsessed losers, offering "the one ring", and "gollum's scat", and playing cards featuring fake nudes of Galadriel and Eowyn?

[Djeffery]

As far as I know, both Masonville and White Oaks in London still have early morning walking. If not outwardly advertised, the doors are at least open and people are allowed in a couple hours before the stores open.

As for Northern Reflections, we were walking by the one in White Oaks a couple years ago and I said to my wife "When did this store become popular with old people?" She looked at me and smirked "Because those of us who shopped there in the 80's are old now" lol.

[Doady]

I decided I will make one regular My City Photo thread for all my Sarnia photos from this summer, including the demolition of the mall. I feel uneasy making a My City Photo thread just for the demolition pictures to an show international audience, but combining them with the more cheerful photos, it should be okay. Maybe it will be my biggest thread ever. You guys probably know I have no problem making gloomy photo threads for Mississauga, although the people of Urban Toronto will call it "incessant boosterism", but it is probably better to avoid presenting other cities too negatively because they are not my city. Especially Sarnia which I don't think is a bad city or anything, and I don't focus on the bad things anyways, so I don't want to give the wrong impression. I am still editing the photos, maybe it take another a week or so, but here are a few pictures for now as a preview.

[SpongeG]

Originally Posted by manny_santos

I remember Masonville Place had a mall-walkers program back in the mid-2000s. So some vibrant malls have it too.

We have a mall in New Westminster, Royal Square Mall, which is a classic dying mall, at least on the inside. It contains a Tae-Kwan-Do studio, a piano lesson studio, a dental office, and a no-name dollar store. I only ever go inside as there's a BC Liquor Store, which is one of the quietest liquor stores I've ever been to.

The exterior of the mall is doing well, it has Safeway (not accessible from inside the mall), Starbucks, Pizza Hut, etc.

New West's other mall, Royal City Centre, is a real mix. Walmart is one of the anchors, also contains Winners and Dollarama, and the only chain restaurant in the food court is A&W. It's not dying, but it's not a vibrant mall either.

were you here when royal centre was Woodwards place? it was anchored by a three level woodwards, had woodwards food floor where safeway was and the mall was two levels of stores, it was quite a nice mall until woodwards closed up.