As all but three Ontario malls will now be losing their Hudson’s Bay Company stores, many mall property owners are left with another hole to fill.
The company announced it has started liquidation sales at all of its 32 locations — many of which are anchor stores in Ontario malls.
The locations staying open for the time being are the Toronto Eaton Centre, 176 Yonge St., the Yorkdale Mall, 3401 Dufferin St. in North York, and Hillcrest Mall, 9350 Yonge St. in Richmond Hill.
As all but three Ontario malls will now be losing their Hudson’s Bay Company stores, many mall property owners are left with another hole to fill.
The company announced it has started liquidation sales at all of its 32 locations — many of which are anchor stores in Ontario malls.
The locations staying open for the time being are the Toronto Eaton Centre, 176 Yonge St., the Yorkdale Mall, 3401 Dufferin St. in North York, and Hillcrest Mall, 9350 Yonge St. in Richmond Hill.
As all but three Ontario malls will now be losing their Hudson’s Bay Company stores, many mall property owners are left with another hole to fill.
The company announced it has started liquidation sales at all of its 32 locations — many of which are anchor stores in Ontario malls.
The locations staying open for the time being are the Toronto Eaton Centre, 176 Yonge St., the Yorkdale Mall, 3401 Dufferin St. in North York, and Hillcrest Mall, 9350 Yonge St. in Richmond Hill.
Some may believe this is the death of the traditional mall, but other small town shopping centres are getting creative with how they fill their vacant spaces.
“Retail is much more organic. It evolves with the times, it evolves with consumer habits,” commercial and retail researcher CoStar Group chief economist and head of market analytics Carl Gomez said. “We used to hang out at the malls, shopping for goods like sweaters. Today, it’s more about services — like beauty products, spa services and gyms.”
Pickleball to the rescue
In a few Ontario malls, the property owner has looked to a developing trend to create an outlet for pickleball players.
RioCan Georgian Mall used some of the space left behind from the closure of a Sears location, and has filled it with Pickleplex Social Club, pickleball courts for members.
The Shops at Pickering City Centre also celebrated the grand opening of its Pickleplex Social Club on March 22. It’s located by the Cineplex cinemas and Farm Boy store — which helped fill in the space at the former Target location at the mall.
Sherwood Village, formerly the Sheridan Centre Mall in Mississauga, is now home to 17 full sized pickleball courts. Called the Rally Club, it opened in 2024.
