Scarborough Town Centre
LocationToronto, Ontario, Canada
Coordinates43°46′35″N 79°15′30″W / 43.776354°N 79.258279°W / 43.776354; -79.258279
Address300 Borough Drive
Opening dateMay 2, 1973
DeveloperTrizec Corporation
ManagementOxford Properties
OwnerAlberta Investment Management Corporation and OMERS
No. of stores and services250+[1]
No. of anchor tenants4 (3 open, 1 in the process of redevelopment)
Total retail floor area121,000 m2 (1,300,000 sq ft)
No. of floors2
Parking3000 spaces
Public transit access Scarborough Centre
Bus interchange Scarborough Centre Bus Terminal
Toronto Transit Commission Buses
Websitescarboroughtowncentre.com

Scarborough Town Centre (STC) is a shopping mall in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Central to the Scarborough City Centre district, it is adjacent to Scarborough Centre station, the Scarborough Centre Bus Terminal and the CTV Toronto studios (9 Channel Nine Court).[2] Opened in 1973, the mall is the fourth largest shopping mall in Canada and third in Toronto by retail space.

Description

The mall is located on the north side of Albert Campbell Square, across from the Scarborough Civic Centre.[2]

The mall is served by Highway 401 and can also be reached through a turnaround ramp on McCowan Road, Progress Avenue, and Brimley Road. The TTC's Line 3 Scarborough also has a station adjacent to the mall, Scarborough Centre, opened in 1985 with service running southwest to Kennedy station on the Bloor–Danforth line and east to McCowan Station.[2] Scarborough Centre is Toronto's east end's most important transportation hub. In addition to Line 3, Scarborough Centre is a busy terminal for a number of TTC bus routes, as well as GO Transit.

Scarborough Town Centre currently includes Hudson's Bay, Walmart, and Cineplex Cinemas as its anchors. It has more than 121,000 m2 (1,300,000 sq ft) and about 250 plus stores, making it the fourth-largest shopping centre in Greater Toronto, after Square One Shopping Centre, Yorkdale Shopping Centre, and Toronto Eaton Centre.

The mall itself and most of the land surrounding it are owned by OMERS (the Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System) pension fund under their Oxford Properties division.

Scarborough Walk of Fame

In 2006, ten prominent members of Scarborough's community were inducted into the Scarborough Walk of Fame, and this was the first annual ceremony. The stars (plaques) of the Walk of Fame are located behind the main atrium, in front of H&M. Formerly, they were located on a walkway between the food courts of the mall, on the upper level.

The first inductees were burn-unit founder Dr. Lloyd N. Carlsen, educator Dr. R. H. King, NBA player Jamaal Magloire, pulmonary scientist Dr. Charles C. Macklin, artist Doris McCarthy, Lieutenant Governor of Ontario and former television personality, The Honourable David Onley, Olympic hockey player Vicky Sunohara, pioneer David Thomson, hip-hop artist Wes Williams, and geriatric care entrepreneur Dr. Joseph Yu Kai Wong.[3]

History

Centre court, 2015
Food court, 2022

The mall was constructed in 1972 and opened on May 2, 1973. At that time, it included two major Canadian department stores, Simpson's and Eaton's. Miracle Food Mart, a supermarket, was also located in the mall; part of the Steinbergs chain, it was co-located with a Miracle Mart, a discount department store. It was designed to serve as part of the civic and commercial centre of what was then the Borough of Scarborough. Scarborough Town Centre opened with 130 stores adjacent to the borough's administration buildings. It provided a central landmark in an otherwise newer suburban area of Toronto.[4]

Originally Y-shaped, with its stem towards the Civic Centre, a second phase of construction added the northern department store (former The Bay store) and two wings. The construction added 22,000 m2 (240,000 sq ft) of retail space and was opened on August 8, 1979.[5] It made STC the second shopping mall in history (after Quebec's Promenades Saint-Bruno) to simultaneously have Eaton's, Simpson's and The Bay.[6]

In 1991, Simpson's rebranded as The Bay.[7] The former The Bay store was emptied and extensively refurbished before reopening on September 25, 1991, as a Sears with essentially the same staff as the previous occupant.[8] It was the largest of the eight locations that Sears acquired from the dismantling of the Simpsons chain.[8]

In 1998-1999, the mall was expanded once again to allow more anchor stores and retail space.

After Eaton's closed, Sears relocated to the space on July 17, 2000, becoming one of the company's largest stores nationwide.[9] Walmart opened its 160,000 square foot store on July 26, 2001.[10]

The mall in the mid-2000s with miniature hot-air balloons

The mall's latest renovation in 2010, branded "Lighten Up," gave retailers such as Victoria's Secret interest in retail space.[11] Victoria's Secret opened one of Canada's first Pink stores in the former Disney Store in July 2010. Other major retailers, Forever 21 and Aritzia, have replaced Sport Chek and Birks. The mall has the largest Zara store in the east GTA at 2,200 m2 (24,000 sq ft).[4]

On August 4, 2016, the new food court opened below the existing food court and was branded as TASTE MRKT. The upper level of the food court is now closed and has reopened as a mall space with a unique dining atmosphere for shoppers by offering more upscale, interior-patio-style seating underneath the existing skylight.[12]

The Sears store closed in late 2017 as part of the liquidation of Canadian operations. The Sears store is expected to be redeveloped by the mall in the future, though they have not yet said what is planned. The 1st floor has been remodelled into Urban Behavior. In 2018, the mall opened a Muji store near the Centre Court. The store is the 5th in the GTA. A Miniso also opened outside of Walmart, in the former Roots Canada, which has relocated next to Aritzia. In February 2021, it was announced that the second level of the former Sears location had been prepared as a large-scale clinic for distribution of the COVID-19 vaccine during the COVID-19 pandemic in Toronto.[13] On August 23, 2023, an IKEA store opened on the lower level of the former Sears space.[14] On October 14, 2023, a Decathlon store opened on the upper level of the former Sears space.[15]

Proposed development

Currently, multiple plans are proposed for the shopping mall and its surroundings.

Scarborough Subway Extension

The extension of TTC's Line 2 Bloor-Danforth subway line is currently under construction, which will extend the line 7.8 kilometers. The extension will start from Kennedy station and go north towards McCowan Road and Sheppard Avenue with a station at the centre. This will replace the current Line 3 Scarborough that passes through the centre. The extension is expected to be complete around 2030.[16]

Redevelopment of the centre

A proposal was created by Oxford Properties to redevelop the centre. For the first phase, the existing Cineplex Cinemas would be demolished to create space for the subway extension to the mall and a new transit hub. The current theatre would be replaced with a new movie theatre adjacent to the former Sears location. The Sears location would be renovated and divided into at least 18 retail units with three levels. A pedestrian walkway will connect the mall with the new movie theatre.[17]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Scarborough Town Centre - Specialty Leasing". Scarborough Town Centre.
  2. 1 2 3 "Directions & Map to East GTA's Premier Mall". Scarborough Town Centre. Archived from the original on May 1, 2013. Retrieved September 6, 2014.
  3. ↑ "Scarborough Walk of Fame - Inductees". Scarborough Walk of Fame. Retrieved September 6, 2014.
  4. 1 2 "Scarborough Town Centre located in Toronto, Ontario (location, hours, store list) - Shopping Canada". www.shopping-canada.com.
  5. ↑ "Scarborough Town Centre - 250+ Shops, TASTE MRKT & Restaurants and Cinema". www.scarboroughtowncentre.com. Archived from the original on May 12, 2009.
  6. ↑ "Last of the red-hot shopping malls". Montreal Gazette. Montreal. August 16, 1978. p. 45.
  7. ↑ "Bay takeover of Simpsons completed". Toronto Star. Toronto. August 15, 1991. p. F3.
  8. 1 2 "A smashing experience MAKEOVER "Les Channell has masterminded the hectic conversion of eight stores into Sears outlets". The Globe and Mail. Toronto. September 25, 1991. p. B1.
  9. ↑ "Sears adds over 300,000 square feet of retail space in Toronto". The Globe and Mail. Toronto. August 17, 2000. p. 1.
  10. ↑ "Wal-Mart Canada set to unveil new store in Scarborough Town Centre". Canada NewsWire. Ottawa. July 23, 2001.
  11. ↑ "Scarborough Town Centre".
  12. ↑ "TASTE MRKT: Opening August 4". www.scarboroughtowncentre.com. Archived from the original on October 13, 2016.
  13. ↑ "City of Toronto to open 9 COVID-19 vaccine clinics to administer shots - Toronto | Globalnews.ca".
  14. ↑ https://www.ikea.com/ca/en/newsroom/corporate-news/ikea-canada-announces-the-scarborough-town-centre-store-will-open-on-august-23rd-pub567c4100
  15. ↑ https://www.toronto.com/news/french-sporting-goods-retailer-decathlon-opens-new-store-in-scarborough-town-centre/article_9df2d401-e96c-5b03-880e-b36118270387.html?
  16. ↑ "Scarborough Subway Extension - Projects | Metrolinx". www.metrolinx.com. Retrieved April 10, 2021.
  17. ↑ Mirabelli, Julian. "Docs Hint at Massive Scarborough Town Centre Redevelopment | UrbanToronto". urbantoronto.ca. Retrieved April 10, 2021.

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