Lambton Mall
Encyclopedia
Lambton Mall is a shopping mall
located in Sarnia
, Ontario
. It opened in 1971 and through several expansions now has 650,000 square feet of retail space. It is bounded by London Road, Lambton Mall Road, and Exmouth Street.
For much of its history, Lambton Mall did not have a department store
(The Bay
, Simpsons, Eaton's
, Sears
), only being anchored by Canadian Tire
, a Dominion supermarket
(Dominion soon closed down in the 1980s and was replaced by Ashbrook or Ashby's which sold towels and bath products) and Woolco
. It nonetheless proved a great success with the growing suburban population, drawing much traffic away from the downtown boutique shops which began to fall into decline.
In 1982, the Sarnia Eaton Centre opened in downtown, intending to revitalize the city centre. Though it initially offered some competition, Lambton Mall generally enjoyed the upper hand and by the late 1990s the Eaton Centre
was faced with poor patronage and high vacancy rates (sparked by the departure of its chief anchor
). Lambton Mall was also threatened in the 1990s by the new Birchwood Mall
in Port Huron, Michigan
, however this competition dropped off as the Canadian government allowed Sunday shopping
and also due to a weak Canadian dollar
.
In the 1990s, Lambton Mall underwent several expansions. In 1994, Wal-Mart
purchased the Woolco
chain and moved in at the location facing London Road. A Toys "R" Us and Country Farmer's Market were added in the eastern wing. The existing Canadian Tire
was expanded, making it one of Ontario's largest for a while. A couple of years later, the Farmer's Market expanded and moved into an eastern extension.
In the early 2000s, Wal-Mart moved to a new wing, now no longer connected to the rest of the mall, and its spot was taken over by Sears
which had vacated its old Exmouth Street location (the old store on Exmouth Street near Colburn Road was in use since 1974 and served for a short time as a Sears liquidator, later being demolished; the plazas around there have since stagnated).
Teppermans, a furniture store in a separate building on the mall parking lot
was replaced by a Montana's
. The Toys "R" Us and Farmer's Market were also relocated again, and a new food court and SportChek were added next to the Canadian Tire
. A dozen new stores were also added during the construction of the two storey Sears store.
In 2006, Wal-Mart closed down their mall location and built a new store in a strip mall
just northeast. Their lease still runs until 2021, however this spot was taken over by Canadian Tire which had vacated their original location.
expanded to nine screens as the other theatres elsewhere in Sarnia closed down, and a new Sun Valley Chrysler
car dealership
opened at the intersection with Lambton Mall Road and Exmouth Street. Business Depot
and The Brick
opened up stores on London Road just south of the mall in the mid and late 1990s. As Sears relocated to Lambton Mall in 2002, Sobeys
(later converted to a Price Choppers one year later), Home Depot and Future Shop
also added locations on Exmouth Street across from the mall.
store, killing one person. The CBC and other Canadian media covering it relied upon US media for the aerial footage.
Shopping mall
A shopping mall, shopping centre, shopping arcade, shopping precinct or simply mall is one or more buildings forming a complex of shops representing merchandisers, with interconnecting walkways enabling visitors to easily walk from unit to unit, along with a parking area — a modern, indoor version...
located in Sarnia
Sarnia
Sarnia is a city in Southwestern Ontario, Canada.Sarnia may also refer to:* Sarnia, the Roman name for the island of Guernsey, Channel Islands** Sarnia Cherie, its national anthem**A piano suite by John Ireland, written about Guernsey....
, Ontario
Ontario
Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....
. It opened in 1971 and through several expansions now has 650,000 square feet of retail space. It is bounded by London Road, Lambton Mall Road, and Exmouth Street.
For much of its history, Lambton Mall did not have a department store
Department store
A department store is a retail establishment which satisfies a wide range of the consumer's personal and residential durable goods product needs; and at the same time offering the consumer a choice of multiple merchandise lines, at variable price points, in all product categories...
(The Bay
The Bay
The Bay is a chain of 91 department stores that operate across parts of Canada. It is the main brand of Hudson's Bay Company , North America's oldest company. It has its headquarters in the Simpson Tower in Toronto. In French, the chain is known as la Baie, short for "Compagnie de la Baie d'Hudson"...
, Simpsons, Eaton's
Eaton's
The T. Eaton Co. Limited was once Canada's largest department store retailer. It was founded in 1869 in Toronto by Timothy Eaton, an Irish immigrant. Eaton's grew to become a retail and social institution in Canada, with stores across the country, buying offices across the globe, and a catalogue...
, Sears
Sears Canada
Sears Canada Inc. is a retailer, headquartered in Toronto, Ontario, that operates in all provinces and territories across Canada with a network of 196 corporate stores, 195 dealer stores, 38 home improvement showrooms, 108 Sears Travel offices and a nationwide home maintenance, repair, and...
), only being anchored by Canadian Tire
Canadian Tire
Canadian Tire Corporation, Limited is one of Canada's 60 largest publicly traded companies. The firm operates an inter-related network of businesses engaged in retailing hardgoods, apparel and petroleum as well as financial and automotive services, employing more than 58,000 people across Canada...
, a Dominion supermarket
Dominion Stores (Ontario)
Dominion Stores was once a national chain of supermarkets in Canada, which was still known as the Dominion of Canada at the time of the company's founding. The chain was founded in 1919 in Ontario and was later acquired by Conrad Black's Argus Corporation...
(Dominion soon closed down in the 1980s and was replaced by Ashbrook or Ashby's which sold towels and bath products) and Woolco
Woolco
Woolco was an American-based discount retail chain. It was founded in 1962 in the city of Columbus, Ohio, by the F.W. Woolworth Company. It was a full-line discount department store unlike the five-and-dime Woolworth stores which operated at the time. At its peak, Woolco had hundreds of stores in...
. It nonetheless proved a great success with the growing suburban population, drawing much traffic away from the downtown boutique shops which began to fall into decline.
In 1982, the Sarnia Eaton Centre opened in downtown, intending to revitalize the city centre. Though it initially offered some competition, Lambton Mall generally enjoyed the upper hand and by the late 1990s the Eaton Centre
Eaton Centre
Eaton Centre is a name associated with shopping malls in Canada, originating with Eaton's, one of Canada's largest department store chains at the time that these malls were developed. Eaton's partnered with development companies throughout the 1970s and 1980s to develop downtown shopping malls in...
was faced with poor patronage and high vacancy rates (sparked by the departure of its chief anchor
Eaton's
The T. Eaton Co. Limited was once Canada's largest department store retailer. It was founded in 1869 in Toronto by Timothy Eaton, an Irish immigrant. Eaton's grew to become a retail and social institution in Canada, with stores across the country, buying offices across the globe, and a catalogue...
). Lambton Mall was also threatened in the 1990s by the new Birchwood Mall
Birchwood Mall
Birchwood Mall is an enclosed shopping mall located in Fort Gratiot Township, outside the city of Port Huron, Michigan, United States, Birchwood Mall features more than 100 stores, a ten-screen movie theater, and a food court. JCPenney, Macy's, Sears, Younkers, and Target are the mall's anchor stores...
in Port Huron, Michigan
Port Huron, Michigan
Port Huron is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan and the county seat of St. Clair County. The population was 30,184 at the 2010 census. The city is adjacent to Port Huron Township but is administratively autonomous. It is joined by the Blue Water Bridge over the St. Clair River to Sarnia,...
, however this competition dropped off as the Canadian government allowed Sunday shopping
Sunday shopping
Sunday shopping refers to the ability of retailers to operate stores on Sunday, a day that Christian tradition typically recognizes as the Sabbath, a "day of rest". Rules governing shopping hours, such as Sunday shopping, vary around the world but some European nations continue to ban Sunday shopping...
and also due to a weak Canadian dollar
Canadian dollar
The Canadian dollar is the currency of Canada. As of 2007, the Canadian dollar is the 7th most traded currency in the world. It is abbreviated with the dollar sign $, or C$ to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies...
.
In the 1990s, Lambton Mall underwent several expansions. In 1994, Wal-Mart
Wal-Mart Canada
Wal-Mart Canada Corp. is the Canadian unit of Walmart and was founded in 1994 in Mississauga, Ontario with the purchase of the Canadian Woolco stores from Woolworth Canada....
purchased the Woolco
Woolco
Woolco was an American-based discount retail chain. It was founded in 1962 in the city of Columbus, Ohio, by the F.W. Woolworth Company. It was a full-line discount department store unlike the five-and-dime Woolworth stores which operated at the time. At its peak, Woolco had hundreds of stores in...
chain and moved in at the location facing London Road. A Toys "R" Us and Country Farmer's Market were added in the eastern wing. The existing Canadian Tire
Canadian Tire
Canadian Tire Corporation, Limited is one of Canada's 60 largest publicly traded companies. The firm operates an inter-related network of businesses engaged in retailing hardgoods, apparel and petroleum as well as financial and automotive services, employing more than 58,000 people across Canada...
was expanded, making it one of Ontario's largest for a while. A couple of years later, the Farmer's Market expanded and moved into an eastern extension.
In the early 2000s, Wal-Mart moved to a new wing, now no longer connected to the rest of the mall, and its spot was taken over by Sears
Sears Canada
Sears Canada Inc. is a retailer, headquartered in Toronto, Ontario, that operates in all provinces and territories across Canada with a network of 196 corporate stores, 195 dealer stores, 38 home improvement showrooms, 108 Sears Travel offices and a nationwide home maintenance, repair, and...
which had vacated its old Exmouth Street location (the old store on Exmouth Street near Colburn Road was in use since 1974 and served for a short time as a Sears liquidator, later being demolished; the plazas around there have since stagnated).
Teppermans, a furniture store in a separate building on the mall parking lot
Parking lot
A parking lot , also known as car lot, is a cleared area that is intended for parking vehicles. Usually, the term refers to a dedicated area that has been provided with a durable or semi-durable surface....
was replaced by a Montana's
Montana's Cookhouse
Montana's Cookhouse is a Canadian restaurant chain headquartered in Vaughan, Ontario. It is a subsidiary of Cara Operations.-Operations:Montana's is known for their ribs, steaks, rotisserie chicken and other lodge fare. The restaurant aims to be a family/casual concept, rather than fine dining...
. The Toys "R" Us and Farmer's Market were also relocated again, and a new food court and SportChek were added next to the Canadian Tire
Canadian Tire
Canadian Tire Corporation, Limited is one of Canada's 60 largest publicly traded companies. The firm operates an inter-related network of businesses engaged in retailing hardgoods, apparel and petroleum as well as financial and automotive services, employing more than 58,000 people across Canada...
. A dozen new stores were also added during the construction of the two storey Sears store.
In 2006, Wal-Mart closed down their mall location and built a new store in a strip mall
Strip mall
A strip mall is an open-area shopping center where the stores are arranged in a row, with a sidewalk in front. Strip malls are typically developed as a unit and have large parking lots in front...
just northeast. Their lease still runs until 2021, however this spot was taken over by Canadian Tire which had vacated their original location.
Neighboring businesses
Lambton Mall's 1990s expansion also spurred the development of businesses in the Exmouth Street/London Road vicinity. The nearby Famous Players movie theatreMovie theater
A movie theater, cinema, movie house, picture theater, film theater is a venue, usually a building, for viewing motion pictures ....
expanded to nine screens as the other theatres elsewhere in Sarnia closed down, and a new Sun Valley Chrysler
Chrysler
Chrysler Group LLC is a multinational automaker headquartered in Auburn Hills, Michigan, USA. Chrysler was first organized as the Chrysler Corporation in 1925....
car dealership
Car dealership
A car dealership or vehicle local distribution is a business that sells new or used cars at the retail level, based on a dealership contract with an automaker or its sales subsidiary. It employs automobile salespeople to do the selling...
opened at the intersection with Lambton Mall Road and Exmouth Street. Business Depot
Staples Business Depot
Staples is a Canadian office supply retail chain, part of the United States-based office supply company Staples Inc...
and The Brick
The Brick
The Brick Ltd. opened its first store in Edmonton, Alberta in 1971, and has grown to become one of Canada's largest volume retailers of furniture, mattresses, appliances and home electronics. The company was founded as The Brick Warehouse LP in Edmonton, Alberta with the first warehouse opening on...
opened up stores on London Road just south of the mall in the mid and late 1990s. As Sears relocated to Lambton Mall in 2002, Sobeys
Sobeys
Sobeys is the second largest food retailer in Canada, with over 1,300 supermarkets operating under a variety of banners. Headquartered in Stellarton, Nova Scotia, it operates stores in all ten provinces and accumulated sales of more than $14 billion CAD in 2009...
(later converted to a Price Choppers one year later), Home Depot and Future Shop
Future Shop
Future Shop is Canada's largest consumer electronics retailer. Future Shop currently operates a total of 146 stores across all of Canada's provinces as of December 2008....
also added locations on Exmouth Street across from the mall.
Other
On December 17, 2000, part of the mall's roof collapsed under the weight of snow, near the HallmarkHallmark Cards
Hallmark Cards is a privately owned American company based in Kansas City, Missouri. Founded in 1910 by Joyce C. Hall, Hallmark is the largest manufacturer of greeting cards in the United States. In 1985, the company was awarded the National Medal of Arts....
store, killing one person. The CBC and other Canadian media covering it relied upon US media for the aerial footage.