Shoppers World, Brampton
Encyclopedia
Shoppers World Brampton is a shopping mall in Brampton, Ontario
, Canada. Now 40 years old, it was at one point in the 1970s Canada's top selling mall, per square foot. It is host to over 190 stores, including Canadian Tire
, Winners
, Zellers
and Staples/Business Depot.
The parking lot is outfitted with a fully functional bus terminal which features connections to Brampton Transit
as well as Mississauga Transit
systems. There is also a GO Transit
bus stop located on the opposite end of the parking lot.
In 1961, Elder Mines & Development Ltd. and Peel Village Developments (both of which would eventually merge into Peel-Elder Limited
) created Shoppers World Danforth
, anchored by a T. Eaton Co. Ltd. store as anchor. Targeted completion date was March 1962.
The site of Shopper's World was a farmer's field purchased by Canadian developer Charles F Watson of Peel Elder Ltd., and was developed by Peel Elder Ltd., the developer of the Brampton's Peel Village community. As of 1961, planned tenants were Loblaws
, Zellers
, Yolles, Bata Shoe, a Maher shoe store, Lady Ellis dress shop, Bi-Rite Drugs, Tip Top Tailors
and banks. In all, it planned 55 stores, plus a department store, bowling alleys and a movie theatre.
It opened in 1969 as Brampton's first indoor mall. Major tenants at the time were Kmart
, Dominion
and Canada Safeway
. There was also a movie theater at one time, which closed after several years. It was gutted, and re-opened as a Jumbo Video. The projection booth served as the manager's office.
In 1971, Simpsons Ltd. decided to build a location of their department store at the mall, at a cost in excess of $2 million. The first of six scheduled locations, it was to open in August 1972. Simultaneous to this announcement, Peel-Elder Ltd. promised to expand the mall and their Peel Village development. In addition to high rise apartments and town houses, the developer intended to build a "motel-hotel convention centre and an office building", on 185 acre (0.7486691 km²) purchased for expansion purposes, back in 1959. Peel-Elder owned the facility until at least 1979.
As of 1997, the mall was owned by Pensionfund Realty Limited, a privately held real estate company owned by Morguard Investments.
There has been a recent massive renovation of the shopping complex, causing a new wave of customers to come in and a new generation's interest to be piqued. It is also notable that Shoppers World Brampton is home to some of Brampton's oldest family-operated businesses.
The addition of a Canadian Tire big-box store
to the Main Street side of the mall greatly changed the facade of the mall. Many smaller stores were moved or closed to allow for the inclusion of this additional anchor store
. Staples Business Depot, another big-box format store, also moved into the mall in the locations previously held by Pascals and later, Winners. The Bay
closed in May 2007, and Price Chopper
closed a few months later, and has since been replaced by the multi-ethnic Ocean's Fresh Food Market, which opened in July 2008.
The former Simpsons/Bay store was demolished in October–November 2010, with plans submitted to the City of Brampton to redevelop the north end of the mall.
operated bus station
, which serves the central area of the city, is located on Steeles Avenue in the southwest corner of the mall property. According to Brampton Transit, the terminal will be relocated back to Main Street and Steeles Avenue, as it was from 1977 until 1998, to serve the new Züm
502 Main/Hurontario bus rapid transit route, which opened on September 6 2011.
Brampton, Ontario
Brampton is the third-largest city in the Greater Toronto Area of Ontario, Canada and the seat of Peel Region. As of the 2006 census, Brampton's population stood at 433,806, making it the 11th largest city in Canada. It is also one of Canada's fastest growing municipalities, with an average...
, Canada. Now 40 years old, it was at one point in the 1970s Canada's top selling mall, per square foot. It is host to over 190 stores, including 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...
, Winners
Winners (store)
Winners is a chain of off-price Canadian department stores owned by TJX Companies which also owns HomeSense. It offers brand name clothing, footwear, bedding, furniture, fine jewellery, beauty products, and housewares. According to an example in the Winners FAQ, an item selling there for $29.99 was...
, Zellers
Zellers
Zellers Inc. is Canada's second-largest chain of mass merchandise discount stores, with locations in communities across Canada. A subsidiary of the Hudson's Bay Company , it has 273 locations across the country....
and Staples/Business Depot.
The parking lot is outfitted with a fully functional bus terminal which features connections to Brampton Transit
Brampton Transit
Brampton Transit is public transport bus operator for the City of Brampton in the Regional Municipality of Peel, and within the Greater Toronto Area in Ontario, Canada. Brampton Transit began operations in 1974....
as well as Mississauga Transit
Mississauga Transit
MiWay , is a public transport agency serving Mississauga, Ontario, Canada. The city's Transportation and Works department is in charge of its operation....
systems. There is also a GO Transit
GO Transit
GO Transit is an inter-regional public transit system in Southern Ontario, Canada. It primarily serves the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area conurbation, with operations extending to several communities beyond the GTHA proper in the Greater Golden Horseshoe...
bus stop located on the opposite end of the parking lot.
History
Peel-Elder Limited
Peel-Elder Limited is a mining company that went into the real estate development industry in the late-1960s, with the Peel Village development in Brampton, Ontario, Canada.-1959 takeover:...
) created Shoppers World Danforth
Shoppers World Danforth
Shoppers World Danforth is a hybrid shopping plaza and shopping mall in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It has 40 stores serving parts of East York, Scarborough and The Beaches, near the Victoria Park subway station. Today a moderately sized suburban plaza, it has a notable place in history as one of the...
, anchored by a T. Eaton Co. Ltd. store as anchor. Targeted completion date was March 1962.
The site of Shopper's World was a farmer's field purchased by Canadian developer Charles F Watson of Peel Elder Ltd., and was developed by Peel Elder Ltd., the developer of the Brampton's Peel Village community. As of 1961, planned tenants were Loblaws
Loblaws
Loblaws is a supermarket chain with over 70 stores in Canada, headquartered in Brampton, with stores across Ontario and Quebec. Loblaws is a division of Loblaw Companies Limited, Canada's largest food distributor...
, Zellers
Zellers
Zellers Inc. is Canada's second-largest chain of mass merchandise discount stores, with locations in communities across Canada. A subsidiary of the Hudson's Bay Company , it has 273 locations across the country....
, Yolles, Bata Shoe, a Maher shoe store, Lady Ellis dress shop, Bi-Rite Drugs, Tip Top Tailors
Tip Top Tailors
Tip Top Tailors is a Canadian retail clothing chain, selling primarily menswear: suits, tuxedo rentals, casual wear, sportswear and outerwear; as well, each store has an in-house tailor...
and banks. In all, it planned 55 stores, plus a department store, bowling alleys and a movie theatre.
It opened in 1969 as Brampton's first indoor mall. Major tenants at the time were Kmart
Kmart
Kmart, sometimes styled as "K-Mart," is a chain of discount department stores. The chain acquired Sears in 2005, forming a new corporation under the name Sears Holdings Corporation. The company was founded in 1962 and is the third largest discount store chain in the world, behind Wal-Mart and...
, Dominion
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...
and Canada Safeway
Safeway Inc.
Safeway Inc. , a Fortune 500 company, is North America's second largest supermarket chain after The Kroger Co., with, as of December 2010, 1,694 stores located throughout the western and central United States and western Canada. It also operates some stores in the Mid-Atlantic region of the Eastern...
. There was also a movie theater at one time, which closed after several years. It was gutted, and re-opened as a Jumbo Video. The projection booth served as the manager's office.
In 1971, Simpsons Ltd. decided to build a location of their department store at the mall, at a cost in excess of $2 million. The first of six scheduled locations, it was to open in August 1972. Simultaneous to this announcement, Peel-Elder Ltd. promised to expand the mall and their Peel Village development. In addition to high rise apartments and town houses, the developer intended to build a "motel-hotel convention centre and an office building", on 185 acre (0.7486691 km²) purchased for expansion purposes, back in 1959. Peel-Elder owned the facility until at least 1979.
As of 1997, the mall was owned by Pensionfund Realty Limited, a privately held real estate company owned by Morguard Investments.
The addition of a Canadian Tire big-box store
Big-box store
A big-box store is a physically large retail establishment, usually part of a chain. The term sometimes also refers, by extension, to the company that operates the store...
to the Main Street side of the mall greatly changed the facade of the mall. Many smaller stores were moved or closed to allow for the inclusion of this additional anchor store
Anchor store
In retail, an anchor store, draw tenant, anchor tenant, or key tenant is one of the larger stores in a shopping mall, usually a department store or a major retail chain....
. Staples Business Depot, another big-box format store, also moved into the mall in the locations previously held by Pascals and later, Winners. 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"...
closed in May 2007, and Price Chopper
Price Chopper (Canada)
FreshCo. is a Canadian chain of discount food stores owned by Sobeys Inc..The first eight FreshCo stores launched on May 12, 2010 in Brampton and Mississauga, Ontario...
closed a few months later, and has since been replaced by the multi-ethnic Ocean's Fresh Food Market, which opened in July 2008.
The former Simpsons/Bay store was demolished in October–November 2010, with plans submitted to the City of Brampton to redevelop the north end of the mall.
Anchors
- ZellersZellersZellers Inc. is Canada's second-largest chain of mass merchandise discount stores, with locations in communities across Canada. A subsidiary of the Hudson's Bay Company , it has 273 locations across the country....
(121490 sq ft (11,287 m²)) - Canadian TireCanadian TireCanadian 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...
(83500 sq ft (7,757.4 m²)) - Oceans Fresh Food Market (42150 sq ft (3,916 m²))
- Winners (30357 sq ft (2,820 m²))
- Staples Business Depot (26590 sq ft (2,470 m²))
Previous anchors
- 1977: K-Mart, Simpsons, Supersave Drugs, two supermarkets
- 2007: The BayThe BayThe 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"...
, Price ChopperPrice Chopper (Canada)FreshCo. is a Canadian chain of discount food stores owned by Sobeys Inc..The first eight FreshCo stores launched on May 12, 2010 in Brampton and Mississauga, Ontario... - At one point, the mall included a waterslide and an arcade.
Transit terminal
The Brampton TransitBrampton Transit
Brampton Transit is public transport bus operator for the City of Brampton in the Regional Municipality of Peel, and within the Greater Toronto Area in Ontario, Canada. Brampton Transit began operations in 1974....
operated bus station
Bus station
A bus station is a structure where city or intercity buses stop to pick up and drop off passengers. It is larger than a bus stop, which is usually simply a place on the roadside, where buses can stop...
, which serves the central area of the city, is located on Steeles Avenue in the southwest corner of the mall property. According to Brampton Transit, the terminal will be relocated back to Main Street and Steeles Avenue, as it was from 1977 until 1998, to serve the new Züm
Züm
Züm is a bus rapid transit system for the suburban city of Brampton, Ontario, Canada, northwest of Toronto owned and operated by Brampton Transit. The first phase calls for three corridors operating in mixed traffic, similar to York Region Transit's Viva network...
502 Main/Hurontario bus rapid transit route, which opened on September 6 2011.
External links
- Shoppers World Brampton, store directory
- Peter Criscione, "Shoppers World marks 40 years this weekend", The Brampton Guardian, February 24, 2009.