Shops at Don Mills
Encyclopedia
The Shops at Don Mills is a lifestyle centre
- type shopping centre in Toronto
, Ontario
, Canada
, located at Don Mills Road and Lawrence Avenue East
.
There are 72 retail stores with a total floor space of 47,550 square metres (or 511,824 square feet).
. The layout is similar to a regular neighbourhood retail strip. Anchors
include McEwans Gourmet Market, Anthropologie, the west coast restaurant hot spot - Joey's as well as many other retail & restaurant destinations. Parking along the internal streets is limited but a multi level parkade is located on site.
shopping mall, which was part of the original development of the planned suburb of Don Mills
. Increased competition from other shopping malls and the closure of main anchor tenant T. Eaton Co. meant declines in mall revenues and the exodus of many fashion retailers. The mall owner, developer Cadillac Fairview, decided to redevelop the site in 2003 to be more unique to attract more up-scale retailers and shoppers, without a main anchor tenant. The developer proposed to demolish the indoor shopping mall and replace it with an open-air setting, along with an intensification of the site. The intensification meant the construction of a parking garage to replace the large surface parking lot. The development also included using Centre lands for new residential buildings. After community consultation, the plan was approved by the City of Toronto and the development proceeded. The Shops at Don Mills opened on April 22, 2009.
One Canadian book-selling chain McNally Robinson was one of the first tenants, but the chain decided to close the Don Mills location. Crate & Barrel & J.Crew are scheduled to move into the Shops at Don Mills either in late 2010 or early 2011. This would be the third Canadian Crate & Barrel location while marking the first foray of J Crew into Canada.
Lifestyle center (retail)
A lifestyle center is a shopping center or mixed-used commercial development that combines the traditional retail functions of a shopping mall with leisure amenities oriented towards upscale consumers...
- type shopping centre in Toronto
Toronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
, 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....
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, located at Don Mills Road and Lawrence Avenue East
Lawrence Avenue
Lawrence Avenue is a major east-west thoroughfare in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is divided into east and west portions by Yonge Street, the dividing line of east-west streets in Toronto....
.
There are 72 retail stores with a total floor space of 47,550 square metres (or 511,824 square feet).
Character
Storefronts face a network of private internal streets, and the centre layout is centred around a square which includes interpretive historical plaques and commissioned art by Douglas CouplandDouglas Coupland
Douglas Coupland is a Canadian novelist. His fiction is complemented by recognized works in design and visual art arising from his early formal training. His first novel, the 1991 international bestseller Generation X: Tales for an Accelerated Culture, popularized terms such as McJob and...
. The layout is similar to a regular neighbourhood retail strip. Anchors
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....
include McEwans Gourmet Market, Anthropologie, the west coast restaurant hot spot - Joey's as well as many other retail & restaurant destinations. Parking along the internal streets is limited but a multi level parkade is located on site.
History
The centre is located on the site of the demolished Don Mills CentreDon Mills Centre
The Don Mills Centre was a shopping centre in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was located on a 44-acre commercial site, at the southwest corner of Don Mills Road and Lawrence Avenue East in the planned community of Don Mills. There were at least 98 stores during the height of the mall's existence...
shopping mall, which was part of the original development of the planned suburb of Don Mills
Don Mills
Don Mills is a mixed-use neighbourhood in the North York district of Toronto, Canada. It was developed to be a self-supporting "new town" and was at the time located outside of Toronto proper. Consisting of residential, commercial and industrial sub-districts, it was planned and developed by...
. Increased competition from other shopping malls and the closure of main anchor tenant T. Eaton Co. meant declines in mall revenues and the exodus of many fashion retailers. The mall owner, developer Cadillac Fairview, decided to redevelop the site in 2003 to be more unique to attract more up-scale retailers and shoppers, without a main anchor tenant. The developer proposed to demolish the indoor shopping mall and replace it with an open-air setting, along with an intensification of the site. The intensification meant the construction of a parking garage to replace the large surface parking lot. The development also included using Centre lands for new residential buildings. After community consultation, the plan was approved by the City of Toronto and the development proceeded. The Shops at Don Mills opened on April 22, 2009.
One Canadian book-selling chain McNally Robinson was one of the first tenants, but the chain decided to close the Don Mills location. Crate & Barrel & J.Crew are scheduled to move into the Shops at Don Mills either in late 2010 or early 2011. This would be the third Canadian Crate & Barrel location while marking the first foray of J Crew into Canada.
History inspired street names
A number of new roads and driveways located in the new development are named after prominent community members of the Don Mills area:- Aggie Hogg Gardens - named for former resident, storekeeper, postmaster and daughter of settler John Hogg
- Clock Tower Road - named to identify the location of the Clock Tower at the corner of the Town Square.
- O'Neill Road - named for local settler James O'Neill (arrived 1845)
- Karl Fraser Road - Karl Fraser, first CEO of Don Mills Development and assistant to developer E.P. Taylor
- Leadly Lane - named for local settler Allison Leadley (arrived 1850)
- Pabst Lane - named for local settler Rudolph Pabst (arrived 1814)
- Marie Labatte Road - named for former North York Councillor for Ward 10 and Metro Councillor for Don Parkway Marie Labatte (1925–2004)
- Sampson Mews - named for local settler James Sampson (arrived 1838)
- Maginn Mews - named for merchant, school trustee and politician Charles Maginn (arrived 1841)