Description
The mall was constructed in 1972 and was 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.
Originally Y-shaped, with its stem towards the Civic Centre, a second phase of construction added the northern department store and two wings. The construction added 240,000 square feet (22,000 m2) of retail space, and was opened on August 8, 1979.
The mall is located on the other side of Albert Campbell Square, which is adjacent to the Scarborough Civic Centre. The people-friendly square is two-thirds the size of Nathan Philips Square in Downtown Toronto, and was constructed around a stand of trees preserved from the original 69 hectare parcel of land.
Although anchored by only Eaton's and Simpsons at the time, the Scarborough Town Centre also had one of the few Brewers Retail (now The Beer Store) stores located within a shopping centre and the first to contain a completely refrigerated storeroom; there was also an LCBO liquor store located at the Scarborough Town Centre's Taste of the Town. Visitors could enjoy a meal or snack under a vaulted double-glazed glass ceiling that let the sun shine in.
The mall is served by Highway 401, one of the busiest highways in the world. The mall can also be reached through a turnaround ramp on McCowan Road, Progress Avenue, and Brimley Road. The TTC's Scarborough RT line also has a station adjacent to the mall, Scarborough Centre, opened in 1985 with service running southwest to Kennedy station on the Bloor-Danforth subway line and east to McCowan Station.
In the 1980s and '90s the mall was expanded to allow more anchor stores and retail space. A major expansion in 1998 added an additional 16,000 m² of space devoted to entertainment. A brand new two-level Indigo Books, Music & Café was designed to be the ultimate browse-and-buy experience. Indigo has since closed down and has been replaced by Sportchek. Famous Players Coliseum opened 12 state-of-the-art theatres with stadium-style seating and a lobby loaded with video games and movie snacks. It can also be noted that the Rainforest Cafe also opened its first Canadian restaurant in the new wing, though once novelty wore off only the location in the Yorkdale Shopping Centre (which opened a bit later) remained in operation. The Bay (formerly Simpsons) added a whole new floor and Sears completed extensive renovations where Eaton's was after purchasing the entire Eaton's chain. Walmart has since moved into where Sears, and initially The Bay, once was.
Scarborough Town Centre currently includes The Bay, Sears, Walmart, Old Navy, and a Famous Players Coliseum cinema as its anchors, and Dollarama as a mini-anchor. It has more than 121,000 m² and about 220 stores, making it the fourth-largest shopping centre in Greater Toronto, after Square One Shopping Centre, Yorkdale Shopping Centre, and Toronto Eaton Centre, but larger than Sherway Gardens or Vaughan Mills. Town Centre is east end Toronto's most important transportation hub. In addition to the RT, Scarborough Town Centre is a busy terminus for a significant number of TTC bus routes, as well as GO Transit.
Adjacent to the shopping center, a new supermarket, Real Canadian Superstore opened at 1755 Brimley Road (at the 401). A Krispy Kreme branch closed after the Canadian operator ran into financial trouble. The closed Krispy Kreme has been reopened as a Swiss Chalet. 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.
During the mall's latest renovation, retailers such as Victoria's Secret have developed interests in retail space. Victoria's Secret have opened one of Canada's first Pink stores in the former Disney Store in July 2010. In Fall 2011 there will be a Victoria Secret store opening next door to Pink. Other major retailers such as Forever 21, will replace the former Sportchek and Aritzia, will replace Birk's the jewellery store.
Read more about this topic: Scarborough Town Centre
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