Bayview Village Shopping Centre is a

shopping mall A shopping mall (or simply mall) is a North American term for a large indoor shopping center, usually anchored by department stores. The term "mall" originally meant a pedestrian promenade with shops along it (that is, the term was used to refe ...

in the North York area of

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anch ...

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central C ...

, Canada, containing over 110 stores. The shopping mall is located at the northeast corner of Bayview Avenue and

Sheppard Avenue Sheppard Avenue is an east–west principal arterial road in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The street has two distinct branches near its eastern end, with the original route being a collector road leading to Pickering via a turnoff, and the main ro ...

. The anchor stores are

Loblaws Loblaws Inc. is a Canadian supermarket chain with stores located in the provinces of Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec and Saskatchewan. Headquartered in Brampton, Ontario, Loblaws is a subsidiary of Loblaw Companies Limited, C ...

Shoppers Drug Mart Shoppers Drug Mart Inc. (named Pharmaprix in Quebec) is a Canadian retail pharmacy chain based in Toronto, Ontario. It has more than 1,300 stores in nine provinces and two territories. The company was founded by pharmacist Murray Koffler in 19 ...

and

LCBO The Liquor Control Board of Ontario (LCBO) is a Crown corporation that retails and distributes alcoholic beverages throughout the Canadian province of Ontario. It is accountable to the Legislative Assembly through the minister of finance. It wa ...

History

Bayview Village was built in the 1960s as an open-air mall. It was one of the numerous post-World War II small neighbourhood community malls that were built in the inner suburbs of Toronto where residential neighbourhoods were growing. All of these community plazas were strip malls with one or two anchors. By the 1990s, shopping trends changed to power centres anchored by

big-box store A big-box store (also hyperstore, supercenter, superstore, or megastore) is a physically large retail establishment, usually part of a chain of stores. The term sometimes also refers, by extension, to the company that operates the store. The t ...

s, and many of these community malls, such as Honeydale Mall in the Etobicoke area of Toronto, declined during this time. However, Bayview Village Mall stayed competitive as its owners frequently overhauled the property to keep up with current trends. To distinguish itself from larger shopping centres, the owners of Bayview Village

gentrified Gentrification is the process of changing the character of a neighborhood through the influx of more affluent residents and businesses. It is a common and controversial topic in urban politics and planning. Gentrification often increases the ec ...

and sought out high-end independent boutiques not available in larger malls. Bayview Village Mall was the host of the first GAP store in Canada. Bayview Village Mall is located in the affluent neighbourhood of Bayview Village where significant transit-oriented condominium development has enabled it to thrive despite being close to the larger

Fairview Mall Fairview Mall (corporately designated CF Fairview Mall) is a large shopping centre in Toronto, Ontario, Canada of about . Opened in 1970, the centre has over 180 stores, offices and a cinema complex. It is located several kilometres north-eas ...

. Since its redevelopment in 1998, the tenants of the mall have become more exclusive and aimed at the more affluent shoppers from the nearby areas of

Bayview Village Bayview Village is an neighbourhood in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is part of the federal Don Valley North riding and the provincial Don Valley North electoral district, and Toronto electoral Ward 17: Don Valley North. In 2006, it had a popula ...

, Willowdale,

York Mills York Mills is a neighbourhood in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is centred around Yonge Street and York Mills Road located in the district of North York. In 2010, it encompassed the fourth and seventh most affluent postal codes in Canada. It is re ...

, the Bridle Path, and Lawrence Park. It contains the "only North American outpost" of a number of high-end fashion designers, as well as outlets for luxury American designers such as

Brooks Brothers Brooks Brothers, founded in Manhattan, New York, in 1818, is the oldest apparel brand in continuous operation in America. Originally a family business, Brooks Brothers produces clothing for men, women and children, as well as home furnishings. B ...

and a branch of the expensive Toronto grocery store Pusateri's. The target customer for the Bayview Village Shopping Centre is female, over 30 years old, with an annual household income of over . In 2013, the mall was conditionally sold for to a British Columbian property company. This was the biggest single property sale of 2013. Long time anchor store

Kmart Kmart Corporation ( , doing business as Kmart and stylized as kmart) is an American retail company that owns a chain of big box department stores. The company is headquartered in Hoffman Estates, Illinois, United States. The company was inc ...

closed in 1998. The store was demolished and the location redeveloped to house a

Chapters Chapter or Chapters may refer to: Books * Chapter (books), a main division of a piece of writing or document * Chapter book, a story book intended for intermediate readers, generally age 7–10 * Chapters (bookstore), Canadian big box bookstore ...

and a large

store as well as additional mall space. In 2018, Chapters closed its doors and left the space vacant afterwards. As a result of changes proposed by the owner to develop the site, the LCBO store moved into the former Chapters location in 2019.

Site development

In August 2017, the owners proposed a major development of the site to add three residential towers on retail podiums as well as some additional low rise townhouse development and additional retail shops. The towers will be located on the existing surface parking area and additional underground parking is planned. The proposal has been revised following community input to include more parkland. It is currently being considered by the city planning department.

References

External links

Bayview Village Shopping Centre
{{Shopping Malls in the Golden Horseshoe Shopping malls in Toronto North York Shopping malls established in 1963 1963 establishments in Ontario