The Don Mills Centre was 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 ...

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 ancho ...

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 Ca ...

, Canada. It was located on a 44-acre (17.8 ha) commercial site, at the southwest corner of

Don Mills Road Don, don or DON and variants may refer to: Places *County Donegal, Ireland, Chapman code DON * Don (river), a river in European Russia *Don River (disambiguation), several other rivers with the name *Don, Benin, a town in Benin *Don, Dang, a vil ...

and Lawrence Avenue East in

. There were at least 98 stores during the height of the mall's existence. The majority of the mall was closed and demolished in summer 2006 for redevelopment as the

Shops at Don Mills The Shops at Don Mills (corporately known as CF Shops at Don Mills) is a lifestyle centre-type shopping centre in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located at Don Mills Road and Lawrence Avenue East in Toronto. There are 72 retail stores with a total flo ...

History

E. P. Taylor Edward Plunket Taylor, CMG (January 29, 1901 – May 14, 1989) was a Canadian business tycoon, investor and philanthropist. He was a famous breeder of Thoroughbred race horses, and a major force behind the evolution of the Canadian horse-racing ...

of Argus Corporation originally bought the land for a brewing plant, but decided to make the site the focal point of the 2,100-acre (850 ha) planned community. Initial construction of the Don Mills Centre began in 1954. In 1955, a strip plaza was opened with a

Dominion The term ''Dominion'' is used to refer to one of several self-governing nations of the British Empire. "Dominion status" was first accorded to Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Newfoundland, South Africa, and the Irish Free State at the 1926 ...

supermarket, Kofflers Drug Store (the first Shoppers Drug Mart), Brewers Retail and a dozen other retailers. Don Mills Centre was primarily intended to serve the local community, centrally located within walking distance of many rental units built around the core of the community, which included a sizeable population of senior citizens and the disabled. By 1965, the Dominion supermarket had relocated into a larger store at the south end,

Zellers Zellers was a Canadian discount department retail chain and is currently a brand name owned by the Hudson's Bay Company (HBC). Founded in 1931 in London, Ontario, in later decades it was based in Brampton, Ontario. Zellers was acquired by HBC i ...

moved in and an outdoor mall expanded to 65 stores. In 1978, a major renovation was undertaken to enclose the mall. The mall was expanded from 400,000 to 462,000 square feet (37,000 to 43,000 m²). After its closure in the 1990s, the lower level of the Eaton's store was converted to a

Sears Canada Sears Canada Inc. was a publicly-traded Canadian company affiliated with the American-based Sears department store chain. In operation from 1952 until January 14, 2018, and headquartered in Toronto, Ontario, the company began as Simpsons-Sears� ...

outlet store, which later closed. The store once again stood empty for some time until it was leased by a sporting goods store, National Sports. The store then left the site after two years and was replaced by a patio furniture store and a used car dealership. 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. Longtime tenants in the mall reported that they still remained profitable, but mall owner

Cadillac Fairview The Cadillac Fairview Corporation Limited is a Canadian company that invests in, owns, and manages commercial real estate, mainly in Canada and the United States. As of March 2017, the company had 73 properties, encompassing 38 million square feet ...

(CF) had not been offering long-term leases for a while, purportedly to discourage new retailers from getting established. CF put forth redevelopment proposals in 2004 which would renovate the existing mall and add expansions. However in 2006, CF claimed that the property was in poor condition at an

Ontario Municipal Board The Ontario Municipal Board (OMB) was an independent administrative board, operated as an adjudicative tribunal, in the province of Ontario, Canada. It heard applications and appeals on municipal and planning disputes, as well as other matters sp ...

hearing on 29 May 2006 to justify demolishing the mall and rebuilding it as an urban lifestyle village. Nearby residents regarded the existing mall as a community centre, and criticized CF's latest redevelopment plan as failing to serve their needs.

Demolition and redevelopment

The majority of the mall was closed and demolished in summer 2006 for redevelopment, so CF provided a shuttle bus to

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-east ...

for a few years, until

opened. The Shoppers Drug Mart opened in late April 2007, which was the chain's 1000th store A CIBC branch opened at the same time. As of early October 2008, Jack Astor's had re-opened. The first phase of an urban village, the

, consisting of 100 retailers and services opened on April 22, 2009.

Home Hardware Home Hardware Stores Ltd. is a privately held Canadian home improvement, construction materials, and furniture retailer. Co-founded in 1964 by Walter Hachborn and headquartered in St. Jacobs, Ontario, the chain is co-operatively owned by ove ...

relocated to 49 The Donway West, on the south side of the Mall property, where

The Beer Store Brewers Retail Inc., doing business as The Beer Store, is a privately-owned chain of retail outlets selling beer and other malt beverages in the province of Ontario, Canada. Founded in 1927, it was owned at its inception by a consortium of Ont ...

Blockbuster Video Blockbuster or Block Buster may refer to: * Blockbuster (entertainment) a term coined for an extremely successful movie, from which most other uses are derived. Corporations * Blockbuster (retailer), a defunct video and game rental chain ** Blo ...

and

Royal LePage Royal LePage is a Canadian real estate franchiser and owner-operator with more than 600 locations and over 18,000 Realtors in Canada. The company was founded on July 2, 1913 in Toronto, Canada by then 26-year-old Albert E. LePage, under the name ...

Realty had long been located. In June 2013, this series of buildings at 49 The Donway West was demolished. Shoppers Drug Mart and CIBC built new locations on the north-east corner of Lawrence Avenue East and The Donway West. Dominion (now Metro) and the Royal Bank Building are the only remainders of the old mall.

Former tenants

Former

Anchor tenant In retail, an "anchor tenant", sometimes called an "anchor store", "draw tenant", or "key tenant", is a considerably larger tenant in a shopping mall, often a department store or retail chain. They are typically located at the ends of malls. Wit ...

s of the Don Mills Centre included: *

Eaton's The T. Eaton Company Limited, later known as Eaton's, was a Canadian department store chain that was once the largest in the country. It was founded in 1869 in Toronto by Timothy Eaton, an immigrant from what is now Northern Ireland. Eaton's grew ...

— became

clearance centre and later as

National Sports National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, c ...

— closed and demolished *

— now

Metro Metro, short for metropolitan, may refer to: Geography * Metro (city), a city in Indonesia * A metropolitan area, the populated region including and surrounding an urban center Public transport * Rapid transit, a passenger railway in an urba ...

Bittner's Meat and Deli operated at Don Mills Plaza for many years.

Pictures

Image:Don_Mills_Centre_01.JPG, Remains of the southern section Image:Don_Mills_Centre_02.JPG,

CIBC The Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CIBC; french: Banque canadienne impériale de commerce) is a Canadian multinational banking and financial services corporation headquartered at CIBC Square in the Financial District of Toronto, Ontario. T ...

Image:Don_Mills_Centre_03.JPG, Royal Bank building Image:Don_Mills_Centre_04a.jpg,

References

External links

Spacing Votes: Don Mills Centre redevelopment stirs conflict
October 26, 2006

* ttps://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20061216.GABBAY16/TPStory/?query=simone+gabbay Feisty Don Mills activist refuses to accept the writing on the mall''Globe and Mail'', December 16, 2006
Photos of Don Mills Centre prior to closure
{{Coord, 43.735, N, 79.345, W, type:landmark, display=title Shopping malls in Toronto North York Defunct shopping malls in Canada Shopping malls established in 1954 Shopping malls disestablished in 2006 Buildings and structures demolished in 2006 1954 establishments in Ontario 2006 disestablishments in Ontario Demolished buildings and structures in Toronto