Hillcrest Mall

For Hillcrest Professional Plaza, previously known as Hillcrest Mall, see Shopping malls in New Jersey.
Hillcrest Mall

The Bay Fashion Store, located centrally in Hillcrest Mall, is one of the mall's anchor stores
Location Richmond Hill, Ontario, Canada
Opening date 8 August 1974
Developer Cadillac Fairview
Management Oxford Properties
No. of stores and services 135
No. of anchor tenants 3
Total retail floor area 585,758 square feet (54,419 m2)
No. of floors 1

Hillcrest Mall, or Hillcrest, is a 585,758 square feet (54,419 m2) enclosed shopping centre located in the town of Richmond Hill, Ontario, Canada, on the northwest corner of Yonge Street and Carrville Road. It has 135 shops, services, and restaurants.

History

Hillcrest Mall was built on a 46 acres (190,000 m2) site on the northwest corner of Yonge Street and Carrville Road.[1] Architectural drawings were executed by Bregman and Hamann, and the interior design by Robert Meiklejohn.[1] The project was a joint venture of Cadillac Fairview and Greater York Group.[2] Lighting at the mall was designed with input from the David Dunlap Observatory to mitigate light pollution.[3] This included minimal signage, shielded lights in the parking lot, and a light-absorbing parking lot surface.[2]

It opened on August 8, 1974 with four anchor stores Simpsons, Kmart, Sears, and a Loblaws supermarket.[1] It had over 100 stores occupying 50,000 square metres (540,000 sq ft) at its grand opening,[1] during which the first 10,000 Simpsons patrons received a rose, a symbolic gesture reflecting Richmond Hill's past status as the rose growing capital of Canada.[4][1] Simpsons also used a rose in its local advertising.[1] Hillcrest Mall also held a draw, the winner of which was given a two-week all expenses paid trip to Mexico.[1]

The central square featured four ficus trees imported from Florida under a vaulted ceiling.[1] The market court was a food court with picnic seating and gaslight lamps.[1] A 250-seat auditorium with stage and kitchen was also part of the design, and was made available for community activities.[1] The auditorium was used for fashion shows.[1]

A five auditorium movie theatre operated by Cineplex Odeon Corporation opened in October 1980, with a total seating capacity of 519; this space is now a GoodLife Fitness.[5]

Hudson's Bay Company (HBC) acquired Simpsons in 1978, and by 1991 had rebranded the anchor store as The Bay. Zellers opened in the mall in 1998, acquiring the anchor retail space when its parent HBC purchased the assets of Kmart Canada in May 1998. HBC also leased the retail space occupied by Sears at the southern end of the mall after Sears did not renew its lease.

The mall underwent extensive renovations in 2000. In late 2002, construction of a separate building in the northeast corner of the mall's parking lot was completed; it was the site of the second Krispy Kreme franchise in Canada[6] until 2005, and is now the site of Panera Bread. In 2006, a farmers' market was established on the premises, operating from the mall's parking lot two days a week.[7]

Hillcrest Mall was purchased by Oxford Properties in April 2011.

Target at Hillcrest opened in 2013 and closed in 2015.

In 2011, HBC sold the leases of most of its Zellers stores to Target Corporation; the mall's Zellers closed in early 2013 with Target Canada taking over the anchor space and reopening in its place on November 13, 2013. In January 2015, Target announced the liquidation of all its Canadian stores and closed in mid 2015.[8] The lease was acquired by landlord Oxford Properties.[9] As of July 2016, the anchor space remains vacant.

In 2013, an application was made to Richmond Hill Town Council to exempt the mall from the Retail Business Holidays Act so that it may open on six public holidays: New Year's Day, Family Day, Good Friday, Victoria Day, Canada Day, Labour Day, and Thanksgiving.[10] The holiday exemption application was accepted, and the mall now only closes on Easter Sunday and Christmas.[11]

On September 12, 2015, Hudson's Bay celebrated the grand opening of its expanded anchor space. The $125 million project resulted in an additional 12,000 square metres (130,000 sq ft) of retail space.[12] Previously The Bay operated two separate units in the shopping centre; "Fashion Store" for Women's apparel and cosmetics, and "Men's Store and Home" for men's and children's apparel, furniture, and housewares. Menswear was sold alongside women's apparel in the "Fashion Store" until the late 2000s, then men's apparel was moved to the "Home" location as The Bay decided to increase the space for women's apparel/cosmetics while cutting down on furniture and appliances. The former The Bay "Men's Store and Home" is being demolished and reconstructed into a Sporting Life with an expected opening date of Fall 2016.

Anchor stores

Some major anchors include:

The York Regional Police Community Resource Centre is located in the mall.

Former:

Notes

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 The Liberal 7 August 1974, p. 1.
  2. 1 2 The Liberal 14 August 1974, p. 1.
  3. ↑ Bolton 1978.
  4. ↑ Levy-McLaughlin 2014.
  5. ↑ Pendakur 1990, p. 226.
  6. ↑ Brief 2002, p. D2.
  7. ↑ Friends of the Greenbelt Foundation.
  8. ↑ Rooney 2015.
  9. ↑ Strauss 2015.
  10. ↑ Richmond Hill Town Council 2013.
  11. ↑ Kopun 2014.
  12. ↑ Beck 2015.

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Hillcrest Mall.

Coordinates: 43°51′16″N 79°26′05″W / 43.85443°N 79.43463°W / 43.85443; -79.43463

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