Whitby Mall

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Whitby Mall
Map
Coordinates43°53′06″N 78°54′36″W / 43.88500°N 78.91000°W / 43.88500; -78.91000
Address1615 Dundas Street East
Whitby, Ontario
L1N 2L1
Opening date1970
ManagementFirst Capital
OwnerFirst Capital
No. of anchor tenants3
Total retail floor area36,660 m2 (394,600 sq ft)[1]
No. of floors2

The Whitby Mall Shopping Centre is a shopping mall located in Whitby, Ontario, Canada.

History[edit]

The Whitby Mall is composed of a ground floor of enclosed retail space and an upper floor of commercial office space.[1] It opened in 1970, with roughly twenty stores and Woolco and Miracle Food Mart serving as anchor tenants.[2] An addition began construction in 1980 and was completed by 1983; the expansion added an additional fifty stores and Lang Tower, a wing of the mall that houses its commercial office space.[2]

By 2000, anchor tenant Walmart had been replaced with a Sobeys that lacks direct access to the mall, and commercial office tenants began to close or relocate, leading to a decline in customers and tenancy at Whitby Mall.[3] Though the mall experienced an upswing in store occupancy by the end of the decade following the opening of a ServiceOntario location,[4] by 2017 it was cited by the Toronto Star as a mall "struggling to survive" amid the retail apocalypse of the 2010s.[3]

In 2016, the Whitby Mall was acquired by the real estate firm First Capital. The firm indicated in 2017 that it has long-term plans to redevelop Whitby Mall into a mixed-use development, similarly to its previous conversion of Hazelton Lanes to Yorkville Village in 2016.[3]

Notable incidents[edit]

In 2016, the McDonald's location at the Whitby Mall received an unannounced visit from Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, which was covered by the CBC.[5]

On July 3, 2019, a shooting occurred during a dispute in the Whitby Mall's parking lot. The two suspects in the incident were arrested in Owen Sound on July 6, 2019 on multiple firearms-related charges.[6]

Anchors[edit]

Current[edit]

Former[edit]

Transportation access[edit]

Whitby Mall is located in Whitby, Ontario, and is accessed by Dundas Street East to the north, Thickson Road South to the west, and Nichol Avenue to the south. There is controlled access to the mall with a traffic light at Thickson Road South.[2]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b c d e "Whitby Mall". First Capital. Retrieved May 4, 2021.
  2. ^ a b c d "One stop shopping at Whitby mall" (PDF). Whitby Free Press Industrial Review. March 11, 1987. p. B8. Retrieved May 4, 2021.
  3. ^ a b c d e f Kopun, Francine (May 6, 2017). "How neighbourhood malls are struggling to survive". The Toronto Star. Retrieved May 4, 2021.
  4. ^ "Whitby office packed with passport seekers". DurhamRegion.com. Oshawa This Week. February 2, 2009. Retrieved May 4, 2021.
  5. ^ Watters, Haydn (June 18, 2016). "Fries with that, Mr. Trudeau? PM stops in for surprise McDonald's lunch". CBC. Retrieved May 4, 2021.
  6. ^ "Whitby Mall shooting suspects arrested in Owen Sound". DurhamRegion.com. The Whitby This Week. July 6, 2019. Retrieved May 4, 2021.