Cedarbrae Mall

[Bureaucromancer]

So the Walmart at Cedarbrae will be closing end of January. Any thoughts on ithe sites potential?

The combination of No Frills and Canadian Tire maybe avoids another honeydale... But I'm seriously questioning this places viability going forward.

 

[narduch]

Surprised to hear about that Walmart, didn't it replace a Target?

 

[Bureaucromancer]

I sort of was as well, but otoh it's fairly close to a couple of substantially larger stores.

 

[Richard White]

So the Walmart at Cedarbrae will be closing end of January. Any thoughts on ithe sites potential?

The combination of No Frills and Canadian Tire maybe avoids another honeydale... But I'm seriously questioning this places viability going forward.

The mall has gone through 2 iterations, this being the second. The first one had a Miracle Mart, Beer Store, Simpsons (later the bay) and I believe had a restaurant at the one end.

The mall has gone down hill since I started going there in 1991. I was there a month ago and made a few interesting observations as follows:

It is heavily ethnic

The mall in its heyday was never this ethnic. Not that it is a bad thing but it really limits who will go there.

The mall had odd hours

When I went there, the mall itself opened at non-standard hours for a mall of its size. It opened later (I believe around noon) on the weekends while No Frills, Jysk, Walmart and Canadian Tire opened at regular hours as per their respective chains.

The mall had low quality merchandise

Much to my first point, the quality of the items is not that good. It is rather low and not worth a trip there. It may be suitable for the needs of the community but I would not shop there instead shopping at the STC.

The mall had no-name stores

The mall itself (excluding the anchor tenants like Walmart, Canadian Tire and No Frills) had no-name tenants. Nothing that would make me want to go there.

Summary:

The mall reminds me alot of Morningside Mall when it was about to bite the dust. Morningside Mall had gone from middle class shopping to an ethnic bazaar with primarily indian, sri lankan and other southeast asian stores.

With the departure of Wal-Mart I can see the mall start to go down hill. This would be prime territory for condos or a subdivision but the mall has outlived its usefulness. There is more reason to trek up to the STC than there is to shop at Cederbrae Mall.

 

[narduch]

Sounds a lot like Woodbine mall as well.

 

[Richard White]

Sounds a lot like Woodbine mall as well.

I have not been to Woodbine Centre in years but it has always been a dive since the 1980s.

If you mean Woodside Mall at Finch and McCowan that mall much like Bridlewood has gone downhill.

No disrespect but when a mall goes ethnic it spells the end of the mall. Bridlewood I believe will be turned into condos at some point but both it and Woodside went from respectable with quality merchandise to flea markets.

Cedarbrae is the same. It has turned from a respectable mall to a virtual flea market.

 

[narduch]

I'm talking about the one on Hwy 27.

In the 90s I remember it still had chains like the Gap. Now it is all ethnic and no name stores.

 

[Richard White]

I'm talking about the one on Hwy 27.

In the 90s I remember it still had chains like the Gap. Now it is all ethnic and no name stores.

At least it has an Oliver Jewellery? Ohhhhhhh yeeaaaaaaaaaaa.

 

[Johnny Au]

@Richard White

What about the Chinese malls near Cedarbrae?

They too are ethnic.

 

[Richard White]

@Richard White

What about the Chinese malls near Cedarbrae?

They too are ethnic.

I've been to the Oriental Center (I believe that's what it is called) and again it serves the needs of the local community.

The point I was attempting to make was that when Cedarbrae was popular and successful it had a much different array of stores much like Morningside Mall did in its heyday. The mall alienated its clientele by bringing in odd hours and low quality merchandise.

 

[ShonTron]

I have not been to Woodbine Centre in years but it has always been a dive since the 1980s.

If you mean Woodside Mall at Finch and McCowan that mall much like Bridlewood has gone downhill.

No disrespect but when a mall goes ethnic it spells the end of the mall. Bridlewood I believe will be turned into condos at some point but both it and Woodside went from respectable with quality merchandise to flea markets.

Cedarbrae is the same. It has turned from a respectable mall to a virtual flea market.

I'm at Woodside Mall quite a bit - I have family who lives close to there. Woodside (McCowan and Finch) is not by any means a dead mall, though it has seen a lot of change. The Zellers closed about a decade ago and Food Basics now occupies most of that store's former space. There was a supermarket on the southwest side, but that's now Shoppers Drug Mart, LCBO, and a Toronto Public Library branch. Years ago, there was a Pascal hardware store, but that space is now a large Chinese banquet hall/restaurant and other restaurants (a congee restaurant, a Subway, and a Wild Wing). Most stores inside are occupied, but there are few chains left except Dollarama, a few fast food chains in the food court and of course the banks. Many stores cater to the Chinese and South Asian communities, including the cinema.

Woodside, too, officially opens later and closes earlier than major regional malls on weekends.

I could see some of these suburban community malls shrinking and adding residential use, but not closing down completely.

 

[J-M-Z]

I moved to the West Hill area of Scarborough around 2007, which was immediately after Morningside Mall
closed-down.

From my understanding, there used to be a Wal-Mart in Morningside, too before the mall went under and
became a strip mall (which suffered a similar fate to the Rexdale plaza in Etobicoke around 2005).

The Wal-Mart in Cedarbrae was really run down. Not much selection, the aisles were barely stocked
with new inventory and the place was pretty much empty most of the time.

I'm curious to see what will take Wal-Mart's place at Cedarbrae. Maybe an extension of Goodlife Fitness?

 

[Richard White]

From my understanding, there used to be a Wal-Mart in Morningside, too before the mall went under and
became a strip mall (which suffered a similar fate to the Rexdale plaza in Etobicoke around 2005).

Prior to Wal-Mart there was a Woolco, Dominion and Shoppers Drug Mart in Morningside Mall. It was an upstanding mall at that time and actually pretty decent. The mall turned into more of a Galleria Mall not having been updated since the 70s and anchor tenants bailing so it failed.

As for Cederbrae the mall was much better before renovations. It had a Simpson's and a Miracle Mart along with a host of reputable brand name stores. It was a destination for the area. Once they renovated and began putting in more ethnic stores the mall started to go downhill.

Ironically this was how Morningside Mall died as well. Once Wal-Mart left and Dominion started to close down, the mall went ethnic with smaller independent Indian and Sri-Lankan stores. Once that happened the mall began to lose the clientele that kept it afloat for years in favor of the Scarborough Town Center.

 

[Dan416]

Prior to Wal-Mart there was a Woolco, Dominion and Shoppers Drug Mart in Morningside Mall. It was an upstanding mall at that time and actually pretty decent. The mall turned into more of a Galleria Mall not having been updated since the 70s and anchor tenants bailing so it failed.

As for Cederbrae the mall was much better before renovations. It had a Simpson's and a Miracle Mart along with a host of reputable brand name stores. It was a destination for the area. Once they renovated and began putting in more ethnic stores the mall started to go downhill.

Ironically this was how Morningside Mall died as well. Once Wal-Mart left and Dominion started to close down, the mall went ethnic with smaller independent Indian and Sri-Lankan stores. Once that happened the mall began to lose the clientele that kept it afloat for years in favor of the Scarborough Town Center.

I'm not familiar with these malls, but I would suggest you're mixing up cause and effect. The cause of these malls going "ethnic" is the declining foot traffic and subsequent loss of the major brands. If there was foot traffic, the major brands would open up in any mall. It's wider economic factors that cause the decline of a mall than it going "ethnic".

 

[SunriseChampion]

Ha, Cedarbrae Mall. Good times.
I grew up near there and I knew the place was losing it when they lost The Bay and indoor smoking. Sort of a last gasp with that Loblaws and when that went......seeee ya!
Used to play chess in there, buy my music gear from RadioShack, and get copies of Dragon magazine from International News....and the bowling in the basement back in the day. Ah, to be young again.