Department Stores then and now

[mark.a.m]

Thornhill Square Shopping Centre at Bayview and John Sts. in Thornhill had a Kmart that was converted to a Winners, and Zellers when Kmart was acquired by HBC, then was demolished in 2003.

 

[W. K. Lis]

Not just Canada...

Macy's is closing 68 stores, cutting 10,000 jobs

See link.

The announcement was issued alongside an unfavorable earnings report, showing comparable store sales dipped 2.1% last quarter. The news caused its stock to plunge nearly 10% during after-hours trading Wednesday.

Macy's (M) said it expects to layoff about 3,900 workers as a result of the upcoming store closures, and another 6,200 jobs will be cut as the company works to streamline its management team, according to a press release.

A few stores have already been shuttered, but 63 will close down between now and mid-2017, leaving about 660 U.S. stores left open. The closings are among the 100 stores Macy's said last August that it intends to shutter.

The expected savings from these cuts will be invested in the company's digital business as well as marketing efforts including Bluemercury, Macy's Backstage and China, Macy's said.

Mark Cohen, a professor at Columbia Business School, said it's not the last time Macy's will make this type of announcement.

"It's a very hard day for the folks involved obviously, but I would also say it's inevitable," Cohen said. "And there's definitely more to come."

He said that Macy's -- and its competitors in the brick-and-mortar retail industry -- have been "unwilling to fully acknowledge the reality of their business performance," and he expects job cuts and store closures to be an ongoing trend in 2017.

An earnings report posted by Kohls (KSS) Wednesday followed the trend. The company posted a disappointing holiday sales season and lowered its earnings guidance for the 2016 fiscal year. Its stock dipped more than 7% during extended trading hours.

 

[Larynxa]

Pen Centre was in St. Catharines, not Pickering.

Pickering had Sheridan Mall, which then became Pickering Town Centre.


Ajax had Harwood Place Mall (an indoor mall), which is now a strip mall with an office tower. Its original anchor stores were a Miracle Food Mart at the east end, and a 3-level Sayvette at the west end. Among the smaller tenants were a Lisanne's fabric store and the Pen Centre Family Restaurant.

Sayvette's was the discount chain's last remaining store, and it closed in 1977. It became a 2-level Woolco, and when Woolco went bust, it became a Walmart. Then, the mall was turned into its current form, anchored by a Food Basics at the east end, and a 1-level Shoppers Drug Mart at the west end.

 

[boldpreza]

Vintage Canadian Malls / Department Stores:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/darrellinyvr/sets/72157624952216717/with/4965316063/

Simpsons, Sherway Gardens

Eaton's, Yorkdale

Yorkdale, Simpson's Court

Yorkdale, Simpson's Court

Simpson's, Fairview Mall

HBC, Fairview Mall - nice logo signage!

Fairview Mall phone booths

Trivia:

Its amazing to see these old photos and how these places used to be. Thanks to those that were able to save, find and share. Some of these even look better than the current stuff, if only because they are more interesting in design! Love it!

 

[James Duff]

As far as Scarborough Town Centre goes:

Simpsons -> The Bay
The Bay -> Wal-Mart (Wikipedia claims Sears was located in between - was this true?)
Eatons -> Sears

I saw another post here that was close as well. But from my recollection, STC had Eaton's and Simpson's (not Simpson-Sears, it was a Robert E. Simpson Store). In the late 1970s the STC expansion was built adding The Bay department store and over 200 shops. These expansion halls connected Eaton's (where the "3-silver ball fountain was) to Simpson's (remember the rising and falling balloons fountain?). When Simpson's was acquired by the Bay, this store survived until early 1990s. Simpson's merged with its parent - the Bay. Then, the Bay moved into what WAS the Simpson's store at STC. Sears then took over the Bay's old location (in the expansion). Eaton's stayed as is. When Eaton's went defunct (also in the 90s) it was acquired by Sears. When Sears folded eaton's after trying to keep some stores afloat under the Eaton's brand, it too merged the stores and Sears moved to Eaton's original location. That's when Walmart came in to fill the void left by Sears at STC.

 

[bcx]

I saw another post here that was close as well. But from my recollection, STC had Eaton's and Simpson's (not Simpson-Sears, it was a Robert E. Simpson Store). In the late 1970s the STC expansion was built adding The Bay department store and over 200 shops. These expansion halls connected Eaton's (where the "3-silver ball fountain was) to Simpson's (remember the rising and falling balloons fountain?). When Simpson's was acquired by the Bay, this store survived until early 1990s. Simpson's merged with its parent - the Bay. Then, the Bay moved into what WAS the Simpson's store at STC. Sears then took over the Bay's old location (in the expansion). Eaton's stayed as is. When Eaton's went defunct (also in the 90s) it was acquired by Sears. When Sears folded eaton's after trying to keep some stores afloat under the Eaton's brand, it too merged the stores and Sears moved to Eaton's original location. That's when Walmart came in to fill the void left by Sears at STC.

Where Walmart is now at STC was not a department store before. I remember it being a BiWay or Bulk Barn on the lower level at one point. I also remember a Magic Pan restaurant off to the side there and the hot air balloons in front of the Bay store.

 

[Four One Six]

Cedarbrae never had a Dominion; when Miracle Food Mart closed, it went straight to a Loblaws, then eventually a No Frills.

 

[ChicoraAve]

Some old store names - Sayvettes was in Thorncliffe Market Place back around Centennial Year.
Sayvettes was also in Dixie Plaza in Mississauga. Then it was Knob Hill Farms and then Sears Outlet. There might have been some intervening stores there as well.
Sherway Gardens had both Dominion and Loblaws supermarkets.
Cloverdale was Morgans and then The Bay - it was their big west end store.
Sheridan Mall in Mississauga was SS Kresge, then K-Mart and then Zellers.
Target gutted one end of the mall and opened there for a short time. I think there is warehouse space in there now.
The grocery store was Dominion.
Towers was at Towers Plaza at Dixie Road and Dundas Street in Mississauga. There was a Food |City store there as well.
Consumers Distributing had lots of "Catalog" stores in the early 80's. You would go there and line up to get a pencil and an order form, fill in your order and give it to the clerk at the counter. IF, and around Christmas that was a big IF, it was in stock you would then purchase and take it unwrapped home.
The Bay opened some similar stores and I'm dam*ed if I can remember their name. Consumers Distributing was big enough to run a private fleet of trucks.
Meadowvale Town Centre in the northwest corner of Mississauga had a big Woolco store and a big Dominion Store.

 

[JasonParis]

I think Towers and Food City were under the same ownership?

 

[Northern Light]

I think Towers and Food City were under the same ownership?

Both fell under the Oshawa Group umbrella for a considerable period of time.

Oshawa sold off Towers to The Bay to be merged into Zellers in 1990.

Food City banners were converted to IGA/Price Chopper by Oshawa around the same time period; but their grocery division wasn't sold to Sobeys until 1998.

 

[ShonTron]

I think Towers and Food City were under the same ownership?

And they even built miniature malls with Food City on one end, and Towers on the other. Galleria Mall was one, Kipling-Queensway was another (the Towers became Zellers, the Food City stores became Price Chopper/Freshco or Sobey's). There was one in Woodstock that's now the site of the Toyota plant.

 

[Johnny Au]

And they even built miniature malls with Food City on one end, and Towers on the other. Galleria Mall was one, Kipling-Queensway was another (the Towers became Zellers, the Food City stores became Price Chopper/Freshco or Sobey's). There was one in Woodstock that's now the site of the Toyota plant.

This was also true of the original Westside Mall by the future Caledonia station.

 

[JasonParis]

And they even built miniature malls with Food City on one end, and Towers on the other. Galleria Mall was one, Kipling-Queensway was another (the Towers became Zellers, the Food City stores became Price Chopper/Freshco or Sobey's). There was one in Woodstock that's now the site of the Toyota plant.

Westwood would be an example too in Malton. I think the Miracle Mart wing was a later extension.

 

[ShonTron]

Westwood would be an example too in Malton. I think the Miracle Mart wing was a later extension.

Definitely. Five Points Mall in Oshawa too.

 

[innsertnamehere]

My dad's high school job was at Consumers Distributing as a runner (would go into the warehouse and retrieve goods). He loves to tell stories of it - the cashiers were apparently commission based and would try to pick the fastest runners for their orders as they could throughput more orders,