Yorkdale Shopping Centre

This article is about the shopping centre; for the subway station named after it, see Yorkdale (TTC).

Yorkdale Shopping Centre

Location	Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Opening date	1964
Developer	Oxford Properties
Management	Oxford Properties
Owner	Oxford Properties
No. of stores and services	260
No. of anchor tenants	6
Total retail floor area	1,600,000 ft² (145,000 m²)
No. of floors	2
Parking	Outdoor parking as well as a multi level parking garage
Website	http://www.yorkdale.com

Yorkdale Shopping Centre is an upscale shopping mall with over 240 stores, located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, in the former City of North York, and in the community of Downsview, a suburb of Toronto.

History

The mall was opened in 1964 and was the first to include two major Canadian department stores, Simpson's and Eaton's, under the same roof. At the time of its opening, and for several years afterwards, it was the largest enclosed mall in the world. Yorkdale generated a tremendous amount of excitement when it first opened. Before Yorkdale, most people in the Toronto area did their major shopping downtown. Yorkdale was at the edge of the urbanized city, with only farmland around it. However, it was strategically located next to the interchange of Highway 401 and the proposed Spadina Expressway as well as the nearby Dufferin Street; all three major routes have ramps dedicated to serving the mall. Yorkdale Road forms the perimeter of the north and east sides of the mall. A subway station on the Spadina line that runs in the median section of Allen Road (formerly the Spadina Expressway), and an intercity bus terminal would later be connected to Yorkdale by way of a footbridge.

Its gross leasable area was over a million square feet, by far the biggest in Canada. Parking is still free. The shopping centre had 40-foot-wide halls and 27-foot tall ceilings which was, and still is, rare. As a result, Yorkdale is much less susceptible to overcrowding and stuffiness that have plagued more contemporary shopping mall designs. Interestingly, the corridors have not been seen a major renovation since the 1960s, still retaining that era's look and feel.

In 1999 Yorkdale completed a major overhaul adding a Rainforest Cafe restaurant, a Famous Players Silver City movie theatre (which has since been taken over by Cineplex Entertainment.), and an Indigo Books and Music store on the north side of the mall, facing Highway 401.

In 2005 a 60 million dollar expansion on the former site of its Eaton's department store increased the size of Yorkdale to more than 1,600,000 square feet (145,000 m²) and increased the number of stores from about 210 to 260. It added Old Navy, Zara, H&M, Tommy Hilfiger, and Home Outfitters as sub-anchors. This gave Yorkdale the title of the third largest mall in Ontario after Square One Shopping Centre in Mississauga and Toronto Eaton Centre, ahead of Scarborough Town Centre in terms of retail floor space.

A 60 foot high glass atrium running 300 feet in length which hangs from an exterior support structure was added in the 2005 renovation. It is the first of its kind in Canada and the largest in North America.

On May 21, 2005 Yorkdale Shopping Centre became home to the first Apple Store in Canada.

Anchors & Majors

• The Bay (300,870 sq. ft.)
• Famous Players Theatres (59,612 sq. ft.)
• H & M (25,890 sq. ft.)
• Harry Rosen (15,026 sq. ft.)
• Holt Renfrew (65,047 sq. ft.)
• Home Outfitters (33,200 sq. ft.)
• Indigo Books and Music (27,155 sq. ft.)
• Old Navy (23,490 sq. ft.)
• Pottery Barn/Pottery Barn Kids (13,075 sq. ft.)
• Rainforest Cafe (21,221 sq. ft.)
• Sears (190,000 sq. ft.)
• Sport Chek (26,701 sq. ft.)
• Zara (21,220 sq. ft.)

Current Anchors

• The Bay - Originally Simpson's, opened in 1964.
• Sears - Was originally constructed for The Bay. When The Hudson's Bay Company merged Simpsons and The Bay, the Simpsons' location was rebranded as The Bay and The Bay's store was sold to Sears. For a short period from 2002-2003, the Sears store was located in the former Eaton's location as the current store was expanded and renovated.
• Holt Renfrew - Currently the mall's most exclusive department store, with a strong fashion focus.

Other larger stores include: Sportchek, Indigo Books and Music, and a cinema which is owned and operated by Cineplex Entertainment.

Former Anchors

• Eaton's - Opened in 1964, the location was acquired by Sears Canada in 1999 after the decline and downsizing of the Eaton's company. Sears temporarily occupied the location from 2002-2003 while its current store was undergoing expansion. The space has since been renovated as a new mall cooridor consisting of large multi-level stores like Old Navy, Zara, H&M, Tommy Hilfiger, and Home Outfitters as sub-anchors, completed in 2005.

• Simpson's - Opened in 1964. In 1978 Simpson's was acquired by the Hudson's Bay Company. The Yorkdale location continued to operate under the Simpson's name as an upscale brand of the Hudson's Bay Company. The upscale brand was unsuccessful and in 1991 the Yorkdale location as well as all other Simpson's stores were converted to the traditional Hudson Bay department stores.

• Dominion - occupied by Holt Renfrew since the 1990s

• Cineplex Odeon Theatre a multiplex of small screens was located in the area west of the bus terminal was demolished to make way for the new extensions.

Trivia

The statue in the west parking lot was originally located at the base of the CN Tower.

Yorkdale is the site of the filming for SmashMyIpod, where two people bought an iPod with money that people had donated to them and smashed it in the mall's Apple Store. After returning again to smash an iPod nano, The smashers were eventually banned from the mall for one year.

External links

• Official site
• Yorkdale store directory

43.725599°N 79.452696°W / 43.725599; -79.452696