Westmount Centre Explained

Westmount Centre
Address:13310 111 Ave NW, Edmonton, Alberta T5M 2M7
Coordinates:53.9369°N -113.9269°W
Owner:First Capital Realty
Manager:First Capital Realty
Previous Names:Westmount Shoppers' Park
Number Of Stores:47
Number Of Anchors:2[1]
Floor Area:498000ft2[2]
Floors:1
Publictransit: Westmount Transit Centre

Westmount Centre is a shopping mall located in the Woodcroft neighbourhood of Edmonton. It opened in 1955 and is owned by First Capital Realty. It is anchored by Safeway, The Home Depot, and Dollarama.

History

The mall opened on August 18, 1955 as Westmount Shoppers' Park and was considered Edmonton's first shopping mall.[3] [4] Built at a cost of $5 million, the mall was anchored by Woodward's, Johnstone Walker, and Kresge.[3] [4]

On January 14, 1956, The Sahara opened northeast of the mall property and consisted of a theatre and restaurant under one facility.[5] The theatre was taken over by Famous Players and reopened as the Westmount Theatre on August 12, 1965.[6] The theatre was twinned in 1972 and renamed as Westmount Cinemas.[7] The theatre moved inside the mall with the opening of the four-screen Famous Players theatre on November 8, 1985.[8] In 2005, Cineplex Galaxy sold the theatre to Empire Theatres before it finally closed on February 27, 2011.[9] A second theatre, the four-screen Cineplex Odeon, opened in the mall on December 20, 1985,[10] but closed in 2000 as the south end part of the mall was demolished to make way for a relocated Safeway.

Triple Five purchased the mall from Woodward's for $12 million in December 1984.[11] The following year, the mall underwent a $21 million renovation that included a expansion, 60 new retailers, a new food court, a movie theatre, and a new interior, which was completed on October 17, 1985.[12] [13] In 1993, Woodward's closed and its location was converted to Zellers.[14] In 1995, Triple Five sold the mall to GE Capital Corp and Maurice Fagan.[15] From 1999 to 2000, Westmount Centre underwent a $30 million redevelopment which included a new regulation-size ice rink and 540-seat food court in the centre of the mall, and a relocated Safeway.[16] [4] Free-standing locations of TD Bank and McDonald's were also constructed on the mall's east parking lot.[16] With this, 2 full McDonald's locations operated in the mall area, until 2013-2014 when the McDonald's located in the mall food court closed, leaving the outparcel as the only one located at Westmount.

On March 14, 2007, First Capital Realty acquired the mall for $70 million in cash with immediate plans to demolish a non-functioning portion of the mall between Zellers and Shoppers Drug Mart to make room for The Home Depot's first in-fill store in Edmonton, which opened in November 2008.[17] [18] On June 6, 2012, Zellers closed and its space was taken over by Walmart later that same year.[19] [20] On October 19, 2022, Walmart closed after the company announced in July 2021 that it would be relocating the Westmount Centre location to Kingsway Mall.[21] [22]

In May 2024, Westmount Centre gave 30-day end of tendency notices to stores located on one side of the hallway between Safeway and Smitty’s in the southeast portion of the mall. No official explanation was given but several tenants believed that recent leaks from the roof above the abandoned theatre complex on the second floor was the cause.[23] [24]

References

  1. Web site: Home . Westmount Centre . December 6, 2024 . December 6, 2024 . https://web.archive.org/web/20241206162537/https://www.westmountshopping.com/ . live.
  2. Web site: Westmount Shopping Centre . First Capital . December 6, 2024 . December 6, 2024 . https://web.archive.org/web/20241206162537/https://www.westmountshopping.com/ . live.
  3. News: Thousands Attend Opening Of Huge Shopping Centre . . August 18, 1955 . 7 . December 6, 2024 . Newspapers.com.
  4. News: Herzog . Lawrence . Westmount Mall at 50 . September 1, 2005 . Edmonton Real Estate Weekly . Realtors Association Of Edmonton . 10 November 2009 . https://web.archive.org/web/20091110014145/http://www.edmontonjournal.com/business/Kingsway+Light/2191786/story.html . dead.
  5. News: $250,000 Sahara Theatre-Restaurant To Open On Saturday . January 13, 1956 . Edmonton Journal . 12 . December 6, 2024 . Newspapers.com.
  6. Web site: Westmount theatre opening . Edmonton Journal . August 12, 1965 . 17 . December 6, 2024 . Newspapers.com.
  7. Web site: Westmount Cinemas now officially open . March 17, 1972 . Edmonton Journal . 76 . Newspapers.com.
  8. Web site: New mall theatres . Edmonton Journal . November 8, 1985 . E11 . Newspapers.com.
  9. News: Mah . Bill . It’s a wrap for Edmonton’s Westmount Centre theatres . February 24, 2011 . Edmonton Journal . February 27, 2011 . https://web.archive.org/web/20110227043208/http://www.edmontonjournal.com/news/wrap+Westmount+theatres/4341171/story.html . dead.
  10. Web site: Cineplex Westmount opening . Edmonton Journal . December 20, 1985 . D10 . Newspapers.com.
  11. News: Triple Five buying Westmount mall . December 6, 1984 . Edmonton Journal . E12 . December 6, 2024 . Newspapers.com.
  12. News: Pierce . Gretchen . 'Old' Westmount transformed . March 6, 1985 . Edmonton Journal . E1 . December 6, 2024 . Newspapers.com.
  13. News: Spruced-up Westmount opens wide . October 17, 1985 . Edmonton Journal . D1 . December 6, 2024 . Newspapers.com.
  14. News: Boehm . Bob . Four of six Woodward's will close . April 18, 1993 . Edmonton Journal . A1 . December 6, 2024 . Newspapers.com.
  15. Web site: Dolphin . Ric . Finding profit in family fun is right up Victor's alley . October 21, 1996 . Edmonton Journal . B1 . December 6, 2024 . Newspapers.com.
  16. Web site: Marck . Paul . Upgrade in store for mall that began it all . March 22, 2000 . Edmonton Journal . G1 . December 6, 2024 . Newspapers.com.
  17. Web site: 2006 Annual Report . April 13, 2007 . First Capital Realty . Page 45 . December 6, 2024 . December 6, 2024 . https://web.archive.org/web/20241206075850/https://www.annualreports.com/HostedData/AnnualReportArchive/f/TSX_FCR_2006.pdf . live.
  18. Web site: Mah . Bill . Home Depot snugs into mall berth . April 18, 1993 . Edmonton Journal . E1 . December 6, 2024 . Newspapers.com.
  19. Web site: Zellers Store Liquidation Schedule . October 12, 2012 . Hudson's Bay Company Vendor Partners . December 6, 2024 . December 1, 2024 . https://web.archive.org/web/20241201231612/https://vendorpartners.hbc.com/vpprd/cms/AnnouncementsDetail.html?viewEn=yes&msgId=40 . live.
  20. News: Chau . Herman . Target announces locations of new Canadian stores . October 22, 2011 . . December 6, 2024 . December 6, 2024 . https://web.archive.org/web/20241206073615/https://globalnews.ca/news/168945/target-announces-locations-of-new-canadian-stores/ . live.
  21. News: Patterson . Craig . Walmart Announces 150,000 SF Supercentre at Kingsway Mall in Edmonton with Westmount Centre Walmart Store to Close as a Result . July 8, 2021 . Retail Insider . December 6, 2024 . July 9, 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210709000712/https://retail-insider.com/retail-insider/2021/07/walmart-announces-150000-sf-supercentre-at-kingsway-mall-in-edmonton-with-westmount-centre-walmart-store-to-close-as-a-result/ . live.
  22. News: Issawi . Hamdi . New Kingsway Mall Walmart Supercentre replaces Westmount Mall store . October 22, 2022 . Edmonton Journal . Postmedia Network . December 6, 2024 . October 22, 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20221022122050/https://edmontonjournal.com/news/local-news/new-kingsway-mall-walmart-supercentre-replaces-westmount-mall-store . live.
  23. News: Delaney . Zac . Businesses at Westmount Shopping Centre served end of tenancy notice . May 23, 2024 . Edmonton Journal . Postmedia Network . December 6, 2024 . May 24, 2024 . https://web.archive.org/web/20240524012335/https://edmontonjournal.com/business/westmount-businesses-end-tenancy-notice . live.
  24. Web site: Future of Westmount Shopping Centre unclear after tenants given 30 day notice . May 22, 2024 . CTV News . June 4, 2024 . May 22, 2024 . https://web.archive.org/web/20240522231157/https://edmonton.ctvnews.ca/future-of-westmount-shopping-centre-unclear-after-tenants-given-30-day-notice-1.6897095 . live.

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