{"id":8606,"date":"2019-11-21T17:21:21","date_gmt":"2019-11-21T17:21:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.gh360.ca\/?p=8606"},"modified":"2020-01-25T02:45:56","modified_gmt":"2020-01-25T02:45:56","slug":"woodbine-centre-mall-struggling-in-spite-of-recent-makeovers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.gh360.ca\/?p=8606","title":{"rendered":"Woodbine Centre mall struggling in spite of recent makeovers"},"content":{"rendered":"T<\/span>he 34-year-old Woodbine Centre and Fantasy Fair, a popular spot among University of Guelph-Humber and Humber College students, is struggling to maintain shops and customers despite ongoing renovations.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I first started working here, it was a busy mall. It was better than Sherway,\u201d says Susan Azeez, who\u2019s been working as an optometrist at LensCrafters in the Etobicoke mall for over 20 years.<\/p>\n

She believes this is because many of the mall\u2019s big brand stores have shut down operations like Shoppers Drug Mart, La Vie en Rose, and Bulk Barn, the most recent closure that saw operations shut down at Woodbine Centre in August 2019. According to Azeez, these stores \u201cbrought a lot of business into the mall.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Pulsone\u2019s analysis details why Woodbine Centre mall has been on a steady decline. He says that major development will be needed to help the mall prosper.<\/p><\/div>\n

Nick Pulsone, who recently graduated from Ryerson University\u2019s spatial analysis master\u2019s program also says that the lack of anchor tenants \u2013 big brand name stores that have a large pull in customers \u2013 could be the part of the reason for the decline in visitors.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen anchor tenants leave, especially in malls, that\u2019s usually a giant sign of decaying productivity in the mall,\u201d said Pulsone in a phone interview with GH360.<\/p><\/blockquote><\/div>\n

According to his 2017 undergraduate thesis analysis about the productivity of the mall, Pulsone says \u201cthe number of vacant tenant locations continues to increase while the total number of active retailers across all categories are decreasing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Between 2001-2011 96 stores had closed or moved out according to data from Ryerson University\u2019s Centre\u00a0for the\u00a0Study\u00a0of\u00a0Commercial Activity\u00a0(CSCA). Some of these stores include McDonald\u2019s, The Body Shop, Espirit, and Wine Rack.<\/p>\n

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Screengrab from Nicholas Pulsone\u2019s 2017 analysis Woodbine Mall Development & Project Analysis comparing the number of tenants from 2001 to 2011. Vacant spots have been increasing.<\/p><\/div>\n

Pulsone\u2019s analysis also compared census data over a 10-year period and suggests that the demographics of the surrounding area have changed from \u201cwhite family households with young children\u201d to a more ethnically diverse, younger, and single demographic with students from Humber College and the University of Guelph-Humber comprising a large part of it.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is something that\u2019s very\u00a0big. If you don\u2019t take into account these changes in retail, you\u2019re going to be marketing to a demographic that isn\u2019t there,\u201d says Pulsone.<\/p>\n

Pulsone, who grew up close to the mall says he remembers Woodbine being marketed as the one-stop-shop for families. Parents could shop at the stores while the kids enjoyed the rides at Fantasy Fair. He says that since census data shows the number of families in the area declining, better marketing tactics are needed to draw in the new single and more ethnically diverse demographics.<\/p>\n

The mall was bought in 2015 by Issa \u201cChris\u201d Hinn, CEO of Woodbine Mall Holdings Inc., who introduced an ambitious revitalization plan to expand Woodbine to include a convention centre, theatre, water park, and new condos. Pictures of the redevelopment plan can be found around the mall.<\/p>\n

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Hinn’s plans for the mall can be seen around the mall.<\/p><\/div>\n

In a 2017 interview with Bisnow.com, Hinn says the expansion would take four years and would cost $57 million. Renovations would include improving the washrooms and food court, putting new asphalt for the parking lot, adding LED lighting and creating more seating for guests.<\/p>\n

According to some staff, the mall has only received a few cosmetic renovations so far: new floor tiles, chairs and tables scattered throughout the mall and some new rides at Fantasy Fair.<\/p>\n

When contacted by GH360, Hinn did not respond to requests for an interview.<\/p>\n

Pulsone thinks Hinn\u2019s plans for renovations are a step in the right direction but believes there needs to be major changes in order to make the mall financially successful.\u201cTo really and truly make the mall prosper, there\u2019s going to have to be some large-scale development.\u201d<\/p>\n

He says bringing in more brand name stores is a good start. \u201cIf people are driving by on Highway 27, and they see this store that no one really knows they think \u2018why should I go there?\u2019 That\u2019s not a really good business decision.\u201d<\/p>\n

With many of the anchor tenants gone, Azeez says that most people now come to the mall for Fantasy Fair. \u201cThis here is what keeps the mall going,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

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Fantasy Fair amusement park has 12 full-size rides for children and according to their website is Ontario\u2019s largest amusement park.<\/p><\/div>\n

But the amusement park isn\u2019t doing so well either, according to Nanda Shuman, manager of Fantasy Fair, who\u2019s worked at the amusement park since 1992. \u201cComparing then to now, we\u2019ve seen a big drop in the past two to three years,\u201d says Shuman.<\/p>\n

Shuman says the decline in the number of visitors at Fantasy Fair could be due to a number of things including families having less money for entertainment and competition between newer amusement parks like Canada\u2019s Wonderland.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The 34-year-old Woodbine Centre and Fantasy Fair, a popular spot among University of Guelph-Humber and Humber College students, is struggling to maintain shops and customers despite ongoing renovations. \u201cWhen I first started working here, it was a busy mall. It was better than Sherway,\u201d says Susan Azeez, who\u2019s been working as an optometrist at LensCrafters […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":80,"featured_media":8662,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0},"categories":[89],"tags":[58,66,446,444,86,443,445],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gh360.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8606"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gh360.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gh360.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gh360.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/80"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gh360.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=8606"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.gh360.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8606\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gh360.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/8662"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gh360.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=8606"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gh360.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=8606"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gh360.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=8606"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}