Markville Renovations and Retail Thread

[japrologue]

it reminds me of urban eatery

 

[canarob]

Both Cadillac-Fairview projects, so I guess they go with what's worked before. I was talking to a woman working at one of the restaurants and she had heard that they would be bringing in reusable cutlery at some point. Just a rumour, but I hope it's true!

 

[donoreo]

That food court looks the same as the one on Fairview Mall.

 

[canmark]

I was at Markville this past weekend and they hadn't even installed the chairs and tables--and now it's up and running!

It does indeed look like a cross between Fairview and the Eaton Centre. They've replaced the second level white railings (a la Eaton Centre) with glass (a la Eaton Centre). and are re-tiling the floors (somewhat similar to Fairview). But despite the similarities to Fairview and Eaton Centre (glass atrium), Marville is still less attractive.

It would be nice if they could find room for a Target in there somewhere.

 

[canarob]

It would be nice if they could find room for a Target in there somewhere.

I assume the plan is to fill up the existing space with better tenants, which is slowly happening, and then eventually expand. Any expansion would require a parking deck of some sort though. It would be amazing if a Target was built at one of the ends though, since the mall would then have Target, Walmart, Sears and the Bay.

 

[MafaldaBoy]

I hope they do find a way to attract more people; Markville is a lot larger than Fairview but it's always more empty.

 

[canarob]

I think it will become busier as it becomes higher end. Its problem was that it was a lower-end-ish mall in a relatively high-end area, so people drove to better malls. The area around the mall (to the west and east, especially) has seen a lot of expensive, millon dollar plus custom homes replacing bungalows, so the area continues to become better off.

 

[canarob]

The rumoured Apple Store location is under construction:

Otherwise, new and relocated stores continue to gradually open and the tile replacement and new entrances are slowly coming along.

 

[canarob]

A Joey's restaurant and Sephora are also confirmed. I'm excited about getting a Joey's! I believe Markham is also getting an Earl's in the Downtown Markham retail, but that's not officially confirmed.

 

[canarob]

I don't have a new photo, but the rumoured Apple store in the photo above has "bumped out" quite a bit from the mall. It will be interesting to see this take shape. There's also substantial work being done on the Bullock side of the mall on what is apparently a Panera Bread that will have outdoor seating. There are so many stores moving and under renovation that's it difficult to tell what will be a new store and what will simply be a relocation of an existing store. For example, Shoppers Drug Mart is taking the old Goodlife space at the back of Winners, so there will be a fairly big space opening up right at the front of the mall.

Also confirmed:

-Michael Kors
-Pandora

As a side note, a Marshalls is opening across the street from Markville next month.

 

[canarob]

Apple Store is hiring: http://www.iphoneincanada.ca/news/apple-store-markham-ontario-coming/

 

[MafaldaBoy]

July 12, 2013 - Apple branding has gone up:

 

[canarob]

Now that the revamp has officially launched and the remaining space seems to be mostly leased, I'm going to predict an expansion is announced within five years, or sooner if Sears Canada folds as has been rumoured. It's no Yorkdale, but Markville is now miles ahead of STC in terms of the quality of its offerings and at least at Fairview's level (Farview has a few stores that Markville doesn't, but Markville has, or will have shortly, among others, Banana Republic, Coach, Fossil, JOEY, Loft, Michael Kors, and Victoria's Secret). Given there is a lot of land here (another parking deck might be needed for an expansion though), I'm sure Cadillac-Fairview are already testing the waters.

 

[canarob]

Sears is to vacate Markville before Feb. 28, 2015, so now the question is whether Cadillac-Fairview will 1)use this as an opportunity to expand beyond the current footprint of the mall and add a new department store and a few hundred square feet of new retail, 2)replace Sears with another retailer (Nordstrom or Simons), or 3)replace sears with more small and mid-size stores (with the option of adding a new department store to the North later on).

 

[DaninToronto]

More likely use the space to grow the mall. I highly doubt Nordstrom would move into the mall, Bloomingdales is just a rumor and not likely unless Cadillac Fairview is freeing all of these locations for them, and I doubt Saks would choose Markville for one of its 7 stores. Smaller anchors are unlikely as they lately tend to be Sportschecks and Winners, which the mall already has both of.

Simons is the most likely possibility should an anchor go into the space.