The changing character of some of Toronto's malls (Fairview and Scarborough Town Centre)

[Skeezix]

I'm guessing you are referring to the humaneness of conditions that pets were bred/kept in. Was PJs particularly different in this regard compared to the box stores and other pet stores left now?

Sorry - I didn't notice your post/question, so apologies for not responding sooner. I'm not aware of PJs having a worse record than others, although the chain's high profile in Ontario did at one time make it a target of those concerned about animal welfare. Generally, puppies and kittens sold in pet stores suffer from bad health, behavioural problems, bad socialization and are likely from a puppy mill. It's not a healthy environment for the animals, and encourages impulse buying (which increases the number of abandoned and mistreated pets). Toronto now bans pet stores from selling dogs and cats unless they come from shelters, humane societies or certified breeders. Even before the ban, I am not aware of any of the big box stores selling dogs and cats, except through occasional humane society events (which don't raise the same concerns). Hope that helps explain my earlier comment.

 

[ShonTron]

Some Pet Valu stores have pets for sale, but they are basically agents for local adoption agencies like Toronto Cat Rescue. PJ's was notorious, but as a kid, I loved going to the local pet store. My home mall, Shoppers World Brampton, had Mister Pet; it later gave way to an animal-free Pet Valu.

In the 1980s, Shoppers World had Simpson's, Marks and Spencer, Pascal Hardware, Food City, A&P, K-Mart, two book stores (Coles and W.H. Smith), Boots, three banks, and an assortment of clothing stores, electronic stores (Radio Shack, Blacks, Japan Camera), the pet store, a fruit market, Biway (in the basement), Consumers Distributing, two toy stores, three sit-down restaurants, and various other retailers.

SWB was never a top-performing mall, but it had gone downhill in the early 1990s as Square One and Bramalea City Centre expanded and went higher-end; before it was sold to RioCan, there was little investment in the place. Even after it tried to comeback with new big box retail, it lost the Bay, Target collapsed, and it never could attract any of the new-wave fast fashion chains; BCC was able to do so. It's now slowly dying.

 

[P23]

The answer to all this is fairly simple, it's just changing demographics. Young people devote most of their spending to fashion, which changes seasonally, and electronics, which also seem to change seasonally. Pet stores fell out of favour since they're now perceived as a bit cruel and supported puppy mills and the like. You will also have noticed that McDonalds and similar fast food companies have declined in favour of 'healthier' options like Chipotle.

Source: am one of these young people.

 

[Filip]

I think PJ's is still at Sherway (was up until last year, maybe it hasn't changed).

About 5 years ago they stopped selling 'fresh' puppies and kittens, but only animals up for adoption from the Humane Society.

 

[AlbertHWagstaff]

In the 1980s, Shoppers World had Simpson's, Marks and Spencer, Pascal Hardware, Food City, A&P, K-Mart, two book stores (Coles and W.H. Smith), Boots, three banks, and an assortment of clothing stores, electronic stores (Radio Shack, Blacks, Japan Camera), the pet store, a fruit market, Biway (in the basement), Consumers Distributing, two toy stores, three sit-down restaurants, and various other retailers.

Malls like Shoppers' World Danforth and Gerrard Square were the same. SWD had an Eaton's, Marks and Spencer, Dominion, Zellers, and Blacks among others, plus a sit-down restaurant. Gerrard Square had Sears and Horizon, which became Eaton's for a while and then Zellers, also a sit-down restaurant (Steak 'N" Burger), Radio Shack, Coles Books, Hallmark Cards, Family Fair was upstairs (similar to the Bi-Way) Singer sewing machines, and I think there was a pet store up there as well. Miracle Food Mart was the big grocery store.

In today's terms, you'd have Sears, or (the late) Target or maybe Winners. The Bay tends to be in the upscale malls. Small bookstores have gone, leaving only the large Chapters and Indigo stores, Radio Shack and phone stores have been replaced by Wireless Wave or a Rogers/Bell/Fido store. The sit-down restaurants are pretty much gone because there is either a food court or standalone restaurants nearby. Blacks hung on until last month. If you're buying a serious camera you'd go to a standalone place like Henry's and phones have taken the place of the "pocket camera". Grocery stores are gone from the upscale malls but SWD still has Metro and Gerrard Square has Food Basics. Home Hardware has put money into their stores, but the independents are pretty much gone. There's definitely been a stratification of the indoor malls into the upscale (Yorkdale, Sherway, Square One) and the downscale (Gerrard Square, Galleria, Agincourt Mall). Many of the "downscale" malls weren't so, until the departure of major anchors like Eaton's, Sears or even Woolco. In the suburbs, the old indoor malls have been eclipsed by the outdoor shopping areas concentrated around a large intersection with everything in clusters of separate buildings.

 

[Johnny Au]

Due to change of ownership, RadioShack very much became The Source.

Lawrence Square and Yorkdale are very much next to each other, but they have very different demographics, with Lawrence Square losing its main anchor (Zellers) and Yorkdale having numerous expansions. Lawrence Square still has Fortinos (grocery store) with a Wine Rack.