Metrotown
Encyclopedia
Shopping mall
A shopping mall, shopping centre, shopping arcade, shopping precinct or simply mall is one or more buildings forming a complex of shops representing merchandisers, with interconnecting walkways enabling visitors to easily walk from unit to unit, along with a parking area — a modern, indoor version...
complex in Burnaby, British Columbia
British Columbia
British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
. With over 450 shops and services, it is the largest mall in British Columbia
British Columbia
British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...
, and the 2nd largest in Canada
Canada's largest shopping malls
The following is a list of Canada's largest enclosed shopping malls, ranked by reported total retail floor space, or gross leasable area . In cases where malls have equal area, they are further ranked by number of stores.-See also:...
. The mall is connected by a skyway
Skyway
In an urban setting, a skyway, catwalk, sky bridge, or skywalk is a type of pedway consisting of an enclosed or covered bridge between two buildings. This protects pedestrians from the weather. These skyways are usually owned by businesses, and are therefore not public spaces...
to the Metrotown Station
Metrotown Station
Metrotown Station is an elevated SkyTrain station on the Expo Line in Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada. It is the second-busiest station in the SkyTrain system. The station is located on the south side of Central Boulevard, east of Willingdon Avenue....
on the SkyTrain
SkyTrain (Vancouver)
SkyTrain is a light rapid transit system in Metro Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. SkyTrain has of track and uses fully automated trains on grade-separated tracks, running mostly on elevated guideways, which helps SkyTrain to hold consistently high on-time reliability...
rapid transit system. Two office buildings are part of the complex, with a third under construction.
Expansions
Metrotown Centre first opened in 1986 — attached to a new Woodward's department store, and a Sears CanadaSears Canada
Sears Canada Inc. is a retailer, headquartered in Toronto, Ontario, that operates in all provinces and territories across Canada with a network of 196 corporate stores, 195 dealer stores, 38 home improvement showrooms, 108 Sears Travel offices and a nationwide home maintenance, repair, and...
department store operating at that location since the early 1950s — on land that had previously held warehouses, other light industry, and a supermarket, and which was adjacent to the former Vancouver Interurban Rail line (now the route for the SkyTrain). The mall has been expanded and renovated several times, and has contributed to the rapid growth of the area's population.
Two additional shopping centres were constructed adjacent to the original Metrotown—Eaton Centre and Station Square. These three different malls were connected by skyways, as were the two office towers known as the Metrotowers. In 1998, Eaton Centre added Metropolis, a collection of stores aimed towards younger shoppers, including Silvercity, Claire's
Claire's
Claire's is a retailer of accessories and jewelry to girls and young women. Claire's has over 3,000 locations worldwide: their stores are in 95% of all U.S. shopping malls, and in 33 countries...
, Off The Wall
Off The Wall (clothing)
Off The Wall, founded in 1984 and closed in early 2011, is a former Canadian retailer of apparel, footwear, accessories and equipment for active young women...
and CHQ (replacing the Playdium
Playdium
Playdium is a Canadian company which operates a large Family Entertainment Center in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada...
), as well as several Asian-themed businesses. For teens there is Icing, Old Navy, and HMV
HMV Group
HMV is a British global entertainment retail chain and is the largest of its kind in the United Kingdom and Ireland. The company also operates in Hong Kong and Singapore. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE Fledgling Index...
.
The name Metropolis came to apply to Eaton Centre once its main tenant, Eaton's
Eaton's
The T. Eaton Co. Limited was once Canada's largest department store retailer. It was founded in 1869 in Toronto by Timothy Eaton, an Irish immigrant. Eaton's grew to become a retail and social institution in Canada, with stores across the country, buying offices across the globe, and a catalogue...
, shut down. In 2005, a major expansion project ended that saw Metrotown and Metropolis combined into one single megamall, as well as the addition of many new stores and Western Canada's largest food court
Food court
A food court is generally an indoor plaza or common area within a facility that is contiguous with the counters of multiple food vendors and provides a common area for self-serve dining. Food courts may be found in shopping malls and airports, and in various regions may be a standalone development...
. Following this expansion, the two malls became one entity under the name "Metropolis at Metrotown".
Metrotower III, located immediately south of the other two office towers, began construction in the summer of 2008.
Surrounding neighbourhood
The word "Metrotown" has now come to apply to the parts of Burnaby that surround the mall, particularly the commercial and residential areas for several kilometres east and west along KingswayKingsway (Vancouver)
Kingsway is a major road that crosses through the Canadian cities of Vancouver and Burnaby, British Columbia. Originally called Westminster Road, it was renamed Kingsway in 1913....
. Previously, this neighbourhood was referred to as West Burnaby. Since the mid-1980s, the neighbourhood has undergone extreme "densification", thus reflecting the official community plan for the area, created and adjusted in anticipation of SkyTrain construction. Some businesses across Burnaby's nearby western municipal border, in the City of Vancouver
Vancouver
Vancouver is a coastal seaport city on the mainland of British Columbia, Canada. It is the hub of Greater Vancouver, which, with over 2.3 million residents, is the third most populous metropolitan area in the country,...
's Collingwood
Renfrew-Collingwood
Renfrew–Collingwood is a large neighbourhood that lies on the eastern side of Vancouver, on its boundary with Burnaby and encompassing an area that was one of the earlier developed regions of the city. It is a diverse area that includes a substantial business community in several areas, as well as...
neighbourhood, use the Metrotown name, even though most residents would consider them outside of the region covered by the term.
The Metrotown neighbourhood is also home to a number of smaller shopping centres. Although connected to Metropolis by a skyway, Station Square has remained separately managed. Another shopping centre, the Asian-themed Crystal Mall, opened near Metropolis in 2000, although it has no direct connection. Old Orchard Centre, is yet another shopping centre located nearby that is considered part of the Metrotown district. Old Orchard Centre predates all of the other shopping centres in the neighbourhood and is a strip mall, as opposed to an enclosed mall. It features a Marketplace IGA grocery store, Subway
Subway (restaurant)
Subway is an American restaurant franchise that primarily sells submarine sandwiches and salads. It is owned and operated by Doctor's Associates, Inc. . Subway is one of the fastest growing franchises in the world with 35,519 restaurants in 98 countries and territories as of October 25th, 2011...
restaurant, and a Shoppers Drug Mart
Shoppers Drug Mart
Shoppers Drug Mart Corporation is Canada's largest pharmacy chain with more than 1,241 stores operating under the names Shoppers Drug Mart in nine provinces and two territories and Pharmaprix in Quebec as well as in Hawkesbury, Ontario....
, as well as numerous other local and chain stores.
Planning for Metrotown
Although it didn't develop until the 1980s, Metrotown has held a major role in plans for managing Vancouver's growth since the 1970s, with the adoption of the Greater Vancouver Regional District's (GRVD) 1976 Livable Region Plan. Under this plan, Metrotown was expected to become a satellite location for offices relocating from downtown Vancouver. But regional plans were very general and more localized plans were needed to make development a reality. As a result, the first concept plan for Metrotown was created by Burnaby in 1978.According to Laura Tate, a doctoral student at the University of British Columbia, there were at least five ways in which both the City of Burnaby and the GVRD tried to help Metrotown succeed as a Regional Town Centre:
- Through various efforts at assembling land to help development;
- Actively soliciting private sector office construction and public sector office relocation to the area;
- Helping the provincial government buy needed land for building a Skytrain station in the area;
- Changing parking practices; and
- Discouraging a competing proposal for a mega-mall elsewhere in Burnaby by the developers of the West Edmonton Mall and the Mall of America.
Anchor stores
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|Sears
Sears Canada
Sears Canada Inc. is a retailer, headquartered in Toronto, Ontario, that operates in all provinces and territories across Canada with a network of 196 corporate stores, 195 dealer stores, 38 home improvement showrooms, 108 Sears Travel offices and a nationwide home maintenance, repair, and...
|217283
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|The Bay
The Bay
The Bay is a chain of 91 department stores that operate across parts of Canada. It is the main brand of Hudson's Bay Company , North America's oldest company. It has its headquarters in the Simpson Tower in Toronto. In French, the chain is known as la Baie, short for "Compagnie de la Baie d'Hudson"...
|132036
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|Real Canadian Superstore
Real Canadian Superstore
Real Canadian Superstore is a chain of hypermarkets owned by Canadian food retailing giant Loblaw Companies. Its name is often shortened to RCSS or Superstore....
|128468
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|Zellers
Zellers
Zellers Inc. is Canada's second-largest chain of mass merchandise discount stores, with locations in communities across Canada. A subsidiary of the Hudson's Bay Company , it has 273 locations across the country....
|116700
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|Winners HomeSense
|64916
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|T & T Supermarket
T & T Supermarket
T & T Supermarket is a Canadian supermarket chain which sells primarily Chinese and Asian foods. The supermarket chain is headquartered in Richmond, British Columbia. In 1993, the first T & T was opened in Burnaby's Metropolis shopping centre in Metro Vancouver.With rapid expansion, T & T is now...
|59651
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|Silvercity
Cineplex Entertainment
Cineplex Entertainment LP , is the largest film exhibitor in Canada and owns, leases or has a joint-venture interest in 130 theatres with 1,351 screens. Headquartered in Toronto, Canada, Cineplex operates theatres from British Columbia to Quebec...
|59476
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|Atmosphere/SportChek
|48423
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|Toys "R" Us
|38867
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|Home Outfitters
Home Outfitters
Home Outfitters is Canada's largest kitchen, bed, and bath superstore, with 69 stores across the country selling bedding, towels, housewares, and other home accessories....
|31250
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|Chapters
Chapters
Chapters is a Canadian big box bookstore banner owned by Indigo Books and Music. Formerly a company in its own right competing with Indigo, the combined company has continued to operate both banners since their merger in 2001.-History:...
|24549
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|Old Navy
Old Navy
Old Navy is an American clothing brand as well as a chain of stores owned by Gap, Inc., with corporate operations in San Francisco and San Bruno, California. It is one of the first major corporations to house headquarters in the new Mission Bay district of San Francisco.Gap, Inc. was run by...
|18441
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|Zara
Zara (clothing)
Zara is a Spanish clothing and accessories retailer based in Arteixo, Galicia, and founded in 1975 by Amancio Ortega and Rosalía Mera. It is the flagship chain store of the Inditex group; the fashion group also owns brands such as Massimo Dutti, Pull and Bear, Oysho, Uterqüe, Stradivarius and...
|17944
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|Urban Behavior
Urban Behavior
Founded in 1989 by Arif Noor, Urban Behavior is a unisex apparel retailer with 40 stores in Canada which sells private label clothing mostly designed out of Los Angeles. Most of the fashions change depending on the current trends, but the focus is on club wear. The store is mostly popular with...
|16491
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|Forever XXI
|20000
|-}
- Former anchor stores: Eaton'sEaton'sThe T. Eaton Co. Limited was once Canada's largest department store retailer. It was founded in 1869 in Toronto by Timothy Eaton, an Irish immigrant. Eaton's grew to become a retail and social institution in Canada, with stores across the country, buying offices across the globe, and a catalogue...
(now SportChek/Atmosphere (formerly Coast Mountain Sports), Zara & additional mall retail), Woodward'sWoodward'sWoodward's was the name of a department store chain which operated in Alberta and British Columbia, Canada for one hundred years, before its sale to the Hudson's Bay Company .-History:...
(now Zellers & T&T Supermarket), Bretton's (now Old Navy & Chapters), Pacific Linen (now Urban Behavior).
See also
- Eaton CentreEaton CentreEaton Centre is a name associated with shopping malls in Canada, originating with Eaton's, one of Canada's largest department store chains at the time that these malls were developed. Eaton's partnered with development companies throughout the 1970s and 1980s to develop downtown shopping malls in...
- List of shopping malls in Canada
- List of largest shopping malls in Canada
External links
The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
