Eastgate Square

infobox shopping mall
shopping_mall_name = Eastgate Square


caption =
location = 75 Centennial Parkway North, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
opening_date = 1972
developer =
manager = Redcliff Realty Management Inc.
owner =
number_of_stores = 100+
number_of_anchors = 4
Sears (92,200 sq ft) open soon - relocating from Centre Mall in Fall 2008 (formerly The Bay which closed in May 2008)
Wal*Mart (140,500 sq ft)
Fortinos (88,000 sq ft)
HomeSense (24,000 sq ft)
former anchors
Robinson's "became The Bay, 1992" closed in May 2008, to become replacement Sears store for Centre Mall location
Woolco "became Wal*Mart 1994"
Loblaws "became No Frills mid 1980s, Fortinos 1990, relocated 2000, became HomeSense 2002"
Eaton's closed 1999, "demolished, Fortinos built on site"
floor_area =
floors = 1

Eastgate Square, is an indoor shopping mall in Stoney Creek, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. The Mall is bounded by Queenston Road (South), Centennial Parkway (East), Delawana Drive (North) and Kenora Avenue (West).

The Mall is managed by "Redcliff Realty Management Inc." and offers over 100 stores and services including Wal-Mart, Sears, Fortinos, HomeSense and Shoppers Drug Mart. cite web| title =Eastgate Square Web site| url=http://www.eastgatesquare.ca/home/index.ch2| accessdate = 2007-12-05]

History

Eastgate Square opened in 1973 with Woolco, Eaton's, and Robinson's as its anchors. In 1989, Fortinos joined the anchors by opening a grocery store there. In 1992, Hudson's Bay Company turned its Robinson's location into The Bay. Wal-Mart entered the Canadian market in March 1994 by acquiring Woolco, and renaming all stores under the Wal-Mart banner. Eaton's had gone under in 1999, and its space was demolished for a new large Fortinos, relocating from its old store, and opening in 2001.

The 2000s marked a big turning point for the mall. While it always had been successful, many new stores had opened in the mall, and many existing tenants had renovated their stores. HomeSense had opened a store in the old Fortinos space. In 2006/2007, nearby Queenston Mall had begun to revitalize its site, and the LCBO and Shoppers Drug Mart had relocated to Eastgate. In 2007, Jack Astor's had opened a restaurant at Eastgate.

Eastgate Square celebrated 35 years in 2008. The mall had undergone a major facelift to its main entrance. The Hamilton Street Railway had renovated and upgraded its bus terminal on-site. The mall was thriving in success. However, two major blows hit the mall in the coming months. The Bay announced it was closing its Eastgate location, putting many of its employees out of a job. However, very shortly after, Sears had announced it was moving into The Bay's former location from the nearby Centre Mall, which is being torn down and completely redone. The new Sears store opened in September 2008. Wal-Mart had also announced it was considering leaving as the mall's most busiest tenant, and relocating barely a kilometre from the mall to the corner of Centennial Parkway and the QEW/South Service Road. Wal-Mart Canada had recently opened one of its first Supercentres in Hamilton, proving to be a very successful store. This new Wal-Mart will be a Supercentre as well. However, Wal-Mart has hit a roadblock with the City of Hamilton, where it is trying to convince the city to rezone the proposed lands to commercial, from industrial. As of September 2008, the decision to rezone the land is still in the hands of city council, and if Wal-Mart does relocate to this new location, it will still be a few years before it leaves Eastgate.

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References

External links

* [http://www.eastgatesquare.ca Eastgate Square: Official Web site]