Masonville Place
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| Masonville Place | |
| Mall facts and statistics | |
|---|---|
| Location | London, Ontario, Canada |
| Opening date | 1985 |
| Developer | Cadillac Fairview |
| Owner | Cadillac Fairview |
| No. of stores and services | 200 |
| No. of anchor tenants | 3 |
| Total retail floor area | 686,000 sq. ft.[1] |
| No. of floors | 2 |
| Website | [2] |
Masonville Place (known locally simply as Masonville) is a major shopping mall in north London, Ontario. It is located at the southeast corner of Fanshawe Park Road and Richmond Street.
Masonville Place was constructed by the Cadillac Fairview corporation in 1985, and was considered the largest, most state-of-the-art mall in Southwestern Ontario. It marked many firsts for London, including the first multi-level shopping centre. It also had three major commercial tenants: Sears, Eaton's, and Loblaws. Loblaws, originally under the SuperStore Warehouse banner (used for large format Loblaw stores in the 1980s) opened on its own in late 1984, preceding the building of the rest of the mall.
The opening of Masonville marked the beginning of a period in London known unofficially as the 'Mall Wars', where the major commercial shopping malls in the city began rapid expansions. Within five years, both White Oaks Mall and Westmount Mall would have massive additions. Also, the two-block large Galleria would be built in the downtown core.
In 1991, Masonville expanded with 75 new stores and services including an indoor miniature golf course, which has since been removed, and replaced with more stores. A Zellers store was also built a few years later in 1994.
In October 1998, the Loblaws store closed and a new standalone Loblaws was opened on the northeast corner of Fanshawe Park Road and Richmond Street. The old store was demolished, and a Famous Players Silver City movie theatre was built in its place in 1999. This was around the same time the Eaton's store was closed due to bankruptcy, and was replaced with The Bay. Also, many big box stores such as Chapters and Petsmart were built nearby along Fanshawe Park Road.
Today, Masonville Place is a regional shopping centre with 200 stores and services. It also has a bus terminal for the London Transit Commission.
In early 2007, Masonville Place will undergo an expansion. Around 10-20 new stores will be built including an Apple Store, H&M, Hollister, Timberland, and Lacoste. This expansion is still subject to negotiation with the new retailers, but should be open end of 2007.
[edit] Anchors
- The Bay (84,928 sq. ft.)
- Famous Players Silver City (60,011 sq. ft.)
- Sears (127,205 sq. ft.)
- Zellers (91,201 sq. ft.)
