Bayshore Shopping Centre

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Facts and statistics
Bayshore Shopping Centre

Location	Ottawa, Ontario (former city of Nepean)
Coordinates	45°20′50″N 75°48′25″W / 45.34722, -75.80694Coordinates: 45°20′50″N 75°48′25″W / 45.34722, -75.80694
Opening date	1973
Developer	Ivanhoe Cambridge
Management	Charles F. Champagne
Owner	Ivanhoe Cambridge^[1]
No. of stores and services	155
No. of anchor tenants	6 (Zellers, Old Navy, Sports Experts, Savory's Fine Foods, The Bay, Winners
Total retail floor area	728,047 square feet (total surface)
Parking	4000 (including 53 handicapped and 27 family)^[2]
No. of floors	3
Website	http://bayshore.shopping.ca

Bayshore Shopping Centre is a major shopping mall located in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.

This mall is one of the busiest in the National Capital Region as it attracts about 7 million visitors per year^[3] from all of the city as well as from outside Ottawa.

The interior of the 3-storey mall has a relatively simple layout, as opposed to the Rideau Centre and St. Laurent Shopping Centre, which makes it very easy to navigate. Prominent retail tenants include The Bay, Winners, Sports Experts, Pharma Plus, Laura, Zellers, Birks Jewelers, Mexx, Club Monaco, GAP, Banana Republic, American Eagle Outfitters, Old Navy and the newly-opened Savory's Fine Foods among its 150 stores. Well-known restaurants such as Subway, KFC, New York Fries & A&W are located in its food court located on the upper level.

Les Ailes de la Mode (from August 2001 to June 2003) and Market Fresh (From Fall 2004 to December 31, 2005) were also important stores that were located in this mall in recent years. Previous tenants included Eaton's, Toy World, Marks & Spencer, Steinberg's, Miracle Mart, A&A Records, Little Farm, Boots, Sam The Record Man, Wilson, and the Pik Nik and Steak & Burger restaurants.

The mall is commonly called simply Bayshore by local residents. It is operated by Ivanhoe Cambridge and the current general manager is Charles Champagne. The mall security is assured by the North American Security Services (N.A.S.S)[2] while it is maintained by Everyday Maintenance & Landscaping (outside) and Allen Maintenance Ltd (inside).

1 Management Team
2 Massive Construction & Renovation Period
- 2.1 First Phase
- 2.2 Second Phase
3 Anchors
4 Events
5 Major criminal incidents
6 Other Notes
7 Transportation
8 Hours of Operation
- 8.1 Holidays and Christmas Period
9 References
10 External links

[edit] Management Team

Primary mall personnel as of December 2006 (subject to change)

Operator/Owner: Ivanhoe-Cambridge
General Manager: Charles Champagne
Operations/Building Manager: Bert Vanderwal
Accounts/Finance Administrator: Lynn Graham
Building Technician/Operations Assistant: Scott Hindshaw
Marketing/Sales Director: Maud Lorenger
Retail/Leasing Coordinator: Melyssa Houle
Marketing Assistant & Special Events Coordinator: Dona Abedi
Operations Assistant: Janet Currie
Sponsorship/Partnership: Leigh Rosar
Guest Services Coordinator: Jane Duncan

[edit] Massive Construction & Renovation Period

[edit] First Phase

When the mall originally opened in 1973, it consisted of two floors, in earthy tones of browns with white. In the 1980s, the mall underwent an extensive facelift and renovation, chiefly the addition of a third storey, upgraded passenger lift, and a dramatic escalator going directly from the ground floor to the top level. The colour scheme was also updated to a stylish green and tan marble design. The original wrought-iron and wood railings were replaced by glass panels capped by a gold metallic balustrade. The new design featured large peaked glass panels as the ceiling, letting in lots of light to enhance the shopping experience. Another level was added to the exterior parkade as well. These changes helped Bayshore evolve from a medium-sized "community mall" to a regional shopping centre that attracts clientele from outside of the immediate area. The mall has continued to evolve in order to remain current in the dynamic retail climate that is Ottawa.

[edit] Second Phase

Following the 2003 closure of Les Ailes de la Mode, the resulting vacant space on the south side of the first and second levels was reconstructed into two new areas. In the first level, the former corridor was closed and a new corridor and mall entrance created to its east. Stores in the new area include GNC, EB Games, The Body Shop, Shoppers Blvd (which later closed), Scentiments, Carol Baker Visage, Freyja Collections and MotoPhoto. A small eating area was also added, including a few new snack shops such as Booster Juice, La Cremière and Cinnabon. The new Savory's Fine Foods store opened on June 15, 2006 (replacing the defunct Market Fresh store) and the new Pet World opened across from the grocery store on July 13. Savory's Fine Foods closed on August 19, 2007, marking the second time a specialty food store failed to make a go of it.

On the second level, a new corridor includes stores such as Mexx, Cleo, Timothy's World Coffee, Place Bonbon, Winners and Swarovski. The two new sections of the mall are connected by an elevator and some escalators. Washrooms were added near the GAP replacing the older and smaller ones that were located near the main entrance of the level (by the Bayshore Dental Clinic).

A new passager elevator opposite to the existing green one, that leads to the food court area of the third floor. It was also built to transport a greater number of customers from first to third or vice versa.

The new Build-A-Bear Workshop opened its doors on June 15, 2006 at the old Cotton Ginny location which itself moved further east on the level beside the recently moved Northern Reflection store. Just across from the location, the Athletes World store had moved for a short period of time to the lower level as they have reduced the second level space they occupied. A new store, Esprit occupied the remaining space starting in October. Also in 2006, Northern Reflections moved to the location occupied by McIntosh & Watts. La Senza Express also opened during the fall replacing the former Urban Trade store.

During the summer of 2006, the mall underwent an extensive renovation to its parking deck - this to replace the structure that existed since its opening more than 30 years ago. Other renovations may be planned elsewhere across the mall in the future.

Bayshore Shopping Centre, as seen from the Richmond Road overpass over Highway 417.

[edit] Anchors

The centre's anchors are as follows:^[4]

The Bay (180,696 sq. ft.)
Old Navy (18,593 sq. ft.)
Savory's Fine Foods (now vacant) (15,625 sq. ft.)
Sports Experts (16,678 sq. ft.)
Winners (31,912 sq. ft.)
Zellers (124,099 sq. ft.)

[edit] Events

In mid-November, Bayshore has its own Santa Claus Parade, which usually on Sundays, consists of a parade that starts in front of the Bay on the third level and ends at the Santa's Castle on the first level near Pharma Plus. This is usually the kick-off of the holiday shopping season in which the mall's hours are extended until 10 PM from Monday to Saturday except Sundays which keeps regular hours (although in previous years the mall also had extended hours on Sundays). During the last week of the Christmas rush, the mall is open until 11:00PM. Other traditional features of the shopping centre at this period is the Gift Wrapping Service on the second level in which patrons can have their gifts wrapped.

During the year, Bayshore organizes promotions which includes prizes or contests for their customers. Last June, Bayshore gave away a free day of golf for 20 for Father's Day at the Marshes Golf Club in Kanata - near Brookstreet Hotel with a supper at the Moxies Bar & Grill restaurant at Bayshore. Other promotions includes free products for every 150$ spent, free school purchases or other promotions sponsored by Visa. Several other events organized by the mall or stores are occurring throughout the year.

Each summer, Bayshore organizes its annual sidewalk sale where stores are doing sales outside in the mall. It usually takes place on the second week of July but most stores had started their own sales well in advance and after the official event.

[edit] Major criminal incidents

14 October 1983^[5]: David Utman, a Nepean policeman, was shot to death at the mall by a fugitive convict. Peter Michael Collins was handed a life sentence in 1984 for first-degree murder, with the possibility of parole after 25 years. Collins apparently said "Your time is up" before shooting the officer.^[6]

1 September 1984: Cst. Ralph Erfle and Cst. Robin Easey were shot after interrupting an attempted robbery involving a Brinks truck delivery to the mall's Toronto-Dominion Bank branch. Of the five criminals involved, four were captured and sentenced, the other was shot and killed at the scene.^[7]

January 1999: Octavio Eva Gonzalez was murdered in a stabbing at the mall after he finished work there. Benny Jauvin was convicted of manslaughter and was given a net sentence of six years, a jail term some observers considered too lenient.^[8]^[9]

[edit] Other Notes

On the east end of the first level, special temporarily kiosks, called MRU's are located.

Since the summer of 2005, Bayshore introduced Gift Cards, which can be purchased at the Customer Service Kiosk Desk on the lower level, area available in several denominations and can be used either for stores and services throughout the mall. It has replaced the old gift certificates previously used , but it doesn't really have any significant difference.

Port Pizzazz is a children's playground area that is operated by the YMCA of Ottawa-Carleton and is located in the third level beside the Bay. It contains a sliding area with a pool of plastic balls, an Xbox machine, a computer, arts & crafts and many more. One can obtain a free hour at the playground for every $75 spent.

[edit] Transportation

The mall is located near the interchanges of provincial highways 417 and 416 in the Nepean sector of Ottawa, through the Richmond Road exits.

Bayshore Shopping Centre is served by the following routes at the Bayshore Transitway Station:
2 85 96 97 101 152 154 166 167 169 172 181 182 404

The City of Ottawa recently announced plans to construct the extension of the West Transitway which will provide more direct bus connections into Bayshore station. The project is expected to be completed in 2009.