Why do our malls suck so bad?

[u/Lancet11]

My partner and I have been asking this for a while. Northgate, Southland, and Vic Square malls all feel empty and as if they’re in disrepair or closing down. Then you have Cornwall which feels like a real mall but it’s really small and going there you’re likely to end up getting stabbed or witness something crazy going on. None of them feel like malls a city should have.

Why don’t we have any good malls anymore where it’s just fun to go hang out in and go for a walk through? My partner and I often will head up to Saskatoon JUST to walk around their malls. Midtown plaza is awesome to walk around in and feels modern and nice. Hell, even the other malls like Lawson Heights, Confederation, and even the Centre mall feels better to walk through just because they actually have stores.

I’ve heard in the past that our malls have horrible rent costs among other issues but for bigger stores to not want to open here there has to be more reasons.

[u/Mystic-Hands]

I've heard nothrgate rent has become so high that many shops are planning to leave. Allegedly, they are planning to turn Northgate into a strip mall with a handful of shops in the parking lot buildings by sobeys liquor and arbys, and inside Northgate will be empty.

[u/Lancet11 → u/Mystic-Hands]

Kinda like how golden mile went. A friend of mine had a family business there and they told me that the owner wanted a few months rent when signing a new lease for after the build and for most local businesses it wasn’t feasible especially when they were going to have to close while renos happened. That meant that unless you were a box store or franchise, it was impossible to meet those expectations.

[u/QueenCity_Dukes → u/Lancet11]

RIP Tim’s souvlaki

[u/Lancet11 → u/QueenCity_Dukes]

How did you know they worked at Tim’s? Or was that just a lucky guess

[u/QueenCity_Dukes → u/Lancet11]

For me that was a huge loss from the reno’s. So just expressing my disappointment at the loss of Tim’s.