Don Mills Centre

The Don Mills Centre was a shopping centre in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was located on a 44-acre (178,000 m²) commercial site, at the southwest corner of Don Mills Road and Lawrence Avenue East in the planned community of Don Mills. There were at least 98 stores during the height of the mall's existence. The majority of the mall was closed and demolished in summer 2006 for redevelopment as the Shops at Don Mills.

E.P. Taylor of Argus Corporation originally bought the land for a brewing plant, but decided to make the site the focal point of the 2,100 acre (8.35 km²) planned community. Initial construction of the Don Mills Centre began in 1954. In 1955, a strip plaza was opened with a Dominion Supermarket, Kofflers Drug Store (the first Shoppers Drug Mart), Brewers Retail and a dozen other retailers.

Don Mills Centre was primarily intended to serve the local community, centrally located within walking distance of many rental units built around the core of the community.

By 1965, the Dominion supermarket had relocated into a larger store at the south end, Zellers moved in and an outdoor mall expanded to 65 stores.

In 1978, a major renovation was undertaken to enclose the mall. The mall was expanded from 400,000 to 462,000 square feet (37,000 to 43,000 m²).

After its closure in the 1990s, the lower level of the Eaton's store was converted to a Sears Canada outlet store, which later closed. The store once again stood empty for some time until it was leased by a sporting goods store, National Sports. The store then left the site after two years and was replaced by a patio furniture store and a used car dealership.

...
Wikipedia