Some Malls Will Live. And Some, Like The One, Will Be Demolished For New Ideas

In the next decade, Canadians are going to see some of our shopping malls torn down. They may be replaced by new retail/multi-use concepts, or be replaced by entirely new uses. Today we’ll mention Edmonton’s Capilano Mall and its proposal to eliminate its interior mall space and replace it with ‘big-box retailers’.

Edmonton’s Capilano Mall is a mediocre shopping centre (we’re being generous in our description) located in the Eastern portion of the city. Yelp reviews give it ONE STAR (LOL!). Anchor tenants include Walmart and a Safeway grocery store. The mall was built in 1967 and is about 300,000 square feet (the size of a large suburban department store). The interior decore inspires yawning and its landlord could market it as a cure for insomnia. 

Capilano’s landlord obviously realized this and is spending $11million to eliminate interior corridor retail and replace it with larger stores surrounded by parking. We think this is also uninspired but it might make the landlord some money in the shorter-term, not to mention bring some new retail to an area of Edmonton that may be somewhat underserved by larger-format stores (at least compared to other parts of the city). 

We’ve become interested in the ‘future of malls’. Some of the best will survive into the next decade. We think many will fail. Edmonton’s Heritage Mall, for example, was razed and replaced by a massive multi-family residential development. Numerous American malls have been demolished to the point that a website has been dedicated to the concept. 

We’ve been inspired to create an analytical article on the future of North American malls. Expect a post in the near future, once we’ve had time to compile some research materials and consult with some commercial real estate experts. 

Capilano Mall website: THERE IS NO WEBSITE.