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Orangeville Mall getting two new tenants

March 5, 2014   ·   1 Comments

By Tabitha Wells

The Orangeville Mall is finally getting some new stores to fill the void left after Tabi, Reitmans, West 49 and Zellers left in the last couple of years. The announcement brings with it lots of positive reactions, as the mall has seen an enormous decrease in customers due to the lack of shopping available.

A 20,000-square-foot HomeSense and 22,000-square-foot SportChek will take over the former Zellers space with 10 -year-leases in place. The announcement was made on February 27 by Retrocom Real Estate Investment Trust, owners of the mall, after a long wait by local residents.

“We’re very pleased to welcome these outstanding tenants. HomeSense and SportChek are two very strong retailers that will serve the community well,” stated Richard Michaeloff, Retrocom’s President and Chief Executive Officer in the press release. “These additions enhance our tenant mix at Orangeville Mall and improve our position within the marketplace.”

Mayor Rob Adams explained that, based on the reactions to his Facebook post about the new retailers, the town is also pleased with the changes coming to the Orangeville Mall.

“People are really excited. I had a lot of people respond when I posted on Social Media that [these stores] were coming,” he said. “There were people who were definitely excited about HomeSense, and people who are more the sports enthusiasts were definitely more excited about SportChek. It’s going to really help the Orangeville Mall by bringing some good, strong tenants, and it will help the existing mall tenants who are already in place to generate more traffic.”

He added that bringing retailers like these will have a positive impact by keeping shoppers in town, and even bringing in shoppers from the surrounding area, helping to benefit the overall economy of both the town and the mall itself.

“Anytime that people have an opportunity to shop local, I think they take it,” said Mayor Adams. “It benefits all businesses locally because what it means is people are spending their dollars in the community. It makes Orangeville as a destination and a draw to the outlying areas even better. Rather than people going to Brampton, Guelph or Barrie, they’re more likely to come to Orangeville because we have more shopping choices here.”

Along with the new retailers, Retrocom intends to upgrade the shopping centre with a brand new exterior, renovated entrance and pylon signs, helping to make the mall more appealing from its current state.

“This $5 million reinvestment in the mall demonstrates our ongoing commitment to offer our shoppers a broad range of choices for their everyday shopping needs,” said Mr. Michaeloff.

Construction on both SportChek and HomeSense are slated to begin this month, with plans for the stores to open their doors this fall.

While Mayor Adams could not publicly disclose whether there are any other retailers coming to the mall or what might be in the works for the vacant stores, he did confirm that there are talks about what’s to come next.

“On an ongoing basis there are a number of discussions going on,” he said. “There are also other discussions in other parts of town that happen on a regular basis. There is a lot of activity and a lot of interest in Orangeville, and we continue to look for opportunities to bring people who are prepared to invest in our community to the table.”

So, while we may have to wait a little longer to find out what other companies will be bringing their business to Orangeville, it should be safe to assume that with big names like HomeSense and SportChek securing a spot in the mall, there will be plenty more to look forward to.

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