The Champlain Mall (French: Mail Champlain) is a shopping mall located in Brossard, Quebec, Canada at the intersection of Taschereau Boulevard and Lapinière Boulevard. Champlain Mall is named in honour of Samuel de Champlain but references the Champlain Bridge that was built 13 years prior to the mall's opening.

Champlain Mall
Map
Coordinates45°28′23.91″N 73°28′13.26″W / 45.4733083°N 73.4703500°W / 45.4733083; -73.4703500
Address2151, boulevard Lapinière
Brossard, Quebec, Canada
J4W 2T5
Opening date30 October 1975
DeveloperIvanhoe Corporation
ManagementCominar Investment Trust
OwnerCominar Investment Trust
No. of stores and services+- 150
No. of anchor tenants5
Total retail floor area715,000 sq ft (66,400 m2). (GLA)[1]
No. of floors1
ParkingOutdoor and 4-level parking garage
Capacity: 4140 cars
Public transit access Panama
Bus transport Terminus Panama
Websitemailchamplain.ca/en

Champlain Mall is strategically located in Brossard: on the South Shore's longest commercial artery Taschereau Boulevard (Quebec Route 134), near Autoroute 10 and adjacent to Terminus Brossard-Panama. Thus, the mall attracts about 6.4 million visitors every year.[2]

History

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Champlain Mall's history goes all the way back to October 1957, before the city of Brossard was founded, when Ivanhoe Corporation, through its business partner Westmount Realties Company, acquired a series of lots from La Prairie-de-la-Madeleine Parish with the intent of building a shopping centre at the corner of what is now Provencher and Pelletier boulevards.[3] After Ivanhoe submitted a request on September 12, 1960 to the emerging City of Brossard for the development of land for the shopping mall, it took 15 years for the Champlain Mall to be constructed.

Champlain Mall inaugurated in the fall of 1975 at 300,000 square feet with 60 stores, and Sears and Steinberg's as major anchors.[4] Sears and Steinberg's had themselves been opened to the public since the beginning of the year, respectively on March 12 and April 1975.[5] In the case of Sears, it was its first location in Greater Montreal.[4] The Champlain Mall was developed by Ivanhoe Corporation, a wholly-owned real estate unit of Steinberg's.[6]

A first expansion opened on September 1, 1977 brought in 35 new stores allowing Champlain Mall to now have more than 100 tenants.[7] New arrivals included Miracle Mart, Arlington, Cardinal and Taylor's.[7] Miracle Mart's name was subsequently shortened to M in August 1986.[8]

Another expansion was completed in August 1988 which saw the mall reached more than 700 000 square feet.[9] As part of this phase was the appearance of The Bay which inaugurated its store on August 3, 1988.[10] An estimate of 50 new boutique spaces were added.[9] The portion of Champlain Mall that was added during this expansion corresponds to the two mall wings that both lead to The Bay store. The current food court and multi-level parking lot also happened during that phase.

Champlain Mall was jointly owned by Ivanhoe and Kerrybrooke, the real-estate subsidiaries of Steinberg's and Sears Canada respectively.[9] In 1990, Sears divested itself of 25% of its ownership in the Champlain Mall.[11] In 1994, Ivanhoe acquired the remaining shares Sears held in the mall.[12] Sears continued to be an anchor tenant for several decades.[13]

On August 10, 1994, Les Ailes de la Mode opened the first store of its chain at the Champlain Mall in the former M store site.[14][15]

An IMAX theatre was built in the mall in 1996.[16] It was the largest IMAX theatre in the province and was one of the few in the world to use a personal sound environment headset and special 3-D glasses.[16] The theatre eventually closed on November 6, 2000 over a contractual dispute between its operator TheMax Inc. and its content provider IMAX Corporation.[17]

In early 1998, Archambault announced that it would open by the summer a 20,000-square foot megastore.[18]

Sears completed in September 1998 a $20-million makeover of three of its stores at Champlain Mall, Galeries d'Anjou and Carrefour Laval.[19]

A$40 million facelift was completed at the Champlain Mall in late 2011 to better compete against South Shore rivals Quartier DIX30 and Promenades Saint Bruno.[20]

In October 2014, Ivanhoé Cambridge sold the Champlain Mall to Cominar.[21]

On April 21, 2018, Decathlon opened its first Canadian store in the former space of Les Ailes de la Mode.[22]

A Mayrand supermarket opened its door on July 15, 2020, occupying a good part of the former Sears location.[23]

Anchors and tenants

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This is a list of the major anchors and tenants at Champlain Mall, organized by descending leased area.[24]

Anchors

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See also

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References

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  1. ^ "About Us". Mail Champlain. Archived from the original on 10 July 2007. Retrieved 22 May 2007.
  2. ^ "Champlain Mall: Profile". Ivanhoe Cambridge. Archived from the original on 23 February 2007. Retrieved 22 May 2007.
  3. ^ "Miscellaneous Notices". Québec Official Gazette. 7 December 1974. p. 9208.
  4. ^ a b "Sears chooses Brossard site for first local outlet". Montreal Gazette. Montreal. 7 March 1975. p. 21.
  5. ^ "Champlain Mall lease advertisement and original map". Montreal Star. Montreal. 18 March 1975. pp. B7.
  6. ^ "Simpsons-Sears sales up". The Gazette. Montreal. 12 March 1975. p. 14.
  7. ^ a b "Champlain Mall advertisement page". Montreal Star. Montreal. 31 August 1977. p. D11.
  8. ^ "Miracle Mart stores get new name, concept". Montreal Gazette. Montreal. 21 August 1986. p. D1.
  9. ^ a b c "Ivanhoe to spend $90 million to upgrade malls". Montreal Gazette. Montreal. 15 May 1987. p. 21.
  10. ^ "The Bay advertising". Montreal Gazette. Montreal. 2 August 1988. p. 28.
  11. ^ "Sears Canada may sell mall interest: Recession-weary retailer would take advantage of 'right opportunity'". The Globe and Mail. Toronto. 29 April 1991. p. B9.
  12. ^ "Ivanhoe rachete la participation de Sears dans le Mail Champlain: 28 M$". Les Affaires. Montreal. 11–17 June 1994. p. 53.
  13. ^ "Les Ailes to close Ste-Foy and Brossard stores". Retail-insider.com. 24 March 2014. Retrieved 5 May 2022.
  14. ^ "Flight of fashion; Ailes de la Mode targeting upscale shoppers". Montreal Gazette. Montreal. 9 August 1994. p. D5.
  15. ^ "SAN FRANCISCO Profits on the wing". Montreal Gazette. Montreal. 14 December 1996. p. C4.
  16. ^ a b "Brossard to get an Imax largest, most up-to-date in the province". Montreal Gazette. Montreal. 7 February 1996. p. F5.
  17. ^ "Independent theatre forced to close after long dispute with Imax". National Post. Toronto. 8 November 2000. p. C6.
  18. ^ "Archambault: bigger's better : Retailer closes 4 small outlets, plans Brossard music megastore". Montreal Gazette. Montreal. 25 February 1998. p. C1.
  19. ^ "Sears unveils its new look: Three Montreal-area department stores undergo $20-million makeover". Montreal Gazette. Montreal. 19 September 1998. p. G3.
  20. ^ "South Shore Mall gets $40 million facelift".
  21. ^ "Closing of the transaction between Ivanhoé Cambridge and Cominar". October 2014.
  22. ^ "World's Largest Sporting Goods Retailer 'Decathlon' to Disrupt Canadian Retail [Feature]". Retail-insider.com. 5 April 2018. Retrieved 5 May 2022.
  23. ^ "Plaza REIT launches grocery-anchored Halifax dev".
  24. ^ "Champlain Mall: Facts". Ivanhoe Cambridge. Archived from the original on 23 February 2007. Retrieved 22 May 2007.
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