Station Mall merchants waiting to hear from new owners
The chair of the Station Mall Merchants Association says news of the mall's sale to a southern Ontario holding company brings to a close years of uncertainty regarding the future of the property.
After being put up for sale in 2015, Algoma Central Corporation announced this week that the 555,000 square-foot shopping centre had been sold to southern Ontario-based SM International Holdings.
"I'm sure a lot of people were concerned and weren't sure what was going to actually happen in the end, but I think it’s all positive," says Rodger Rosset. "We're extremely busy and this just means now that we can move forward."
In addition to his duties as chair, Rosset is also co-owner of Savoy's Jewellers, a mall tenant of more than 40 years. He says he's excited to hear what the new owners have in store.
"The owners have just purchased the mall a week ago, so I can't expect too much yet," he said. "But I'm excited to see what they have planned for us moving forward."
Since 2017, Station Mall has lost two anchor stores – Sears and Walmart. Salvatore Marchese, executive director of the Sault Ste. Marie Downtown Association, says the mall, which is not represented by his organization, is an important part of the neighbourhood and should be looking for another big tenant.
"I think the addition of an anchor store would help," said Marchese. "I think it's really important that we also try to maintain the businesses that have been there for years."
Marchese also believes the mall will need to reinvent itself in some way to remain viable.
"You've seen that, especially in Toronto at Yorkdale, it’s a staple example where they have changed how they operate every so often. And I think especially now, they’ve looked at how can we utilize some of the parking space, how can we update the facade, how can we make these destination places."
CTV News Northern Ontario reached out to the new owners of the mall for comment. They said they are not prepared to issue a statement at this time, but would likely be releasing one before the end of the week.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Amid concerns over 'collateral damage' Trudeau, Freeland defend capital gains tax change
Facing pushback from physicians and businesspeople over the coming increase to the capital gains inclusion rate, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his deputy Chrystia Freeland are standing by their plan to target Canada's highest earners.
Bodies found by U.S. authorities searching for missing B.C. kayakers
United States authorities who have been searching for a pair of missing kayakers from British Columbia since the weekend have recovered two bodies in the nearby San Juan Islands of Washington state.
Tom Mulcair: Park littered with trash after 'pilot project' is perfect symbol of Trudeau governance
Former NDP leader Tom Mulcair says that what's happening now in a trash-littered federal park in Quebec is a perfect metaphor for how the Trudeau government runs things.
'It's discriminatory': Individuals refused entry to Ontario legislature for wearing keffiyeh
Individuals being barred from entering Ontario’s legislature while wearing a keffiyeh say the garment is part of their cultural identity— and the only ones making it political are the politicians banning it.
Competition bureau finds 'substantial' anti-competitive effects with proposed Bunge-Viterra merger
The proposed merger of agricultural giants Viterra and Bunge is raising competition concerns from the federal government.
Douglas DC-4 plane with 2 people on board crashes into river outside Fairbanks, Alaska
A Douglas C-54 Skymaster airplane crashed into the Tanana River near Fairbanks on Tuesday, Alaska State Troopers said.
BREAKING Mounties will not be charged in shooting death of B.C. Indigenous man
Three Mounties in British Columbia will not face charges in the killing of a 38-year-old Indigenous man on Vancouver Island in 2021.
Canada's favourite sport to watch is hockey, survey shows
The 2024 Stanley Cup playoffs have already delivered a fever level of fan excitement in Canada.
'It's just so hard to let it go': Umar Zameer still haunted by death of Toronto police officer
“It's just so hard to let it go. I mean, everyone is telling me, ‘you have to move on,’ but I know someone is not here [anymore]. So I don't know how I will move on." That’s what Umar Zameer, the man recently acquitted in the death of a Toronto police officer, told CTV News Toronto in a sit-down interview on Tuesday.