The Pen Centre

The Pen Centre (originally The Niagara Peninsula Shopping Centre) is the largest mall in the Niagara Region, located in St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada.

The Pen Centre
LocationSt. Catharines, Ontario, Canada
Address221 Glendale Avenue
Opening date1958
Management20VIC
OwnerCushman & Wakefield
No. of stores and services180
No. of anchor tenants4 (2 open, 2 in process of redevelopment)
Total retail floor area1,036,696 sq ft (96,312.2 m2)
No. of floors1
Parking5000
WebsiteThe Pen Centre
Exterior shot of the Pen Centre viewed from the south-east.

History

The Pen Centre was built in 1957 as the Niagara Peninsula Centre, a single level, outside strip mall, anchored by Loblaws and 50 retail stores and opened in 1958. In 1966, the evolution of the Pen Centre included the addition of Simpson-Sears and 80 new stores, making the Pen Centre the fourth largest shopping centre in Canada. The mall remained as an open-strip, with landscaped walkways in between. By September 1975 the strip-mall was enclosed and became a climate-controlled environment at a cost of $2 million.[1][2]Located next to the Highway 406, tt has over one million square feet of floor space and features over 180 stores, a major department store, a supermarket, a ten-screen movieplex, and several large format anchors.[3]

Famous Players opened the first SilverCity 8-screen multiplex cinema at that location on November 7, 1997. It is now owned by Landmark Cinemas.

In 2011, the mall began a $13 million renovation of the common space, including 3,600 sq. ft. of new skylights, a new food court, floors and ceiling treatments.[4] The renovations were completed in 2012.[5]

The mall previously housed several large retailers:

  • Sears (194,611 sq ft.) Closed its store in January 2018.
  • Eaton’s (converted to mall space in the late 1990s)
  • Target (126,690 sq ft.)[6] - Vacated spring 2015. - Formerly Kmart and Zellers. The space is now currently occupied by a Walmart .

Target announced that it was opening a store in the Pen Centre’s former Zellers location in 2013. Just over a year later, in April 2015, Target shuttered all of its Canadian stores.[7] Later in 2015, the location was sold to Walmart Canada[8], which began construction on a newly revamped building in February 2018, and opened on August 22nd, 2019[9]. Sears closed its store along with all other Canadian stores in January 2018[10] [11], and as of June 2018, it is not yet known who will replace the former Sears store space.

See also
  • List of largest enclosed shopping malls in Canada

References
  1. https://www.waymarking.com/waymarks/WM19CZ_Malls_The_Pen_Centre_St_Catharines_ON
  2. http://thepencentre.com/pages/thepencentre-history
  3. http://www.20vic.com/cms/wp-content/themes/20vic/leasing-pdf-generator/retail.php?id=286
  4. http://www.stcatharinesstandard.ca/2011/03/10/pen-centre-to-undergo-13m-interior-renovation
  5. http://thepencentre.com/pages/thepencentre-history
  6. 20Vic floor map
  7. http://www.ctvnews.ca/business/target-leaving-canada-losing-money-every-day-1.2189973
  8. https://www.thestar.com/business/2015/05/08/walmart-buys-13-former-target-canada-stores.html
  9. Walter, Karena (2019-08-23). "Long-awaited Walmart opens Pen Centre doors". StCatharinesStandard.ca. Retrieved 2019-10-03.
  10. http://www.stcatharinesstandard.ca/2017/10/13/sears-closures-122-niagara-jobs-to-be-eliminated
  11. http://cfcanada.fticonsulting.com/searscanada/docs/Liquidation%20Sale%20Approval%20Order%20(Phase%20II%20Liquidation).pdf

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