Aqua Essence Changes What a Mall Can Be

One of the lasting problems from the pandemic has been the shortage of trained professional teaching and lifeguarding in swimming. Covid itself closed pools up for a very long time. Kids often were not getting those valuable lessons which statistics have shown can lead to drownings. With 100,000 lakes and retention ponds, creeks and rivers everywhere, learning how to swim is so important.

Aqua Essence started off as business using city-owned pools. It also happened at people's pools and Winnipeg Beach's Camp Massad outside the city. The pandemic though meant a lot of kids got swim lessons through Zoom in the family bathtub with help of instructor. Not easy with 40 instructors prior to closures working all over and then suddenly nothing.

Owner Rishona Hyman looked for over a decade for a location for her business.  Oddly enough, it arrived when SmartCentres Winnipeg Southwest tried to figure out what to replace some of the closed big box stores with. A long waiting list of retailers was not in the cards. Addition-Elle closed 74 stores in 2021 and those leave gaps not easily filled.

The opening of the Outlet Collection mall down the street has seen a few stores migrate and relocate. Innovative thinking was required but many landlords had to be convinced. And in some cases, desperate enough to listen.

The pool in the 8,000 square foot former Addition-Elle is L shaped and stainless steel. A first for Manitoba. The fears of mould due to humidity is less and the chance for deteriorating of infrastructure diminishes. Most landlords present an empty shell with services connected so the fear that drastic changes could not be reversed weighed on the decision.

In the case of privately owned pools, Winnipeg is way behind Toronto where you find many of them. We have been lucky to have large indoor pools like Pan Am and Eldon Ross, which also has a 1,500 square foot basin pool. But swimming lessons have been left to more private means with non-governmental organizations like Canadian Red Cross getting out of the business.

The convenience of an instructional pool in a big box mall is not the least bit counter-intuitive. And on cold winter days learning to swim in 34 C heated waters with a parent near by or in the water makes sense to a landlord if it fills a spot and brings people to the area.

This is a great Winnipeg business story and an indication of what malls can become. There are still empty spots to fill which will require more innovative thinking. I have a feeling though that many of these malls have more parking than they require. Don't be surprised if some density is added with some residential in the near future.