Lands Around Polo Park Being Sold Off

 

Shindico has indicated that Cadillac Fairview's priority surrounding Polo Park has been downgraded. The blame has been put on the City of Winnipeg slow walking zoning, the rising costs of construction and fewer multi-unit housing starts planned. Some of this is true but it is also true that Polo Park has had continuous upgrades from Sears to Zellers and has still has The Bay to deal with. Each projects takes time and millions.

There was a mad rush to get the arena and the stadium down and street improvements made. An urgency was presented for the speed of the work. The airport zoning was changed years ago. If we are to believe the news now, there was only a tiny window about 10 years ago or so and now it is gone. 

The truth is probably more in the middle. The two developers had amassed a huge 84 acres but the so-called delay they describe around 2020 was already in the middle of Covid. The site has already lost to the Seasons of Tuxedo site a huge amount of retail, hotels, commercial buildings and entertainment. In the race to develop, Seasons was way ahead. And there was not much room for a whole new outlet mall.

Now, it may be the Kapyong Barracks time although is likely to be piece by piece. Hoarding an 84 acre site when both Shindico and Cadillac Fairview have their own projects and competitors nipping at their heels. Holding onto land another decade probably seems like a costly thing to keep on the balance sheet. What they originally thought was that was the whole site would be built in steady phases and that they would be collecting ever rising rent over the years. 

There is no doubt that some other businesses would build in a red hot minutes if they could both own and operate the near Polo Park. Hence, the word hoarding is used in this case. No one was buying what these two companies were selling. They were trying to build luxury, high end rental property thinking it would sell like a hotcakes. It wasn't. The endless empty parking lots with shiny new roads all around is an indication of that. And like so many projects, bait a switch. A rush to approve demolition and then no start to construction.

Hopefully, the sale will reveal who is serious about getting stuff built. The city can help get stuff built with the shovel ready program. The luxury stuff can be handled by the developers themselves. The government can focus on support for lower income units and residents who need support directly.  Helping to pay for shopping centers isn't needed.

It isn't likely we see anything soon on Polo Park. Cadillac Fairview and Shindico have a lot of projects on the go. Other companies can carry the football over the line now. It's time for big corporations and government to get out of the way. And in some circumstances, the public who can make outrageous demands on height restrictions, density or design even when buildings are outside their area. The desire to control things reminds me of the time Linden Woods had a petition against The Keg building across Waverley many years ago because the smell of steaks might drive dogs nuts. The citizens won.

There is no doubt that several different restaurant groups might be interested in having an establishment at Polo Park. Cactus Club, Milestone's and others have considered expanding into Winnipeg but a site next to a major attraction like the arena or Polo Park has been considered key. Several American companies like Shake Shack have been looking to expand to Winnipeg.

As far as apartments, there are several assisted living companies looking for space and Polo Park would seem to fit the bill. However, they might not have had room with the large developers who often want to do the work in-house or whose cut was just too big to make viable. Land hoarding is done by both private and public organizations. And the land around Polo Park has been hoarded for a long time with no results. Waiting for the maximum sales value has meant empty parking lots.

It seems the mad rush to clear out the stadium and arena for something better will take more time. It won't be the first time or the last that the city has been told by a developer to demolish things only to slick back into the sidelines and blame the city for not moving even faster. In the end, the sale off could a very good thing. What once was a warehousing area and manufacturing sector is being populated by hotels and specialized retail. And now more people might actually be able to live in the area.

Polo Park isn't about to become a declining area. Millions are being spent on the mall and surrounding areas. I expect security and policing to be a major issue this year so expect a big boost in those areas. If Polo Park declines then the whole city is likely in crisis. That doesn't seem likely. The prospect and new enthusiastic developers for the site will be welcome.

St. Vital Centre Purchased for $160 Million

St. Vital Centre was built in 1979 for about $40 million just when a flurry of other malls were going up in including Kildonan Place, Winnipeg Square, Eaton Centre and Unicity. That was a lot of malls all at once and some of them did not survive or have been drastically changed over the years. Most of the malls were owned by real estate companies in the beginning but many including Primaris and Cadillac Fairview are now owned all or in part by the Maple 8, Canadians top government pension funds. For the last numbers of years St. Vital Centre has been owned by the Ontario Pension Board.

In recent years some private players have been making inroads as owners. It is unclear who their shareholders might be. In many cases their financing still comes from pension funds as in the case of Brookfield Asset Management. The fact that a pension fund sells a property doesn't mean they are not part of shareholding or or financing the deal to enhance their balance sheets. 

In the case of the sale of St. Vital Centre to Leyad, a Quebec-based real estate company, it appears the sale was financed by six credit unions in a syndicate. Since Leyad is a private company, it doesn't have to disclose its financial structure except to the banks and paying taxes. 

This is not the first foray into real estate in Winnipeg by Leyad. They have purchased Garden City Square, Johnston Terminal, CDI College and the Canada Goose Distribution Centre over the years for a pretty significant footprint in the city. Next to Montreal, it might be the biggest holdings right in the company. 

For many years St. Vital Centre has been firmly entrenched as the second largest mall in the city. Due to the location, it is hard for it to expand much beyond what it is now unless they build up. However, they still have to fill the empty Bay store location. This is an issue for Polo Park as well. Since the other large story closures led to knew tenants, it is expect that by year end announcements will be made on new uses for the space. And Leyad seems well suited to investing in their properties but that remains to be seen. The Johnston Terminal took a while to get going again after Covid but seems better now.

There is no record of what the purchase price of the mall when it was taken over by the Ontario Pension Board. However, with the original price being $40 million and the sale price being $160.5 million that is a very healthy price for a mall still producing income. The powerful Canadian pensions probably can't quit malls completely. They are too big and growing to not buy real estate. The U.S. could be less attractive if their economy tanks but who knows? That could be the perfect time to invest. Just ask the people who bought dirt cheap after the last crash in Florida and Arizona.

As mentioned, there have been some malls across Canada that have closed. In Winnipeg, that would be Portage Place, Unicity and a few strip malls. However, Canada never really overbuilt the way the U.S. has and done. In Grand Forks, North Dakota, you could call Columbia Mall a failed mall. It is embarrassing to see.

The purchase by Leyad is probably an attempt by St. Vital Centre to remain the second largest mall in the province ahead of Outlet Collection Mall and the rest of the Seasons development. This may be a losing battle because the Seasons development had been going strong for 13 years. There has never been a stop in building on the site although it is possible this year might see the last few spots filled up in the surrounding mall spaces.

St. Vital's hosting of the Children's Hospital Book Sale at least two to three time a year also fills the place with people from all over the city and beyond. For those who don't remember, it used to be Polo Park that hosted this. The destination malls usually have things over seasonal times to attract shoppers. The more unique, the better. For many decades it was mini-concerts and fashion shows.

It seems Leyad's purchase of St. Vital Centre will be followed up with a multimillion investment in the former Bay location soonest. There are few if any big retailers out there that could take the full space over. Some are still hankering for a Simons department store but it might be wishful thinking as the company takes a long time to expand their private company. Others believe there might be a new grocery coming courtesy of rule changes that block competitor from opening in the same mall. Many places have agreements that are paid for to keep other grocery and pharmacy out. This has been ruled as anti-competitive. Those that continue to practice may face penalties and fines.

It used to be that malls had long lists of retailers wanting to move in but the need to expand the hours and reasons to go to the mall have had to increase. It can't be all fashion stores that don't last a season. Expect to see more moved development in the near future.

 

The Most Overrated Holiday of the Year

Truly the most overrated day of the year is New Year's Eve. It isn't a religious holiday. It doesn't make a special time in Canadian history. It isn't a personal day of importance like a birthday. There are no meals associated with it. Drinking is usually connected the day. 

Those that have to work the day get paid time and a half. Most, if not all, stores are closed. The day can fall anytime of the week so it is not an automatic long weekend. This year Christmas and New Year's Day fell on a Thursday. In 2026, both fall on a Friday creating a long weekend each time.

In general though, New Year's Day has been quiet in Canada. The change in the retail act in 2020 means many stores are open in the day including malls such as Outlet Collection and St. Vital. It used to be that everything was closed on New Year's day and there was nothing in the way of public activities. This began to change in the 1980s and 90s with activities at city parks including fireworks as well as family-friendly activities. 

Today, there is an anti-fireworks movement in Winnipeg. It appeared that there was only one listing for fireworks on New Years Eve. The fireworks in Naples, Italy and in Los Angeles are purely citizen driven. The risk in curbing public fireworks events is that citizens will do it without permission and dare you do to something about it. Diwali fireworks are a good example. Citizen complaints on Reddit, notwithstanding, it is unlikely any police will go arresting Indian Canadians.

In the post pandemic, I'd say we are in a bit of a lull for what to do New Year's Eve and day. Drinking is way down and so are the restaurants and clubs that provide those services. It is a long way back in years when casinos and convention centre had regular events. The Winnipeg Convention Centre used to have major events.

I expect the only way things change is with time. Canada is such a young country. Even now we add new holidays or create names for old ones. Christmas and Thanksgiving evolved and keep changing even now from what they were as Canada developed. Who is to say what New Year's Day will be like in the next 5 to 10 years?

One thing is clear that probably all retail will be open holiday hours. It still not everyone but that is the direction it is going. I can't say that Christmas will be like that but I'd be not surprised if retail is available year round even if it is holiday hours. It will be important to distinguish it from any other if this is the case. And if the government doesn't do anything about that, the public will.

Unique Bunny Expanding Across Canada

For small vendors sometimes the best place to begin is flea markets and conventions and so it was with Unique Bunny. Started by Fiona Zhao, a young Chinese immigrant who ended up in Winnipeg due to the endless supply of overseas ambassadors from Winnipeg working in various job around the globe. Promotion works and people who come to the city often have immense contributions to make.

Small vendors in pop-ups are often afforded the chance to make connections and build a name and reputation. Early Comic Con and Ai-Kon conventions were Winnipeg-made and produced events and they leaned heavily on local vendors, especially collectibles, to draw fans. Public market stalls are no longer selling mostly food items from the farm. And so it was in 2014 Unique Bunny was a frequent vendor everywhere in Winnipeg.

Unique Bunny was everywhere as a vendor selling food and cosmetics. Many Asian clients appreciated that she had products for them. Non-Asians were very much interested in styles, foods and the like to satisfy their interests in Japan and Korea. Cultural interests in Japan have exploded in the last decade. It is why there has been a steady increase in music, movies, food and products making their way to Canada.

Unique Bunny got to the point that a physical store was called for and the first one was on Corydon. It wasn't long till that was closed that the company could take a space in the center of Osborne Village. Just as the pandemic was gearing up, Unique Bunny decided to open a location on Pembina Highway closer to their large university customers.

The company survived Covid but Osborne Village struggled with crime, homelessness and a lack of foot traffic post 2020. The Village has had some recovery but many places in the city are still suffering from shoplifting, arson and a general malaise. Unique Bunny moved to malls and suburbs. McPhillips and an Outlet Collection Mall location joined the Pembina location in Winnipeg. 

In 2024, expansion to Alberta took place and locations opened in Calgary and Edmonton. The push for more locations extended again to Winnipeg and Unique Bunny opened in 2025 in Manitoba's biggest shopping center Polo Park. In the last months, Fiona Zhao has been in Saskatchewan and Quebec to open stores in Saskatoon, Quebec City and soon Montreal will join the growing stores.

By the end of November, the company will have ten stores in Canada. It truly is a success story that has not been recognized much outside of Winnipeg. That may soon change. It isn't the first time Winnipeg companies have spread beyond Manitoba and it won't be the last. The company will sale nearly 60 brands and employ 110 workers. They are beginning to have workshops in select stores to develop customer and store relationships that will last beyond casual visits.

Unique Bunny is a made in Manitoba success.

Red River Co-Op Nears Completion at Seasons in Tuxedo

For the last ten years construction has continued unabated at Seasons of Tuxedo. IKEA opened up in 2012.

In 2017 Outlet Collection mall opened up. And ever since then it has been building every year. Ten years ago there was no housing here at all but now there are a few thousand units. In the background you can see a 55 Plus apartment under construction.

What has been missing to this point in a grocery and pharmacy. That all changes soon as Red River Co-Op Grocery nears completion.

This is a day before the Red River sign went up in between rains.

There are a number of grocery stores very close to homes and apartments but we have never seen a mall ensure housing was on the same property as we have seen with Seasons of Tuxedo. The Outlet Collection has housing directly across the street and the numbers of people living within walking distance of the doors increases every month.

In addition, hotels are right on the property such as Hyatt Place seen across from Red River Co-Op Grocery.

A great deal of work has been done to put trees and landscaping in, In the near ten years of work that has been done, you can really see the difference, Having just seen Unicity, the contrast is stark on what nearly no trees looks like.

The Rec Room is right across from the Red River Co-Op Grocery as well. Like a lot of places, it has been in near shut down since it opened. It almost needs a re-opening to capture those early days.

I will keep my eyes on the grocery as it gets ready for opening day. The surge if grocery stores being built, renovated and all the hiring has been a bright spot in the economy,

Hugo Boss to Open at Outlet Collection

Hugo Boss is a German luxury designer of menswear. In Winnipeg, they have sold through other retailers such as HBC. Polo Park has a full time salesperson just for Hugo Boss in the Bay store. It has generally been considered a harder market to sell women and men's fashions in Manitoba because such power suits often are seen in places with larger corporate worlds related to trading that employ thousands.

Winnipeg has a handful of independent menswear companies and tailors. Harry Rosen's has been a longtime store in Polo Park and Tip Top and Moore's have handled much of the city's general business, sports jacket and suit needs for those required jacket and tie business and occasion needs.

Hugo Boss in the post-war period went from making uniforms to men's suits and in the last decades has been associated with luxury.

Outlet Collection still has a few holes to fill but clearly is in a battle royale for stores that would in the past have landed at Polo Park. Many, many apartments are soon to be completed by Outlet Collection so I expect when the pandemic is over, the mall will have a population that can walk right over for anything.

Also opening is a nail shop. You are seeing more open in malls when in the past they were limited to strip malls. Shopping outlets need a variety of things that bring people in. It can't all be high fashion stores as much the developers would love that. There just enough of those around to fill every space nor give people a reason to come to the area often enough.

Both Outlet Collection Mall and Polo park have new stores comes. Expect competition to be tight and for other malls in the city to try to follow suit with some innovative steps.

F45 Fitness Center Coming to Seasons of Tuxedo

As if the fitness expansion in Winnipeg has not exploded enough, it appears that another huge gym group is looking to expand to the city at Seasons of Tuxedo. F45 is presently being constructed behind Frankie's restaurant. The program at F45 is built upon intensity training within 45 minutes covering 36 programs. A comparable gym comparison might be Orange or 9Round for the fitness level.

This will be the second fitness center to locate on the site. The other would be the recently completed Wheelhouse which centers on spin cycle training. Both F45 and Wheelhouse specialize in next level fitness.

In the coming months there is likely to be a surge of announcements at Seasons of Tuxedo to lock down new tenants as all the major malls compete to fill new or vacated space. Retail is not always what is being looked at to fill the gap. Services such as gyms that had never been considered for malls are now going up all over as a way to drive traffic.

If a workout is not what you need, it also appears that Modern Man barbers will also be setting up shop beside the newly opened Liquor Mart.

Popeye's Louisiana Chicken Coming to Portage Avenue West

Until recently, Hakim Optical called 3420 Portage Avenue home in the St. James area. Long before that it was a Wendy's. In fact, it still looks like a Wendy's in terms of the bricks and design and still has the drive-thru configuration.

Hakim went big when it entered the Winnipeg market and put locations in a variety of storefronts that seemed unlikely at first. In some cases they ended up being closed as the company opened better locations. In the case of Portage Avenue West, Hakim probably had interested buyers of their property, especially restaurants wanting drive-thrus.

Less than a year ago Popeye's Louisiana Chicken opened up in Seasons of Tuxedo courtesy of the group that owns Boston Pizza's in Manitoba. The crowds continue to be enormous there. At the time there was a promise that more franchises were coming.

It is very likely that this location will be quite successful for the restaurant operator as Portage Avenue remains one of the biggest commercial streets in the city. Look to see the restaurant open up in the summer sometime.

Home Outfitters/HBC Home to Close - Sak's Off 5th Might Close

HBC announced that Home Outfitters across Canada will close. At one time there used to be near 70 stores across Canada but that number has dropped to 37 and 700 employees. In Winnipeg in 2016, HBC converted three Home Outfitters to Hudson Bay Home and the concept was supposed to spread across Canada. Those locations were Kenaston, Regent and St. James.

It is interesting to note that the St. James location once housed Linens and Things which failed years ago taking Canada's 55 stores along with it. Sadly, it and the other two location HBC locations will be liquidated along with Home Outfitters.

Winnipeg's two major malls at Polo Park and St. Vital are still looking for the perfect fit for their former Sears stores. And more store space is being built even as companies like HBC and Sears close stores. Other retailers as well are closing across Canada including Winnipeg. More on that in another post.

It would be easy to blame Amazon as online retailing has indeed created problems. However, the simple fact is that too many stores can also hurt your business model. Companies like Disney, Lego and IKEA have fewer stores and offer experiences that stand out. They become destinations in and of themselves.

The more interesting announcement by HBC was not that Home Outfitters was closing but that they were closing 20 Sak's Off 5th stores in the U.S. and re-evaluating the whole company. HBC has so far affirmed confidence in Winnipeg's store at Outlet Collection of Winnipeg. It is unknown how profitable the store is in Seasons of Tuxedo.

The Seasons of Tuxedo is continuing to fill in with stores, entertainment and services. But it is also filling in with residents. Thousands of people now live on site. It will be interesting to see if this helps business in the area as they have a resident population within steps of the mall.

In 2019 though it would appear landlords are going to have to struggle to fill space. It could be we see some rent decreases and sub-dividing space to make it more palatable. We also might see some local concepts take off in this new landscape.

Seasons of Tuxedo Liquor Mart Opening Soon

Seasons of Tuxedo continues to fill in month after month. While the focus has been on the Outlet Collection of Winnipeg mall, the surrounding parking lot had construction fall/winter.

One of those businesses is a Liquor Mart going up right at the corner of Kenaston at Sterling Lyon. Work continues inside but expect signage up soon and an opening date probably before the snow melts.

The residential population has risen sharply in the last few years and more is being built now. This has required services be nearby and subsequently, medical offices, veterinarian offices and a specialty grocer have all hung up a shingle. The first beer vendour, The Tux, has opened in Winnipeg in decades and has begun to grow their customer base.

However, beer is not the only drink that some of the new residents want and despite another liquor store just down my McGillivary, Liquor Mart believes they have a customer base. They probably do and one that will get bigger and more units of housing goes up at Sterling Lyon and soon on Kapyong.

The way to reduce the cars on Kenaston is to ensure services where many people live. A Liquor Mart in site should go a long way to doing that. Now, when do we hear about the first cannabis store for Seasons of Tuxedo?

Wheelhouse Cycle Club Coming to Seasons of Tuxedo

Wheelhouse Cycle Club is scheduled to open this winter at Seasons of Tuxedo. The building is well under construction right now and signage should be soon. It joins the crowded gym market where Goodlife and Altea have already announced two very large clubs in the south Winnipeg area.

Across North America some specialization in fitness has seen yoga carve out a niche and so it goes with spin class cycling. Wheelhouse is a Saskatchewan company and Winnipeg is its third location.

The Outlet Collection mall is still very much a new mall and building around continues at a brisk pace including a large amount of multi-unit housing. In fact all along Sterling Lyon housing is being built. It will be interesting what the next census reports.

There is no doubt going to be a shake-up in the fitness industry soon. Much investment is taking place in clubs currently operating and many apartments are providing fitness equipment. It is possible demand will keep pace but it is just as likely a price war will emerge. It really depends on how many clubs are built. In fairness, we were undeserved for many years. Now, there are big choices out there to be made.

Expect an announcement for Wheelhouse opening soon.

Rec Room Coming to Seasons of Tuxedo

Well, the official announcement has come from Cineplex's Rec Room which has actively seeking a location in Winnipeg for some time. For a while, it looked like they might moving into the Polo Park Target location across from the ScotiaBank Theatre site. However, the complication of the site design made it less than ideal. The other rumour was St. Vital Centre in perhaps the old Sears location but the site was too large and had further complication of two floors and questionable parking.

Ideally, the Rec Room wanted a building tailor made for them covering one floor at about 40,000 square feet. In a perfect world it would be very close to a Cineplex movie theatre. Since Polo Park and St. Vital Centre did not work out the next best choice was a mall and in Winnipeg the newest mall is still actively building. The VIP Odeon and ScotiaBank Theatre are somewhere in the middle along a straight like down Kenaston for those seeking pre and post movie entertainment.

There are a number spots listed on Seasons of Tuxedo's map. The one they seem to be referring to is immediately across from Outlet Collections Mall across Sterling Lyon. Work is to begin soon but the opening will wait to 2019 as million and millions goes into these gaming centers.

The Rec Room will feature restaurants, performance spaces, 110 amusement games, axe throwing, luxury bowling and virtual reality games. At present there are four locations of Rec Rooms across Canada with an expectation of maybe 12-15 nation-wide.

Winnipeg has had gaming centers before but nothing of this scale has ever been attempted. It remains to be seen whether the Rec Room will successful with young adults or not but the investment seems to suggest that Cineplex believes they have a winner.

Hyatt House Season of Tuxedo Plans

They put in an application in May and now it is revised for Hyatt House Hotel in the Seasons of Tuxedo. The six story 135 room L-shaped hotel will be out towards Sterling Lyon Parkway in front of the Seasons apartments and Cabela's.

The revised plans include better landscaping and fencing for the space.

The plans still leave a lot of space which at a guess could small shops or services or more likely a restaurant but nothing is on the books yet.

Across the street in the Outlet Collection Mall and several condos and apartments. The transformation has been dramatic along the street in only a few years.

Hyatt will join the Hilton as the first two hotels built in southwest Winnipeg since the 1960s.

The obvious needs of Sterling Lyon Parkway/Wilkes are going to be more stark in the next months to years. Still, no money for road expansion beyond Shaftesbury Boulevard seems to be in the cards. On the plus side, the city is in surplus this year which is very likely the result of projects like this that are bringing in new taxes in infill areas.

Hyatt House Hotel Coming to Seasons of Tuxedo

There hasn't been too much detail but this much has been confirmed, Hyatt House Hotel will be building sometime in the near future at Seasons of Tuxedo in front of Cabela's. This land once was brought before council and was listed on the website of the developer as the future home of Lowe's Improvement.

Lowe's is now being constructed further down Kenaston near Scurfield and should be open in a number of months. It is difficult to say why Lowe's chose one site over the other. They are now the owners of Rona so that might have been the reason they held off. However, the situation will now be that Rona is across the street from there new Lowe's location. Same owner.

The new Hyatt House will be the second hotel to be built between Portage Avenue, Pembina Highway and the Perimeter Highway in five decades. The first hotel is the Hilton across the street near the Outlet Collection mall. Even now, it is near ready to swing the doors open. Construction continues apace on other stores, restaurants, care dealerships in the overall Seasons of Tuxedo area.

Hyatt House is considered an extended stay hotel which is suitable for business people who might be in Winnipeg working on projects as so often happens. It is ideal for the movie industry where you might have crew or actors put up for weeks at a time. According to specs of Hyatt House, the hotel comes with a convenience store and bar restaurant although final designs have not been presented as of yet.

The entire stretch of Sterling Lyon Parkway has gone from industrial/warehousing to retail/residential and created an entirely new neighbourhood. The absence of any hotels for the southwest quadrant of the city for decades has been a real problem. It is unlikely we have seen the last of hotel announcements for the area since the one category missing is a hotel for families visiting with the intention of shopping and visiting for leisure.

The Opening of Outlet Collection Winnipeg

The crowd wound around the building before 9 AM

The Food Court entrance from the back of Outlet Collection

It seemed an impossible task that the $200 million Outlet Collection Winnipeg factory mall would open on May 3rd. Construction continued all this week and into the morning. IHOP and  McDonald's are all waiting to be completed just outside the mall. The Audi, Porsche dealerships are under construction and the Hilton Hotel is nearer completion.

The mall inside minus some notable exceptions is complete and looks fantastic. Some of the biggest outlets stores are all done including DSW, Nike, Under Armour and Saks OFF FIFTH.

The Food Court was the site of a opening ceremony hosted by Ace Burpee and featured the premier, the mayor and the builders of the mall Ivanhoe Cambridge.

Entertainment, food, models and many dignitaries were in every seat and standing to every side. Nearly 60 retail executives from Ivanhoe Cambridge were there to see the opening and and attend a 2 day business conference. Politicians of every stripe and media of all kinds were in the crowd.

Performers at the ceremony

The ceremony was not long. Ace Burpee acted as host and speeches were made by Premier Brain Pallister, Mayor Brian Bowman and President of Ivanhoe Cambridge Claude Sirois. They welcomed assembled crowd and the people outside.

General Manager of the mall, Dimitrios Cotsianis, announced that the mall would be giving $10,000 to a local charity. It would be up to mall patrons to decide who. he tanked all those who helped bring the mall to fruition. Nearly 2000 workers helped in those last days before the deadline to get things ready.

Premier Brian Pallister

Mayor Brian Bowmna

President Claude Sirois, Ivanhoe Cambridge

General Manager Dimitrios Cotsianis, Outlet Collection

While the speeches were happening, a train rolled through the back and parked behind. It was just a reminder of what the Seasons of Tuxedo site was just a few short years ago: a railyard. Also visible was the huge crowds snaking around the building including a lot of kids who otherwise should have been school. Police and heavy security along Kenaston and Sterling Lyon directed people into the packed mall.  Organizers estimated that at the opening, there might have been 4000 people at the doors.

Following the speeches, media was led to the door opening and people literally ran inside.

Crowd running in

It wasn't long before all the stores were packed to the rafters and traffic reports were saying the street was filled with cars and people

Some stores and restaurants in and outside the mall will open into the fall. Expect it to be busy for the next while!

Much of the photography by Matraisa Klippenstein. Thanks for her professional work that day.