The Shops at Don Mills (corporately known as CF Shops at Don Mills) is a lifestyle centre-type

shopping centre A shopping center ( American English) or shopping centre (Commonwealth English), also called a shopping complex, shopping arcade, shopping plaza or galleria, is a group of shops built together, sometimes under one roof. The first known colle ...

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anch ...

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

, Canada, located at

Don Mills Road Don, don or DON and variants may refer to: Places *County Donegal, Ireland, Chapman code DON * Don (river), a river in European Russia *Don River (disambiguation), several other rivers with the name *Don, Benin, a town in Benin *Don, Dang, a vil ...

and

Lawrence Avenue East Lawrence Avenue is a major east-west thoroughfare in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is divided into east and west portions (Lawrence Avenue East and Lawrence Avenue West) by Yonge Street, the dividing line of east-west streets in Toronto. Route d ...

. There are 72 retail stores with a total floor space of 47,550 square metres (or 511,824 square feet).

Character

Storefronts face a network of private internal streets, and the centre layout is centred on a square which includes interpretive historical plaques and commissioned art by

Douglas Coupland Douglas Coupland (born 30 December 1961) is a Canadian novelist, designer, and visual artist. His first novel, the 1991 international bestseller '' Generation X: Tales for an Accelerated Culture'', popularized the terms ''Generation X'' and ''McJ ...

. The layout is similar to a regular neighbourhood retail strip. Anchors include Salomon Toronto, McEwans Gourmet Market, Anthropologie, Joey's west coast restaurant and other shops and restaurants. Parking along the internal streets is limited but a multi-level parkade is located on site.

History

The centre is located on the site of the demolished

Don Mills Centre The Don Mills Centre was a shopping mall in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was located on a 44-acre (17.8 ha) commercial site, at the southwest corner of Don Mills Road and Lawrence Avenue East in Toronto. There were at least 98 stores during th ...

shopping mall. Increased competition from other shopping malls and the closure of main anchor tenant T. Eaton Co. meant declines in mall revenues and the exodus of many fashion retailers. The mall owner, developer Cadillac Fairview, decided to redevelop the site in 2003 to attract more up-scale retailers and shoppers, without a main anchor tenant. The developer proposed to demolish the indoor shopping mall and replace it with an open-air setting, along with an intensification of the site. The intensification meant the construction of a parking garage to replace the large surface parking lot. The development also included using Centre lands for new residential buildings. After community consultation, the plan was approved by the City of Toronto and the development proceeded. The Shops at Don Mills opened on April 22, 2009.

McNally Robinson McNally Robinson Booksellers is a family-operated chain of Canadian independent bookstores founded in Winnipeg, Manitoba in 1981. It is managed by new owners Chris Hall and Lori Baker, formerly managed by Holly and Paul McNally. As of 2019 it h ...

, a Canadian book-selling chain, was one of the first tenants, but the chain later decided to close the location.

Street names

A number of roads and driveways located in the development are named after prominent community members of the Don Mills area: * Aggie Hogg Gardens - named for former resident, storekeeper, postmaster and daughter of settler John Hogg * Clock Tower Road - named to identify the location of the Clock Tower at the corner of the Town Square. * O'Neill Road - named for local settler James O'Neill (arrived 1845) * Karl Fraser Road - Karl Fraser, first CEO of Don Mills Development and assistant to developer E.P. Taylor * Leadly Lane - named for local settler Allison Leadley (arrived 1850) * Pabst Lane - named for local settler Rudolph Pabst (arrived 1814) * Marie Labatte Road - named for former North York Councillor for Ward 10 and Metro Councillor for Don Parkway

Marie Labatte Marie may refer to: People Name * Marie (given name) * Marie (Japanese given name) * Marie (murder victim), girl who was killed in Florida after being pushed in front of a moving vehicle in 1973 * Marie (died 1759), an enslaved Cree person in Tr ...

(1925–2004) * Sampson Mews - named for local settler James Sampson (arrived 1838) * Maginn Mews - named for merchant, school trustee and politician Charles Maginn (arrived 1841)

References

External links

Official site''Spacing Toronto'' article
{{Cadillac Fairview Shopping malls established in 2009 Shopping malls in Toronto North York Lifestyle centers (retail) Cadillac Fairview