East York Town Centre is a neighbourhood

shopping centre A shopping center in American English, shopping centre in English in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth English (see American and British English spelling differences#-re, -er, spelling differences), shopping complex, shopping arcade, ...

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

, Canada. It is located on Overlea Boulevard in the

Thorncliffe Park Thorncliffe Park is a neighbourhood in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, in the former Borough of East York. The City of Toronto recognizes Thorncliffe Park's boundaries as the Don River on the south side; Leaside Bridge, Millwood Road, and Laird Dri ...

neighbourhood.

History

The shopping centre was opened to the public in 1960 as the Thorncliffe Market Place in the town of

Leaside Leaside (/'liːˌsaɪd/) is a neighbourhood in Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is located northeast of Downtown Toronto, in the vicinity of Eglinton Avenue East and Bayview Avenue. It is one of the most expensive and exclusive neighbourhoo ...

. Before 1954 the area was the northeast corner of racetrack and grassy area south of where the stables of the old

Thorncliffe Park Raceway Thorncliffe Park Raceway was a Toronto-area racetrack that operated from 1917 until 1952. It was located east of Millwood Road, south of Eglinton Avenue East and the CPR's railroad tracks. It was the first home of the Prince of Wales Stakes. The ...

were. It began with two anchors, Sayvette and Steinberg's. The Sayvette department store dissolved in 1977.

Woolco Woolco was an American-based discount retail chain. It was founded in 1962 in Columbus, Ohio, by the F. W. Woolworth Company. It was a full-line discount department store unlike the five-and-dime Woolworth stores which operated at the time. At ...

opened in the space where Sayvette previously occupied. Woolco was bought by

Walmart Walmart Inc. (; formerly Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.) is an American multinational retail corporation that operates a chain of hypermarkets (also called supercenters), discount department stores, and grocery stores in the United States and 23 other ...

in 1994. This location was unionized and eventually was sold to

Zellers Zellers was a Canadian discount store chain founded by Walter P. Zeller in 1931. It was acquired by the Hudson's Bay Company (HBC) in 1978, and after a series of acquisitions and expansions, peaked with 350 locations in 1999. However, fierce ...

. Zellers went in liquidation and closed in June 2012, making way for

Target Target may refer to: Warfare and shooting * Shooting target, used in marksmanship training and various shooting sports ** Bullseye (target), the goal one for which one aims in many of these sports ** Aiming point, in field artille ...

's entry into the Canadian market. Construction began in December 2012 to convert the Zellers store into a Target store, which opened March 25, 2013. Target Canada announced its closure of all its 133 stores in Canada (including the East York Town Centre location). In mid-2016, Thorncliffe Bowlerama closed down and was replaced with Fit4Less. In 2021, the former Target location was used as a pop-up vaccine clinic during the

COVID-19 pandemic in Toronto The COVID-19 pandemic in Toronto is a viral pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), a novel infectious disease caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), localized in Toronto. Toronto is the most populous ...

. East York Town Centre Atrium 2023.JPG, Atrium East York Town Centre Food Court 2023.JPG , Food Court East York Town Centre Inside1 2023.jpg, Mall Access East York Town Centre area after renovation 2023.JPG, Former Target location divided into several shops, main focus on community

References

External links

* {{Shopping Malls in the Golden Horseshoe Shopping malls in Toronto Shopping malls established in 1960 1960 establishments in Ontario