Square One Shopping Centre, or simply Square One, is a Canadian
shopping mall
A shopping mall (or simply mall) is a large indoor shopping center, usually Anchor tenant, anchored by department stores. The term ''mall'' originally meant pedestrian zone, a pedestrian promenade with shops along it, but in the late 1960s, i ...
located in
Mississauga, Ontario
Mississauga is a Canadian city in the province of Ontario. Situated on the north-western shore of Lake Ontario in the Regional Municipality of Peel, it borders Toronto (Etobicoke) to the east, Brampton to the north, Milton to the northwest, ...
. It is the largest shopping centre in Ontario and the second largest shopping centre in Canada, after
West Edmonton Mall
West Edmonton Mall (WEM) is a large shopping mall in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, that is owned, managed, and operated by Triple Five Group. It is the second most visited mall in Canada, after the Toronto Eaton Centre in Toronto, followed by Met ...
. It has over of retail space, with more than 360 stores and services. On average, the mall serves over 24 million customers each year. It operates on most holidays (the exceptions being
Good Friday
Good Friday, also known as Holy Friday, Great Friday, Great and Holy Friday, or Friday of the Passion of the Lord, is a solemn Christian holy day commemorating the crucifixion of Jesus and his death at Calvary (Golgotha). It is observed during ...
,
Easter Sunday
Easter, also called Pascha (Aramaic: פַּסְחָא , ''paskha''; Greek language, Greek: πάσχα, ''páskha'') or Resurrection Sunday, is a Christian festival and cultural holiday commemorating the resurrection of Jesus from the dead, de ...
and Christmas Day), making it the only shopping mall in the city and one of the few in the
Greater Toronto Area
The Greater Toronto Area, commonly referred to as the GTA, includes the Toronto, City of Toronto and the regional municipality, regional municipalities of Regional Municipality of Durham, Durham, Regional Municipality of Halton, Halton, Regional ...
that does so.
Square One is located in
Mississauga City Centre adjacent to the interchange of
Highway 403 and
Hurontario Street, near the
Mississauga Civic Centre
The Mississauga Civic Centre is the seat of local government of Mississauga, Ontario, Canada. The 37,280 square metre complex is a prominent example of postmodern architecture in Canada, finished in 1987 by Jones and Kirkland. It stands at 92 met ...
, the Mississauga
Living Arts Centre, and the
Mississauga Central Library; and has many condominium towers surrounding it. Located adjacent to the mall is the
City Centre Transit Terminal; the central hub of
MiWay
MiWay (; stylized MiWay), also known as Mississauga Transit and originally as Mississauga Transit Systems, is the municipal public transport agency serving Mississauga, Ontario, Canada, and is responsible to the city's Transportation and Wor ...
; Mississauga's municipal transit system,
Square One Bus Terminal (serving regional
GO Transit
GO Transit is a regional public transit system serving the Greater Golden Horseshoe region of Ontario, Canada. With its hub at Union Station in Toronto, GO Transit's green-and-white trains and buses serve a population of more than seven mil ...
buses), and a
Peel Regional Police
The Peel Regional Police (PRP; ) provides policing services for Peel Region (excluding Caledon) in Ontario, Canada. It is the second largest municipal police service in the Greater Toronto Area in Ontario, and the third largest municipal force b ...
community station.
History
Excavation of the Square One site began in 1969. Construction was finished in 1973, where the mall was first opened to the public. The four original anchors included
Woolco,
Sears
Sears, Roebuck and Co., commonly known as Sears ( ), is an American chain of department stores and online retailer founded in 1892 by Richard Warren Sears and Alvah Curtis Roebuck and reincorporated in 1906 by Richard Sears and Julius Rosen ...
at the time Simpson-Sears,
The Bay, and
Dominion
A dominion was any of several largely self-governance, self-governing countries of the British Empire, once known collectively as the ''British Commonwealth of Nations''. Progressing from colonies, their degrees of self-governing colony, colon ...
.
Some stores such as Ashbrook's and Mark & Spencer's were closed in the late 1990s order to make way for the Cityside expansion, which was completed in the early 2000s.
In 1999,
Eaton's
The T. Eaton Company Limited, later known as Eaton's, was a Canadian department store chain that was once the largest in the country. It was founded in 1869 in Toronto by Timothy Eaton, an immigrant from what is now Northern Ireland. Eaton's g ...
filed for
bankruptcy
Bankruptcy is a legal process through which people or other entities who cannot repay debts to creditors may seek relief from some or all of their debts. In most jurisdictions, bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the deb ...
, closing their location at Square One.
Zellers took over the space in 2000.
During January 2011,
Target acquired the leases of most Zellers stores, including their location at Square One. Zellers closed in June 2012 and the store was renovated into a Target, which opened to the public on March 30, 2013.
In January 2013, Square One started a major renovation on the main corridor from the Target store to the centre court/food court.
Burger King
Burger King Corporation (BK, stylized in all caps) is an American multinational chain store, chain of hamburger fast food restaurants. Headquartered in Miami-Dade County, Florida, the company was founded in 1953 as Insta-Burger King, a Jacks ...
and Bowring were forced to close down due to the expansion of the food court across from the existing food court. The scenic elevator, along with the fountain, were removed and replaced with two escalators. This renovation was completed in Fall 2013. Square One also expanded by adding its concept, Grand Centre Court, which added at least () square feet extra.
Sears Canada announced on June 14, 2013 that it would be closing its store at Square One and
Yorkdale
Yorkdale Shopping Centre is a shopping mall in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, at the southwest corner of the Highway 401 and Allen Road interchange. It spans of selling space and has sales of per square foot ( per square metre), making it the cou ...
as of March 9, 2014. On June 27, Empire Theatres announced that they would be selling their theatre at Square One to
Landmark Cinemas
Landmark Cinemas Canada LP. is a Canadian cinema chain. Based in Calgary, Alberta, Landmark operates 36 theatres with 299 screens, primarily in Ontario and western Canada. Its holdings include much of the former Empire Theatres chain which it ac ...
, which closed one year later.
It was announced on December 6, 2013 that
La Maison Simons
La Maison Simons (colloquially Simons) is a Canadian department store chain founded in 1840 by John Simons. The business was established as a dry goods store by the son of a Scottish immigrant to Lower Canada (now Quebec). During the 1960s, th ...
would take over most of the space occupied by Sears, with a flagship store which opened in Spring 2016.
In January 2015, Target Canada announced that it would close all their stores, including their location at Square One. Target's location at Square One closed in April 2015.
The South Expansion was completed on March 1, 2016 adding numerous retailers and a Holt Renfrew anchor store, along with removing the
Dollarama and
Home Outfitters stores.
In June 2018, Square One announced the West Expansion, which took place in the former Target location that closed in 2015. The expansion opened between Fall 2018 and Spring 2019 and added several brands like
Uniqlo
( ; ) is a Japanese casual wear designer and retailer.
The company is a subsidiary of Fast Retailing, Fast Retailing Co., Ltd.
Clare Waight Keller is the creative director. History
Men's Shop OS was founded in Ube, Yamaguchi. It was rebrand ...
and
The Rec Room, as well as a 34,000 sq. ft. local food emporium, The Food District.
The Uniqlo at Square One opened on November 2, 2018.
Chapters closed in January 2019 and reopened as Indigo in the West Expansion in February 2019.
After filing for bankruptcy,
Hudson's Bay announced it would close all their stores, including their location at Square One, which would close on June 1, 2025.
Future Hurontario LRT connection
The
Hurontario LRT is a
light rail
Light rail (or light rail transit, abbreviated to LRT) is a form of passenger urban rail transit that uses rolling stock derived from tram technology National Conference of the Transportation Research Board while also having some features from ...
line under construction that will run along Hurontario Street from
Port Credit GO Station in the south to
Brampton
Brampton is a city in the Canadian Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Ontario, and the regional seat of the Regional Municipality of Peel. It is part of the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) and is a List of municipalities in Ontario#L ...
in the north. The LRT will have an intermediate stop at City Centre and connect to the MiWay City Centre Bus Terminal, as well as the Square One GO Bus Terminal.
List of anchor stores
Gallery
File:Square One Chandelier 2021.jpg, Square One Chandelier
File:Square One Shopping Centre Entrance 7 2021.jpg, Square One Entrance 7
File:Square One Shopping Centre Expansion Area Entrance Lobby 2021.jpg, Entrance lobby.
File:Square One Shopping Centre The Food District 2021.jpg, The Food District
Square ONE Food Central 2021.jpg, The Food Central, part of the South Expansion.
Square One Shopping Centre Interior 2021.jpg, Shops
Square ONE Level 2 2021.jpg, The mall level 2 shops
Square ONE Interior1 2021.jpg, Square One Access
Square One Shopping Centre SIMONS 2021.jpg, Square One Simons
References
External links
Official website
{{Shopping Malls in the Golden Horseshoe
Shopping malls in the Regional Municipality of Peel
Buildings and structures in Mississauga
Shopping malls established in 1973
Oxford Properties
Tourist attractions in Mississauga
1973 establishments in Ontario