| Station Mall | |
| Address: | 293 Bay Street Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario P6A 1X3 |
| Coordinates: | 46.512°N -84.339°W |
| Opening Date: | October 31, 1973 |
| Developer: | Algoma Central Railway |
| Manager: | CBRE |
| Owner: | SM International Holdings Ltd. |
| Number Of Stores: | 97 |
| Number Of Anchors: | 4 |
| Floor Area: | 555000square feet |
| Parking: | +2,000 |
The Station Mall is a shopping mall located in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, Canada. With 97 stores and 555000square feet of retail space, it is the second largest shopping mall in Northern Ontario, trailing just behind the New Sudbury Centre in Greater Sudbury in area.[1] Built in 1973, the mall has since undergone two major expansions. Its major tenants include the 32000square feet Galaxy Cinemas movie theatre complex. The mall is located on the waterfront in downtown Sault Ste. Marie, and is roughly five minutes away from the Sault Ste. Marie International Bridge to the United States. The Sault Ste. Marie railway station is located in the mall's parking lot.
Station Mall opened on October 31, 1973 with 284,000 square feet of retail space and 45 tenants, including a two-story Sears department store and Dominion Food Stores as its anchors. Other retailers when the mall opened in 1973 included Lakeshore Drug Mart, People's Jewelers, Lighting Unlimited, Davis II men's wear, Big Steel, Dalmys, Fairweather, Penningtons, Laura Secord Candies, Coles - The Book People, Melody Lane Record Shop, The Leather Touch, Kinney Shoes, Dolomity Shoes, Tip Top Stores, Happy Hour Card 'n Party Shop, and the Loon's Nest. The 400-seat Station Cinema opened with the mall, as did J.B.'s Big Boy Family Restaurant. The original "Pufferbelly" food court included space for a delicatessen and 10 snack bars.[2] A departure from downtown retailers at the time, the mall advertised free parking for 1,800 cars and a climate-controlled shopping experience.[3]
The original construction was part of a $30 million development of the Algoma Central Railway's Bay Street property, which also included the construction of a 200-room hotel near the mall, originally occupied by Holiday Inn.[4]
The original building was designed by James A. Murray, Architects and built by Eastern Construction Co. Ltd.[5]
The mall underwent two expansions in 16 years, in 1981 and 1989, adding more than 200,000 square feet of additional retail space.[6]
Before it had even opened, plans were already underway for a 150,000 square feet expansion to add another department store, 20 additional retail stores, a second cinema, a third large restaurant as well as parking for 200 additional cars.[7]
The mall's Phase III expansion cost $18 million to build and added Zellers as a second anchor store. It continued the mall's westward growth, increasing its size by 100,000 square feet, making it the largest mall in Northern Ontario at the time.[8]
Opening in the fall of 1989, the new phase brought the total number of stores, shops and restaurants to 115. Among the new or relocated stores in Phase III were Lady's a Champ/Frat House; Sam the Record Man; Footlocker; Rafters; CAA Travel; Pantorama; Cotton Ginny, Saan for Kids, and Beef n' Brand Restaurant.[9]
At about 8:30am on 14 December 1995, the mall suffered a partial roof collapse. The roof covering the area between Phases II and III collapsed following several days of heavy snowfall.[10] Although the mall was open at the time, its stores were not yet open for business. Nobody was in the affected area at the time and there were no injuries.
The engineer responsible for the design of the collapsed roof would later be linked to the Algo Centre Mall collapse.[11]
In 2000, the 52,000-square-foot Galaxy Entertainment Complex was opened on the waterfront side of the mall. The Complex includes a 12-screen, 2,400 seat movie theatre.[12] The mall underwent a major renovation project, adding large format stores and revamping the interior. 2011 saw a number of smaller stores combined for a new Sport Chek location. The small former Zellers location reopened in 2012 as a smaller Walmart Supercentre. On November 25, 2013, Galaxy Cinemas downsized from 12 screens to 7 screens in order to make room for H&M.[13] In October 2017, Sears Canada permanently closed their Station Mall store, leaving Coles, Lakeshore Drug Mart, Laura Secord and the Vacation Station as the only remaining original tenants of the mall. In May 2019, Walmart announced that its store in the mall would close in June of that year. This left the mall without any major anchor stores.
Seven years after announcing plans to sell off all of its commercial real estate holdings, in July 2022 Algoma Central Corporation announced a deal to sell the mall to SM International Holdings Ltd., a Markham-based company for $30 million, consisting of $12 million in cash and the remainder as debt.[14] In August 2023, a consulting firm working with the mall's owners announced a $60 million redevelopment plan, consisting of new retail stores, a 50,000 square foot "eatertainment complex" and a casual dining sports bar. This renovation was expected to be completed early in 2024.[15]
On 18 Oct 2024, the mall added a Sephora outlet.[16]