Polo Park

This article is about the shopping mall in Winnipeg. For the shopping mall in Enugu, Nigeria, see Polo Park Mall.
Polo Park
Map
LocationWinnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
Coordinates49°53′02″N 97°11′56″W / 49.8838°N 97.199°W / 49.8838; -97.199
Address1485 Portage Avenue
Opening dateAugust 20, 1959; 65 years ago (1959-08-20)[1]
ManagementCadillac Fairview
OwnerCadillac Fairview
No. of stores and services200+
No. of anchor tenants5
Total retail floor area1,202,000 square feet (111,700 m2)
No. of floors2
Public transit accessBus interchange Winnipeg Transit Polo Park Transit Terminal
11 Portage-Kildonan
12 William (west terminal)
20 Academy-Watt
24 Ness (evenings and Sunday/Holidays)
26 Logan - Berry
66 Grant
74 Kenaston
77 Crosstown North
78 Waverley
79 Charleswood
95 Tuxedo - Riverview
Websitepolopark.ca

Polo Park (corporately styled as CF Polo Park) is a shopping centre in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. It is situated on the former Polo Park Racetrack near the junction of Portage Avenue and St. James Street. Its grounds also includes a Scotiabank Theatre (formerly SilverCity). The mall is currently anchored by Hudson's Bay, Forever 21, Urban Planet, Sport Chek, and EQ3.

It is the largest mall of the 8 malls in the city, and is the 15th largest shopping centre in Canada, ranking between Guildford Town Centre and Laurier Québec.[citation needed]

For census purposes, Polo Park is also the name given to the neighbourhood including and surrounding the shopping centre.[2]

History

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The Polo Park Mall opened on Thursday, 20 August 1959,[3] and became one of the first enclosed shopping malls in Canada when a roof was added in 1963, the other being the Park Royal Shopping Centre in BC.[4][5]

The district was once the sports hub of Winnipeg, with the Winnipeg Arena, Canad Inns Stadium, and Winnipeg Velodrome all being located in the Polo Park neighbourhood. The Velodrome was torn down in the 1990s to make way for a strip mall that includes Home Depot and Chapters. The arena and stadium have also since been demolished and replaced by new retail and office complexes.[6]

The former CKY building is situated next to the mall. It used to house the city's CTV Television Network affiliate, CKY-TV, CKY radio, and FM 92 CITI. It was the original home of the WTN network. Corus Radio Winnipeg has occupied the building since 2011, as part of a lease agreement between Corus Entertainment and Cadillac Fairview. Studios for CJOB 680, CFPG-FM 99.1 and CJKR-FM 97.5 are located on the second floor of the three-story building.[7]

After Sears Canada closed its location in December 2017 due to bankruptcy,[8] the anchor was redeveloped between March 2018 and October 2021 to house new tenants.[9] As of 2023, most of the space is occupied by EQ3[10] and Zara.[11][12]

Expansions

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In the spring of 1968, a $7.5-million expansion of Polo Park was completed. The addition brought a three-storey Eaton's department store to the mall, making Polo Park the second largest shopping centre in Canada at the time.[13]

In 1986, the mall underwent a $75-million renovation that added a second level to the building. This addition was panned by downtown Winnipeg merchants, who voiced their objections to the plan at City Council meetings in 1984; Council approved the expansion nonetheless.[14][15] The expanded shopping centre opened in mid-August 1986.[16]

Another expansion took place in 2007, which added 20,000 square feet (1,900 m2) and cost $30 million.[17]

A new $49-million expansion to Polo Park opened 1 October 2014 in the former Zellers space on the mall's second level. The redeveloped space included 114,000 sq ft (10,600 m2) of retail space and 17 new stores.[18] The space will again be redeveloped in late 2024 and most of 2025 to host a London Drugs location, the chain's second in Manitoba, which is scheduled to open in late 2025. Some tenants in the redeveloped space were relocated to other areas of the mall, while others' leases were not renewed.[19]

Complexes

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Polo Park has also added new retail complexes, which are located on properties adjacent to the north of the mall.

Polo North is located on the site of the former Winnipeg Arena and features Marshalls, Mark's, Atmosphere, and the new head office of Western Financial.[6][20][21]

The Plaza at Polo Park—located at the Canad Inns Stadium grounds, adjacent to Scotiabank Theatre—is a mixed-use development that spans over 600,000 sq ft (56,000 m2).[6][20] It features Winners, HomeSense, Urban Behavior, Winnipeg Metropolitan Region Inc., and the first P. F. Chang's restaurant in Winnipeg.[6][22] With parking capacity for over 1,200 vehicles, The Plaza was originally built to house Target Canada, which soon after went out of business throughout Canada.[23]

References

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  1. ^ Polo Park Shopping Centre, Shopping-canada.com. Quoted: 13 September 2015.
  2. ^ "Downtown West Neighbourhood Cluster | 2016 Census". City of Winnipeg. Retrieved 2021-06-12.
  3. ^ "Big New Centre Dedicated". Winnipeg Free Press. August 20, 1959.
  4. ^ "The Mall Turns 50". Winnipeg Free Press. August 16, 2009. Retrieved 2009-08-16.
  5. ^ "Our History". HBC. Retrieved 2009-08-16.
  6. ^ a b c d "There's a new Marshalls in town". Winnipeg Free Press. March 3, 2013.
  7. ^ cky-dt, broadcasting-history.ca
  8. ^ "Racing Through the History of Polo Park". heritagewinnipeg.com. 15 September 2021. Retrieved 3 July 2022.
  9. ^ Toneguzzi, Mario (16 February 2021). "Cadillac Fairview to Redevelop Former Sears at CF Polo Park in Winnipeg Including EQ3 Flagship". retail-insider.com. Retrieved 29 December 2022.
  10. ^ Toneguzzi, Mario (3 November 2021). "Canadian Furniture Brand EQ3 Opens Massive Winnipeg Flagship Store". retail-insider.com. Retrieved 3 July 2022.
  11. ^ "ZARA Opening First Winnipeg Location at CF Polo Park". accesswinnipeg.com. 22 June 2023. Retrieved 30 June 2023.
  12. ^ "ZARA at CF Polo Park Now Open". accesswinnipeg.com. 17 November 2023. Retrieved 24 November 2023.
  13. ^ "Multi-Million Dollar Polo Park Expansion Nears Completion". Winnipeg Free Press. February 21, 1968. p. 45.
  14. ^ "Downtown merchants criticize Polo Park expansion plan". Winnipeg Free Press. September 7, 1984. p. 3.
  15. ^ "Polo Park expansion approved by council". Winnipeg Free Press. September 6, 1984. p. 1.
  16. ^ "Refurbished Polo Park mall overwhelms shoppers". Winnipeg Free Press. August 14, 1986. p. 2.
  17. ^ "Lots more in store for Polo Park". Winnipeg Free Press. 2007-03-26. p. 18.
  18. ^ McNeill, Murray (2 October 2014). "We're talking shopping here". Winnipegfreepress.com. Retrieved 12 January 2018.
  19. ^ "New London Drugs to set up shop in CF Polo Park". CBC News. Retrieved 18 August 2024.
  20. ^ a b "Plaza at Polo - Shindico". www.shindico.com. Retrieved 2021-06-12.
  21. ^ "CF Polo Park | Mall Map".
  22. ^ "The Plaza at Polo Park" (Map). Google Maps.
  23. ^ Kirbyson, Geoff. 2015 January 16. "How was Target's aim so bad?". Winnipeg Free Press.
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