Chinook Centre

Chinook Centre

Location	6455 Macleod Trail SW Calgary, Alberta T2H 0K8
Coordinates	50°59′54″N 114°04′26″W
Opening date	1960 (1960)
Management	Cadillac Fairview
Owner	Cadillac Fairview
No. of stores and services	250
No. of anchor tenants	5
Total retail floor area	125,884 m2 (1,355,000 sq ft)
No. of floors	6
Website	Chinook Centre

Chinook Centre (corporately styled as "CF Chinook Centre") is a major mall in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. It is located near the geographic centre of the city on Macleod Trail, north of Glenmore Trail about 5 km (3.1 mi) south of downtown, and three blocks west of the Chinook C-Train station.

It is the largest mall in Calgary, with (1,355,000 square feet (125,900 m²)) of space. CF Chinook Centre is home to five major department stores (only two are in operation while the third being redeveloped), 250 stores, and several full service restaurants. It also had a 900-seat food court with 36 food vendors], a bowling alley, professional tower, and the Scotiabank Theatre Chinook (formerly the Paramount), with 16 screens, an IMAX Theatre and two UltraAVX theatres.

The focal point of the mall is a four-storey-high rotunda, with a fibre optic 'constellation' ceiling and a time capsule at the centre's axis, set to be opened on December 31, 2999.

The mall is owned and operated by Cadillac Fairview, which also owns CF Market Mall in the area.

Chinook Centre in 2013

History

Logo used until October 2015

In 1960, with Calgary's population and city limits rapidly expanding, the original section of Chinook Centre was opened on the site of the Chinook Drive-In Theatre and the adjacent Skyline drive-in and driving range. Designed as an open-air complex, the mall was anchored by Woodward's, Holt Renfrew, a bowling alley, and a branch of the Calgary Public Library.

In the mid-1960s, a separate mall, Southridge, was opened across the street from Chinook. Built to be a competing centre with Sears and approximately 30 other stores, Southridge operated separately until 1974, when the malls came under common ownership and an expansion was built to bridge the centres together. The new, larger mall was renamed Chinook Ridge Shopping Centre, and included a major enclosed parking structure, a movie theatre, an office tower, and a food court.

Time capsule's cover plate at the four-storey rotunda

In the 1980s, a two-storey wing of specialty retailers was added leading to a new anchor store (fashion retailer Bretton's since closed) and a new food court. This expansion brought the mall's store count to approximately 300.

Overhaul

In the late 1990s, Chinook underwent a $300 million renovation. The complex was rebuilt in three phases, while remaining open for business during the three-year construction period. The move to larger format retailers reduced the number of stores to approximately 200, added new stores for Sears, the Bay and Zellers, and reinstated the mall's movie theatre, now a larger, Egyptian-themed structure anchoring the mall's south end, including an IMAX screen. The re-merchandising program was unkind to smaller, locally owned and operated retailers, who were squeezed out by soaring rents and the 'upscaling' of the property. An exception is the mall's bowling alley, which remains in its original basement location today. The longstanding Chinook public library branch closed; it had been located next to the bowling alley and the space is now used by the mall for employee training.

2010 expansion

On September 29, 2010 a major expansion to the mall was opened, adding 180,000-square-foot (17,000 m²) of new retail space. The new two-level wing added approximately 60 new retailers to Chinook, many of which were new to the Calgary market or considered high-end luxury brand stores. New stores included Abercrombie & Fitch, Anthropologie, Apple Store, Armani Exchange, BCBG Max Azria, Coach, Geox, Guess, Harry Rosen, Hollister Co., Kiehls, Lacoste, Michael Kors, Oakley, Skechers, True Religion and Urban Outfitters. A two-level underground parkade was also added as part of the expansion, augmenting the mall's existing above-ground and structured parking.

Expansion plans

Chinook Centre is now looking to add another 2.3 million square feet for a total of approximately 3.65 million, making it the second biggest in North America. Also, a pedestrian walkway leading from the Chinook LRT station to the mall is being designed.

class=notpageimage|

Location in Calgary

Overview

Anchor store closures

Chinook Centre lost two anchors in 2012, Sears and Zellers, The Zellers location was redeveloped as a Target that opened on May 6, 2013 and on September 19, 2014, Nordstrom moved into the space that had been occupied by Sears. On April 11, 2015, Target closed down permanently due to bankruptcy. On May 31, 2016 it was announced that Saks Fifth Avenue would open a 115,000 sq. ft. location in the space that had been occupied by Zellers and Target in February 2018.

Anchor stores

Hudson's Bay

Scotiabank Theatre Chinook

Nordstrom

Saks Fifth Avenue - opening in February 2018

Former anchor stores

Sears - closed in 2012, replaced by Nordstrom in 2014.

Zellers - closed in 2012, was replaced by Target in 2013

Target (formerly Zellers) - opened May 6, 2013 in former Zellers space; closed April 11, 2015, to become Saks Fifth Avenue

See also

• List of largest shopping malls in Canada
• List of shopping malls in Canada

External links

• Official website