Regina’s Northgate Mall has a new anchor tenant.
U.S. home improvement giant Lowe’s has opened up its second location in the capital in the 135,000-square-foot space that has sat empty since Target pulled the plug on its Canadian operations in the spring of 2015. It has also constructed a new 13,000-square-foot garden centre.
“Lowe’s has sopped up a lot of vacancy,” said Mitchell Cohen, chief operating officer of Toronto-based Westdale Properties, which owns and manages the 335,000-square-foot regional shopping centre.
“But what’s most important is the traffic that Lowe’s brings not just to its store but to Northgate Mall. They’ve been an incredible addition. More people are coming to our mall.”
When Target closed, Westdale didn’t panic, Cohen said.
“Being long-term holders of real estate, we realized that there are ups and downs in the market. I’m not trying to minimize Target leaving Canada, but retail changes and we adapted,” he said.
