Nothing Sweet about Etobicoke's Honeydale Mall
I grew up in Etobicoke, not far from Dundas and the 427. One evening last week I got off work early and stopped by to visit the family home. The suburbs of Toronto haven't really changed all that much.
My car also recently started farting, so in need of a new muffer, I figured I'd swing by the Speedy on Dundas (near Kipling station). Having an hour to kill while my car was worked on, I wandered over to the nearby Honeydale Mall.
Honeydale Mall was never a popular destination for me growing up, but having not been by there in quite some time, I hadn't realized just how bad things have become for the old Etobicoke mall. It's in a really, really sad state... near death. And after exploring some, and taking snaps with my cell phone, I later learned that it even has an entry on deadmalls.com.
There was once a Walmart in the largest retail space in the mall, which later became a scratch-n'-dent-type outlet for the Bay - but they've since also jumped ship and sought out greener pastures.
The interior of the mall is like rather ghost town-esque. Small retailers and big business are long gone, leaving empty shops with for-lease signs that no one is likely to ever call.
The massive parking lot, which appears to be spacious enough to hold several hundred cars, remains largely vacant on a Friday afternoon.
Being there got me thinking - sometimes death and renewal takes a really long time to transpire. This seems to be the
case for a few properties in central Etobicoke. Take for example, the
long abandoned Westwood Theatre just east of Kipling station. It seems
like ages ago that I lined up with my friends to see the premier of
Batman (1989), but it also seems like eons since the place went defunct
(in 1998) - and it still sits deteriorating and under-utilized.
What does the future hold for Honeydale Mall? Surely the remaining retail space (a No Frills on one end, and a really, really terribe flea market at the other end) can't keep the entire mall on life support for much longer.
I'd like to think that some smart and responsible development firm has its sights on the property, with plans to build tall residential units (not townhomes, please!). With urban sprawl bringing Mississauga and Halton Hills and Georgetown and Acton and Rockwood and Guelph together, we'd be far better off with a shift in focus towards densification. A stone's throw from the TTC Kipling subway station, it actually makes sense for this kind of development in this otherwise wasted land.
Comments (51)
Coupled with the fact that the flea market has vendors selling bootleg DVD's that practically get busted every other weekend can't help the future of what's left.
How ironic that the only retailer left is 'No Frills'.
Careful, someone might get wise, buy the property and put up, yes another condo!
i'd be totally okay with another condo -- like the author wrote it's a good location for one and really would make the place a lot better than an abandoned mall.
I used to live near there and something about the bee sign reminds me of Beetlejuice.
But seriously, using a grocery store as the sole 'anchor' is almost always a death sentence for a mall. People will go into a Zellers or Walmart and buy a bag or two worth of product and they may just stroll into the mall to get some lunch or browse the small shops. It doesn't work that way with a grocery store. People tend to buy many bags of product which is often perishable. People simply don't browse around a mall after getting groceries. They just want to get home and put their groceries in the fridge.
I bring this up because the mall at Eglinton and Victoria Park will be losing its Zellers store in something like 2 months. The mall itself is relatively healthy with a No Frills and several small stores. But unless they can find a replacement anchor for the Zellers they will slowly and painfully end up the same way as the Honeydale Mall.
That would be a sweet condo location. You've got Cloverdale across the street, the Metro right there and Kipling station a walk away... not to mention access to the 427 on your doorstep. That and there's a Dairy Queen down the road and you've got a winner. Let me know when the pre-sale starts.
There was a recent condo application for the Honeydale site and supporting studies were even done...not sure if it was a victim of the economy or if it's still looming in the background. I think the Westwood site will be addressed if/when the Sixpoints interchange is reconfigured.
My Westwood memory reveals my age, I saw Yellow Submarine at that theatre.
I am sensitive to the question of preventing urban sprawl- grew up in North York, now live in Acton = so I have contributed to the problem.
There has to be incentives to re-develop and a harder, bigger green belt. Both the carrot and the stick. The best thing about Acton is being completely within the green belt and therefore sprawl is blocked. Guelph wants the same thing. There has to be swift action with South Georgetown, it has developers lining up to develop until Georgetown sits next to the 401...
Honeydale Mall was busy back in its WalMart-as-the-anchor days...now its days are numbered. Kinda surprised that the TTC doesn't want it for extra subway parking (or maybe they do but cant afford it?) It would be prime condo land.
But Cloverdale is just across the road & wins out in the "where would one rather shop" category. While Honeydale has been in decline, Cloverdale has a least improved (renovations, most store fronts leased etc)
We called Cloverdale "Over the Hill mall" when we were kids because it used to be mostly seniors shopping there. No surprise, as anyone who can't afford to shop in nearby chi-chi Sherway Gardens stores would go to Cloverdale. And unlike Sherway on a weekend, you can always find a parking spot!
Jerrold's got it right I think -- Cloverdale and Honeydale probably don't do very well at all because Sherway Gardens is huge and has a significant draw in the area.
Why go to a small mall with a few stores when you can go to a huge mall with many many stores? Its current consumer logic. People just travel a bit further for the convience of having more choice.
Seems like Cloverdale and Honeydale are also confined in their property footprint -- meaning expansion isn't really possible -- which limits what a property owner can do to keep drawing people in in the era of "superstores".
I'm located near Yorkdale up in Downsview -- and no small mall really has much of a chance with that monster mall in the area -- it draws people from all over. Sheridan Mall isn't that far -- and while its not "dead" it really struggles to maintain its draw of customers. There was a time when Sheridan Mall was on an even keel with Yorkdale and drawing the same number of people and same range of customers. But then Yorkdale expanded -- many times -- and simply dominated the retail market in the area.
What's sad is that I think with some creative land-use planning and creative entrepreneurship places like Honeydale could become real niche markets (literally) for stores and services that huge malls and large retailers just can't offer. But our city doesnt seem to really encourage that kind of development. There is a small but growing movement of people who are looking for work-live situations -- and places like Honeydale may yet see a re-birth.
I've been past that mall often. Never stopped to take a look, though.
It reminds me a bit of the old Trafalgar Village mall in Oakville. It was built in the '50s, but lost its status when the fancier Oakville Place opened nearby in 1981. It was still fairly busy, though, as a budget-minded mall with a supermarket, Bargain Harold's (or was that a Bi-Way?), and a Woolco. There was also a bowling alley and a Golden Griddle.
But then the Woolco chain was taken over by Wal-Mart and, over the course of several years, Wal-Mart slowly sucked the life out of the rest of the mall. Wal-Mart eventually left the husk of the mall for greener pastures, a new subdivision being built at the north end of town, and the store lay vacant for a while. A flea market moved in for a couple of months, but it was quite pathetic and didn't attract much traffic. The rest of the mall was 80% empty at that point, with a few long-established stores with a devout local following surviving. The writing was on the wall, though.
Eventually, about 7 years ago now I think, they tore down the mall. The supermarket (now a No Frills) and Golden Griddle were preserved, and the remaining stores were moved into some newly-built units. The main structure of the mall was replaced by an expanded parking lot, a Tim Hortons, and a Home Depot.
The shopping centre still carries the same name, Trafalgar Village, and with the Home Depot dominating it, it's been very successful. Much more so than its years of post-Wal-Mart rot.
I apologize for disregarding the content of the entire post, but I cannot fathom why "STI" in "Fleastival Market" is highlighted. Quite hilarious, if I must say so myself.
HoneyJail Mall should be razed ASAP!
What an eye sore. The surrounding area is only slightly better, but once they get that mistake north of the lake torn down we will all be much happier.
I moved to Etobicoke in the late '80's and my grandparents forced me to go that "mall". Hell, I was coming from Ireland, which was still developing at the time and the one "mall" we had over there was leaps and bounds better than HoneyJail. Even as a 13 yr old Irish immigrant who used to play in cow pastures for fun, I could tell just how shitty that place was. Dont let the door hit you on the way out, HoneyJail. P.O.S.
Ten years ago, when my family just moved to Toronto, and found an apartment close to the airport, we walked to the Honeydale/Cloverdale mall pair, and even as new wide-eyed immigrants were rather unimpressed, with Honeydale specifically. I've grown to really hate malls and the huge parking expanses, boy, I really loathe them. But even though I hate malls in general, I found Honeydale way more depressing than your average suburban shopping monstrosities. Die, Honeydale, die. Good riddance.
I was there last night! Had to stop at No Frills for something and it was the first time in 10 years or so that I was there. Man I can't believe just how dead it is. Even Bert and Ernies out front is gone. It's ridiculous how so much prime real-estate sits vacant when the sprawl continues in the further suburbs. Westwood has a lot of fond memories for me, and it too is in a sad state, although apparently it's scheduled to become a Mississauga Transit hub or something.
Cloverdale has had a good resurgence. 10 years ago I could have sworn it was doomed, but with the new Metro groceries and decent shops inside, it seems to be doing alright.
"Ten years ago, when my family just moved to Toronto, and found an apartment close to the airport, we walked to the Honeydale/Cloverdale mall pair".
Crap man! You walked that? You must have great legs.
Kipling Station is actually going to be a transit hub, connecting Mississauga buses, GO buses and TTC buses.
About 6 weeks ago it was announced that the Westwood site, or part of it at least, will be developed as a new courthouse.
That mall at Victoria Park and Eglinton (Super Centre - not Eglinton Square) has never been 'relatively healthy'. It's always been a hole.
But don't you worry - those big box stores stretching across Eglinton (and Warden) will surely find its way into that spot.
Yech.
cloverdale brings in a much older crowd then sherway does, walk through cloverdale on an afternoon. 80 percent of the people are senior citizens, and will stay that way. nice quiet slow moving mall is what draws them. that place can get very busy.
hey i shop at that no frills every weekend.
yeah construction of the new tranport hub i believe has started under the kipling area bridge, crews been working hard there for the last week. kicking out all the ttc employees that park there.
Um, which mall isn't full of seniors in the afternoon?
In the evening and on weekends it's full of people big and small, young and old
Maybe what makes Cloverdale desirable to seniors is *exactly* that absence of the kind of shallow young Hills-trash that might prefer the bling of Yorkdale and Sherway. All things considered, it's been a graceful survivor. (Yeah, I know it lost its ultra-period 50s aesthetic through 70s enclosure, much like Don Mills; but, still.)
Oh, and Ryan: Honeydale lost its neon bee sign ("That 70s Sign", I used to call it) a couple of years ago--that was virtually the only redeeming feature to the mall, which was *always* a cheapo cheapo barrel-bottom affair...
The highlighted "STi" in the flea market sign seems to be little more than breaking the word down into syllables: flea-sti-val
I go to Cloverdale semi-regularly thanks to the metro and the Winners; the fact that it has a book store, game store and record store doesn't hurt even if none of them are particularly brimming to the hilt with awesome goods. To be honest, I'd rather get my clothes at the Winners than spend spend spend on ugly "fashionable" things at Sherway. I only go to Sherway for the HMV and the Apple Store (when needed). After the sensory overload of Sherway, Cloverdale's actually kind of nice to be in. Now if only it had more things I was actually looking for...
That's how we explored our new city before we got a car. Basically we took really long hikes. This particular walk wasn't even that long - under 10 km. Now, we did buy a couple of chairs there for our new apartment... after carrying the chairs for a few minutes, we voted for TTC. :-)))
Actually the Westwood site was announced to be the site of a new provincial/municipal court house.
Honeydale has been on its last legs for well over a decade.
When Wallmart moved, it pretty much sounded the death toll for the place. Quite the contrast to what it was like in the 80's - While not crammed, there certainly were a good amount of people there whenever I was forced to accompany the parentals on a shopping trip.
For the life of me, I can't remember what else was in there, despite it being a really small mall. I definitely recall it was a Woolco, and that there was either a Bi-Way or Bargain Harolds. I remember the Bank of Montreal, and Golden Griddle. But wasn't No Frills a more recent reno expansion? What was there before?
I certainly recall that they only had really lame video arcade games there, and would nag the folks to head to Cloverdale, cause Wizard's Castle was much more fun....
That whole area of mid-Etobicoke is the worst kind of depressing, aging, boring suburbia. Talk about lazy planning. I find bordre zones like this one which lies between the larger entity of Toronto and Edge City Mississauga usually quite uneappealing because they are of primary importance to nobody and totally lack identity. When the Wal-Mart bolted there wasn't much hope for Honeydale. Good riddance. Transit access is reasonable so there might be hope if the Canadian economy continues to hold water. I'd rather see condos and other developments here than directly on the lakefront or on greenfield sites. Discovered the awfulness myself by accident earlier this spring and was moved enough to blog thereupon: http://stvo-powcityblog.blogspot.com/2009/04/123-circus-maximus.html
Honeydale, it's time to unplug you.
The flea market has now closed down - a few weeks I was there and the doors were boarded up with wood. Tear the mall down already.
im working on an interior design thesis project right now and wanted to use the empty space for my facility.. we have to find a building and propose a use for it that would benefit the community. before we do that, we need plans for a specific building.. i was wondering, does anyone know who owns Honeydale???
@Victoria:
A little bit of hunting found this:
The mall is owned by a group called Azuria Group. Their website is http://www.azuriagroup.com/
This was found in an article in the National Post, but it's dated 2007. That may be a good place to start.
I can't believe you didn't get any snaps of the Golden Griddle! It's been empty for MANY years, and yet the tables are still set... newspapers lie on them with the date that it closed. It's incredible, as if humanity died in the middle of breakfast.
I remember both going to Westwood for movies (my Baba would always sneak in M&Ms and pretzels for us to eat), and shopping at Woolco at Honeydale. I still shop there - the flea market is one of the worst in the world, but it's actually taken over the bulk of the entire mall now. I'm actually planning on checking it out today (which is why I googled honeydale flea market - to find their closing time LOL)
As to Cloverdale, at least one end of it is always bumpin'. Tim Horton's at the south end always has a huge line, and the stores down there get a lot of business. Zellers at the other end is a total zoo, so they're doing well. The mall as a whole is doing pretty good - I would say in an economy when even Sherway has shuttered stores, Cloverdale doesn't look bad.
OK I went - the Fleastival Market is closed, and their website now gives you a virus.
Where the Walmart/Bay Outlet was there is now a Brand Outlet. It is "2 stores in one" - brand name clothes on the right (it looks like a garage sale with women's clothing in piles on tables, while all the other clothing is in nice neat piles by brand, style, and size). On the other side there are household items - at prices totally comparible to Zellers, where I'd far rather shop. The door is manned by a scary looking bouncer-type... it was kind of gross and creepy all at once.
The Golden Griddle is now Pho Number One. They didn't change a thing about the decor - not even the tables and chairs - except adding some Asian gold baubles at the cash. When I went by, mid-afternoon, there was one Asian couple eating there and a bored Asian woman working at the cash.
Next to the Golden Griddle on the outside the salon and dentist are still there.
Inside the mall, No Frills was still busy. Behind it was the "new" Mal-Mart. It had a pet store with horribly treated animals, and about 10 more stalls of your usual flea market crap. Next to that was an empty store with a notice saying more flea market stalls would be opening in there. Beside that was the old LINC, which is closed but still had a bulletin board up with notes from when it was open. It looks like they closed in a hurry.
The restaurant at the corner is still there, stools and menus and all. The shoe store and dollar store remain empty, signage still up. And yes, I checked out the scary toilet - it's actually not that scary... it has nice tile, bright lights, and it's recently painted. It WAS locked up, though, so I don't know if it's ever open for the public anymore.
Half of the old Walmart space is empty, and you could see it from the inside. It was exceptionally creepy (those Hallowe'en chains really missed out on that space!), right down to the failing, blinking fluorescent bulbs.
Bert and Ernie's is still boarded up and empty. It closed in December of 2008 - it was a mess before that with broken windows and the interior falling apart. Apparently it, like the Golden Griddle, went bankrupt.
So 1 new restaurant and a few new flea-marketesque stores are there. God only knows how long any of them will last.
I Liked The Mall When The Walmart Was In It
When It Closed I Did Not Go There Much. It looks Like That Old Cafe Across From The No Frills Has Dust On The Sides. I Remember The Closed Store That Was Open That Had The Bathroom In It and The Weird Chairs. And What Was The Store In The Washroom Before It Was Closed And What Was The Store Between The Dollar Store And Cafe
Hey there,
I'm a journalist from Perpetual Radio. Is there any way I can get access to the Wal-Mart at the mall, or the BMO? I'm doing a story on these dead malls, and I would like to get some photographs of the interior condition of this mall, as well as the exterior.
If anyone has information, could you kindly email it to me at nile.livesey@perpetualradio.com
I'd rather go to buy flea-market stuff in places where the merchants/stores appear to be in a struggle, where finding a parking spot is not a struggle!!. That is where I can expect to find and bargain a deal. I am surprised at the somewhat personal and and negative comments against the stores at the Honeydale Mall. Granted, the place is mostly empty, but I sense the merchants and vendors in there are doing their best to get our business, with lower marketing dollars, lower rents ( possibly), and therefore lower prices to me.
Wow. Honeydale mall is empty, greasy, dead, and filthy. No Frills is ok, but the BMO has benn crapped out and a soda bottle remains in the empty skeleton. That 60s mall needs a caring ganitor for freakin sake!And Golden Griddle is closed cuz no tenant paid rent! The clearance warehouse is gone also, and there is only Mal Mart (the little flea market). But that place will tstill remain open
Golden Griddle is also closed,and so is half operating Honeydale Dental. But, tenants still buy the place, so Honeydale is still in business and still will be. Maybe, in the future, ill buy that Wal Mart space.
The Discount Store In The Old Walmart Is Closed
There Is A No frills Mal mart Dental Office
And Ph Number one
Well,no tenant has set foot in the mall, so probably, you cant.Unless you want to break in, you cannot gain access to the Wal mart or BMO.Im a person from youtube,anderalex129, so check my Honeydale Mall video also.Thanks,Nothrillsfrills.
somehow i self-registered onto this blog, and i keep getting comments on Honeydale Mall. So I went there, again, and I noticed much more people traffic through the doors at the No Frills and onto the flea market stores called Mall-Mart. I did browse through the vendors' stalls and like any flea market, I found a couple of gems and made purchases at the right price for me. The music stall has a fair collection of collectible, limited edition genuine Cds and DVDs.( not counterfeit ). The pet store has very comparable pricing on registered puppies. I have no problem with this place, if you do not care for a larger mall.
Just a quick update on honeydale mall.Ok,so now where the clearance warehouse is,its empty and some of the light aisles at the back are dead while some are still lit.The fleastival market is boarded up with wood still (it was half the WAL-MART).Mal-Mart is the new location of fleastival market and the dollar club and ph number one are the only two stores beside the mal-mart/fleastival flea market that are open.
@Padrig the store there was name "SHOES".When I went inside the building,MaN it went defunct.you could tell
I am sad that Etobicoke died with Honeydale Mall left as a relic.
The service centre near Halton Conservation still remains boarded
up and left alone.Its a shame that Wendy's died at that
location.They were doing faint until they shut down 2007 when they
lost hope. Yet Etobicoke is rotting.Farewell Etobicoke.
Nice photos. Was there yesterday, looking for the outlet, saw things abandoned. A shell of a past. The remaining puppy dogs in the market struggling to breathe.
View More Events
Suggest an Event
Join the blogTO Flickr group
Join the blogTO YouTube Group
RSS