The Shops on Steeles and 404

The Shops on Steeles and 404

Location	Markham, Ontario, Canada
Coordinates	43°48′48″N79°21′30″W / 43.813206°N 79.358438°W / 43.813206; -79.358438
Opening date	1977
Management	Cadillac Fairview, Wycliffe Property Management (formerly)
Architect	Bregman & Hamann Architects
No. of stores and services	50
No. of anchor tenants	2
No. of floors	2
Parking	outdoor street level and above former Sears (closed off due to safety concerns)
Public transit access	TTC 51 Leslie, 53 Steeles East, 953 Steeles East, 25 Don Mills, and 925 Don Mills; YRT 3 Thornhill 90B Leslie, and 90 Leslie
Website	www.theshops.ca

The Shops on Steeles and 404 is a small 50-store community mall at the corner of Steeles Avenue East and Don Mills Road in Markham, Ontario. Aside from a few chains, the mall is mostly independent stores.

A (now shuttered) Sears outlet store at The Shops on Steeles and 404 in Thornhill, Ontario.

History

The Shops on Steeles and 404 originally opened in 1977 as Markham Marketplace, and was owned by Cadillac Fairview. The mall named changed to The Shops on Steeles and 404 following the sale of the mall from Cadillac Fairview. In recent years, Wycliffe Property Management operated the mall until 2023 where it was sold. Original tenants included McDonalds, Subway, Miracle Mart, and the now defunct Sears Canada which used to be a major anchor. The McDonalds closed early 2006, with TD Bank replacing the former space. Sears Canada originally operated as a full line Sears within the mall that opened on September 28th, 1977; then was converted to a Sears Home store (selling furniture and appliances) and in recent years as a Sears Outlet Store. The location then closed in April of 2017, citing financial difficulties by shuttering unprofitable stores. Bobby's Liquidation Outlet occupied the anchor tenant space vacated by Sears. A liquidation outlet called Closeout King was located within the anchor building as well, but was removed after five months of non-payment. In January 2019 Bobby's Outlet closed (moved to Promenade Mall in Vaughan) with mall owners planning to re-develop the space. ^[1] Within the former Sears anchor operates an Active Green + Ross Tire & Automative Centre, which was formerly occupied by a Sears Auto Centre but was sold off as part of a deal Sears Canada secured with Active Green + Ross Tire & Automative Centre in 2004. The lower floor of the former anchor space is now occupied by a flea market named Hwy 404 & Steeles Flea Market. Miracle Mart was succeeded by Food Basics in 1992 following their bankruptcy.

Site Development

In 2007, the mall was slated for residential re-development called Markhamgate Summit, ^[2] with some retail stores at ground level, as well as a new transit hub for the Toronto Transit Commission and York Region Transit. ^[3] Although the land is in Markham, Ontario (in the community of Thornhill, Ontario), Toronto city councillor David Shiner invoked the 1974 Agreement, which grants Toronto limited planning authority over York Region land that is within 45 metres of Steeles Avenue, which Toronto owns, to veto the developer plans of several condominium towers. Shiner argued that the proposed number of residential units was too high which would create too much traffic in the neighborhood, while Markham councillor Howard Ian Shore and the developer countered that the project would not be viable if the number of residential units was lowered below the agreed-upon figure. ^[4] As of 2018, the project has not proceeded and the original mall remains standing and operating.

See also

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

References

1. "Bobby's Liquidation Outlet closing, 80% off store inventory in Markham".
2. "Major new "Markhamgate Summit" development planned for Steeles and the 404". Archived from the original on 2017-03-24. Retrieved 2017-03-23.
3. "Date set for Shops on Steeles redevelopment". 4 October 2010.
4. Alcoba, Natalie (26 March 2011). "Who's afraid of Shops on Steeles?". National Post.