Here’s a sign of the times, a shopping centre that’s seen better days. The term “dead mall” is often heard when discussing retail, with many such places (even before the Corona shutdown) becoming literal ghost towns due to a lack of shops. Losing a tenant is bad, but if an anchor it can be devastating. Here at the Town ‘N’ Country (T&C to those who know and love it) in Moose Jaw Saskatchewan, they’ve seen two big department stores shutter in the last decade. Ouch!
First to go was Zellers in the early 2010s, a budget chain dating back to the 1930s that succumbed to the one-two punch that was Walmart and the Internet. The US firm Target came in to take their place, but they crashed and burned and soon retreated back to home territory. The Moose Jaw store was never to be part of that Canadian expansion, by the way. The space has since had a new tenant move in, a government social services outlet. Will it mean more people in the mall, yes I suppose, but doubt it’ll mean more business for those stores left.
Sears in Canada dates back to the 1950s, operating for many decades as Simpson-Sears. This chain was more upscale and for years a retail juggernaut. While still operating in the US (but on shaky ground), the independent Canadian operation closed in 2018. Online shopping claims another victim.
We’re reminded, there’s some retail lessons here. They’ve been witness to a retail apocalypse here and we ponder the long term chances of the mall surviving.
The Town ‘N’ Country dates back to the 1970s (first reference we could find was ’78). We happened to be passing through town, returning from our epic Summer 2019 SK adventure (articles to be published post Covid) when a wrong turn lead us here. And we just had to snap a couple pics and reminisce.
Short Subjects: reports that for any number of reasons are brief in nature. They might be updates to older articles, previews of posts planned or not yet published, brief snippets of things that don’t fit in anywhere else or subjects that are so obscure that information on them can’t be found. Or sometimes we just ramble on about Lord knows what.
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Date of adventure: August, 2019. Location: Moose Jaw, SK.
They’re a dying breed but most seem to be hanging on for now (I hear it’s pretty dire in the States). We live by one of Calgary’s original malls and it’s about a quarter empty. But it still has two anchor tenants, so it’s doing better than some.
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Beer Parlour Fridays: before Pilsner in Saskatchewan, there was Bohemian or simply Boh. For decades, it was the most popular beer in the province. Incidentally, both Pil and Boh were for decades products of Sick's Brewery. This Boh cap was found in the basement of an old hotel in SW Saskatchewan during a visit by the Beer Parlour Project. It celebrates the beer winning a prestigious best in world award in the late 1960s.
Beer Parlour Fridays: here's a standard issue cast-metal round-top Beer Parlour table. These were supplied through the liquor control board (who heavily regulated the business) and therefore could be found at most drinking establishments. They date back to the 1940s-1960s period and surprisingly, we still see them out there in the wild all the time. Often they were covered in terrycloth to help sop up spilled beer. _______
Exploring history with Chris & Connie from Off the Beaten Path. Thanks, Johanna (Connie).
Beer Parlour Fridays: The Tompkin's SK Hotel/Lucky Loon Saloon, previously Woody's. It was just a drive by visit and not a stop on the recent Beer Parlour Project tour of SW Saskatchewan. Had it been open we would have checked it out, however. Celebrating old school watering holes at https://www.BeerParlourProject.com. _______
Exploring history with Chris & Connie from Off the Beaten Path. Thanks, Johanna (Connie).
Beer Parlour Fridays: The Wildwood Hotel in Wildwood Alberta, built in the late 1950s to replace one that earlier burned down. Visited in October 2024 by Chris and Rob. Watch for this hotel and others appearing at https://www.BeerParlourProject.com. Celebrating old school watering holes!
Scroll down to the comments for more!👇 _______
Exploring history with Chris & Connie from Off the Beaten Path. Thanks, Johanna (Connie).
A retro, all-metal playground in Burstall Saskatchewan. The rocking horse, aka the tooth chipper or shin buster, was perhaps the most dangerous. Chris says he still has scars from one. But on a summer's day, those slides could get as hot as a baking pan fresh from the oven and gave new meaning to the words toasted buns. If you survived this playground, you were ready to take on the world. _______
Exploring history with Chris & Connie from Off the Beaten Path. Date: 2024. Thanks, Johanna (Connie).
Everything starts with Z.
Haven’t heard that slogan in like a million years!
Lunch with my mom at the Zellers lunch counter after one of her legendary shopping marathons! That was bliss.
A stop at the lunch counter was mandatory.
Losing two anchors must have been quite the blow.
You’d think a death blow, yet the mall is still open. The clock must be ticking though.
Miss those stores!
Times in the retail biz are changing and the old guard has been swept away.
My Mom & Aunty used to take me to Zellers when I was little. Such fond memories!
Everyone’s Moms shopped there!
There’s a lot of malls like that in Canada. I’ve been in that mall in happier times.
They’re a dying breed but most seem to be hanging on for now (I hear it’s pretty dire in the States). We live by one of Calgary’s original malls and it’s about a quarter empty. But it still has two anchor tenants, so it’s doing better than some.