A dead mall
-UPDATE BELOW-
26 July 2025
Why Edmonton was a question I was asked many times after letting people know that my first trip to Canada would be to the provincial capital of Alberta. It wasn’t a query that I was too surprised to hear, especially considering how I had lived for the past decade a mere two hours away from Vancouver and had yet to visit the BC city. But Edmonton always seemed to occupy a place higher up on the list of cities that I wanted to visit. One obvious reason was to see the West Edmonton Mall. But another was just because the city just seemed like a place that I’d like. It was also quite beautiful in pictures. And I was glad to find out that it was even better in person.
1- The downtown skyline. 2- The city just before dawn. 3- The Alberta Legislature Building. 4- The North Saskatchewan River basin. 5- Rogers Place, home of the NHL's Edmonton Oilers. 6- At the Oilers versus Bruins matchup.
Just beyond the bright lights of downtown’s Ice District, one could almost miss the Edmonton City Centre Mall if not paying attention. What was once a hub of downtown activity today lays darkened in the shadows of the nearby Rogers Center and the Sky Residences.
Edmonton City Centre Mall lease plan ca 2018. See the full PDF version here.
The beige and grey monolithic exterior really didn’t do much to invite the average pedestrian in and it was hard to tell if the place was even open on my Sunday afternoon visit. But a walk in through the doors off of 102 Avenue showed that, yes, it was still welcoming shoppers. But just barely.
1- The main entrance at 102 and Howard. 2- The Delta Hotel atop the mall. 3 to 5- The shuttered Hudson's Bay store. 6 & 7- The entrance at the far end of the western half of Edmonton City Centre just behind the 102 Street light rail station. 8- The pedway connecting the mall’s two halves crossing over 101 Street NW.
Inside it was bright and spacious, but not very lively. There were a handful shoppers, but most people hanging out seemed to be part of the city’s homeless population looking for reprieve from the sub-zero temperatures outside. Tenants included a few Canadian mainstays such as Dollarama, Shoppers Drug Mart and Sport Chek, but most of the spaces were gate down, darkened and empty.
1- The southern façade of the center’s eastern portion. 2- The mall entrance midway through what serves as Edmonton City Centre’s original building. 3 to 5- The complex from the corner of 102 Avenue and 100 Street. 6 to 8- Looking west from Winston Churchill Square.
But the biggest vacancy was on the western end of the building where once sat what used to be the only full-line department store in the centre, an outlet of the venerable Canadian merchants Hudson’s Bay Company. The structure, at one time serving as Edmonton’s flagship location, had been shuttered for several years before my visit.
I do have to say, though, that the court immediately in front of the department store’s former entrance was quite impressive, in an eighties sort of way. Rising above the mall’s three levels were another several tiers belonging to Delta Hotels by Marriott, which was still very much open for business. Also on the western end were the Landmark Cinemas, which occupied most of the third level, and a few dining and entertainment establishments which weren’t open at the time. It was difficult to decipher whether or not they were still open at all.
Scenes from inside the western portion of Edmonton City Centre Mall.
Past a the pedway, or skywalk south of the border, over 101 Street and the requisite Tim Horton’s shop was the eastern and original half of the Edmonton City Centre. This area wasn’t any better than the western portion but was also without the crowds drawn in by the hotel and cinemas.
1- The former mall entrance to Hudson’s Bay. 2 to 4- The impressive stack of tiers containing the Delta Hotel over the court immediately in front of the vacant anchor. 5- Restaurants and the Landmark Theaters located on the third floor of the mall’s western half.
But despite the absence of crowds and a few police situations that I was an unfortunate witness to, the mall itself was very well kept, clean and maintained. Who knows; maybe one day it can be recovered or redeveloped into something more in tune with the evolving neighborhood around it.
Edmonton City Centre Mall lease plan ca 2022. See the full PDF version here.
Edmonton City Centre Mall came to be in 1974 as part of the Edmonton Centre development. The Triple Five Corporation, developers of the West Edmonton Mall, then built the Eaton Centre in 1980 across 101 Street. This vertical center opened with Eaton’s department store and the Hilton Hotel as anchors.
Edmonton City Centre Mall's eastern half.
Eaton’s closed in 1999 and soon after the two competing centers were joined by the skybridge over 102 Street. The mall enjoyed some success, but through the latter part of the 2010s to the present, Edmonton City Centre has been in decline. This was punctuated by the closing of Hudson’s Bay in 2021. And though the surrounding blocks still bring in plenty of life, it seems that Edmonton City Centre Mall may not have a place among them.
-UPDATE-
-26 July 2025
I was lucky to have scheduled my first summer trip to Edmonton between bouts of wildfire smoke choking out the city. The city was green and alive, though a little somber after the Oilers’ loss in the Stanley Cup Finals. Though the Ice District and Moss Pit were largely mothballed until the start of the next NHL Season, they were still much livelier than its retail neighbor.
1 & 2- The rear entrance to the western portion of the center and the Delta Hotel. 3- The rear facing façade of the eastern half. 4- The pedway crossing 101 Street from the north. 5 & 6- The western half of Edmonton City Centre, originally Eaton’s Centre.
Just a couple of blocks away, Edmonton City Centre has fallen further into obsolescence. I entered the monolith directly underneath the pedway bridging 102 Street. Just inside the doors, I could see that Edmonton City Centre hadn’t changed much, except for housing even fewer tenants and patrons than on my previous visit.
1- Inside the pedway connecting Edmonton City Centre’s two halves. 2- The first level of the eastern half with the basement level below. 3 to 5- Around the second tier of the original portion of the mall. 6 to 8- The third level of the east mall.
After traversing the pedway into the eastern portion of the mall, I made my way toward the third level food court. I was finally able to explore the one part of Edmonton City Centre that I had missed in 2023. Perhaps the liveliest part of the entire facility, around two-thirds of the storefronts were still occupied with stalwarts like KFC, A&W and Edo Japan offering their varied cuisines.
Edmonton City Centre Mall lease plan ca 2024. See the full PDF version here.
As I walked through the remainder of the downtown retail destination’s concourses, I stopped at the long closed entrance to Hudson’s Bay. I lamented the loss of a more that 350 year old institution and it’s wonderful store exteriors. This retailer will be sorely missed. Unfortunately, the news hasn’t been much rosier for the rest of the Edmonton City Centre.
Edmonton City Centre’s third level food court known as Elevate Food fare.
In July of 2025, it was announced
that the shopping center had missed loans totaling 140 million Canadian dollars and was ordered
into receivership, giving the owners the opportunity to restructure their debts. And while Edmonton has really grown on me, I
can only hope that the old urban center will still be welcoming guests on my next
visit.
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