Sherway Gardens 2.82

Sherway Gardens is a large retail shopping mall in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The mall is located several kilometres west of downtown Toronto in the former suburb of Etobicoke, near the interchange of Highway 427 with the Queen Elizabeth Way and Gardiner Expressway.The mall opened in 1971. Its original structure covered 850000sqft in an S-shaped configuration and contained 127 stores. It was expanded in 1975, 1987, 1989, and 2015. Sherway is now 1182000sqft, has 215 stores, is the eighth largest mall in the Greater Toronto Area as well as the 18th largest mall in Canada. As the mall has grown, it has changed its mix of stores from a general mix of stores to add more fashion-conscious and luxury brand stores.HistoryThe Sherway Gardens mall, a project, was revealed to the public by Sherway Gardens Limited on February 24, 1971. The mall was laid out in an “S” shape design. Community events and promotional activities took place at the centre of the mall in the central court with its 31ft high skylight. Like other shopping centres, Sherway Gardens contains fountains, indoor greenery, benches and couches for the enjoyment of shoppers. Unlike the designs of other malls, such as the Toronto Eaton Centre, Sherway Gardens was built with “intimate low ceilings”.In 1975, to accommodate for 75 new retail spaces, the “S” layout was altered to resemble a figure eight. A few years later, in 1987, Holt Renfrew (one of Sherway Gardens anchor retailers) was moved to a newly built wing on the north side of the mall The expansion allowed for 20 additional stores and was later referred to as the “fashion wing”, as it housed clothing stores.