Lincoln Fields Shopping Centre is closing its doors at year’s end; many retailers are already gone.
Aida Mansour opened Tweezers Hair Design at the mall 34 years ago with her brother-in-law Joe.The Mansours plan to re-locate permanently down the street in December; until then they’ve moved to a different temporary location across the Carling Avenue mall on Monday.
“It is sad for us, we’ve known this mall, and the people in it how much it’s affecting them,” said Aida Mansour. “We're staying right now until the end of November…We put notes on the door, customers call us and they follow us. We’re happy to see them.”
Fewer than 20 customers shopped in the mall which many said has taken a major financial hit since Walmart closed in 2016 and relocated to Bayshore Shopping Centre.
“The mall was very good, a long time ago, when it had Robinson’s, it had Ogilvy’s,’ said Joe Mansour.
Some shoppers were shocked to enter the mall Saturday and see most of the store empty and closed. The majority of the stores’ leases expired at the end of July. “It's sad, I’ve been coming here a long time,” said shopper Gail Pranschke. “I can understand it is progress and I think it's going to be great with the LRT; and anybody wants to live here 10 years down the road.”
The mall's owner RioCan announced plans for redevelopment in January; including high-rise condominiums and retail shops, a grocery store and pharmacy. The majority of tenants were informed their leases were expiring by August and have since packed up and left for good.
Customers of Tweezers Hair Design said they were upset to hear the mall is closing by the end of November; leaving many seniors in the area with fewer options to shop. “There is a lot of people who have apartments here and I’m sure they come here all the time,” said shopper Linda White. “And now they can't.”
