News: Nordstrom Sherway Gardens Update

Last year Sherway Gardens announced a massive renovation and expansion. Project highlights include increasing retail square footage by 250,000, creating a new food court, adding restaurants, and building a three level parking deck. But the showstopper of the project is the construction of a new Nordstrom store as part of the US retailer’s first wave of Canadian store openings.

Nordstrom’s Sherway Gardens location will be in the wing currently anchored by Sporting Life (that retailer will be moving into a new expansion at the mall’s north end). This wing was constructed originally in 1989 to house Bretton’s department store, a high-end fashion chain that closed in 1996. The corridor leading to the anchor store is currently lined with retailers such as Guess and Hollister, and an upper level contains the "Gourmet Fair" food court.

Perhaps the most striking feature of this part of the mall is a prominent Teflon-coated fabric canopy roof that was designed by Zeidler Roberts Partnership Architects. The 75 foot roof covers 44,000 square feet and glass panels along the side allow light to stream in during the day. The roof’s three peaks are an iconic part of Sherway Gardens.

Plans for the wing include relocating the food court to the new extension and creating second floor retail in its place. Lease plans released last year appear to show two-level retailers in this corridor but do not list store names. The food court staircase and the elevator also appear destined for removal.

The current Sporting Life store will be torn down and replaced with a brand new two story 138,000 square feet Nordstrom store. While this will be one of the smallest planned Nordstrom stores, it will be more than double the size of the current Sporting Life store and be adjacent to a new two store parking structure.

With Holt Renfrew opening a new flagship store at Mississauga’s Square One, and the speculated closing of its Sherway Gardens store, Nordstrom will be well positioned at Sherway Gardens with it’s assortment of brands and its reputed excellent customer service.

[Nordstrom renderings via Nordstrom Press Room]

[Other Sherway photos via Future Sherway]