It’s hard to imagine while walking through Toronto’s Cumberland Terrace today that the Yorkville mall was once a stylish, bustling shopping destination that people made a point to visit rather than simply passed through on their way to someplace else.
Opened in 1974, the two-level centre has more than 60 storefronts that have, over the decades, served as home to everything from high-end clothing shops and hair salons to furniture and flower stores, restaurants and an LCBO.
As of recent years, though, most of the units have emptied out, lending a decidedly eerie quality to the more than 80,000-square-foot space that is still rife with the quintessentially ’70s design elements that defined its long-gone heyday.
Though tenants have witnessed the mall gradually winding down before their eyes and have long been aware of plans to eventually redevelop the property, there was never a firm expiration date on the horizon for them to prepare for — that is, until this spring.
In May, vendors, many of whom have occupied their units for decades, were abruptly given notice that their leases would end in a matter of weeks. Some were told that they’d have to be out by the end of June, while others are being permitted to stay through at least part of July.
“A month is kind of short notice, right?” Dorjee Nepali, the owner of Tibet Gallery, told blogTO during our visit to Cumberland Terrace last week ahead of its imminent closure.
He was able to negotiate with the landlord to stay a few extra weeks, until mid-July, as at the time he was given the news, he was “just getting ready for summer; in fact, I was ordering more product.”
Given that his store has been there on and off for about 18 years — he had actually moved from Cumberland Terrace to different location in the area for a period when rumours of redevelopment first started, before eventually coming back — he’s now been rushing to notify regular clients and get their contact information for when he moves.
“It’s been rumoured for all these years, but right now I’m in a limbo. Like, am I moving? Where, or what am I doing?”
Like many other tenants, he hopes to find an alternative storefront somewhere nearby so customers don’t have to come too far to find him. But the rent in the adjacent Holt Renfrew Centre, Manulife Centre, Hudson Bay Centre and others is significantly higher.
A few steps away, the owner at phone repair and accessory shop Mobile One Inc. has a few more weeks than Dorjee to wrap up operations, having been given two months notice back in the spring. Though he was aware prior to May that his store’s time would likely be limited, the two-month notice was still extremely unexpected.
“We kind of knew from the beginning that it wasn’t going to be long-term, like ten years or anything, but we were actually really surprised because we just heard there was a new tenant here.”
He says the tenant in question, a florist, went through the process of renovating her unit and moving in, only to be told she wouldn’t be able to stay open for even a month of her two-year lease.
He also added that the reasoning for the hurried lease terminations, at least the one he was told, was the fact that the air conditioning had broken right before the summer months. Ostensibly, with so few tenants left and the mall’s end imminent, owners didn’t believe investing the resources to repair it would be worth it.
“Suddenly, they said the A/C is broken, and then they want us out. We got two months, but it’s still sad,” he told us.
While Mobile One will have to say goodbye to the spot it’s had for a lengthy 10 years, the owner of one neighbouring shop takes the cake when it comes to tenure: his store, Cumberland Shoe Repairs, has been in the centre for a staggering 30 years.
Even after such a long and significant run, he appeared calm and at peace with the unfortunate reality while sitting behind his repair desk during our visit. Fittingly, he had some words of wisdom that we hope all of the other owners being booted from the premises can keep in mind, too.
“It’s hard, but every story has an end, and there will be a new page.”
Since stores were given their final eviction notices, local collective Liminal Assembly has hosted one final event to honour the site, its shops and its history before the forthcoming demolition, bringing the mall “back to life” for one day in June after hosting a similar commemoration in March.
Those interested in walking the mall’s corridors and stopping by the few remaining storefronts one last time should do so as soon as possible before it is gone forever.
Cumberland Terrace is located at 820 Yonge St. and is attached to TTC’s Bay subway station.
