If you take a look around the RioCan Shopping Centre in Kirkland, you’ll find numerous empty store fronts, dozens of ‘à louer’ signs and many fading store names.
The mall is hoping that will soon change as it gets ready to welcome Dollarama, a daycare and indoor trampoline giant, iSaute, all slated to open in the coming months.
In March 2015, big box office store Bureau en Gros closed its doors, leaving some people worried about the vitality of the mall.
READ MORE: Kirkland mall losing an important anchor
There are currently eight empty storefronts at the centre, and some people call it a dying mall.
“I used to come here often, but I just come for the cinema now and less for the actual stores because you don’t know from one week to the next week if something will be here or not,” said Île-Perrot resident Eric Lebrun.
A proposed light-rail line is slated to have a stop at the mall and Kirkland mayor Michel Gibson said he hopes it will help bring both tenants and clients back.
“You’ll have lots of passengers parking there and also shopping there because it will be convenient for them,” said Gibson.
“After the train arrival, they could go to a restaurant, go shopping or go to the cinema.”
iSaute owner Jacob Lundquist said he’s been looking for a space in the West Island to open a new store for several years.
He believes the RioCan Centre is a perfect location.
“We’re excited. It’s going to be really fun for us to be in this kind of a centre and I think the other traffic that’s here is going to be great for us,” said Lundquist.
“I think we’re going to be a good draw to the area, so hopefully we’ll bring more traffic for the other tenants.”
The City of Kirkland said the daycare should be open by April, while both iSaute and Dollarama are expected to be opened by the summer.
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