September 2003

Outside the Mall

Outside, beyond the parking lot, is the big electric Oakridge Mall sign assembly along Oxford Street. The black panel in the middle used to be a white-on-blue Wal-Mart sign when they were in the mall from 1994-2003. Prior to that, there was a red Woolco sign there, with the same neutral background as the other two panels, which have remained unchanged over the years. Prior to about 2000, the space beneath the bottom panel was covered by black sheet metal, but was removed to allow for the addition of the Payless Shoe Source sign and the RioCan sign, as well as to improve the overall look of the sign assembly.

Here's a closeup of the electric Oakridge Mall sign assembly along Oxford Street, at an angle.

This is the main parking lot at Oakridge Mall, looking northeast from near Oxford Street. Somewhere in this section of the parking lot was where the freestanding Brewer's Retail store was located, prior to its demolition in 1990. In the background, at far right, is the concrete retaining wall which grade separated the parking lot from the former Esso Station, which was demolished around 1993.

The next three photos are of the facade of Oakridge Mall facing Oxford Street, from west to east, excluding Loblaws. If you look closely in this photo, through the tree, you can see the entrance to Loblaws. At centre is the entrance to Pizza Pizza, and at far right is an entrance into the mall near the former Wal-Mart store. Wendell Holmes is partially visible to the right of this entrance, and Forest of Flowers can be seen to the left. An entrace into CIBC from the outside was located between Pizza Pizza and Loblaws.

The second of three photos of the facade of Oakridge Mall facing Oxford Street brings us to Pharma Plus and Bill Bentley's Restaurant. To the left of Pharma Plus is Nicholl Animal Hospital, which has been at the mall since 1990 or 1991. To the right of Bill Bentley's is the east entrance into the mall, and FashionMax. FashionMax was in the location of the former Consumer's Distributing store.

The last of three photos of the facade of the mall brings us to the location of the former Loblaws store. Prior to 1989, Loblaws occupied the space which here includes FasionMax (left), Payless Shoe Source (center), and The Beer Store (right). If you look closely at this part of the mall, the front wall is a little bit taller than the rest of the mall. This is because this Loblaws store was once freestanding. The freestanding Loblaws, at some point, was incorporated into the rest of the mall structure. At right is Hyde Park Road.

A good view of the entire facade of the mall and parking lot facing Oxford Street, as seen from the top of the hill between the parking lot and Hyde Park Road. The closest portion of the mall was the location of the former Loblaws store.

The central entrance to the mall from outside, near the former Wal-Mart store. On the tall structure at left, there are four empty brackets. These brackets once supported an electric Woolco sign prior to 1994. Later, the lower two brackets were used for a red, electric Wal-Mart sign. Since only the two lower brackets were used for the Wal-Mart sign, the upper two brackets were left empty for almost nine years, and it was a pretty ugly sight to look at—though not as bad as the depressing emptyness of the four brackets now!

Here is a closeup of The Beer Store, located in the space formerly occupied by Loblaws. At far right is a stone wall which was likely part of the original Loblaws store. This was one of the first Beer Store outlets in Ontario where the customer had to physically pick and carry their beer to the checkout counter, instead of the conventional system of ordering the beer and waiting for it to roll up to the checkout counter from a back room. This Beer Store outlet opened in late 1990, replacing the old standalone Brewer's Retail in the parking lot.

This is the outside of Bill Bentley's Restaurant, which has been a part of Oakridge Mall since around 1994. Some of the food, such as the hamburgers, were a decent quality, but I was not impressed by the quality of the French onion soup. Bill Bentley's closed in the spring of 2004. Beyond this restuaruant, the outside entrance to Pharma Plus is visible. Pharma Plus was also accessable from inside the mall.

This is Pizza Pizza, a franchise in a provincewide chain of pizza outlets. Many students from the local schools came here for lunch, such as these students entering, presumably from Oakridge High School.

A lonely "Now Leasing" sign stands in a field on the south side of Oxford Street, just west of the Shell Station at Hyde Park Road. At the time this photo was taken, additional commerical development was planned to complement the new development on the Oakridge Mall site. The Bank of Montreal branch inside Oakridge Mall has since relocated to this site, and a Shoppers Drug Mart and fresh food market are under construction. This land has been agricultural for many years, bounded on the west side by the Sifton Bog. There has been opposition to development on this parcel of land due to the proximity to the bog.

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Last updated: August 14, 2004
Copyright 2003, 2004, Michael J. La Rochelle
This site is in no way affiliated with RioCan, Loblaw Companies Limited, Wal-Mart, or any other company or organization associated with Oakridge Mall.