Galeries de la Capitale

Galeries de la Capitale is a shopping mall located in the Lebourgneuf neighbourhood of the Les Rivières borough in Quebec City, Quebec, Canada.[1]

Galeries de la Capitale
Coordinates46°50′N 71°18′W
Address5401, boulevard des Galeries
Quebec City, Quebec
G2K 1N4
Opening dateAugust 19, 1981
DeveloperDéveloppements Iberville
ManagementOxford Properties
OwnerOxford Properties
No. of stores and services280
No. of anchor tenants7
Total retail floor area1,500,000 sq ft (140,000 m2)
No. of floors2
Websitewww.galeriesdelacapitale.com/en/

Les Galeries de la Capitale has 280 stores and 35 restaurants.[2] The anchors are La Baie d'Hudson, Simons, Atmosphère/Sports Experts, Toys "R" Us, IMAX, Best Buy. There is also a Rona l'Entrepôt in the parking lot. The mall is famous for its indoor amusement park, le Mega-Parc, with 18 attractions and amusement rides including the first spokeless Ferris wheel in America. The IMAX theatre has the largest screen in Canada.[2]

Les Galeries de la Capitale is the largest mall in the city with 1,500,000 square feet (139,354.6 m2).[2] It is also the infrastructure in Quebec City with the highest tax value at $320 million in 2007.[3] With 11 million visitors annually, Galeries de la Capitale ranked in 2012 as the second most visited shopping mall in Quebec City after Laurier Québec and the fourth in the province as a whole.[4]

History

Les Galeries de la Capitale was the idea of businessman Marcel Adams.[5] The mall was inaugurated in 1981 in a deserted part of the city on a field of 102 hectares (250 acres).[2] At the time the mall was owned at 50% by Les Développements Iberville (the real estate company of Marcel Adams), at 25% by Eaton Properties (the real estate company of Eaton's), and at 25% by Markborough Properties (the real estate company of the Hudson's Bay Company).[5] Upon its opening of 190 stores, the anchors were Eaton, La Baie, Provigo, Cooprix, Simons which were joined in the fall of the same year by Woolco.[6] This also marked the opening of the first La Baie store in Quebec City.[7] Not even a year after its inauguration, Cooprix at Galeries de la Capitale permanently closed its doors on May 26, 1982.[8]

1988 saw the opening of the indoor amusement park Mega-Parc, the second largest of its kind in Canada after West Edmonton Mall.[2] The park, composed of 20 amusement rides, included a Ferris wheel, some roller coasters and a skating rink for ice hockey games. That same year, the first annual Opération Enfant Soleil telethon was broadcast from les Galeries de la Capitale and raised $1.8 million for the Centre Hospitalier de l'Université Laval (CHUL).[9][10]

Due to a lack of profitability from this particular store since its inception, Provigo decided to reduced its space and subleased the vacant part to toy retailer Toyville which opened on October 1, 1987.[11][12] Toyville closed on December 29, 1990 and Provigo in May 1992.[13][14]

Woolco was converted to Wal-Mart in 1994 as part of the American parent company's entrance to Canada.[15] In early 2002, Wal-Mart left Galeries de la Capitale to relocate on the nearby parking, allowing its former space in the mall to be replaced on July 13 of the same year by rival Zellers, itself relocating from a previous address in the Neufchâtel neighborhood.[16][17]

Eaton went bankrupt in 1999 and its location at Galeries de la Capitale was the sole store in the province that Sears Canada had acquired. The store was converted into the Sears banner without ever closing down.[18]

The mall was sold on December 1, 2005 for $358 million to a consortium consisting of Canada Pension Plan (80%); Osmington, an investment firm in Toronto (10%); and Westerkirk, a Toronto real estate firm (10%). Redcliff Realty Management was hired to manage the mall.[2] Since June 4, 2013, Galeries de la Capitale is owned and operated by Oxford Properties.[19]

In Spring 2011, Galeries de la Capitale opened a new section of the mall.[20] The new section was added between the upper level McDonald's and the IMAX theatre. The new section included Best Buy's first Quebec City location, a Sports Experts store, and a new Toys "R" Us (the latter opening before the others in November 2010).[20]

Zellers (formerly Woolco/Wal-Mart) closed its doors in February 2013 and was replaced by Target from 2013 until early 2015 when it ceased all retail operations across Canada.[21][22][23] Simons doubled its size to 80,000 square feet by relocating to the vacant Target in 2017.[24]

In 2017, Sears Canada announced they would be closing all their remaining stores.[25] This includes the store at Galeries de la Capitale.[26]

After almost 30 years in operation, the Mega-Parc closed on September 4, 2017 to undergo major renovations.[27] It reopened on January 18, 2019 with 18 amusement rides; 14 of which are new.[28] The 4 returning rides from the original Mega-Parc have all been renovated and renamed.[28] Particular to the new Mega-Parc is Zénith, the first Ferris wheel in the continent without spokes.[28]

See also

References
  1. L'Arrondissement des Rivières : un équilibre étonnant!, ville de Québec, Retrieved 30 April 2018.
  2. Galeries de la Capitale Retrieved 30 April 2018.
  3. Reid, Jancimon (24 October 2007). "Quels sont les édifices les plus chers à Québec?" [What are the most expensive buildings in Quebec?]. Webfin Argent. Retrieved 30 April 2018.
  4. "Québec, capitale du magasinage". Le Soleil. May 8, 2013.
  5. "Les Galeries de la Capitale: le centre commercial qu'on croyait voué à l'échec". Le Soleil. May 3, 2014.
  6. "Galeries de la Capitale: le ruban est coupé". Le Soleil. August 19, 1981. p. A-11.
  7. "Cent boutiques et un magasin La Baie s'ajoutent aux commerces de la région". Le Soleil. 4 September 1982. p. B-6.
  8. "Fin du Cooprix de la Capitale". Le Soleil. May 26, 1982. p. D6.
  9. "Objectif: 15 M $" [Goal: $15 million]. Le Journal de Québec (in French). June 3, 2007. Retrieved April 30, 2018.
  10. History, Opération Enfant Soleil, Retrieved 30 April 2018.
  11. "Provigo cherche un locataire pour remplacer Toyville". Le Soleil. January 8, 1991. p. B-3.
  12. "Toyville advertisement page". Le Soleil. September 30, 1987. p. D12.
  13. "Préparez-vous dès maintenant au possible échange de cadeau". Le Soleil. Quebec City. 19 December 1990. p. C3.
  14. "Provigo ferme les supermarché des Galeries et menace d'en fermer un autre à Beaupor". Le Soleil. May 14, 1992. p. B-1.
  15. "Ouverture officielle du Wal-Mart". Le Soleil. November 22, 1994. p. B-10.
  16. "La guerre entre Zellers et Wal-Mart se transporte aux Galeries de la Capitale". Le Soleil. 6 March 2002. p. C-1.
  17. http://collections.banq.qc.ca/ark:/52327/bs29078
  18. https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/sears-buys-eaton-s-name-eight-stores-1.188722
  19. "Nous joindre – Les Galeries de la Capitale". www.galeriesdelacapitale.com.
  20. "Best Buy débarque aux Galeries de la Capitale". Le Soleil. February 24, 2010.
  21. "Zellers: la fin d'une époque". Le Soleil. March 14, 2013.
  22. "Target to open 33 more Canadian stores next month, including first Eastern Canada locations | Financial Post". October 28, 2013.
  23. QMI, Agence. "Fermeture des magasins Target: beaucoup d'espaces vacants à combler". Le Journal de Québec.
  24. Doris-Lussier, QUOTIDIEN ÉCONOMIQUE Édité par ARMURE MÉDIA Une division de LES COMMUNICATIONS ARMURE INC 6455 rue; Boisbri, Bureau 410; Téléphone : 450 970-2816, QC J7H 0E8. "Galeries de la Capitale annonce que Simons déménage ses locaux et double sa superficie | Quotidien économique". www.quotidieneconomique.com.
  25. Couture, Pierre. "C'est la fin pour Sears". Le Journal de Québec.
  26. "Final Sears stores close Sunday, marking the end of an era". thestar.com. January 12, 2018.
  27. ICI.Radio-Canada.ca, Zone Économie-. "Dernière journée d'activités au Méga Parc des Galeries de la Capitale". Radio-Canada.ca.
  28. ICI.Radio-Canada.ca, Zone Économie-. "Le nouveau Méga Parc inauguré aux Galeries de la Capitale". Radio-Canada.ca.
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