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Deputy Mayor calls for change at Yk Centre Square Mall

As a former tenant at the Centre Square Mall, deputy mayor Adrian Bell has seen many stores come and go – but he's finally had enough.

With the recent announcement of closures made by retailers Bootlegger and The Source by Circuit City he's calling for a major re-purposing of the space.

“They will never attract the customers any more,” said Bell. “There is no hope right now that they will fill the vacant spots.”

The Bootlegger outlet is one of two stores who will be leaving the second floor of the Centre Square Mall in the coming year. January 28 will be the final day of service.
Michael Hugall/ NNSL photo

Centre Square has been opened since 1989 and Bell – a commercial real-estate broker, who leased space in the mall for 13 years – explained malls in cities such as Yellowknife have been hurting for a customer base since the early '90s.

However, that does not mean change is impossible.

“This effort takes a collaboration and a willingness from the REITS (two companies that own separate parts of the mall) to make a change,” said Bell. “I don't believe the state of this mall is because of negligence ... It's ignorance.”

Bell said he will make a motion Monday at council to invite both REIT's to Yellowknife and hash out an agreement.

“I think the city will partner with the two REITS to make sure we do what's best for the area,” he added, adding malls are not the most popular location for his commercial retail clients.

“I get calls from franchises all the time and they specifically ask not to be put in malls,” said Bell.

The Source by Circuit City will be leaving the mall in June and will relocate next to the McDonald's on Old Airport Road.

In the meantime, it's no secret to the employees at The Source and Bootlegger stores that the space is dying.

When it was announced last week Bootlegger on the lower-level of the mall would be shutting down Jan. 28, the initial reaction from employees was shock.

“It was a great place to work I was able to work with new people and I would come back if they moved the location,” said associate manager Kendall Tecsy. “I keep in touch with my customers and I thought our business was good but they must have decided otherwise.”

It has been confirmed The Source will be closing operations in June of this year and relocating to Old Airport Road next to the McDonald's restaurant.
Michael Hugall/ NNSL photo

Although the company has been at the location for 10-plus years head office told their regional store manager Evangeline Kapotaon it would not resign the lease for the upcoming year.

Things had been looking up for Bootlegger and other merchants in the mall last summer, when Tim Hortons opened a restaurant at the 51 Street entrance

Manager Evangeline Kapotaon said in August she saw a lot more foot traffic and increased sales.

At the time, Bell told Yellowknifer: "Maybe this is in fact a trend and maybe we can look at this as the signs of life of a retail sector that has been struggling for quite a while."

Dan Hayward, owner of Dan's Place on the upper level of the mall, said in August the only thing that would really breathe new life into the mall would be a department store or large retailer.

"There's only one thing that's going to make this mall work and that is if we can get a major (tenant)," he said.

The property owner for the lower-half of the YK Centre Square Mall, Holloway Lodging Corporation could not be reached for comment before press-time.