Laurier Québec

{{Infobox shopping mall

|name = Laurier Québec

|image = Laurier Quebec mall, Québec city.jpg

|address = 2700, boulevard laurier
Quebec City, Quebec
G1V 2L8

|coordinates = {{coord|46.77|-71.285|region:CA-QC_type:landmark|display=inline,title}}

|opening_date = November 11, 1961

|developer = Immeubles Delrano Inc.

|manager = JLL

|owner = Ivanhoé Cambridge (50%), DMA (50%)

|number_of_stores = 217[https://www.shoppingcentreleasingcanada.com/laurier-quebec.html Laurier Québec] Retrieved June 25, 2023.

|number_of_anchors = 5

|floor_area = {{cvt|1,174,639|sqft}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.ivanhoecambridge.com:443/en/shopping-centres/properties/laurier-quebec|title=Laurier Québec|website=www.ivanhoecambridge.com}}

|floors = 3

|website = {{url|https://www.laurierquebec.com/en}}

|footnotes = {{Cite web |url=http://www2.icleasing.ca/en/PropertyProfile.aspx?PropertyID=17 |title=Ivanhoé Cambridge Leasing-Property Facts |access-date=January 25, 2009 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20110809184542/http://www.icleasing.ca/EN/PropertyFacts.aspx |archive-date=August 9, 2011 |url-status=dead }}[https://web.archive.org/web/20181212131010/https://www.laurierquebec.com/en/about-us/laurier-quebec/ Laurier Québec-History] Retrieved April 30, 2018.

}}

Laurier Québec (formerly called and still commonly referred to as Place Laurier) is one of Canada's largest shopping malls. It is located in Quebec City, Quebec (in what was formerly the city of Sainte-Foy).

Laurier Québec has approximately 215 stores and restaurants and is built on three levels with underground, multilevel, and outdoor parking. Major tenants include Sports Experts/Atmosphere, Best Buy, Toys "R" Us, Marshalls and Walmart. Laurier Québec is home to the biggest Sports Experts store. Other tenants include jewellery, gift, shoe, book, eyeware, music, toy, electronics, clothing, hardware, and pet stores as well as hair and beauty salons.

An indoor mall since its opening in 1961, Laurier Québec is the first enclosed shopping centre in the province.{{Cite web|url=http://www.placelaurier.com/en/default_contenu.asp?IdContenu=14&IdSection=16|title=Place Laurier|date=October 22, 2006|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061022172504/http://www.placelaurier.com/en/default_contenu.asp?IdContenu=14&IdSection=16 |archive-date=2006-10-22 }}{{cite news|title = Place Laurier ad|newspaper = Montreal Gazette|location = Montreal|page = 12|date= January 13, 1961}} The mall had the particularity of having two Dominion supermarkets at the same time in the 1960s and two simultaneous Zellers stores in the 1990s.

History

=1960s=

Place Laurier opened on November 11, 1961, as a two-level mall with 50 stores including anchors Pascal's, Syndicat, Kresge's, Towers and Dominion. An office building with eight floors known as Tour Frontenac later inaugurated also in 1961. A Paquet store soon joined the mall as well.

In that same decade, an expansion occurred in the western part of the shopping centre when a new mall wing of three floors was built on Towers' original anchor space. The first floor of this expansion constituted of the relocated Towers store, a second Dominion supermarket, and a Marquis de Montcalm restaurant. The second floor was reserved for a relocated Syndicat, the first level of a new Norman store as well as a branch of the Bank of Montreal. The third floor was mostly for the second level of Norman. In total, 403,000 square feet was added during that western expansion of three floors. In the eastern side of the mall, Pascal's increased its size by 30% by absorbing Paquet's original location. The latter moved in a brand new two-level building of 131,980 square feet in the shopping mall.

=1970s=

An expansion to the north welcomed a two-level Sears store and a new mall section of 48 shops spread on three floors. Sears opened in October 1971 under its then-name of Simpsons-Sears and was its second store in the Quebec City area and its 40th chainwide.{{cite news|title = Company News (Simps'-Sears) |newspaper = Montreal Gazette|location = Montreal|page = 27|date = 8 October 1971|url = https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=Fr8DH2VBP9sC&dat=19711008&printsec=frontpage&hl=en}} The rest of the northern section inaugurated in 1972.

In 1976, Marathon Realty, the real-estate of Canadian Pacific, purchased for $40 million Place Laurier from Les Immeubles Delrano.{{cite news|title = Marathon pays $40mln for Place Laurier|newspaper = Montreal Gazette|location = Montreal|page = 17|date= 1 April 1972|url = https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=Fr8DH2VBP9sC&dat=19760401&printsec=frontpage&hl=en}}

=1980s=

Paquet and Syndicat, which were of the same owner, both declared bankruptcy in 1981. A 80,920 square feet single-level Zellers opened in 1982 in one of the two floors of the closed Paquet store. As for Syndicat's vacant space, it was eventually subdivided by anchors Toyville and Wise, a General Motors car dealership and some 10 stores.{{cite news|title = PLACE LAURIER la première ville sous un même toit|newspaper = Le Soleil|page = L-19|date = 5 November 1986|url = http://collections.banq.qc.ca/retrieve/7216247}}

Also in 1982, an expansion to the south installed a two-level The Bay store. 65 stores were also added in two new mall wings which both linked The Bay to the existing the shopping centre. One of the new wings is located to the south east of the mall and is single level, while the other wing is slightly to the south west and is spread on two floors. Both aforementioned wings are easily recognizable today in the second and third floors of the shopping mall although The Bay store that was located between them has since closed and its former space is currently sitting vacant.{{Cite web|url=https://www.laurierquebec.com/interactive-map/|title=Laurier Québec Store map (2nd and 3nd floors)|website=www.laurierquebec.com}} The 1982 expansion brought 130,000 square feet of retail space to The Bay alone and another 129,534 to the other stores.

At this point, Place Laurier had undergone nine expansions between 1961 and 1986.

=1990s=

Zellers converted Bonimart into its nameplate in 1991 resulting in Place Laurier having two department stores with the same name.{{cite news|title =Les deux Bonimart de la région deviendront des Zellers|newspaper = Le Soleil|location = Quebec City|page = B3|date = 7 December 1990|url = http://collections.banq.qc.ca/retrieve/7248277}}

In 1994, Marathon sold half of its stake in Place Laurier to OMERS Realty Corp, the real estate investment arm of Ontario's municipal employees' pension fund.{{cite news|title = NEWS BULLETINS Marathon sells stake|newspaper = The Globe and Mail|location = Toronto|page = B2|date =1 October 1994}} The manager of Place Laurier changed to Oxford Properties on October 2, 1996 due to the acquisition of Marathon by Olympiad Acquisitions, a company jointly owned by Oxford and GE Capital.{{cite news|title = Oxford Properties completes $952M deal for Marathon's realty|newspaper = Edmonton Journal|location = Edmonton |page = G2|date= October 2, 1996}}

In the summer of 1996, the Zellers on the east side of the mall closed and was replaced by shops, while the other Zellers store on the west end was enlarged to reach 135,000 square feet.{{cite news|title = LAURIER 300 000$ à Ste-Foy |newspaper = Le Soleil|location = Montreal|page = A2|date = 8 August 1996|url = http://collections.banq.qc.ca/retrieve/6429133}}{{cite news|title = Zellers to close stores in Quebec|newspaper = Toronto Star|location = Toronto|page = C6|date= April 8, 1996}} In parallel to this, The Bay expanded by adding more than 25,000 square feet to its store.

=2000s=

Ivanhoe, the real estate arm of the Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec became the manager of Place Laurier in May 2000 and also acquired the 50% stake that was owned by Oxford.{{cite news|title = Oxford Properties sells stake in mall to Caisse de depot: Firm gets higher rents|newspaper = National Post|location = Toronto |page = C11|date= 10 May 2000}} Ivanhoe merged in 2001 with Cambridge Shopping Centres to become Ivanhoé Cambridge.{{Cite web |url=https://www.cdpq.com/en/about-us/history |title=Our history |publisher=Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec |date=February 6, 2017 |website=Cdpq.com |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211113083238/https://www.cdpq.com/en/about-us/history |archive-date=13 November 2021 |url-status=dead}}

Sears unveiled a new look on October 7, 2004.{{cite news|title = Sears Canada Unveils Newly Renovated Store at Place Laurier Shopping Centre|newspaper = Canada NewsWire|location = Ottawa|date = October 7, 2004}} In addition to the renovation, 8,000 square feet were added to the store which now reached a total of 122,000 square feet.

In April 2007, the shopping centre was renamed from Place Laurier to Laurier Québec.{{Cite web|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070101000000*/laurierquebec.com|title=Wayback Machine (Laurier Québec)}}{{Cite web|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070701000000*/placelaurier.com|title=Wayback Machine (Place Laurier)}}

=2010s=

File:Laurier Quebec mall, Québec city 2.jpg

In June 2010, Ivanhoé Cambridge purchased the 50% interest by OMERS in the property to hold 100% of the ownership.{{cite news|title = PRESS RELEASE: DBRS Confirms Place Laurier Rating of A (low) with a Stable Trend|newspaper = Dow Jones Institutional News|location = New York|date =18 October 2010}}

Another expansion welcomed Best Buy opened in September 2011, the same time as the retailer's other location at Galeries de la Capitale.{{cite news|title = Best Buy celebrates its arrival in Quebec City with Marie-Mai, Simple Plan, Guy Lafleur, and Alain Cote|newspaper = Canada NewsWire|location = Ottawa|date =14 September 2011}} In the case of the Laurier Québec store, there was an autograph signings by former hockey players Guy Lafleur and Alain Côté as well as a free concert from singer Marie-Mai.

The Zellers store that was left in the mall eventually closed and was converted into a Target Canada on October 18, 2013.{{cite news|title = TARGET 'Ours is a different culture; it's a different service model'|newspaper = Montreal Gazette|location = Montreal|page = C6|date= September 14, 2013}} Following Target's exit, Walmart Canada acquired the lease and opened its supercenter in 2016.

Marshalls inaugurated on August 25, 2016 in the space vacated by Future Shop.{{Cite web|url=https://retail-insider.com/retail-insider/2016/11/marshalls/|title=Marshalls Continues Aggressive Canadian Store Expansion|first=Craig|last=Patterson|date=November 3, 2016}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.google.com/maps/place/2750+Bd+Laurier,+Qu%C3%A9bec,+QC+G1V+2L4/@46.7689996,-71.285105,3a,37.5y,296.87h,95.17t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sfxOqQrVOXLSqdZJuA9447w!2e0!7i13312!8i6656!4m6!3m5!1s0x4cb89132d3f282df:0x880382123cc3cabd!8m2!3d46.7689909!4d-71.2851384!10e5|title=2748 Bd Laurier|website=Google Maps Timeline}}

Sears closed with the rest of the chain on January 14, 2018.{{Cite web|url=https://thestar.com/business/2018/01/12/final-sears-stores-close-sunday-marking-the-end-of-an-era.html|title=Final Sears stores close Sunday, marking the end of an era | The Star|website=thestar.com|date=12 January 2018|first=Lisa|last=Wright}}

=2020s=

In late 2021, Sports Experts opened in Sears's former space at close 84,000 square foot over two floors making it the largest store of that retail chain.{{Cite web|url=https://retail-insider.com/retail-insider/2021/11/groupe-boucher-opens-canadas-largest-sports-store-in-quebec-city-interview-photos/|title=Groupe Boucher Opens Canada's Largest Sports Store in Quebec City [Interview/Photos]|first=Mario|last=Toneguzzi|date=November 11, 2021}} The inauguration was the biggest in terms of traffic and volume in the history of not only Sports Experts but also of Sport Chek.{{Cite web|url=https://renx.ca/retail-real-estate-shopping-centres-quebec-spectacular-rebound|title=Retail CRE sector sees 'spectacular rebound' in Quebec|website=renx.ca}}

The two-level 157,000 square foot The Bay store, that was added during the mall's expansion in the early 1980s, closed on September 11, 2022. Like most locations of that retailer, the name on its storefront had been modified from The Bay to Hudson's Bay during the 2010s{{Cite web|url=https://www.google.com/maps/place/2682+Bd+Laurier,+Qu%C3%A9bec,+QC/@46.7699508,-71.2832554,3a,75y,308.68h,94.58t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sn0FsMZJ4C4BONIEQdyVhoQ!2e0!7i13312!8i6656!4m6!3m5!1s0x4cb896ccdd213b45:0xda8707ddb6abc5ff!8m2!3d46.7699506!4d-71.2832531!10e5|title=2682 Bd Laurier|website=Google Maps Timeline}} but it still lacked the renovation that another outlet in nearly Galeries de la Capitale had received. The site will be redeveloped to include residential buildings.{{Cite web|url=https://retail-insider.com/retail-insider/2022/08/laurier-quebec-shopping-centre-in-quebec-city-to-be-redeveloped-hudsons-bay-store-to-close-in-september/|title=Laurier Quebec Shopping Centre in Quebec City to be Redeveloped, Hudson's Bay Store to Close in September|first=Craig|last=Patterson|date=August 1, 2022}} The shopping centre itself will triple its size from 1.3 to 3.5 million square feet.{{Cite web|url=https://oicanadian.com/laurier-quebec-will-triple-its-area//|title=Laurier Québec will triple its area|publisher=OiCanadian|first=Helen|last=Hernandez|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220731092305/https://oicanadian.com/laurier-quebec-will-triple-its-area// |archive-date=2022-07-31 }} Ivanhoé Cambridge will join force with the Quebec group Douville, Moffet et Associés which also bought 50% of the shopping center to carry out the project over 10 years.