Fort Mac's Premier Shopping Mall
Since 1981, the
Fort McMurray community has been home to a large-scale retail shopping mall with the development of the
Peter Pond Shopping Centre.
The mall's name comes from the American explorer Peter Pond, who lived between 1740 and 1807. He was known for founding Fort Chipewyan and leading the first group of Europeans to see the Athabasca oil sands.
Today, the two-level mall has over 65 retailers and services, which hosts residents from throughout the Wood Buffalo region. In the past 30 years, the mall has featured a wide variety of commercial shops and eateries and has held hundreds of community events.
In 2013, the mall was recognized for its top-selling market after H&R Real Estate Investment Trust announced the acquisition of Peter Pond Mall in an agreement to purchase it for $168.5 million.
According to an article in the Fort McMurray Today, the Toronto-based real estate trust took it over from the Calgary-based company – T&T Investments.
COO of Primaris, the retail division of H&R, Patrick Sullivan, at the time stated, “We own the dominant enclosed malls in communities, and Peter Pond fits with that perfectly. It’s one of the top malls in the country on a per-square-foot basis, and we just hope to use our platform size to help attract higher-profile tenants to the market.”
This announcement came around the same time as the Canada-wide Zellers closure, which took up an estimated eighty-five thousand square feet of space with the shopping mall.
In a 2014 Your McMurray Magazine interview, the mall’s former general manager Annie Narine stated, “It gave the landlords an opportunity to give the consumer more selection, a little more of something we don’t already have.”
The expansion brought in Canada’s largest retailer of sporting, clothing and sports equipment – Sports Check with two floors of space.
The Peter Pond Shopping Centre currently features the following stores: A&W, Ardene, Atmosphere, Bath and Body Works, Bell, Ben Moss, Bentley, Bluenotes, Boathouse, Boomtown Casino, Bootlegger, Cell World, Cellairis, Claire’s, Coles Books, Cosmos Pizza, David’s Tea, Edu Japan, Famous Wok/Umi Sushi, Fido, Footlocker, Foursight Supply Co., Garage, Havanas, International Travel, Jersey City, Jugo Juice, Koodo Mobile, La Senza, Le Chateau, Leather Mix, Lime Tree, Lusso Clothing, Mceli Tailoring, Michael Hill, Money Mart, Montana’s, New York Fries, Paris Jewellers, Payless Shoes, Peoples Jewellers, Peter Pond Dental Clinic, Prestige Jewellers, Q-Nails, QE Home/Quilts Etc., Ricki’s, Rogers Wireless, Sangsters Health, Shefield Express, Short Cuts, Spencer’s, Sport Chek, Spring, Stokes, Street, Subway, Sunny’s Salon, Sunrise Records, Supreme Apparel, Taco Time, Telus, The Body Shop, The Children’s Place, The Eyewear Place, The Source, Tim Hortons, Virgin Mobile, Volcom and Wendy’s. (Boomtown Casino, Tim Hortons and Wendy’s are located within the Peter Pond Shopping Centre’s parking lot.)
A list of store sales and promotions are posted regularly online and are currently featuring a variety of back-to-school savings.
From now until
October 31, the mall is hosting a ‘Win a 2018 Polaris RZR’ contest. For every $150 spent at the mall, a ballot for the contest will be handed out. Guests are asked to bring their receipts to the Administration Office (located on the second floor) to receive a ballot.
To learn more about Peter Pond Shopping Centre, visit www.peterpondmall.com.