Boulevard Shopping Centre
Le Boulevard is a shopping centre established in 1953 on the island of Montreal at the corner of Jean-Talon East and Pie-IX Boulevard. The mall was officially inaugurated on September 29, 1953. It was one of the first shopping centers in Quebec. Le Boulevard was originally a strip mall but was transformed into the current indoor mall in 1976.
Le Boulevard is built in the shape of a L and is composed of 70 stores. Former The Bay store (originally Morgan's) and Metro Plus (originally Steinberg's) each border a side of the mall, with Canadian Tire (formerly Pascal's) being in the middle. Geographically, Le Boulevard is situated partly in the Saint-Michel neighborhood and partly in the former city of Saint-Leonard. Canadian Tire and Metro are in Saint-Leonard, while the former Bay store was in Saint-Michel. The mall is just a block north of the Rosemont neighbourhood.
Le Boulevard is managed by Crofton Moore of Montreal. The mall recently underwent extensive renovations. New tenants in the revitalized centre include Urban Planet, Dollarama, La Senza, Tim Hortons, Jean Coutu, Lunetterie New Look, and others. Longtime tenants of the mall include the Royal Bank of Canada.
In November 2007, the owners of the mall purchased the land under the centre, which for over 50 years was subject to a long-term land lease.
The Bay closed its Le Boulevard location in September 2018, a few days shy of the store's 65th anniversary. According to Crofton Moore's website, L'Aubainerie will be the replacement in October 2019 for The Bay's second floor.
Comparison of anchor spaces
| 1953 | 2018 |
|---|---|
| Steinberg's | Metro Plus |
| Morgan's | The Bay (closed in September 2018) |
| Pascal | Canadian Tire |
| Woolworth | Various stores |
Zellers
A small Zellers store was in the shopping centre from about 1955 until 1976. It directly touched the north side of the Morgan/Bay store. After Zellers closed, The Bay expanded into the former space of Zellers and merged it into its own store.
Today, the old Zellers space can be recognized as the section of the vacant Bay store that had one floor (in contrast to the original section of The Bay which had 2 floors).[lower-alpha 1] The basement of The Bay, which was closed to the public in 2011, was also part of this defunct Zellers store. The portion of the Zellers space that wasn't retained by the Bay is incorporated into an expansion for SAQ.
Note
- ↑ Morgan's at Le Boulevard was itself a one level store until 1956.