Sunday, September 17, 2006

International Malls: Bower Place Mall


Red Deer, Alberta, Canada - circa 1961

The Hudson's Bay Company store (now just The Bay) at the Bower Place Mall (aka Bower Place Shopping Centre), Central Alberta's largest shopping destination. Bower Place is currently in Phase 3 of a multi-year "significant functional and cosmetic redevelopment".

This particular Hudson's Bay store depicted above, opened on August 28th, 1961. As for the mall itself, does anyone out there know exactly what year the Bower Place Shopping Centre originally opened? Either way, thanks to Jason Tribiger, for another great submission here!

Mall history: ? - present
Current website: here
Info from Wikipedia
Previous entries: none

at

5 comments:

  1. AnonymousSun Sep 17, 01:06:00 PM

    Bower Place is one of two shopping centres in Red Deer, a city of 80,000 halfway between Calgary and Edmonton on the renamed Queen Elizabeth II highway (Highway 2). The mall opened in 1981 on the south side of the city, twenty years after the postcard was taken.

    The postcard shows The Bay with their downtown location on Gaetz Avenue. I recall seeing this building still standing in March 1998 but I don't remember seeing it in May 2005.

    Bower Place I believe became Red Deer's second enclosed shopping centre after Parkland Mall (now Red Deer Centre) opened in the late 1970's in the north end of the city. Besides The Bay, Bower Place has a Zellers (The Bay's Wal-Mart type of department store), Toys 'R' Us, and it used to have an Eaton's only to be replaced by a call centre. According to http://www.vanreal.com/ , Bower Place's owners, Sears is planning on relocating there in 2008.

    I hope this information is of great assistance and I enjoy viewing your website.

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  2. Chris SobieniakMon Sep 18, 01:34:00 AM

    Looks amost like the Sears location near me.

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  3. AnonymousTue Sep 19, 02:47:00 AM

    Ditto on anonymous' excellent report. The photo is of the Bay when it was downtown Red Deer. It was a stand-alone store. The Bay moved to Bower Place in the early 90's(?) after Woodward's department stores ceased operations and was largely bought out by the Bay.

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  4. AnonymousSat Mar 27, 12:26:00 AM

    Bower Mall did indeed open in 1981 (May, If I recall correctly). I had my first job there working in the cafeteria in Woodward's.

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  5. DwaBSat Mar 27, 02:43:00 PM

    I was caught shoplifting at the pictured Bay store when I was 11, back in 1976. Theoretically, I am banned from any Bay store for life :).

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