More than one year after the closure of the Sears department store in Guelph, the company that owns the Stone Road Mall is still mum over plans for the space.
Sears closed its Guelph location on Jan. 8, 2018. It was one of almost 200 stores shuttered across the country as Sears Canada liquidated its assets and laid off about 2,900 employees.
Reached for comment Tuesday, Stone Road Mall general manager Kevin Knight said he could not discuss any possible plans for the currently vacant 116,000 square-foot space in that mall where the department store once operated.
A number of retailers have been rumoured to be planning a move into the space, but so far no official announcements have been made.
Multiple calls for comment to Stone Road Mall owner Primaris Management Inc. have not been returned.
It’s a different story at the Fairview Park Mall in Kitchener, where the former Sears store is currently inhabited by a clothing store named Urban Behaviour. Mall owner Cadillac Fairview has announced plans for a proposed office development which would incorporate over 265,000 square feet of office space where the Sears store once stood.
City council in neighbouring Cambridge expressed interest in developing a sports multiplex in the former Sears space at the Cambridge Centre Mall which would include swimming pools and ice rinks. That mall, which is owned by Morguard Real Estate, has an existing ice rink built near the food court.
In the summer, the multiplex plan in that mall came to a halt and Cambridge city staff is expecting a consultant’s report for new options for the project in the next few weeks.
In March, the former Sears space at the Stone Road Mall was transformed for one night into a ballroom for the Foundation of Guelph General Hospital’s annual Black Tie Bingo gala.
