retail catches up to markham`s new identity

RETAIL CATCHES UP TO
MARKHAM’S NEW IDENTITY
By Mary Teresa Bitti
In
Artist’s rendering of Downtown Markham
many ways, the changing
face of Markham’s
retail landscape is the
realization of a city
growing into itself. The numbers
tell the story. Markham is one
of the fastest growing regions
in the GTA and its downtown
core represents an affluent and
The remodeled Markville Shopping Centre
growing demographic, with
household average incomes of
$114,000 plus and almost a million
people coming to the area Monday
to Friday to work in this high-tech
hub.
Retail is in many ways
playing catch up to this new
reality. With little improvement
in the past 30 years, instead of
keeping pace with the City’s
evolving identity, the retail scene
grew tired. That’s changed on
several fronts.
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Main Street Markham
The VOICE Winter 2013
Main Street Markham has
survived through two years
of reconstruction and rolling
closures. The revamp was
possible thanks to provincial
infrastructure spends announced
in 2011. “Our street is over
150 years old,” says Diane
Kobelansky, chair of the
Markham Village BIA and owner
of Tangerine Gecko Art Gallery,
a staple on Main Street for the
past seven years. “We needed
an update and the government
grants came at the right time.”
She points to crumbling
sidewalks not conducive to
walking and a street with
“more dips and valleys than
the Rocky Mountains,” as the
most obvious areas in need of
improvement. Together with
funds kicked in from the City
of Markham, the renovated
Main Street will now feature
wider sidewalks designed to
encourage leisurely strolls and to
provide the space necessary for
restaurant patios, street parking
and an overall beautification
program that includes new
signage and banners, lampposts,
landscaping and a revitalized
festival square that will host
Main Street events. “We will
be getting beautiful trees with
an underground watering
system that features natural
drainage,” says Kobelansky. “As
soon as you bring beauty to a
street, it invites not only more
residents to come here but also
more people from other areas,
tourists, which will in turn lift
the home values in this heritage
area.” The street’s bridal shops,
womens and menswear stores,
gift shop, tea room, restaurants,
art gallery and furniture stores,
as well as the city’s first bank,
city hall and prison will have a
new neighbour by way of a 144
unit condominium. “This will
bring a new mixed demographic
of young professionals and
empty nesters to the street,”
says Kobelansky. It will also
bring new retail stores and
a new energy to Markham’s
oldest main street and the city’s
original downtown core while
maintaining its heritage. That is
the hope.
Markville Shopping Centre
sits in stark contrast to Main
Street Markham and that’s the
point. Markville Shopping Centre
is bringing global brands to the
city. With its recent $111 million
floor to ceiling renovation it
has upgraded existing stores
and is also introducing 24 new
premier brands including Zara,
J Crew, Michael Kors, Coach,
Pandora, Loft, Aritzia, Express,
Saphora, Little Burgundy,
Victoria’s Secret, Pink, Fossil,
Papyrus, Apple, Brown’s Shoes,
Marciano, Sporting Life, with
more announcements in the
works. Perhaps the most obvious
nod to its affluent, well-educated
customer is the addition of
Starbucks. “The market outgrew
the mall,” says marketing
manager Diana Pitassi. “The
city is growing and customer
demands are changing. In order
to meet those new demands and
compete with other shopping
centres in the GTA, it was
time to bring the most coveted
global brands to Markville. We
raised the bar.” In addition to
new retailers, Markville, which
turned 30 in 2012, also created
more comfortable seating in
public spaces, and built a new
food court, the Express Eatery,
that is three times the size
of the original, and features
an ethnically diverse mix of
restaurants, as well as tables for
six with leather chairs, conducive to
business lunches and family meals.
“Our goal was to redefine Markville
as a premium shopping destination
and fashion authority,” says Pitassi.
“We want to keep our existing
customers and attract new shoppers
from outside the area.”
Downtown Markham is
focused squarely on the future
and employing state-of-the-art,
environmentally responsible
building practices to the GTA’s
newest downtown core in Canada’s
16th largest city. The vision is big
and all encompassing: A mixeduse development that will see two
connected condo buildings with
305 units, a boutique luxury hotel,
a 58,000 square foot theatre--the list
continues. The first of several phases
of retail development is already
happening. The next evolution in
cinema, an UltraAVX 2,400 seat
Cineplex, is scheduled to open its
doors by Fall 2014. “We are a high
tech capital and our downtown
should reflect that,” says Evelynn
Ratcliffe, who is working on the
retail development aspect of the
project. “There will be open air
shopping, a downtown market, cafes,
international restaurants, as well as
office space and 72 acres of green
space. It’s a little bit of everything,
a place to live, to work, to shop, to
dine, to play. It’s more than just
bricks and mortar that make a
downtown, it’s the color and life that
happens.” Downtown Markham
is part of a growing trend as once
suburban centres take on a more
urban design reflecting on people’s
desire to maximize their time. “If
where you live is in walking distance
to where you work, shop and play,
it’s not only more efficient, it’s a
greener, more balanced way of life,”
says Ratcliffe. “If we uprooted the
completed Downtown Markham and
dropped it on the moon, you’d have
everything you need.”
Unionville Main Street has long been a shopping/dining
destination for many Markham residents and tourists
looking to enjoy the charm of this heritage village tucked
into the heart of a fast-paced city. That said, the newly
renovated Markville Shopping Centre has been cause for
concern for Main Street’s boutique retailers and with the
PanAm Games just months away, the BIA is engaged in a
strategic planning process to help Main Street up its game.
“We’re fine-tuning a list of recommendations,” says Judi
McIntyre, executive director of the Unionville BIA. Among
those recommendations: adding a road behind the stores
on the west side of the street to increase access to parking,
building public washrooms, updating and renovating the
farmers’ market area and building a piazza in front of
the old arena. “We just have to find the money to make it
happen.”
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A Metrolinx vivaNext Project
6.75”w x 4.75” h
The VOICE Winter 2013
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