| ◘ Main Street Shops | ◘ Westridge Shopping District | ◘ Orillia Square Mall |
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One of the longest-standing shopping malls is the Orillia Square Mall, located just at the end of town (Burnside Line and Brodie Drive), abutting Severn Township, and is easily accessed from West Street, or Highway 11. The plaza stretches out over a large property and has plenty of parking and entrances/exits off both Brodie Drive, and Burnside Line.
Flanking the mall in separate stores (on the same property) you'll find a large, spacious Dollar Tree shop across from the Canadian Tire Location (at the end of the mall but not attached sits the large Canadian Tire), and behind the No Frills is a nice big, fairly new "Brick" Furniture Store. For a complete listing of shops, store hours, directions or contact information for the mall, visit their website.
| The mall is anchored on either end by two large concerns: a large department store (which started out as a K-Mart, then became a Zellers, and more recently a Target which will be closing soon*); and a No Frills grocery at the opposite end. In between the two largest stores, the interior of the mall houses about forty different shops, ranging from clothing, to jewellery to books. You'll find clothing for the younger set, to outfitting for men, women, and teens. The mall houses electronics, florists, jewelers, hair and nails salon, health food, accessories and lingerie, speciality leather shops, tax, realty and financial services. And of course, the food court. As well, you'll find shops that handle engraving, alterations, mobile shops like Rogers and Bell, and vision care and optical products. Most recently, a custom meat shop has opened in the mall. The mall has a wide avenue, leaving room for kiosk style vendors in the centre area. Many malls use this type of sales venue to allow smaller retailers to locate in an indoor space without the need for a larger shop. It's a good choice for smaller sellers, like the lotto center. |
And of course, at Christmas time, there is always a designated space for Santa and his elves to visit Orillia's children, large and small. Throughout the year, the mall is used as an indoor venue for numerous shows and special events, with vendors and groups lining the center aisle of the mall's avenue. Hosting these events makes a lot of sense, both for the mall itself, for the full-time shops located at the mall, and for the organizer's of the venue. No matter what the weather outdoors, an indoor venue like the mall means a successful event, and the mall offers space for non-profit fundraising and events focused on providing information to the community. (See the mall website).  |
The Orillia Square is also open to a group that uses the mall as an indoor walking route. It's a great way to keep walking over the winter months for those who don't care for the cold or can't walk well in snow; and to keep cool during the hot summer months. Because it's accessible for wheelchairs, and it's floors are smooth it also lends itself to providing an easily navigated place for those using walkers and other assistive devices. For more information see the North Simcoe Muskoka HealthLine site.As well as a casual and friendly atmosphere, benches for those who need to rest (or for waiting husbands), and comfortable temperatures for shopping, you just never know what you might find inside the Orillia Square Mall ... or, just who you might run into, for that matter.
*Note: With the announcement that Target stores will be leaving Canada (announced Jan. 17, 2014) a short 2 years after it arrived here, the Orillia Square will lose one of the large anchor stores. What will be housed there in the future? I suppose that's anyone guess, but my personal feeling is that they need a large department-type store. The mall houses many specialty shops (including clothes and accessories), but without a large brand type store carrying a bigger variety of goods/products, there will be a big hole at one end of the mall. Let's hope we don't have to wait too long before a new and exciting tenant is announced.
