Billings Bridge Shopping Centre is a shopping mall located in the Billings Bridge neighbourhood of Ottawa , Ontario , Canada. It is a medium-sized community mall with 83 stores and services. Roughly 7.5 million people visit the mall every year and sales are about $ 527/sq foot. When built, it was the first strip mall in Ottawa, although it has since become an enclosed mall. It is located immediately south of the Rideau River on the corner of Bank Street and Riverside Drive . The mall's anchor stores are Walmart and Your Independent Grocer .
14-450: Billings Bridge Shopping Centre opened in 1954 as "the first one-stop shopping destination to serve all of the City of Ottawa" according to its owners. At 65,750 sq ft (6,108 m) it was Ottawa's first strip mall. The mall originally consisted of just six stores, of which only Reitmans remains to this day. CIBC and Fairweather were also very early tenants which still remain. In
28-609: Is a Canadian retailing company , specializing in women's clothing. The company operates several store brands, including Reitmans, Penningtons, and RW&CO. Reitmans was founded in 1926 by Herman and Sarah Reitman , in Montreal , Quebec . The immediate success of the first store on Saint Laurent Boulevard prompted the Reitmans to open a second store which sold exclusively women's clothing. The founders' grandson Jeremy Reitman (who died in 2019) would later serve as chairman of
42-485: The South Keys Shopping Centre had taken the role as 'regional mall' in the south of Ottawa, as it was larger, more popular, and had higher sales/sq foot. A 2005 article by Ottawa Business Journal said that the "lack of a major anchor department store has kept it from becoming a regional centre." Today the mall is considered a 'community' shopping centre. Reitmans Reitmans Canada Ltd.
56-1028: The COVID-19 pandemic. As shown on its website, Thyme Maternity later confirmed that its online store and all shops have been closed permanently. On August 15, 2022, RW&CO., a Reitmans (Canada) Limited brand, announced the Thyme Maternity Collection launch for Fall 2022. The Thyme Maternity collection is available online at rw-co.com on August 15 and in select RW&CO. stores across Canada in September 2022. In September 2011, Thyme Maternity opened 10 shop-in-shops in select Babies"R"Us locations in Canada as well as launched online sales of their maternity offering on babiesrus.ca. There are currently 23 of these shops in operation in Canada. In September 2012, Thyme Maternity opened 150 shop-in-shop locations in select Babies"R"Us locations throughout
70-488: The U.S. as well as launched online sales on babiesrus.com. There are currently over 160 of these shops in operation in the United States. In 2013, Thyme partnered with Baby Buggy, a nonprofit organization founded by Jessica Seinfeld. Baby Buggy provides essential maternity and baby-related items to families in need. Through this partnership, Thyme donated maternity and nursing clothing to pregnant women and new moms in
84-742: The board and chief executive officer, with his brother Stephen Reitman as president and chief operating officer. By 2016, the company was active in 685 locations with stores in every province and two of three territories in Canada. For the fiscal year of 2015, net earnings were $ 13,415,000 on sales of $ 939,376,000. However, Reitmans Canada Limited sought protection under the Companies' Creditors Arrangement Act (the " CCAA ") in May 2020 in order to facilitate its operational, commercial and financial restructuring. They subsequently closed their Thyme Maternity (54 locations) and Addition Elle (77 locations) stores over
98-459: The early 1900s when Herman and Sarah Reitman ran a small department store in Montreal. The Reitmans Company was founded after a second store opened in 1926. Since then, a number of stores have opened every year, and other banners have emerged, namely Smart Set, RW&CO., Penningtons , Addition Elle and Thyme Maternity. The Thyme Maternity brand dates back to at least October 1993, when it
112-523: The first location in a shopping centre, Steinberg's , and a Woolworth's . A 1961 Ottawa Citizen article covering a mall expansion claimed "the new centre by its accessibility to through highways, will become not only one of the largest shopping plazas in the district but one of the finest in the country." The Ogilvy's store was rebranded as a Robinson's in 1984 after which it was replaced by discount retailer Zellers in 1996, by Target in 2013 and then by Walmart in 2016. Billings Bridge Shopping Centre
126-731: The proper tenant mix to suit this particular trade area and the shopping centre's customer base." In 1998–99, a CA$ 7 million renovation was carried out to add a two-storey glass atrium as a main entrance and a new food court on the second floor. In July 2006, another major renovation program was started which expanded the mall by 25,000 sq ft (2,300 m). In 2004, Brian Card, president of Corporate Research Group said, "Billings Bridge's proximity to public transit, office buildings and growing population centres has helped it to withstand competition from big-box power centres when other shopping centres have been hard-hit." Barry Nabatian, general manager of Market Research Corporation, argued that
140-744: The summer of 2020. As at April 30, 2022, the Company emerged from protection and operated 406 stores consisting of 237 Reitmans, 92 Penningtons and 77 RW&CO. The company's stock was moved from the Toronto Stock Exchange to the TSX Venture Exchange . In June 2023, Andrea Limbardi is named as president and chief executive, the company's first non-family member to occupy this position. Reitmans Canada Limited stores organized into operating chains aimed at different market segments. Thyme Maternity Thyme Maternity
154-639: The years following the mall's opening, twenty stores in the mall were staying open past 6 pm on weekdays, the required time of closure by City of Ottawa by-law. As of 1956, the six units that took the municipality to court lost their appeal in court. The mall opened an expansion in November 1961, and another in March 1962, the latter bringing it to 33 stores. This made it one of Ottawa's largest shopping centres. The parking lot also expanded from 500 spots to 1400. The 1962 addition added an Ogilvy's department store,
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#1732776516678168-411: Was converted into an enclosed mall in 1972. A twelve-storey office tower was also added during an expansion in 1975. Billings Bridge Station opened on November 2, 1996, providing bus service via the southeast Transitway . It continues to serve as a major hub for OC Transpo bus services. In the late 1990s, a "remerchandizing program" brought in a number of new stores to replace old ones and "provide
182-473: Was relaunched as a label within RW&;CO. stores and on its website as of August 15, 2022. The new collection includes stylish, versatile, and functional pieces for people to feel confident during their pregnancy, post pregnancy and beyond. The Thyme Maternity collection is available online at rw-co.com on August 15 and in select RW&CO. stores across Canada in September 2022. Reitmans had its beginnings in
196-626: Was under the ownership of Shirmax Fashions Ltd, and operated by its subsidiary, Shirmax Retail Ltd. The Montreal company also operated Shirley K, a larger maternity clothing brand. A Singapore company licensed the Thyme brand in 1999, intending to open five locations. In June, 2002, Reitmans acquired Shirmax Fashions Ltd., which operated 109 Addition Elle stores and 66 Thyme Maternity stores. On June 2, 2020, Reitmans announced that it would close all Thyme Maternity stores as part of its restructuring process, in part due to financial challenges relating to
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