Dufferin Mall is a shopping mall in Toronto , Ontario , Canada. It is located on the west side of Dufferin Street , south of the intersection of Bloor Street West , in the Brockton Village neighbourhood. It was first built as a shopping plaza in the 1950s on the site of the Dufferin Park Racetrack . It was later enclosed and made into a mall, in the 1970s.
7-528: Dufferin Mall is a 567,000-square-foot (52,700 m) district shopping centre. It has over 120 shops and services including big box stores and numerous clothing chains. The mall has a food court at the mall's southwest corner. The centre has a three-level parking lot. Dufferin Mall attracts over 12 million visitors per year, making it one of the busiest malls per square foot in North America. The location
14-531: A member of Upper Canada's notorious family compact . Through the friendship between his family and Peter Russell (a senior administrator of the new province) and his sister Elizabeth Russell , Denison and his family became one of the province's richest. Denison's wife, the former Sophia Taylor, had been a childhood friend with Elizabeth. When Simcoe learned he would be appointed Lieutenant Governor, he lined up individuals to accompany him, who would be appointed to positions of influence. They would, in effect, fill
21-531: A role similar to that of the landed gentry in English counties - this was the family compact. Simcoe had picked Russell, who, in turn, encouraged Denison to join them. Denison, his wife and three sons arrived in Kingston, Ontario in 1792. He advertized an invitation for farmers to cultivate barley the same year and used that barley to open a brewery the following year. At 57, he led a militia company during
28-449: The War of 1812 , with his three sons serving under him. A dozen years near the top of the provincial administration had made Russell the largest landowner in the province. He was also a slave owner. His sister Elizabeth became the province's largest landowner, when she inherited his property on his death in 1808. She gave Amy Pompadour to her friend Sophia. Pompadour has been described as
35-466: Was Woolco , which later became Wal-Mart in 1994, then upgraded to Wal-Mart Supercentre. Zellers formerly operated in Dufferin Mall and has been replaced with smaller stores. Consumers Distributing formerly operated in Dufferin Mall until it became defunct in 1996. John Denison (Upper Canada) John Denison was an early settler of Upper Canada . He was a militia officer and became
42-702: Was a part of the Denison estate. In 1907, the site was leased to Abe Orpen who established the Dufferin Park Racetrack. The track operated from 1907 until 1955 when the track was sold to the Ontario Jockey Club and closed. The Ontario Jockey Club consolidated its locations and sold the site for development. The Dufferin Plaza Shopping Centre was a shopping plaza established in 1956. The shopping plaza opened in 1957 but
49-457: Was converted to an enclosed mall, opening as Dufferin Mall in 1973. A past anchor includes Horizon , a discount department store owned by T. Eaton Company . The space was converted to a regular Eaton's store upon the closure of the Horizon chain with the space being converted to a No Frills grocery store in the 1990s with Toys "R" Us occupying the former No Frills space. Another past anchor
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