Hillside Shopping Centre facts for kids
Hillside Centre in 2018
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| Coordinates | 48°26′46″N 123°20′08″W / 48.44622°N 123.33569°W |
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| Address | 1644 Hillside Avenue Victoria, British Columbia V8T 2C5 |
| Opening date | 1962 |
| No. of stores and services | 100+ |
| No. of anchor tenants | 6 (5 open, 1 vacant) |
| No. of floors | 2 |
| Parking | 1000+ |
Hillside Shopping Centre, also known as Hillside Mall, is a shopping center in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. It opened in 1962 and has recently been updated. You can find over 100 shops and services here. There's also a large food court with 14 different places to eat. Popular stores include Marshalls, Sport Chek / Atmosphere, Bolen Books, Thrifty Foods, and Canadian Tire. A space that used to be Sears will become a Walmart in 2021.
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Where to Find Hillside Centre
Hillside Centre is located in the city of Victoria, on Vancouver Island. It sits in the northeast part of the Oaklands neighborhood. Major roads like Shelbourne Street and Hillside Avenue are right next to the mall.
The shopping center is close to two colleges. It is less than one kilometer west of Camosun College's Lansdowne campus. The University of Victoria campus is about 3 kilometers southwest.
Getting There
The mall has plenty of parking, with space for over 1,000 cars. If you prefer to take the bus, the Victoria Regional Transit System has many bus routes. These routes connect the mall to areas like Downtown, Esquimalt, Oak Bay, and Saanich.
History of Hillside Centre
A long time ago, in the 1800s, the area where Hillside Centre now stands was a forest. A small stream called Bowker Creek flowed through it. In 1875, a family from Sweden, Andrew and Palla Ohlson, moved to British Columbia. They started a plant nursery called Oaklands Nurseries on this land.
The nurseries, which had many greenhouses, kept running even after the Ohlsons passed away in the 1930s. They finally closed in the 1950s. The land was then approved to become a shopping area. In 1962, Hillside Mall officially opened. More than 30,000 people came to the opening day! Building the mall cost about 10 million Canadian dollars.
Mall Changes Over Time
Hillside Mall has changed a lot over the years.
- In 1985, a new market area was added. It looked like a farm market and had food sellers and a glass seating area. This replaced a Safeway grocery store that had been there since the 1960s.
- In 1996, the market area was changed again. It became the space for Bolen Books, which is still there today. A new, more modern food court was also built.
- Starting in 2011, Hillside Centre had more big renovations. They built two-story sections to make room for new stores, like Marshalls. The outside areas of the mall were also improved. More trees and plants were added to the parking lot to make it greener.
Shops and Services
Hillside Centre has been home to many large stores over the years. Sears was a main store for a long time, but it closed on January 9, 2018. The space that Sears used to be in will become a Walmart in 2021.
Other main stores at the mall include:
- Shoppers Drug Mart, a Canadian pharmacy.
- Marshalls, a popular clothing and home goods store.
- Sport Chek / Atmosphere, for sports gear and outdoor clothing.
- Thrifty Foods, a grocery store.
- Bolen Books, a large bookstore.
Target also had a store at the mall, but they closed in 2015. Canadian Tire took over that space and opened its second-largest store there in November 2016.
Besides these main stores, Hillside Centre has many other businesses. You can find clothing and shoe stores, a BC Liquor Store, banks, and even dental and medical offices.
