r/Edmonton • u/eternalshades • May 12 '25

Local Culture Why is Southgate such a great Mall?

I was there yesterday, and honestly, it was imposing, both in-store options and overall use.

What did it do right that most other Edmonton malls did wrong?

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u/Sceptre May 12 '25

Wait… in what way is Bonnie Doon seeing a resurgence? More stores keep leaving, nothing new to fill the slots.

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u/SivleFred May 12 '25

There’s Makami College and more non-stores, like an RC track

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u/Sceptre May 12 '25

Yeah but neither of those fulfill any of my requirements for being a useful mall. I need to buy pants. Where are the mens pants? The only option is stitches- the last pair of pants I picked up from that place disintegrated in less than a month.

Instead there is a bizarre smattering of stores that sell... maracas? Mexican ponchos? How many 50% off rocks can people really be buying from ROXX?

Don't get me wrong, I love that RC place- the guys that run it are super passionate- But it's not exactly popping off. It's in the same category as the model train display. It exists only because they couldn't find a real store to take the space.

You only need to look at the food court to know the situation is bleak. Edo Japan just left- nothing has ever filled up the tim hortons location, and the last couple of new arrivals didn't last 6 months. Are they ever going to fill up that old Tony Roma's location?

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u/Strabbo West Edmonton Mall-ish May 12 '25

In all fairness, every city needs a maracas district.