New Horizon Mall announced on Thursday that it has 11 stores open in the internationally-themed shopping centre just outside of Calgary’s city limits in the Balzac area of Rocky View County.
It also announced that the $200-million mall will open an additional 28 stores in the next four weeks, bringing the total to 39 outlets open by the end of October.
The mall has been called a “ghost town” in recent media reports, with few stores opened.
The mall is a unique concept with units sold to investors who are leasing out the space themselves or directly to individual store owners.
The 320,000-square-foot mall, which is practically sold out, will have more than 500 stores ranging in size from 285 square feet to 855 square feet. The units were priced between $190,000 and $750,000.
“New Horizon Mall is not a typical mall. We are not leasing to the large regional and national retail chains you see in every other mall,” said Eli Swirsky, president of The Torgan Group, which developed New Horizon Mall in conjunction with its partner, MPI Property Group.
“Our stores are owned and being leased by creative and entrepreneurial small business operators from every walk of life. We congratulate the new stores and look forward to seeing another 22 open by the end of the month.”
The mall said stores open for business today include Koreana B&H, unique facial beauty products from Korea; Silk Road Importers, men and women’s undergarments; Eye Optix, optometrist for glasses and contacts; Print Genic, printing and graphic design services; National Neon, mall signature services; Trend UP!, facial care, accessories and teeth whitening; Kase Gallery, cellphones and accessories; DM Jewelers, jewelry and accessories; Just Juniors, children’s clothing; Perfume Boutique, perfume and cologne; and Connect Bell, cellphones and accessories.
It said new stores to open in the coming days include: Trustic, rustic home décor; K-Mobile, cellphones and accessories; Zeke’s Gizmos and Gadgets, gadgets and accessories; Massage Heaven, massage services; Vedic Tea, tea shop; Cellniche, cellphones and accessories; and Dream Design & Décor, unique handmade décor items.
The food court features 26 sold-out units with seats for more than 300 shoppers. The shopping centre also has underground parkade and outside surface parking.
The mall mirrors another Torgan Group project, Pacific Mall in Markham, Ont., which launched in 1993.
“Pacific Mall required two years to complete its fully-occupied status after construction on the mall was completed in 1997. We were in the exact same situation six months after opening Pacific Mall. It takes time for so many brand-new businesses to set up as every store is different, but over the last 20 years, Pacific Mall has maintained stable occupancy and has had tremendous success,” said Stephen Wong, founder of Living Realty, which sold all of the stores at Pacific Mall, in a news release. He is also founder of Living Properties, the property management company for Pacific Mall.
“Stores that cost $60,000 in 1993, sold for more than $480,000 in 2018. The stores in prime locations never go up for sale as they generate a lot of revenue. One of the larger stores in Pacific Mall’s Atrium originally sold for $280,000 in 1993 and was recently sold for more than $2 million.
“This type of shopping mall is unique. At Pacific Mall, we had similar growing pains as some owners switched their store’s products and there were delays. It is interesting that at the beginning of Pacific Mall we had about 60 per cent of store owners who operated their own stores but as the mall gained momentum and rents went up, this percentage fell to 40 per cent as some owners preferred leasing out their stores.”
New Horizon Mall also announced on Thursday that it has launched a store opening bonus program with grants available to stores that open before Dec. 31.
The mall is open daily from noon to 8 p.m.
Mario Toneguzzi is a veteran Calgary-based journalist who worked for 35 years for the Calgary Herald, including 12 years as a senior business writer.
The views, opinions and positions expressed by columnists and contributors are the author’s alone. They do not inherently or expressly reflect the views, opinions and/or positions of our publication.
