Back in the Hammer
Dec. 23rd, 2008 10:10 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
teddogAh, Hamilton. The more things change...
I haven't done that much poking around yet, but I usually go visit some old haunts here and there when I'm back in town.
Centre Mall is a mess. The mall itself is still mostly there but functioning in no real sense. The banks, Rogers and EB are still in there. But most of the old booths are gone, making the mall seem larger inside. I'll probably bring a camera again. It's like watching an slow death of place that I spent waaaay too much time in.
The new Zellers is now up and open. I'm rather pleased with it. The old Zellers was put in the past home of a Robinsons and opened to a ton a fanfare in the early 1990s. It rapidly went downhill, becoming one of the most slummy Zellers in the city. With the new "mall" came a new Zellers. I was rather impressed with it. While it's not prefect, it's bright, clean and decently stocked and a huge step up. Both Kate and I got a smile out of the family restaurant that was included, since it's the first time we've seen a new style one. We used to eat at Zellers restaurants all the time as kids with our grandmother.
The Zellers seems to have some sort of carbon share thing going on. There's windmills on the roof and information implying there's solar panels up there too.
The Barn is now branded as a Metro, which is really, really stupid. Because of the area, this Metro never got a reno. Let it be know that there was NO effort put into the rebranding, but the costs? Exactly the same prices as the Metro (Dominion, DAMN IT) at my local one at Bayview in Eg. That's fine, for the Toronto store, but this area does not deserve to eat the price jump when their local store when that store has MUCH lower rent, has had NO upgrades except for a sign and the average income in much lower.
I'm not sure how I feel about the future of Centre Mall. While I appreciate that my community is getting nice, clean places to shop without having to take a bus across the city (a problem in pockets of inner city Hamilton), outdoor shopping centres in Canada still seem like a waste. At least this one is just functional and not a "lifestyle centre" like Don Mills Centre.
And I've heard that CHCH is in it's death throes. I know in my gut that the E! rebranding would be it. The station was all but dead. The idea of E! is everything I hate about modern culture. Dan McLean is gone:
http://www.thespec.com/News/Local/article/480943
And according to some local friends, the general feeling about the station is grim. :(
I haven't done that much poking around yet, but I usually go visit some old haunts here and there when I'm back in town.
Centre Mall is a mess. The mall itself is still mostly there but functioning in no real sense. The banks, Rogers and EB are still in there. But most of the old booths are gone, making the mall seem larger inside. I'll probably bring a camera again. It's like watching an slow death of place that I spent waaaay too much time in.
The new Zellers is now up and open. I'm rather pleased with it. The old Zellers was put in the past home of a Robinsons and opened to a ton a fanfare in the early 1990s. It rapidly went downhill, becoming one of the most slummy Zellers in the city. With the new "mall" came a new Zellers. I was rather impressed with it. While it's not prefect, it's bright, clean and decently stocked and a huge step up. Both Kate and I got a smile out of the family restaurant that was included, since it's the first time we've seen a new style one. We used to eat at Zellers restaurants all the time as kids with our grandmother.
The Zellers seems to have some sort of carbon share thing going on. There's windmills on the roof and information implying there's solar panels up there too.
The Barn is now branded as a Metro, which is really, really stupid. Because of the area, this Metro never got a reno. Let it be know that there was NO effort put into the rebranding, but the costs? Exactly the same prices as the Metro (Dominion, DAMN IT) at my local one at Bayview in Eg. That's fine, for the Toronto store, but this area does not deserve to eat the price jump when their local store when that store has MUCH lower rent, has had NO upgrades except for a sign and the average income in much lower.
I'm not sure how I feel about the future of Centre Mall. While I appreciate that my community is getting nice, clean places to shop without having to take a bus across the city (a problem in pockets of inner city Hamilton), outdoor shopping centres in Canada still seem like a waste. At least this one is just functional and not a "lifestyle centre" like Don Mills Centre.
And I've heard that CHCH is in it's death throes. I know in my gut that the E! rebranding would be it. The station was all but dead. The idea of E! is everything I hate about modern culture. Dan McLean is gone:
http://www.thespec.com/News/Local/article/480943
And according to some local friends, the general feeling about the station is grim. :(
