The biggest news around town right now, other than the Broncos ending the Melfort Mustangs' playoff run and moving on to the Yorkton Terriers, is of course, the redevelopment of the Humboldt Mall.
Some people are just prickly toward change and would still be happy with a bunny-eared television and one general store to buy milk.
The good news is that it seems many people are actually excited by it.
Yes, there won't be an indoor part anymore, so bye-bye to the kiddie rides and candy dispensers full of sugary treats that are who-knows-how-old but the mall will be undergoing what happens to many and that is changing.
Yes, Humboldt folks, the times, they really are changing.
I think a really nice perk to this is that most of the tenants, except for one, are renewing their lease and will be getting a big, beautiful storefront to proudly showcase their business and alert all the motorists going by on Highway 5 that "Yes, people, we DO have a Reitmans!"
Stromiga isn't barging into town, uprooting all the smaller tenants in favour of bigger, commercially popular big-box stores. They're simply giving everyone a nice facelift, and I'm sure they won't do a Joan Rivers-esque hack job.
Growing up in a bigger city like Ottawa, of course our larger market was able to attract developers for strip centres years ago.
But I remember by my house, there was a sleepy little indoor mall called Pinecrest Shopping Plaza.
It was quiet, dated in its décor and usually empty. Had a couple of vacancies, and the stores that were there were fighting a constant battle to attract customers.
The Humboldt Mall isn't this bad though, I agree. Although yes, it's usually pretty quiet, most of the businesses, especially anchor stores, still seem to be doing pretty well.
But my point is that in the mid-90s, the flat-lined Pinecrest Shopping Plaza was giving a quite stunning makeover: It was converted into storefronts.
Big, beautiful storefronts that screamed to the people driving by on the Queensway "We have a Michaels! And a Chapters! And a Sears! And a Linen Chest! And -oh yes- the biggest Ikea in Canada!"
It was like night and day.
Suddenly, the mall was brought to life again. Most of the tenants had carried over their lease and were shocked and awed one morning at the cash register when the little bell dangling on top of the door rang.
Who could it be, a customer?
Yes. And another one. And another one. And another one.
Pretty soon, their stores were bopping again with customers, line-ups and congested parking lots.
Of course, I've turned this into a narrative but the point is that just by taking out the indoor common area and creating taller storefronts that in and of itself do the advertising, the mall was revitalized.
I mean, it's still a zoo on any Saturday thanks to the giant two-storey Ikea opening up a couple of years ago but for business owners, it's a dream. For customers, all the choices are fantastic. It now has several stores, even smaller ones, and attracted a few restaurants like Milestones and Montanas.
I don't want to get ahead of myself here but that sort of idea is what Stromiga has in store for the Humboldt Mall: to modernize the mall, increase its profits exponentially for the owners and make it viable to future tenants who are casting a curious eye our way in Humboldt. And we don't have to lose any of the stores that have been a staple in Humboldt for years, like Diamonds of Detroit. That's the nicest part about this.
I don't think the Humboldt Mall will become the next Preston Crossing but with an impending population boom, subdivisions popping up and the neighbouring Quill Centre biding its time until a Walmart, Humboldt is now on the fast track to becoming a modernized small city but loyalty to long-time local businesses, like the Bella Vista Inn and Kemway Lanes, will still give it a small town charm.
Thumbs up to the new mall.
CM
