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Gerrard Square Shopping Centre
Category: Shopping Shopping Centres Shopping Centres [Edit]
1000 Gerrard St EToronto, ON M4M 3G6
Neighbourhood: Leslieville
(416) 461-0964
- Price Range:
-
$
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- Yes
- Parking:
- Private Lot
- Wheelchair Accessible:
- Yes
14 reviews for Gerrard Square Shopping Centre
14 reviews in English
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Review from Geoffrey W.
Toronto, ON
6/22/2011 5 Check-ins Here
I'm not sure if I've just got a different perspective than most here. I don't go to malls looking for something exceptional. Almost all malls have their fair share of mediocre stores, and a few have some fairly decent stores. They're all soulless and a little dull.
Gerrard Square used to be pretty low-rent, with almost no recognizable stores, and dingy. It's been updated, and it's now much less dingy and houses a Home Depot, Staples, Winners, Zellers, EB Games, The Source, CIBC Business Centre, etc.
It's still not above-average for a mall, and I have no strong reason to recommend it, but if you want to pick up a few things for your house or business, this is really the only mall in the area.
Is it a transcendent experience? Clearly not. Is it a hole, worth avoiding at all costs? No. It's just a small urban mall, where you go to buy things that you need. -
Review from Erin B.
10/24/2011 2 Check-ins Here
I should say right up front that I am a-ok with grungy and run down and that I am not much of a mall person at the best of times (perhaps saying 'in the best of places' would be more appropriate). But even considering that, there is something just gut wrenchingly depressing about Gerrard Square. It could be the smell of three day old urine that seems to follow me wherever I go (honestly - I sat on a bench today - urine. I stood near a door - urine. And it's not me). Or it could be the slightly musty smell of sadness, wet cardboard, and cheap synthetics that seeps out of Zellers. Whatever it is, it saps my life force.
And on a practical level, the bike racks are annoyingly tricky to access. They're on an elevated section which means that you either need to carry your bike up the stairs (only 4 stairs, but it's still annoying) or you need to take the narrow winding ramp along with all the slow moving strollers, which is much more annoying than carrying your bike up four stairs.
But there is a Home Depot, a CIBC, the soul-sucking Zellers, a grocery store, and a few generic food court places (though, honestly, the mall isn't really large enough that you should spend enough time here to require food). And there's nowhere else nearby where you can find lightbulbs, dryer vents, towel racks, and batteries all under one roof, so I've been twice in the past two weeks and anticipate additional visits in the near future.Listed in: 30 Day Yelp Challenge!
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Review from J J.
Toronto, ON
1/8/2012
As sad as it sounds, I practically grew up in this mall because my parents ran a salon here in the 90's. It truly was a really sad mall because of the really sad stores (less generic albeit) that it housed. I'm not surprised to read other reviews about how this mall makes peoples' souls weep. At least it was renovated and has stores people recognize and would frequent (e.g. Winners, home depot). The food court still sucks though.
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Review from Jennifer K.
Markham, ON
3/31/2011 6 photos
Since there are no other sizable plaza or mall in the area.. so you kind of stuck with Gerrard Square.
Retired people gathering around and spending the whole afternoon doing nothing! Babysitter wheeling their strollers around or have toddlers screaming and running down the hallways..
Shops aside from Staples, Home Depot and Winners..hardly have any customers!
I at least have Tropical Joe and Crepes It Up! as lunch before I head off to more depressing neighbourhood streets!Listed in: A Day in Leslieville!
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Review from Chad M.
11/1/2010 2 Check-ins Here
A depressing, ugly, mall-like place. DUMP.
Seriously, why would anyone in their right mind step foot in here? At least I have an excuse, as I found this place out of hunger.
I was looking for another embarrassing-in-which-to-be-found establishment, Subway. My GPS was telling me that I'd just passed it, but it wasn't visible. I thought "Ah, it must be in this mall. Who knows, it might be fun - maybe I'll find something interesting."
While I realized that the odds of finding something cool or interesting in a mall were next to none, it was my extreme hunger that pushed me inside.
My heart goes out to those who have to work here. -
Review from Jennifer M.
Toronto, ON
10/1/2010
I don't know why I still come here.
The Home Depot is key, of course and Jumbo Video is pretty awesome. Of course I would never step foot in Food Basics again, under any circumstances http://www.yelp.ca/biz... but sometimes I find myself wandering through GSquare thinking.. how did I get myself here?
There is a WINNERS, and two ladies clothing shops upstairs (Fairweather? SmartSet?) That noticeably receive the outcast/unsellable merchandise from the other stores. There is a "boutique" just upstairs at the top of the escalators that sells what I can only decently describe as "hood-rat-club-wear" that is kind of interesting. It is clearly the place where the females in this neighborhood get the outfits that have you questioning "now WHERE would someone GET something like that?"
Payless, the Grimiest Zellers I have ever stepped foot in, an athletics store, La Senza - which has decent selection but the RUDEST staff in the universe (*shouting across store* No miss! You will need a Large in that for sure! [ I am really not very big, but thanks ] ) There is however, a very large Staples, and a Benix & Company and a dollar store which all have their uses.
You Might Like If:
- If you enjoy people watching to the point of utter ad nauseam
- you like men in pirate shirts and womens boots opening the doors for you. (what a gentleman!)
- The free promotional giveaways at Zellers! Back corner of the store in 2 min!
- you want some mid 90s "career wear" rejects
- you get a kick out of cross-eyed chain-smoking teens-with-child in baby-phat-parkas giving you cut-eye at the front doors.
- You want to visit TWO jewelry stores that feature a wide selection of faux-diamond-encrusted pot-leaf medallions.
You Wont like If:
- You feel like wearing clean, respectable clothing in public is necessary.
- You like quality merchandise at reasonable prices
- You are looking for retail therapy as opposed to CAMH or drug-rehab therapy.
- You have an aversion to communicable diseases.Listed in: Leslieville, Riverdale &…, Worst of the Worst
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Review from Kat F.
I only have 26 teeth and I still had double the number of the average Gerrard Square patron. It's a sad, sad mall. In one visit I heard an elderly Asian man scream the N word, saw a 60 year old man try to pick up three teenage girls and a shoving match between a guy and his baby momma's best friend.
To top that off, it has what has to be the worst ad campaign I've ever seen for a mall in Toronto - even worse than Dufferin Mall's - called "Embrace your square." And in every image on the mall's facade something is square-shaped. A square goatee, a square afro, a square ear. LAME. Is this mall even in the shape of a square? I don't know.
The only great things about this mall are the fact that there's a decent Staples, Winners, Zellers and even a Benix (those are hard to come by - great place to buy small kitchen appliances like Fagor pressure cookers, which AFAIK are only sold at Benix stores).
Every other middling store in this mall could be torched and no one would notice.Listed in: Shopping Malls
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Review from Abbey A.
Toronto, ON
9/22/2010
I don't know HOW this place stays in business. You go there on a week day afternoon and besides the odd shopper, the place seems to be a gathering place for groups of old Asians who sit side by side and yell at each other. I had to go to Staples recently for a printer cartridge and it had that eerie deserted vibe that you see in zombie movies.
They used to have some decent stores like Sears, Shoppers, Food City. They have long since bailed. There is no decent drug store and their grocery store (can't remember the name) couldn't look more uninviting. It's dark, dreary and reminds me of the old Knob Hill Farm stores. The Zellers has to be one of the worst - it's a cluttered, disorganized mess. Home Depot and Benix are two bright spots. Half decent Dollar Store when it's not full of screaming kids. Winners is as bad as Zellers. It's a mess with merchandise strewn everywhere. Food court - depressing. Wouldn't get a cup of coffee there. There is a nice Hallmark store which looks really out of place but it's virtually always empty.
On the main level, smack in the middle, is an area where they sell that stuff you see on infomercials. Yes! Now you can buy a Sham Wow and not have to pay shipping! Bonus! -
Review from Jon S.
Toronto, ON
4/13/2009
Let's just say that Gerrard Square makes my soul weep.
But I did get a nice pair of sport socks from (the ironically named?) Winners. Extra star! -
Review from Mark S.
Toronto, ON
10/29/2009
This is definitely the epitome of Chris Rock's 'Dirt Mall' comedy bit.
Baby mamas, baby daddies, baby drama, and lots of people who's culture accepts yelling, horquing, and 'farmer blow' nose clearing indoors. The stores are underperforming versions of their brands and make you feel like you are in a turn of the century communist country version of each of them.
The one salvaging factor of this mall is the Home Depot. Although small and mysteriously laid out, this home depot employs the nicest, most helpful staff I have ever encountered. I'm a new home owner and have rolled into the Depot many times in the past year completely confused, only to have someone extremely helpful talk me through the process of building downspouts or wiring a motion light without frying myself.
I would also recommend Metropolitan building supplies across the street for your paving stone/gravel needs. They are incredibly nice as well. -
Review from kelly h.
Toronto, ON
5/7/2011
Like Dufferin Mall, only shitty.
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Review from Chantal m.
Scarborough, ON
4/17/2010
This really isn't what I would consider a mall, so "shopping centre" is a good choice of words. It is very small and ackwardly shaped. I know that sounds weird but for something called a square it's shaped more like a triangle. Not very many stores...or not ones that many people would regularly frequent. Among the best are Foot Locker, La Senza and Zellers. They do have a Home Depot but the service sucks (see my other review for this location).
The food court is very small, with no-name places to eat except for subway and KFC. We had KFC and like most it wasn't the greatest, but was the only thing I trusted to eat. There really would be no reason for me to ever return, but I suppose if you lived in the area, it might be a good place to get groceries or the odd items (zellers).
The only one gem was the rug man on the second level, he has some cute rugs for cheap prices (I know because I've been looking all across the city for rugs for my new apartment). He was very helpful, and pulled over like 50 rugs for me to get to the one I liked, very kind.
Anyways this place gets a 2 for being lame, a waste of space, a disgrace to shopping. -
Review from Jimi S.
ON
11/7/2008 2 photos
If I had to work in a mall again I would kill myself i think. If I had to work in Gerrard Square I would take people with me before I did it.. Now, to be fair I wouldnt EVER call myself a frequenter of malls (because you couldn't figure that out from the first two lines...) That being out of the way, as far as malls go, despite their effort to clean this place up, it is still pretty drab. It is perhaps, reflective of the current mix of folks that live in the area, so I suppose it is moving along at a pace that makes sense with its surroundings. (i remember talking/or being told by a cashier in home depot that the gentrification of gerrard square was a sad and an unfair thing because most of the people that had always shopped there, now, were less able to shop there as there were more expensive stores opening up, etc. - it is sad, but it is what it is.) This is a bare bones place that is slowly creeping upwards - there are solid generic stores like home depot, staples, zellers, etc and some no name stores for clothes, accesories, etc., so if you know what you need it definitely serves its purpose. If you are looking for a shopping extravaganza, a dazzling day fighting over the last avant-garde sweater on the rack, youve come to the wrong place. For me, it comes down to convenience. Because I live close by, i am thankful for the more utilitarian stores that are there all in one place. So, go ahead and add a half to those two stars and there you have it.
Listed in: My Neighborhood-Leslieville
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Review from eune y.
Toronto, ON
4/11/2009
Actually, I don't really know what to rate what they've done to my childhood ghetto mall. I have such twisted and complicated memories that straddle feelings of sentiment and a simple wonder at how much it's changed. I had my very first ever birthday party in Canada at the McDonald's located in the adjacent parking lot which was my parents' heartfelt but vain attempt to get me assimilated with my new classmates. I remember rushing here on the streetcar after school only to be crushed to find out that after saving for months to buy my own Cabbage Patch Kid, Zeller's told me that they were sold out. (Yeah, I'm still torn up about it.) It was totally depressing even back then when malls were new and I think it's because of the crappy memories I have attached to it that I sort of don't mind the renos. There really isn't anything worth buying at this mall...unless you're really into Dollar store items and The Home Depot. I come here to get my vacuum serviced and to peek into the Winners but otherwise, the place gives me the heebie jeebies.
