Google reviewers have settled on a clear consensus:
"Decent but the reno didn't really add much to this old relic."
"I was so surprised to see a high class shopping mall in Victoria."
"Small & cozy shopping center, few minutes walking distance from downtown."
"Just underwent a massive renovation, but only added two medium-sized businesses, lost a few and moved a few others. Completely underwhelming. What a waste of time."
"Love this mall. It's much bigger than it looks."
"A small shopping mall with a couple of anchor stores. Overall a mediocre spot to shop."
To me it feels like pretty much the same mall that it has been since 1990-something*, except it looks and feels a bit more generic and the energy has been diminished somewhat. Some air has been let out of the proverbial tires, if you get my meaning. I've been trying to put my finger on it but I'm figuring it has something to do with how the flow of people in and out and around has been changed by the Sport Chek & Indigo. The one entrance on the Douglas St. side (on the ground level under the overhang where the drop-off roundabout thingy is) almost feels like you aren't supposed to use it. It seems uninviting, and with your first couple of steps you hardly even know that you're entering a shopping mall. Is it just me or do most people getting off the buses enter the mall via the little door on the back of the Indigo?
Call me crazy but I feel like a glassy corridor & eating/drinking area running along Douglas would have been much more energizing than the drop-off roundabout. Methinks they had the right idea with the terracing along that side where people wait for the buses, but they should have gone "all in" with it.
The increase in parking is good but then again it's probably ~25 years overdue. Many people are wondering about the low ceilings & pipes in various places.
Anyway, I'd say Hillside's renovations have been more successful re: the "spaces and entrances" aspects. But as we all know, they're different malls.
*or maybe since early 2000s? My memory is hazy on this point.
Edited by aastra, 07 January 2019 - 06:33 PM.