Mall opens new wing

31 years after it first opened, the grand opening of the new Conestoga Mall took place over the weekend, with events kicking off Thursday morning in the expanded and remodelled food court.

An impressive lightshow provided a backdrop for speeches by several distinguished personages, including Mayor Brenda Halloran, George Fiddler, senior vice-president of the retail real estate firm Ivanhoe Cambridge and general manager of Conestoga Mall Sandra Stone.

All spoke about the impact the expansion would have on the surrounding community. “Thank you, Conestoga Mall, you make Waterloo proud,” said Halloran.

The ribbon-cutting ceremony followed, as Halloran, Fiddler and Stone, as well as two performers from Cirque Acrobats, officially opened the new portion of the mall, which consists of an additional 130,000 square feet and 30 new retailers.

The expansion also includes the addition of 472 seats to the food court, as well as nine new restaurants.

Of the new businesses, Freshly Squeezed, Macusushi, Oliver & Bonocini, Spring Rolls and Sunglasses Hut have yet to open.

By far the most popular of new stores open on the day of the grand opening was Victoria’s Secret’s Pink. Shoppers formed a line that stretched across four stores to enter the new store, the first one opened in Canada.

Other grand opening events included a performance from Dan Dunn, who put on several Paintjam shows.

This weekend was also the opening for the Waterloo Heritage Collection in the space supplied by Conestoga Mall.

The collection is an exhibition of artifacts donated to the city of Waterloo over the years. Many come from the Seagram Museum that closed 12 years ago and relate to the history of the distillery.
The museum, while still undergoing some renovations to its offices, is now showing part of its collection and will rotate through other artifacts on a three to four month basis.

New stores

Aeropostale
Bath & Body Works
Eleventh Hour Clothing
RW & Co
Telephone Booth
Teopia
Rocky Mountain Chocolate