Latest news with #EdmontonDowntownBusinessAssociation
CTV News
10-07-2025
- Business
- CTV News
Edmontonians ‘not surprised' as City Centre mall faces uncertainty
With dozens of stores shuttering their doors in City Centre mall over the last few years, the news of the mall going into receivership does not come as a surprise to many. 'It's been apparent for some time that the asset owners were really, really stretched and just not in a position to appropriately invest in the property,' said Puneeta McBryan, CEO of the Edmonton Downtown Business Association. While most shopping centres have struggled to come back from the COVID-19 pandemic, McBryan says City Centre has been experiencing challenges since well before then. 'Downtown shopping centres in general, let alone one as huge as ours, have been really challenged,' McBryan. 'Suburban shopping centres have really kind of taken over when it comes to where mall shoppers want to be.' CITYCENTRE Edmonton City Centre Mall is seen on July 10, 2025. (CTV News Edmonton/Nav Sangha) Edmonton City Centre Inc. (ECC) also owns three attached office towers – TD Tower, Oxford Tower, and Centre Point Place as well as building parkades – amounting to over a total of 1.4 million square feet in retail and office space. As of Monday, auditing and consulting service PricewaterhouseCoopers Inc. (PwC) is in charge of all the assets formerly held by ECC, according to a court order. This means PwC can take possession and exercise control over City Centre and what becomes of it. Typically, a receiver is appointed to take possession of and sell or liquidate assets in order to repay an outstanding debt. According to court documents, Montreal-based commercial real estate investor Otéra Capital Inc. submitted the application for receivership. CITYCENTRE Edmonton City Centre Mall is seen on July 10, 2025. (CTV News Edmonton/Nav Sangha) Retail analyst Bruce Winder said e-commerce has also been eroding the need for malls for years now. 'With Amazon, you can order a package and get it in seven hours … with that kind of convenience, do you really need to go to a mall anymore?' Winder told CTV News Edmonton. But for City Centre mall, COVID-19 was the nail in the coffin. Many businesses that lease offices in the area have employees working from home either full time or for part of their work week – this alone has decreased the amount of foot traffic through the mall, said Winder. 'It's not enough for a mall to break even when you have such a lack of volume.' Since 2020, the homeless population in downtowns across the country have skyrocketed – and Edmonton is by no means an exception. CITYCENTRE Edmonton City Centre Mall is seen on July 10, 2025. (CTV News Edmonton/Nav Sangha) 'There's heightened crime downtown,' said Winder. 'There's a lot of folks who are homeless downtown and not enough social programs to go around.' In 2023, marquee tenant SportChek moved out of the mall, prompting ECC to highlight the safety issues that were discouraging investment. Before the sporting goods giant left, other long-term tenants Holt Renfrew and The Bay kicked the bucket. The City of Edmonton's 311 office also moved. Ted Wright, who works in the nearby Enbridge Centre, said that what's happening to City Centre mall is a shame. 'It's a great facility for going to get something to eat, go to the movies,' said Wright. 'But given the change in appetite for online shopping, it's not really a surprise. But still, it's hard to hear.' With files from CTV News Edmonton's Nav Sangha.
Global News
02-07-2025
- Business
- Global News
Puneeta McBryan, EDBA CEO, steps down
It's the end of an era for the Edmonton Downtown Business Association as CEO, Puneeta McBryan, says goodbye. McBryan took on the role in December 2020 — in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic — and has played a crucial part in sparking change in Edmonton's downtown and led many big projects in the core. For five years, McBryan has been a key voice for businesses in area, helping them succeed in a time of uncertainty. 'I feel like I probably burnt out in that first couple of years, and it's been a sprint for four and a half years, it just felt it's a good time to take a beat,' said McBryan. Get breaking National news For news impacting Canada and around the world, sign up for breaking news alerts delivered directly to you when they happen. Sign up for breaking National newsletter Sign Up By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy She's hoping to spend more time with her son and family. McBryan says she's proud of what's been accomplished during her term and highlighted a number of programs within service delivery, including the Downtown Shine Crew, the Hire Good Program and EDBA's Core Patrol. Story continues below advertisement She adds that in the future, she hopes the association will grow into a public-private partnership. 'Rather than having city administration, having some resources internally, and then us being over here as this tiny organization, I think we would be a lot more powerful as one combined entity,' said McBryan. 'We'd have so much more power, more latitude, definitely more resources, and I think you can then really empower that group to work on behalf of the city and the businesses to get a lot more stuff done.' McBryan will remain as CEO until a new one is chosen by the EDBA board.
Edmonton Journal
03-06-2025
- Business
- Edmonton Journal
'Resurgence of WAGs': Sport researchers say spouses of athletes growing in popularity
Article content The woman behind the venture, seen at the event clad in a glittery pink dress, is Lauren Kyle McDavid, the wife of Edmonton Oilers captain Connor McDavid. 'To have this star's wife putting money into our city and investing in our city is really special,' said Quinn Phillips, a spokeswoman for the Edmonton Downtown Business Association and a former sports reporter. 'Everything is kind of buzzing now in downtown.' Kyle McDavid was not immediately available for an interview, but she is one of several modern WAGs — an acronym for wives and girlfriends — making names for themselves. Judy Liao, who teaches sociology of sport and gender studies at the University of Alberta, says the buzz Kyle McDavid's business has been getting online shows how much of an interest people take in the lives of athletes' significant others. During the COVID-19 pandemic, sports wives saw their social media followers go up as they began posting more, Liao says. The popular streaming service Netflix has also created shows following the lives of WAGs in recent years.
Edmonton Journal
31-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Edmonton Journal
Pop-up entertainment district bylaw brings vibrancy, giant patio concept Downtown
Article content New pop-up entertainment districts are bringing vibrancy to Edmonton's Downtown, thanks to a new bylaw and some out-of-the-box thinking by the Edmonton Downtown Business Association. Every Saturday between now and Thanksgiving weekend, for example, there will be at least one place and time where you can stroll with a beer and a dog in the city's core while browsing market bounty.
Calgary Herald
31-05-2025
- Business
- Calgary Herald
Pop-up entertainment district bylaw brings vibrancy, giant patio concept Downtown
New pop-up entertainment districts are bringing vibrancy to Edmonton's Downtown, thanks to a new bylaw and some out-of-the-box thinking by the Edmonton Downtown Business Association. Article content Article content Every Saturday between now and Thanksgiving weekend, for example, there will be at least one place and time where you can stroll with a beer and a dog in the city's core while browsing market bounty. Article content Article content It's the Edmonton Downtown Business Association's extension of the Downtown Farmers Market, courtesy of a special licence closing the road and turning that whole 'pedestrianized' multi-block section of 104 Street by Kelly's Pub into a giant patio Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. in market season. Article content 'What we're really trying to achieve here is to continue to support our businesses and make Edmonton Downtown a vibrant place. It is really great to see that our businesses are able now to sell more of their products to all of the shoppers, not just the ones that want to enjoy their patio or inside the restaurant,' said Quinn Phillips, director of marketing and communications for the EDBA. Article content 'This gives the people the ability to grab a cocktail somewhere, and then come out onto the streets and drink it within the entertainment district,' Phillips said. Article content Article content 'I think that every business is really excited, because it does just drop into the area and increase vibrancy in the area. I think that everybody is very excited to see this happen and just continue to create different ways for people to enjoy Downtown.' Article content If a business wants to put on a street event, they can seek a road closure (with city approval), and then the entertainment district template can be implemented. Article content For example, the new bylaw means EDBA's Winterval festival can go from a beer garden with a sole vendor to a licensed massive patio where existing brick-and-mortar businesses can sell their drinks for people to enjoy as they meander the street in search of handmade beard balm (Crowsnest Pass fragrance, or perhaps eau de Old Strathcona), bear claws, crocheted crustaceans, or custom cat perches.
