Westmount Centre Explained

Westmount Centre is a shopping mall located in the Woodcroft neighborhood of Edmonton. It opened in 1955 and is owned by First Capital Realty.

Anchors

• Safeway
• Dollarama
• The Home Depot (opened in 2008 in former Blockbuster and Scotiabank locations)

Former anchors

• Walmart - opened 2012 in former Zellers, closed October 19, 2022, and relocated to Kingsway Mall in all of the first floors of its former Sears and part of the second floor, the space is temporarily taken by McFrugall's Discount Outlet
• Liquor Depot - rebranded to Ace Liquor Discounter when some locations rebranded
• Blockbuster - original location replaced by The Home Depot in 2008, 2nd location closed in 2011 and is now Ultracuts and PetValu
• Zellers - former Woodward's, closed in 2012 and replaced with Walmart the same year
• Woodward's - replaced by Zellers
• Sahara Theatre/Westmount Centre Cinemas - opened as the independent Sahara on January 13, 1956,^[1] taken over by Famous Players and reopened as the Westmount on August 12, 1965,^[2] twinned in 1972^[3] and closed in 1987
• Famous Players Westmount 4 (later Empire Theatres Westmount) - opened November 8, 1985,^[4] taken over by Empire Theatres in 2005 and closed February 27, 2011, and now abandoned
• Cineplex Odeon Westmount 4 - opened December 20, 1985,^[5] closed in 2000, and is now abandoned
• Gold's Gym - formerly ice rink, closed in 2017, reopened briefly as Crunch Fitness, and is now GYMVMT
• Crunch Fitness - now GYMVMT
• Tony Roma's - closed in 2022/2023 and relocated to a former Milestones Grill and Bar/Mark's location over on 170 Street
• Ace Liquor

Partial closure

For years after the Empire Theatre closed, store owners had problems with leakage from the theatre damaging their stock and equipment. The issue worsened every year, until 2024, when the mall closed off and evicted all tenants underneath the abandoned movie theatre from the abandoned Tony Roma's up to the Smitty's, due to a possible collapse that could happen on the first floor and more issues. All tenants were evicted on June 6, 2024. However, the tenants that were unaffected by the leakage including Safeway, Revolver, Smitty's, GYMVMT, Dollarama, Scotiabank, and Shoppers Drug Mart, as well as tenants not in the mall itself including The Home Depot and McFrugall's stayed open.^[6]

References

1. https://www.newspapers.com/clip/23594159/sahara_theatre_and_restaurant_opening/ Sahara theatre and restaurant opening - Edmonton Journal, January 13, 1956
2. https://www.newspapers.com/clip/23650505/westmount_theatre_opening/ Westmount theatre opening - Edmonton Journal, August 12, 1965
3. https://www.newspapers.com/clip/23650175/westmount_cinema_b_opening/ Westmount Cinema B opening - Edmonton Journal, March 17, 1972
4. https://www.newspapers.com/clip/23701018/famous_players_westmount_4_opening/ Famous Players Westmount 4 Opening - Edmonton Journal, November 8, 1985
5. https://www.newspapers.com/clip/23700514/cineplex_westmount_opening/ Cineplex Westmount opening - Edmonton Journal, December 20, 1985
6. Web site: Future of Westmount Shopping Centre unclear after tenants given 30 day notice . CTV News . 4 June 2024.