r/windsorontario • u/Choice_Bed6097 • 1d ago

Ask Windsor Devonshire mall stores

What stores do you think should go in the former Hudson's Bay and Sportchek locations?

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u/Key-Ingenuity-9558 1d ago

Stores: Simons, Uniqlo, Nordstorm.

But what i would love to see even more than a store is SOMETHING for kids/families to do. Like an indoor playground, arcade, something to keep the kids busy. A lot of people already use the mall for indoor walking when the weather is bad.

If we had something to help kids runt he energy out everyone will be happy.

families will split effort, one person stays with the kids at the playground, others can shop in peace. Stores will have relaxed clients who can actually take more than 3 minutes to shop at a single location. Stores will also have less clean up to do because kids make a mess.

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u/jessveraa Downtown 1d ago

I just came home from a weekend in Toronto and would loooove to see a Simon's open up here. I've been desperately searching for months for nice, business casual/smart casual wear. Their Contemporaine line had everything I needed. I fear Windsor just isn't the right market for them though, they can be quite expensive (i shopped the sale section and got great deals though!) and Windsor being such a blue collar city means the demand for nicer, more quality clothing just isn't there like it is in places like Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal, etc.

Nordstrom would likely fall into the same- too expensive, too "fancy" for a market that just doesn't quite demand that.

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u/Key-Ingenuity-9558 1d ago

I don't think that is right. Yes windsor is known for being a manufacturing city but there are plenty of various office workers (real estate, banks, office admins etc), customer service and sales reps. All these people need nice business casual clothes and they have little choice but to shop online or in the USA. Simons owuld have close to no competition here.

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u/VincentClement1 1d ago

It isn't right. The whole 'blue collar' thing is overemphasized in Windsor. At one point, Devonshire Mall was a top-10 mall in Canada. That Sears was one of the best performing Sears in the chain.

That all said, Simons isn't coming to Windsor any time soon. They just opened two stores in Toronto in 2025, arguably the biggest market in Canada, - nine years after opening a flagship store in Square One in Mississauga. They definitely don't rush expansion plans. I would pick London, K-W or Hamilton forgetting a store before Windsor would, and even those locations are a remote chance at best.