Uptown Saint John mall expects turnaround as more stores leave

SAINT JOHN, N.B. -

The owner of an uptown Saint John shopping centre with several empty storefronts says a turnaround is near.

In what has become a reality for shopping centres across North America, Brunswick Square continues to see services leave the building with no replacement. The trend began long before COVID-19 but has only accelerated since the pandemic.

Long-time mall tenant Coles left it’s second floor spot in July. GoodLife Fitness, which closed its Brunswick Square gym at the beginning of the pandemic, now says it won’t reopen the location at all. Several tenants, particularly in the lower level food court, closed in 2020.

Slate Asset Management, the owners of Brunswick Square, did not address the closure of specific stores. In a written statement sent Sunday to CTV, the company says it feels positive about the facility’s future with the removal of COVID-19 restrictions.

“This momentum is leading to positive market chatter and increasing confidence in retailers, and we expect leasing activity to reflect that positive trend in the balance of the year,” says the statement.

Brunswick Square was built during the heyday of indoor shopping centres across North America.

With pomp and ceremony, as well as a sword, Premier Richard Hatfield cut a replica cake of the Brunswick Square complex at a November 1976 event. The mall was in the right place at the right time, benefiting from an uptown renaissance in the 1970s. Brunswick Square would soon be connected to an indoor pedway linking it to other uptown locations and increasing foot traffic.

The number of national chains and locally owned tenants remained consistent until the 2000s when the decline began.

Slate says it has spent $20 million over the last three years to improve the facility. Slate also says it’s working with the economic group Envision Saint John, which just became a tenant in the complex.