Big box killed the mall, right?

Think again one of Canada’s largest mall owners effectively is saying, putting its money where its mouth is to make the point.

Masonville Place owner Cadillac Fairview Corp. Ltd. said Tuesday — after months rebuilding the space occupied by the mall’s former Sears store — that it’s spending another $77 million on a mall makeover, the largest in the history of the north London shopping centre.

That’s on top of $30 million earmarked to revive the space left by another Masonville Place tenant, Target, the U.S. department store that pulled out of Canada after a failed expansion north.

That more than $100-million investment will keep the 31-year-old mall competitive in a retail market dominated by big-box power centres, the company says.

“What it takes is relentless investment. You have to create modern, compelling retail spaces,” said Finley McEwen, a Cadillac Fairview senior vice-president.

“You can’t make shopping a chore,” he said. “It has to be a pleasure.”

That shopping-as-destination thinking, with new and different retailers, is needed for malls in the changing retail landscape, said Ken Hardy of the Ivey School of Business in London.

“Malls have not lost their lustre, and Cadillac Fairview is pretty good at finding tenants that will draw,” said Hardy, a professor emeritus and marketing expert.

Mansonville also benefits from a prime location in a busy commercial corridor, Hardy noted.

Along with the former Sears space, the rest of the mall will get a cosmetic upgrade to welcome a roster of new tenants including Zara, the first store in Southwestern Ontario for the Spanish fashion retailer.

Other retailers in the two-level former Sears space include H&M, Hot Topic, Sport Chek/Atmosphere and The Disney Store.

Hardy said retailers such as Zara and H&M will bring in younger women who enjoy shopping as recreation in an upscale atmosphere.

“Higher fashion demands a better ambiance than the basement of Sears, so I can see them putting in the money to glam it up,” he said.

The new stores in the Sears space join other retailers that have set up shop in the mall recently, including Sephora, Ivivva, Lush and Saje.

The major food outlet in the new space is The Keg, a restaurant moving from Richmond Row

But the new space will have other food outlets mixed in with the retailers, including the Aroma Espresso Bar, another Toronto-based chain new to the London market.

Masonville Place general manager Brian O’Hoski said the interior renovations throughout the mall include a central court staircase, Italian porcelain tiles and stainless steel and glass guardrails.

“We are really trying to solidify ourselves as a fashion destination in Southwestern Ontario,” he said.

Masonville suffered a major setback two years ago when the Sears store closed. A year later, Target Canada announced its shutdown less than two years after it opened, leaving Hudson’s Bay the mall’s last anchor.

Shopping malls, whose popularity peaked in the 1980s, have faced intense competition from big-box retailers with warehouse-style outlets or smaller operations clustered near one another.

The renovation on 127,000 square feet of former Sears space began last September, scheduled for completion in November. Mall officials said all existing stores will remain open through the work.

McEwen said a plan to redevelop the former Target store will be made “soon,” but wouldn’t comment on whether the space will also be carved up into smaller retail spaces.

The mall has also launched CF SHOP, WiFi a text-message concierge service for shoppers and mobile charging stations for cellphones.

hdaniszewski@postmedia.com

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Masonville Place

Built: 1985

Tenants: 140 stores and services

Owner: Cadillac Fairview Corp. Ltd, with $79 billion in North American assets, including 71 properties across Canada.The company has been owned since 2000 by the Ontario Teachers Pension Plan.