Hillside still seeks a tenant for former Sears space

Rumours are untrue that Walmart has a deal in place to move into the former Sears location at Hillside shopping centre. (Black Press File Photo)

Despite rumours to the contrary, there is no deal in place for a new Walmart store at Hillside Shopping Centre.

Several Victoria residents posted to social media on Saturday that a Walmart location would take over the 150,000 square-foot space in Hillside vacated by Sears last year.

The posts sparked a lot of interest and excitement including a story on a local news site, however, there is no truth to the rumours, said Wayne Popowich, executive vice president with Bentall Kennedy, the commercial real estate firm that owns Hillside.

“We’re working hard to lease the space but right now there’s no deal done and we’re not sure where that [rumour] came from,” Popowich said.

At this time, it’s still unknown if the former Sears space will be leased as one store or broken into smaller spaces, Popowich added.

For now, Canadian Tire leads the mall’s big-ticket tenants of SportChek, Thrifty Foods and Bolen Books.

reporter@saanichnews.com

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