Les Promenades de l'Outaouais

infobox shopping mall
shopping_mall_name = Les Promenades de l'Outaouais


caption =
location = Gatineau, Quebec
opening_date = 1978
developer =
manager = Dominique Guindon
owner = Canpro Investments/David J. Azrieli
number_of_stores = about 165 stores
number_of_anchors = 6 (Mega Meubles, Archambault, The Bay, Costco, Metro, Laura)
floor_area = convert|845329|sqft|m2|0
floors = 1
parking = over 4 000 spaces
website = http://www.lespromenades.com/en_accueil.asp

Les Promenades de l'Outaouais is a major shopping centre located in Canada's National Capital Region. It is located in the city of Gatineau near the intersection of Greber and Maloney Boulevards, one of the city's busiest intersections and just off Autoroute 50.

It is considered to be the second largest shopping centre in the area in terms of retail space trailing only St. Laurent Shopping Centre's convert|972000|sqft|m2|-2. The website claims it has about convert|845000|sqft|m2|-2 in total space including its three-story office building in the south side of the complex that houses a dental clinic and federal government offices. [http://www.lespromenades.com/fr_location.asp]

The mall sprawled out all into one single level with several secondary corridors and sections lined up in different directions which makes it difficult to locate smaller boutiques. The shopping centre does have several anchor tenants which includes The Bay, Costco, Metro, Mega Meubles, Laura and Archambault.

It is located right in the middle of a major shopping district in the Gatineau sector in which several other strip-malls and big-box stores are lined-up all along Maloney or Greber Boulevards in and around Les Promenades. The Village Greber is located just across Maloney and les Galeries Gatineau which includes Winners and Zellers is just across its eastern street.

Several small stores and restaurants are located scattered on its northern parking lot.

The Polyvalente Le Carrefour High School is located just across the street from Chemin de La Savane. During the lunch hours, numerous teens from the school cross the street to the mall.

According to various surveys, almost 80% of its shoppers are women and the average age is 38 [http://www.lespromenades.com/fr_location.asp] .

See history section for other former prominent tenants.

History

The mall opened its doors in 1978, becoming instantly the former city of Gatineau's prime shopping destination.

During the 1990s and early 2000s, the mall did experience some difficulties as several large retail spaces were left vacant frequently as several stores and even anchor tenants closed their doors. In the 1990s, K-Mart, Eaton and Steinberg, which at one point were the mall's three anchor tenants, all closed their doors.

The K-Mart location is now occupied by a Mega Meubles as well as the Laura superstore. It was also briefly, the Bay's appliance section location.

In the late 1990s, the shopping centre did made a major expansion on its eastern end of it. Previously, the mall ended where the Famous Players cinemas were located. When the whole renovation process ended, a new anchor tenant was in place : The Bay. Also, a Dollarama, a food court, a new office building, a Christopher International hair salon and an artisan or small merchants (Boulevard des Artisans) zone were added.

Also during the 1990s, the Eaton store on the western end of the shopping centre also closed its doors. That area during the next several years was left vacant during the majority of the existent period except when Laura occupied the area for a small period. However, in March 2006, Costco had relocated its location from the north end of the city to its current location at les Promenades bringing a new life to its western end which was often plagued with numerous vacant spaces for several years. Archambault, a Quebec music franchise store also opened a location in 2005 near Costco and the Buffet Dragon, the mall's Chinese restaurant.

Steinberg also had a supermarket during the mall's first years, but closed when the company folded. It was later occupied by SuperC and Metro.

The mall during most of its existence had a movie theater although it is a small one. During the late 1990s the Famous Players cinemas which occupied a location in the previously eastern end of the mall closed, in part due to the opening of the Cinema 9 theater located just a few minutes away from the centre. Most recently, a new movie theater, called Cine-Starz opened its doors at the same location.

Several smaller retailers have been added in various areas of the mall including Garage, Terra Nostra and Vision Underground.

Management team

*Company : Canpro Investments
*Owner/President : David J. Azrieli
*General Manager : Dominique Guindon
*Assistant Manager : Sylvie Courchesne
*Marketing Director : Lucie Filiatrault
*Assistant Marketing Director : Veronique Lepage
*Retail Manager : Martine Mainville

Hours of operation

* Monday-Tuesday : 09:30-17:30
* Wednesday to Friday : 09:30-21:00
* Saturday : 09:00-17:00
* Sunday : 12:00-17:00

Transportation

Being at one of the city's busiest intersections and near the city's main highway, it is very easily accessible and parking space is abundant.

The Société de transport de l'Outaouais offers several routes that travels to various areas across the city from the shopping mall. It is considered, outside of the downtown core, the most important transit hub in the city. On average per day, 8 000 shoppers use public transit for shopping [http://www.lespromenades.com/fr_location.asp] .

The STO has a major Park And Ride facility of over 500 parking spaces in proximity of convenient transit service. It has also recently rebuilt the transit terminal and built a new client service centre inside the mall.

Routes that are serving the shopping centre include:
* Routes 62, 63, 66, 71, 74, 76 and 78 travels through local areas in the Gatineau sector
* Routes 67 and 77 travels to Ottawa. The 77 travels also in local areas of the Gatineau sector
* Routes 33 and 39 also travels through local areas in the Gatineau sector. It travels also through various areas of the Hull sector and ends in Ottawa.
* Route 57 travels to the Aylmer sector via downtown Gatineau
* Route 96 travels to the Buckingham and Masson-Angers sector
* Route 68 is a non-stop route that serves the Hull CEGEP.
* Various shuttles buses during events starts here.

Starting in 2010, the Rapibus transit route will travel just north of the shopping centre alongside Maloney Boulevard. A transit station would be located there, although it is unlikely that it will serve as the future terminal due to the lack of space for buses and due to the dangerous nature of the Greber/Maloney intersection which includes an at-grade rail crossing.

External links

* [http://www.lespromenades.com/default.asp Les Promenades website]