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Massive Tsawwassen mall sets sights on Island shoppers

Hundreds of shoppers lined up early Wednesday to be first into the new Tsawwassen Mills outlet mall near the ferry terminal as capital region retailers watch to see if customers are going to be lured across the water.

Hundreds of shoppers lined up early Wednesday to be first into the new Tsawwassen Mills outlet mall near the ferry terminal as capital region retailers watch to see if customers are going to be lured across the water.

Mall developer Ivanhoe Cambridge spent $600 million on the mall, which has 1.2 million square feet of retail space.

It opened with 180 retailers and has room for 20 more. Tenants include Bass Pro Shops, with its own bowling alley, and West 49 with a skatepark. There are 6,000 parking stalls and a 1,100-seat food hall.

The mall has five themed shopping areas: fashion, the outdoors, Coast Salish, city, and nature. The project was built on Tsawwassen First Nation land.

Ivanhoe also developed CrossIron Mills mall, also topping one million square feet, near Calgary, and Vaughan Mills outside of Toronto.

Traffic control workers are on hand for the next several days to manage all the motorists heading to and from the ferry terminal and the mall. B.C. Ferries recommends that drivers give themselves extra time to reach Tsawwassen terminal.

[Daily Hive Vancouver reports on parking lot chaos at Tsawwassen Mills on a very busy Saturday]

The new mall has set its sights on Islanders.

A free, 42-passenger shuttle bus is in service to carry ferry passengers arriving at Tsawwassen terminal from Victoria and Nanaimo. It operates during mall hours.

The shuttle had steady use on Wednesday, a mall representative said.

Brock Smith, UVic business professor, anticipates a short-term impact but predicted that after Islanders have seen the mall once, they will continue to do most of their shopping locally.

“This mall is big, and for a little while it will attract the curious and people who want to experience the grandness of vision and execution. But how long will that last?”

Tsawwassen Mills was designed to be a destination mall, similar in strategy to West Edmonton Mall, Smith said.

“The assumption is that people will come from far and wide to experience a unique shopping experience,” he said, adding that although there are some noteworthy stores, such as Bass Pro Shops and Saks Off 5th, most can be found at other more convenient malls.

Island drivers might bypass the mall because that they don’t want to miss a ferry, Smith said.

George Massey Tunnel traffic will be a barrier to shopping at the mall, because motorists heading to the Island will be uncertain about the time it will take to arrive at the ferry, he said.

Darlene Hollstein, general manager of the Bay Centre in downtown Victoria, said consumers are going to be curious and will want to see the new mall: “Is it going to impact us on a long-term basis? It’s tough to say.”

Shoppers come to downtown Victoria to support local unique shops and services, and also to visit national and international retailers, she said.

Retail consultant David Ian Gray, of Vancouver’s Dig360, said he expects the mall will most likely attract Islanders already on the Lower Mainland for another purpose, who then decide to stop on their way to or from the ferry terminal. “It’s just going to be so easy to pop in.”

Gray said he expects Islanders will want to see it and will visit for holiday shopping, but that level of interest might not be permanent. “What they see in the next few months may not be what settles down after that.”

Kristy Lowes, Uptown’s marketing director, said Tsawwassen Mills is a destination shopping experience that will complement Uptown and Vancouver Island.

cjwilson@timescolonist.coms