the pacific mall floor area.

Located at the corner of Kennedy Road and Steeles Avenue in the Greater Toronto Area, two shopping complexes next door to each other, the Pacific Mall and the Market Village in Markham offer visitors a grand Asian shopping experience.

That is what Guiding Star describes as the largest indoor Asian Mall in Canada. With 500+ stores selling everything under the sun (including, notoriously, knock off designer wares) Pacific Mall is a one stop shop for all the things you’ll ever need. What’s interesting though is rising past the main floor, away from the rush of the crowd, you can see the true architectural style of the place. Among the food court, karaoke rooms, and video arcade you can see architect Wallman Clews Bergman’s work. 

Pacific Mall was constructed around the same time as the  establishment of ethnic malls and plazas in the late 1980’s in and around Scarborough (what what). Based off of the rising development of Cuban, Jamaican, Asian, and South Asian malls, in Scarborough (nearly 60 were developed) Pacific Mall responded to an increase in immigration and an uptick in international investment in entreprenurialism. 

The architectural design of the mall is a mix of red bricks, steel beams, and glass, creating a “fabulous transparent building as different as possible from its surrounding” . Not quite of Hong Kong or of Toronto,  but a little of both, the mall both distinguishes itself from, and invests itself in, its surroundings. 

Inside, the streets are numbered and named to correspond to both affluent or lucky numbers or famous streets in Hong Kong.

As an official Canadian Tourist Attraction, the mall is exempt from the Retail Business Holiday Act and is open year-round including statutory holidays. Pacific Mall also hosts festivals and celebrations for the community.^[1][2]. 

Maybe we’ll catch one today!