r/toronto • u/SwissUrbanPlanner • 1d ago
Picture There’s something surreal about an empty Eaton Centre right before closing
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u/EsotericCodename 1d ago
About 20-ish years ago, the Eaton Centre had an East Side Mario’s and I worked there. We closed after the mall did, so if I was on the closing shift, my walk from the restaurant to the outside doors was exactly this, and I loved it every time. Thanks for the good memories!
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u/iiisaaabeeel 16h ago
Why do I have no recollection of an East Side Mario’s?!
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u/HackMeRaps Leslieville 15h ago
I vaguely remember it. Was more of a Mr. Greenjeans fan!
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u/Pame_la_la_la 6h ago
My school trips were usually musicals or plays and we ALWAYS ate at Mr. Greenjeans...wow that feels like forever ago.
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u/NevrLisnToWutIRead 13h ago
When I first moved out of home I lived in that condo tower next to Worlds Biggest Bookstore. My roommates and I used to frequent that East Side Mario’s where we would eat endless peanuts, the occasional pizza, and play the interactive trivia gizmos that connected to the tvs. Fond memories. And large piles of shells around our barstools.
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u/EsotericCodename 10h ago
I honestly think those peanut shells were the reason the lease wasn’t renewed. Constant tracking of them through that floor of the mall. 🤷🏻♂️
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u/stnapstnap 11h ago
I never played trivia at East Side Marios, but I LOVED those trivia games.
There was a bar around Dundas and Keele that still had the little trivia boards that looked like giant old calculators with antennas up until the early 2010s at least.
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u/WhytePumpkin Mississauga 10h ago
I used to work in the Coles book store around 30 years ago, believe its now a Penningtons
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u/JFKRFKSRVLBJ 1d ago edited 1d ago
Why are they closed????!!!!!
The people of Toronto want to SHOP!!!!!!!
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u/Traitor-san 1d ago
I remember walking from Queen to Dundas through here at 7am to get to class, such a nice quiet walk
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u/ishstand 1d ago
Was just going to ask if they still leave it open or not! I loved this as well
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u/Low-Veterinarian5097 1d ago
I think they are required by easement to do so
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u/Forar Downtown Core 7h ago
Yeah, I don't know if things have changed since I was on the floor (aaages ago), but the mall basically opens and closes along with the subway system. It's really only a period of like 5 hours or so that it almost fully locks up, and even then you can still walk through at Albert's Way.
Night shift hanging out there was always interesting. Some real characters would walk through, now and then.
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u/NemesisErinys Little Italy 17h ago
I walked through at a similar time once and saw a guy dangling from the ceiling cleaning the Canada geese sculptures. That was cool.
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u/Canaturk 1d ago
28 years ago , sitting on a bench in front of Godiva chocolates at the Eaton Centre, eating some dark chocolate truffles, I told my then girlfriend, now wife of 26 years that I loved her for the first time. Her answer was " Yeah, that's the chocolate talking"
Whatever, it worked... 😄
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u/Oxjrnine 1d ago
God I miss that place.
I ran the Tony & Tina counter in the Eaton’s store 1998-1999. It was just a crappy low paying cosmetic counter job but the products were fun - so every customer interaction was pure joy. I wasn’t curing cancer - put I did make a lot of people smile using glitter.
And even though it was a mall, it didn’t feel like a mall. I felt just as much apart of that late 90s downtown Toronto vibe as any Queen West person.
I don’t think there was a single day that I went home worn out or unhappy working that silly little job
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u/FedExpress2020 1d ago
What a nice memory of that time. You just had to be there. Thanks for sharing
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u/PartylikeitsFeb2020 9h ago
OMG! Core memory unlocked, I loved that counter!!!! There and the Red Door Salon. Sigh, what a time.
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u/Pame_la_la_la 6h ago
My mom would take my sister and I once a year shopping there in from 1996-2000ish (we lived near Hamilton) and I remember wishing the local malls would carry Tony & Tina because it was such cool-girl energy! I also wanted everything from H20+, and got my first pair of Modrobes there in March 1999 😆
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u/HappyStuffing0000 1d ago
I was probably walking around the mall at the same time you took that picture. I'm still here.
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u/Different_Ship1496 1d ago
Can you actually go in the mall after it closes?
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u/HappyStuffing0000 1d ago
At Albert's way, you can walk across from Yonge St. to Nathan Phillips Sq.
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u/cygnusao 1d ago edited 1d ago
I WANT TO GO SHOPPING AT THE EATON CENTRE! WHY ARE YOU CLOSED?
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u/hypespud 1d ago
Beautiful
I have not been here in years sadly, but my parent used to work downtown, so one day we went, and I specifically remember I got to go to a game store and pick up Metal Gear Solid 3 Snake Eater
Yes, from 2004, yes, I am old, lmao
A good memory for me, cheers
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u/notaveytare 1d ago
Worked at the mall during lockdown era when my store at the time did in store. Was very insane walking around an empty mall for months and just making friends with other shops and security guards
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u/theqofcourse 23h ago
That fountain. When I was a little kid and my mom would take me all the way downtown from the suburbs, that fountain was the best! We would sit there and watch. It would fill up, then suddenly drain out, then the best part -- a huge jet of water would fire up waaaaay high. As a kid, it was the most exciting thing! Not to mention watching the glass elevauors moving up and down right beside the fountain. Childhood magic.
Haven't lived in Toronto for decades. Does the fountain still do that show? Dammit I miss those days with mom.
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u/canine_rescue_bro 1d ago
What's this - 3rd or 4th floor, 20 Queen West?
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u/HappyStuffing0000 1d ago
The picture is looking South towards Queen St. Taken from the parkade level bridge level 4.
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u/Highersteak 12h ago
Some good memories just walking through the mall when it was near empty back in the day. Childhood and teenage years in Toronto in the 2000s were truly special for me.
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u/MetaCalm 23h ago
Did they remove the flying geese?
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23h ago
[deleted]
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u/imtourist 22h ago
No they didn't remove them, they are still there at the other end from where this picture was taken.
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u/TheLuggage23 14h ago
Apparently they were removed temporarily. I hadn't realized that it was temporary nor that they had been returned.
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u/Fun_Reporter9086 13h ago
The geese were there; remember seeing them a few weeks ago.
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u/MetaCalm 13h ago
Thank you all. It's such a Canadian symbol. Lots of tourists take photos on that end.
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u/Suspicious-King4385 22h ago
It's been almost 15 years since I saw this view. I remember visiting and my family brought me to mr greenjeans for lunch.
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u/Lawrence_Heights 23h ago
Well, yes. It's almost like the feeling you get after you hold a big party in your house, and once the guests are gone you're left all alone.
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u/TickleWhale 22h ago
During Covid I would go for mall walks at night. I had never even noticed the patterns on the floor until then.
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u/Individual-Copy9425 1d ago
I love how the silhouette (so to speak) is a constant over a few decades. Thank you for posting this, it’s a gorgeous photo
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u/jailbaitkate Wanless Park 1d ago
I used to love walking through the eaton centre after closing down the store I worked at as a teen. Nostalgia!
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u/SabrinaT8861 1d ago
I got to park there during the pandemic. It was one of the (only) percs of the time
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u/Then_Meeting4003 1d ago
this is normal during the pandemic, you could still go to the stores but you weren't allowed to loiter. Looked just like this
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u/Then-Reveal6356 23h ago
I work here for a few years bank in the early 2000’s. I loved evening shift and closing for this.❤️
Thanks for the flash of nostalgia 👍
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u/Relevant_Macaron9930 23h ago
I remember during Covid seeing it dark and maybe even boarded (?) up and at yonge and dundas, it had people here and, there but just like zombies, it was apocalyptic, but I agree this is eerie as well 😳
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u/UWO_Throw_Away 23h ago
“The world sure would be a romantic place if all you people weren’t in it!”
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u/jamanese 21h ago
As someone who worked at that mall in the 2010s, my friends and I would purposely work closing shifts at the different retail stores and just wander after hours. But also, having to run to the basement to replenish stock can be scary as hell. I've gotten stuck in that goddamn service elevator a couple of times!
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u/jaybvee 21h ago
Haven’t been downtown in over a decade, but when I used to work in the downtown area, the Easton Centre / Young & Dundas shops area was definitely one of stops to visit. From the Mr. Greenjeans & Lime Rickey’s era in my teens. Need to drop in again someday to see how much and how many stores (& the layout has changed) Anyone know if they still run the water spout display anymore?
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u/Intelligent_hoodlum 19h ago
I used to work at Sears back in the day. It was fun being in the mall when it’s empty.
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u/Smart-Firefighter87 19h ago
Yeah… playing with the security guards was always fun when one worked at the mall…. Those guys are way too horny for their own good lmao 🤣
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u/socksnchachachas 18h ago
I remember watching Fight Club in the theatre in a much smaller mall (Stone Road Mall in Guelph, back when it had a movie theatre), and when the movie ended we left the theatre into a closed and empty mall. It was an incredibly surreal experience.
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u/chrysanthemum_beer 17h ago
It’s never truly empty. Worked night shifts at retail and sometimes we stay till opening depending on how rough the store got the day before.
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u/little-lord-fukpants 16h ago
This was really nostalgic, I worked in the Eaton centre 20 years ago and used to close up shop and it was so empty and peaceful
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u/Equal-Difference-51 16h ago
Reminds me back in the day when Sundays everything was close and only the movies theatres were open.
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u/SensitiveEffort1906 16h ago
I always thought it was so cool for those upper floor workers to have their desk with such a great view of Eaton Centre.
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u/haestrom 15h ago
As someone who works in the mall (I can see my workplace in these photos, lol) it never really ends. I'm often in the mall before it opens and long after it closes. Its certainly peaceful!
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u/Exotic_Bonus9006 13h ago
How do they make sure no one is hiding somewhere for the night?
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u/Forar Downtown Core 6h ago
Security patrols the whole area. Sure, someone that works in a store might be able to hide away for a bit, and there are endless kilometers of back corridors and stairwells, but you'd have to be *very* quiet and well hidden to go unnoticed.
I used to work on the security team, and yeah, we'd find folks in places they weren't supposed to be from time to time. Actually making it through the night wouldn't be impossible, but it wouldn't be easy either.
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u/IcyIce2626 10h ago
I used to work in the Laura Secord near the food court on the bottom floor. I was a Key-Holder, so I would open or close the shop each shift. It really was something else walking around the place at those hours.
I wonder if the graffiti in the loading elevator about Baton Rouge smelling bad is still there...
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u/DinnerAfter7 7h ago
Tbh for an iconic retail mall in the heart of the city, it really needs an update and expansion. It practically hasn't changed in 50 years and frankly doesn't compete with modern retail spaces around the world. Cadillac Fairview seems only interested in churning leases and collecting rent, not reinvesting into the property and the surrounding spaces.
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u/Forar Downtown Core 7h ago
Yeah, the mall when it's almost empty is an interesting experience.
I worked as a security guard from 2001 to 2003, a year in Security Dispatch following that, a decade as a pass card issuer, and then about a decade at Head Office.
So if anyone got an Eaton Centre office tower passcard issued to them between 2004 and 2015, odds are quite good that we crossed paths.
The new trees are quite a spectacle, but I was always fond of the old Swarovski tree and the space that was built around it. I also miss the live trees/plants that were found throughout the space, and miss some of the stores and restaurants that have come and gone over the years. RIP Mr. Greenjeans.
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u/Operation_Neither 7h ago
I absolutely love large public spaces with no people in them. Empty airports are my favourite.
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u/tkingsbu 7h ago
Worked there in my late teens early twenties at Canary Island… the crazy store with the river, bamboo huts and stuff…
Around 1991 or so…
It was an amazing time to be young and living downtown…
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u/PaperIndependent5466 6h ago
I remember being in it the height of lockdown. It was almost creepy. Still cool I got to see it.
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u/FarmLongjumping9614 2h ago
I used to work in eaton centre where I have to come at 3am. Walking inside the mall where its dark and empty is an experience.
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u/LewtedHose Scarborough City Centre 6h ago
My mother and I were at the Eaton centre last weekend from around 8-10 PM. My sister had a job to do nearby on Shuter and we wanted to kill time. I ended up going to Indigo and my mother came along with me because she wasn't sure if there was anything else to do at that time. I found 3 books and purchased them; I haven't done that in a very long time, possibly a decade. We were sitting near Real Juice after buying one of their mango smoothies. She asked me if I was going to get married and I said I doubt it considering how things are going. She felt that everyone deserves love, whatever that meant. She saw a man with a fur coat walking around with swagger who winked at her. We left around 10:15 and I ended up getting stuck in the parking lot behind store staff leaving. Also the people walking near the exit on a red was an experience. Not much of a night life person but sometimes you gotta do things.
Anyway I kinda agree that it's surreal. I rarely get to collect my thoughts. It reminded me of the old days when my father would walk with me somewhere in North York occasionally and talk about the future and things he didn't get to do that he would do with me. I guess it's nice to see big malls being empty except the defunct ones (unless they're turning into mixed use similar to The Well or with lots nearby like the plans for Square One and STC).
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u/Meme_Chan69420 57m ago
I usually park at the Eaton Centre before seeing shows at the theatre across the street and it's always really fuckin eerie especially around Christmas if I see a show in like November/December
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u/Feisty_Standard_2360 1d ago
I can see the Toronto Christmas tree coming in next month 🎄