Traditional Chinese 太古廣場 Hanyu Pinyin | Simplified Chinese 太古广场 | |
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Yale Romanization taai3 gu2 gwong2 cheung4 | ||
Pacific Mall is an Asian shopping centre in Markham, Ontario, Canada. It is located on the northeast side of Steeles Avenue and Kennedy Road, right across the municipal border from the city of Toronto, on the site formerly occupied by Cullen Country Barns. The two entrance roads of the mall are Redlea Avenue and Clayton Drive. Pacific Mall is surrounded by an existing shopping plaza, including the Market Village, and together they encompass over 500 stores and are served by both indoor and outdoor parking areas with over 1,500 parking spaces combined. It has two floors and an underground level that leads to an underground parking lot. Designed by Wallman Clewes Bergman Architects, their first proposal was modified by the aesthetic expectations of Markham Town Council (now City Council). Pacific Mall first opened its doors for business in 1997. Its Cantonese name, "太古廣場" (Tai Gu Gwong Cheung), is derived from Pacific Place in Hong Kong. The mall has a total of 270,000 square feet (25,000 m2) of retail space.
Contents
- Counterfeit merchandise
- Traffic congestion
- Future expansion
- February 2009 shooting
- Transportation access
- References
Pacific Mall incorporates a traditional Pacific-style market.
The clinic and dentist's office are on the second floor, along with an area containing many shops and restaurants. The corridors of the main floor are named after streets in Hong Kong; this is where the majority of shops are located, and any major events take place. In the basement, there are bathrooms, a view of the underground parking lot, and other shops.
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.
Counterfeit merchandise
Pacific Mall and neighbouring Asian malls are known for their proliferation of video games, movies, music, electronic devices, and other entertainment media made in violation of copyright law. In May 2005, over $800,000 worth of unlicensed DVDs were seized by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP).
On July 13, 2006, the RCMP raided a number of stores in the Pacific Mall and other locations associated to the manufacture of counterfeit video game software, seizing a large quantity of games and shutting down a major illicit software manufacturing facility.
In the week of August 8, 2008, thirty-three separate businesses were observed to be openly selling counterfeited merchandise in the mall, primarily in the form of DVD movies. On February 6–7, 2009, the RCMP raided a number of stores in the Pacific Mall and other locations within the mall being used for the manufacture of counterfeit DVDs, seizing over 49,000 titles, 217 DVD burners and over 100,000 blank DVDs. Four subjects working within the mall were charged with multiple counts under the Copyright Act, also with Possession Of Property Obtained by Crime, and Fraud.
On March 16, 2009, the RCMP Federal Enforcement Section teamed with the York Regional Police Service and commenced uniformed foot patrols in the shopping malls located in south Markham - Pacific Mall among them, in an effort to combat the widespread sales of counterfeit items in the malls.
Traffic congestion
The mall is also a major contributor to traffic congestion in the area. A few years after Market Village opened, it was already known to suffer from slow parking turnovers. Though Pacific Mall itself contains an underground garage facility, that was the only new parking added to the area, and it was not enough to offset the significant increase in demand to the area's already busy lots. Unlike most other malls which were planned with increased amounts of traffic projected in the future, Pacific Mall lacks the infrastructure to deal with its large amount of traffic. The road layout of the mall was designed only with Market Village in mind and was never intended to handle the volume of traffic it does today. The stretch of Steeles between Kennedy and Midland, containing a majority of other stores, is slow moving.
Future expansion
On June 30, 2006, Pacific Mall and Market Village announced plans for a major expansion to the south shopping complex in south Markham. An additional 400,000 square feet (37,000 square metres) of retail space, a luxury hotel and a multi-level parking structure were to be constructed. The project was expected to begin in a year or two, and would bring the combined size of the malls (which includes neighbouring Remington Centre to about one million square feet). In mid-2009, the plan was delayed until late 2009, with an early 2010s opening; nothing further has been mentioned in the media.
February 2009 shooting
On February 20, 2009, Kit Chen 'Daniel' Cheong, 26, was shot when gunfire broke out in the mall around 8:45 pm. Cheong was in the XSITE cell phones store where he was shot in the head. He was rushed to Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, but was pronounced dead on February 21, 2009. Critics and private investigators say it was due to an unfortunate cellphone deal in which he refused to let the perpetrator return his cell phone. Others have noted that it was due to mistaken identity. The primary suspect in the case, Bryan Valentine Gardner, was caught on security camera installed in Pacific Mall, and was eventually arrested in London, Ontario on September 2, 2010, approximately 18 months after the incident. Bryan was sentenced to life in prison with no chance of parole until 2026.
Transportation access
Pacific Mall is located at the major intersection of Steeles Avenue and Kennedy Road. It is served by both Toronto Transit Commission and York Region Transit buses. In addition, it is located within walking distance from Milliken GO Station.