Upscale Outdoor Shopping in Toronto

Shopping Mall Developer Cadillac Fairview has adorned a new urban Toronto retail outdoor village named 'Shops at Don Mills', at Don Mills and Lawrence, with various artworks including refurbished Eaton Centre sculptures and is now featuring Canada's first "Robotic Water Fountain' embedded within its trendy outdoor town square pathways surrounded with hundreds of trees in 450,000 square feet of retail space and 65,000 square feet of office space. After a 3 year construction process, with rumoured archaeological remains of an aboriginal presence beneath the soil, the modern outdoor village retail mall finally opened its doors during last Wednesday's media tour of the urban lifestyle town square. During this first opening phase, the 'Shops at Don Mills' had about 60 per cent of the shops open their doors today with community oriented celebrity star-studded weekend celebrations starting from Friday April 24 until Sunday April 26; with expected guest appearances by Canadian Idol winner Eva Avila, former neighborhood resident and successful international R&B singer Jully Black and infamous chef Mark McEwan just to name a few. The outdoor mall festivities are hoping to largely attract the Toronto public through its pathways over the weekend. Reminiscent of the Yorkville street shopping design, the 'Shops at Don Mills' outdoor mall has radically changed from the former 30 year old enclosed mall, to an open concept design aspect with overhead canopies that promise to help protect visitors from the harsh weather elements. The drastic outdoor concept change, however, was first met with much opposition from what the neighborhood customers were accustomed to; the customer base average annual income is $180,000 (the area roughly stretching from Eglinton, Avenue Road to the Bridal Path). Neighbors and nearby residents feel that the Cadillac Fairview developers did not completely address the customer needs during the 3 year delayed construction process; most felt relieved the amenities were finally there and were also appreciative of the featured artwork, sculpture and modern concepts.. but with over 5,000 petitioned signatures opposing the expensive upscale stores with integrated outdoor design time will only tell if the 'Shops at Don Mills' urban lifestyle design pedestrian walks will step up to what was already there. ~Tomitheos reporting from Toronto