Mall Wars: Yorkdale vs. Sherway: Inside the big-bucks battle for our disposable income
In the era of e-tail, Yorkdale and Sherway Gardens, two of Toronto’s chi-chiest cathedrals of consumption, are preparing for battle. They’re undergoing colossal renos, dropping huge wads of cash and amping up the pamper factor in an effort to coax us off the couch and back into their stores. Here’s how the projects stack up.
Yorkdale: $331 million to add 298,000 square feet to the existing 1.6 million over two years.
Sherway: $335 million to add 210,000 square feet to the existing 988,000 over three and a half years.
Yorkdale: Wooed White House Black Market, John Varvatos and David Yurman, which all arrive by the end of 2013.
Sherway: Courted Topshop, Ann Taylor and Express, which all arrive by the end of 2013.
Yorkdale: A licensed, $38-million, 1,000-person-capacity food court that offers real tableware and takes reservations.
Sherway: A 900-seat dining room with panoramic two-storey floor-to-ceiling windows.
Yorkdale: The herringbone wood flooring in Club Monaco’s new store was imported from Belgium.
Sherway: The mall flooring will be refurbished with limestoneimported from France at a cost of $1 million.
Yorkdale: A $15 curbside valet service and a smartphone app that helps you find a parking space.
Sherway: An $8 valet service and an in-mall shuttle.
Yorkdale: A food-court scullery that composts all organic waste.
Sherway: A 65,000-square-foot green roof.
Yorkdale: $63,300 platinum Rolex from Raffi Jewellers; $1,000 gold-plated, crocodile-skin Zanotti wedge sneakers from Davids.
Sherway: $1,995 Chloé Alice calfskin tote; $115,500 Tiffany Enchant yellow and white diamond ring set in platinum.
Yorkdale: The Tesla Model S electric car starts at $77, 800.
Sherway: Iconic 44,000-square-foot Zeidler-designed, Teflon-coated canopy roof which was painstakingly restored over the course of a year.
Yorkdale: There’s a perfume butler whose sole job is to squirt passersby with scents.
Sherway: Staff will warm your baby bottles and charge your car battery gratis.
![](http://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?u=https://torontolife.com/shopping/mall-wars-yorkdale-vs-sherway/&title=Mall Wars: Yorkdale vs. Sherway: Inside the big-bucks battle for our disposable income&picture=https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/mall-wars-yordale-vs-sherway-624x395.jpg&description=[caption id="attachment_248247" align="aligncenter" width="656"] (Photographs: Yorkdale courtesy of Yorkdale; Sherway courtesy of Sherway Gardens)[/caption]
In the era of e-tail, Yorkdale and Sherway Gardens, two of Toronto’s chi-chiest cathedrals of consumption, are preparing for battle. They’re undergoing colossal renos, dropping huge wads of cash and amping up the pamper factor in an effort to coax us off the couch and back into their stores. Here’s how the projects stack up.
the spend
Yorkdale: $331 million to add 298,000 square feet to the existing 1.6 million over two years.
Sherway: $335 million to add 210,000 square feet to the existing 988,000 over three and a half years.
winner: sherway
bringing in the big brands
Yorkdale: Wooed White House Black Market, John Varvatos and David Yurman, which all arrive by the end of 2013.
Sherway: Courted Topshop, Ann Taylor and Express, which all arrive by the end of 2013.
winner: yorkdale
fine dining
Yorkdale: A licensed, $38-million, 1,000-person-capacity food court that offers real tableware and takes reservations.
Sherway: A 900-seat dining room with panoramic two-storey floor-to-ceiling windows.
winner: yorkdale
shmancy detail
Yorkdale: The herringbone wood flooring in Club Monaco’s new store was imported from Belgium.
Sherway: The mall flooring will be refurbished with limestoneimported from France at a cost of $1 million.
winner: sherway
getting around
Yorkdale: A $15 curbside valet service and a smartphone app that helps you find a parking space.
Sherway: An $8 valet service and an in-mall shuttle.
winner: yorkdale
eco chic
Yorkdale: A food-court scullery that composts all organic waste.
Sherway: A 65,000-square-foot green roof.
winner: sherway
Luxest items
Yorkdale: $63,300 platinum Rolex from Raffi Jewellers; $1,000 gold-plated, crocodile-skin Zanotti wedge sneakers from Davids.
Sherway: $1,995 Chloé Alice calfskin tote; $115,500 Tiffany Enchant yellow and white diamond ring set in platinum.
winner: yorkdale
Thing you won’t find anywhere else
Yorkdale: The Tesla Model S electric car starts at $77, 800.
Sherway: Iconic 44,000-square-foot Zeidler-designed, Teflon-coated canopy roof which was painstakingly restored over the course of a year.
winner: sherway
Really?
Yorkdale: There’s a perfume butler whose sole job is to squirt passersby with scents.
Sherway: Staff will warm your baby bottles and charge your car battery gratis.
winner: yorkdale){kind=link}
Yorkdale loses in the Really? category IMO — I do not want to be squirted with scent, thank you very much.
How does Sherway win for spending more money for less square footage over more time?
Yet neither of them are anywhere near as nice as a high-end mall in the US.
And all that this is likely to mean is that these malls will have less of the fun, random specialty stores and eclectic mom and pop shops that I used to like over there, and more overpriced clothes and faux-euro snobbery. I won’t even be able to take my burger and fries to go.
And now Yorkdale has a Virtual Tour inside on their google map listing and Sherway don’t! Missed that!
Missed something! Yorkdale now has a Virtual Tour inside on their google map listing and Sherway don’t!
I’ve been a long time customer of both, Yorkdale is still the nicest mall.
Sherway doesn’t have subway access. You get off at Kipling station and then onto a bus. Not easy if you have a bunch of shopping bags.
Yorkdale has subway service right to the door, you do not have to go outside to get into the mall.
Yorkdale also has better parking layout (offers lots of indoor parking spaces) as well as easier access off of the highway. As for traffic off of the highways, both are busy. Going to the malls before noon, makes a big difference when it comes to traffic delays.
Yorkdale’s food selection is far superior. Nice seating/tables – but is dark. They should have added skylights.
Sherway has the same old food offerings as so many other shopping centres. Their food court is much brighter than Yorkdale but seating/tables are old and needs to be updated.
Yorkdale has very high ceilings throughout the mall. It just makes it a more pleasant shopping experience.
Sorry, but the subway attracts the rift-raft… ie Youths.
Give a specific example outside New York City.
Not all people ie: youths are rift-raft. Many youth work part-time at the various stores and it helps that Yorkdale has the subway for them to get to their jobs. Millions of people ride subways! They are not rift-raft. Yorkdale has excellent security. I believe that there is more of a security problem with Eatons Center Dick!!
You’re right — all Youths are not rift-raft. Case in point, I was a Youth once.
Beverly Center and the Grove in LA; South Coast Plaza in Costa Mesa; Scottsdale Fashion Mall; Bal Harbour Shops; Oak Brook Center in Chicago; Shops at Willow Bend in Dallas; Tysons Corner Center outside DC. There’s eight to start.
Zing. Woman be shoppin’.
I do like the new underground parking at Yorkdale, with the green/red lights to indicate an open spot. Very Chilean.
Eco Chic how does Sherway win this a 65 000 sq Ft. green roof the 150 000 sq ft. expansion to Yorkdale in 2012 was a green roof that to me comes out to about twice as much green roof.