Yorkdale Mall report - for Carla and other fabbers in the area!

Hi friends, I mentioned Yorkdale mall yesterday, and lovely Carla was interested in a report - here you go; anyone in the TO area or planning a visit might be interested!

For those not from the area, this is a massive mall in the Toronto suburbs, the most profitable per square foot in the country, I'm told, and known for carrying the highest-end brands (Cartier, Louis Vuitton, etc.) as well as excellent versions of the typical mall brands (I guess they need to up their game to get any business in that mall).

The experience: This is a great mall if you are a shopper and/or fashion lover. It's extremely big, and you would really need to enjoy shopping and have plenty of time to really enjoy the experience. That said - it is lovely. Clean, bright and extremely open. The parking lot can be crazy, but the underground parking was not bad at all, and they also have valet parking (they will even detail your car while you shop). There are some cool and diverse stores that you won't find in many other places - a Tesla store, for example, and an OVO (Drake's brand). All the designer boutiques are there too: Cartier, LV (as mentioned), Chanel, Tiffany, etc. DH reported that the Restoration Hardware looks like a massive luxury hotel; he didn't even realize it was a store! (we haven't been there for a while haha!) And unlike other high-end spots in Toronto (I'm looking at you Bayview Village), the service we encountered was friendly and non-snotty (I can't STAND that). My 13-year-old son and his friend shopped with birthday money and reported that the service in Holt Renfrew (Canadian high end department store) was excellent and everyone made a fuss over them because they never get kids in there ha!!

The shoppers: Although there is a mix of shoppers, the vast majority look pretty high-end and there was a definite aesthetic. I had fun style-watching and within five minutes had made a game of trying to spot people NOT wearing black or beige (I stood out like a sore thumb in navy and white!). The very occasional pops of olive or true red were also noticeable, as were occasional cognac boots instead of black. Younger shopper had trendier pieces on (e.g. one gorgeous young lady had on a silky black pyjama-style top over slim black pants and high-heeled black studded booties, whereas more mature shoppers had dark demin or black pants, black or beige knitwear tops, and camel/beige coats. An unbelievable lack of prints. Not super-exciting or diverse, but certainly restrained and sophisticated, I'd say.

The purchases: Of course, me, I only purchased from Zara a) because I was more concerned with the offspring and b) because I am cheap I got olive skinnies to upgrade my current ones, and I'm going to do a try-on later to check the fit. DH is planning to go back wearing a work outfit so he can try on some smart things to add to his wardrobe (he enjoyed Nordstrom in particular). DD bought bullet journal supplies from Muji (a really cool Japanese 'dollar' (but not really) store). And the birthday boy and his buddy bought uber-cool Converse from Holt Renfrew; DS also bought a few shirts from OVO, and a few more from Uniqlo (collab with KAWS x - I have no idea what that is haha!)

Overall: This is not the mall for me, to be honest. It's too big and overwhelming, and frankly too expensive for my practical tastes. My fashion-lovers (DH and DS) loved it though - so a definite recommend! I'd go back once a year just to check it all out though - a fun day, and we brought home a cheesecake from Cheesecake Factory, so that was an excellent perk

5 years ago

Runcarla

Veteran

Thanks TG! I've been to Yorkdale twice in the past year. The first time was just to reconnaissance the place - however DH had success pants shopping at Nordstroms. The second time was after DH's October closet edit. Harry Rosen and Hugo Boss were good for DH and we had fun looking at the Rock and Roll menswear in J. Varvatos. (DH got a JV suede jacket in NL - but it was marked down by 75% - and a fairly conservative, if luxe, piece.) Maybe Yorkdale is a good mall for men? Your DH should do well!

Both times there were queues to get into the Canada Goose store, a Macaron shop, and Godiva chocolates. The specialty stores, Dyson, Tesla, Lego are crazy! We had lunch at Nordies and used Indigo as our rendez-vous point.

People watching is fun. I get the black, but the camel/beige is interesting.

Bijou

Wow, that sounds very high end indeed, we don't have any shopping centres like that where I live.

Jules

I love to visit Yorkdale maybe twice a year as a shopping ‘destination’. We take the subway thus avoiding the traffic/parking nightmare. You’re absolutely right that the service tends to be good there, even vs. a mid range place like the Eaton Centre where I think the staff are just burned out.
Although I am also not a high end shopper, I love the people watching and the grandeur of the stores. Places like Laduree (the macaron store) and Cheesecake Factory are also fun to check out on a one-time basis.
Overall I just find it way more fun than the Eaton Centre (basically our local mall) which I can only stand for about 2-3 hours max.

Helena

Carla, yes, I thought the beige was a canary in the coalmine for the 90s influence coming into fashion - I forgot to mention there was plenty of gray too - light gray mainly, as well as some darker/charcoal gray. I'll have to go in the summer and see how the palette changes with the weather!

Bijou, it's over the top!

Jules, the Eaton Centre stresses me out haha - it's always so busy! I used to work in the Yonge-Dundas office tower connected to it, so it was an old stomping ground for me too

Anonymous

I've only been a few times, as it's not a quick in-and-out destination , as you metioned. I love people watching and window shopping in places like this, but I don't have the interest or energy to go into every store I'd like to. There is just too much of everything at Yorkdale - its the Disneyland of shopping malls. Holts is probably my favourite store there.

BlueJay

Thanks torontogirl for the review! My fantasy is to rollerblade through Yorkdale because the corridors are so wide and spacious! I sometimes feel intimidated by the high-end stores or people at the malls (i.e. Sherway Gardens and Bayview Village), but Yorkdale seems not snotty, as you mentioned. It's a good place to catch a movie on a Friday afternoon. Sometimes I joke that the reason Yorkdale does well is because people are fed up with the traffic and head to the mall. haha.

BlueJay, yes! I've found Sherway ok, but I HATE Bayview Village, truly - I used to work there (my first job in high school) and the customers were atrocious. My parents would have smacked me if I behaved the way some of those grown adults behave!

Roxanna

@Torontogirl I completely agree with you. I find Yorkdale a bit overwhelming and the stores are a bit above my budget (unless on drastic sale )

Fun to look around a few times a year, though. And hooray for a heated underground garage!

Sal

I enjoyed reading this - it does sound like a fun place to visit!!

Style Fan

Thanks for the review. Maybe I can convince (beg) Mr SF to stop in at Yorkdale on our way home from Florida. I like to go there about once a year to look around but I do find it exhausting. His son lives in a trendy area in downtown T.O. called Trinity Bells (something like that) so I usually shop around there.

Funny story about our parking experience at Yorkdale. We were trying to park and there was a car in front and cars behind. We were stopped and had nowhere to go. The car behind us pushed us lightly! No damage but really where did they think we were going to go?

Stylefan, oh for heaven's sake!! People can be so rude!!! I was glad DH was driving ... If it was me it would have been either valet parking or the subway!!

Category