Intercity Shopping Centre

Intercity Shopping Centre is an enclosed shopping mall in Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada. It occupies a central position in Thunder Bay’s Intercity neighbourhood, bounded by the Harbour Expressway, Fort William Road, Isabel Street, and Memorial Avenue. With approximately 456,430 square feet, or 42,404 square metres, of retail space, it is described as the largest shopping centre of its kind in Northwestern Ontario and is the dominant conventional mall in the Thunder Bay market. The site began operating in 1982 as a strip mall. During the 1990s, the original development was substantially redesigned: the strip-mall format was demolished and replaced with a more modern enclosed shopping-centre configuration. Since that redevelopment, the property has experienced repeated anchor-store changes reflecting broader shifts in Canadian retail, including the departures of Zellers, Target, Lowe’s, Sears Canada, and HomeSense. Sport Chek is identified as the only original anchor still operating at the centre, although plans described in the available reference material call for it to relocate within the mall in 2026. The centre combines national chain retailers, specialty stores, personal-service businesses, food outlets, and offices. Its tenant mix includes apparel, sporting goods, discount retail, cosmetics and beauty services, electronics, food service, and other everyday shopping categories. Major anchor or large-format tenants described in the available material include Dollarama, Urban Planet, Fit4Less, Sport Chek, and Marshalls. The former Sears space has not been fully reoccupied, with Marshalls using only part of the former store footprint and portions of the upper level and northern area remaining unused. Intercity’s main entrance on Fort William Road leads toward the food court. Food-service tenants mentioned in reference material include A&W, Manchu Wok, Subway, Sam’s Kitchen, Tim Hortons, and New York Fries. Rocky Mountain Chocolates is located elsewhere in the mall, while Freshly Squeezed has moved from the centre of the food court to a larger position within the mall. The food court also operates a recycling and composting arrangement in which customers take used dishes and waste to a central sorting station rather than disposing of everything in conventional garbage bins. The property is connected to local public transportation through a two-platform Thunder Bay Transit hub near the main entrance. Routes identified as serving the centre when it is open include 1, 3M, 8, 12, and 15. In addition to retail areas, the building contains an Office Galleria on a second floor at the north side, providing space for offices and services. In the 2020s, the unused former Lowe’s space became the subject of a possible adaptive-reuse proposal by Thunder Bay Public Library. The proposed central library would have consolidated or complemented the city’s existing core libraries, but the available material states that city council rejected a revised proposal in April 2025. The former anchor area was instead planned for subdivision among retail and fitness tenants, with Dollarama moving within the space, Sport Chek expected to relocate there in 2026, and Fit4Less occupying another portion. These changes illustrate the centre’s continuing role as a flexible retail and community-services property rather than a static collection of stores.

Intercity Shopping Centre developed from an earlier strip-mall project opened in 1982 in Thunder Bay, Ontario. The original site was among the first shopping-mall-style developments in the city and served a market extending beyond Thunder Bay into Northwestern Ontario. Its position in the Intercity neighbourhood, near major roads and transit routes, gave it a strategic role in the city’s retail structure. The site was comprehensively redesigned during the 1990s. Rather than preserving the original strip-mall arrangement, the development was demolished and replaced with a more modern enclosed mall. This transformation established the physical format that continues to define Intercity Shopping Centre. The redeveloped centre brought together a broad tenant mix, a food court, major department and specialty anchors, and internal mall circulation. It also retained large-format spaces capable of accommodating national retailers. For many years, the mall’s anchor composition included Zellers at the southern end, Sears at the north end, Sport Chek on the west side, and HomeSense in a southwest position. The anchor portfolio subsequently changed as Canadian retail chains entered, exited, or restructured their operations. Zellers closed in January 2013, and the space was converted for Target, which opened on July 16 of that year. Target’s Canadian operation later closed, and the Intercity store shut on April 1, 2015. Lowe’s then renovated and occupied the former Target area from August 2016, including a garden centre and an entrance arrangement serving the Memorial Avenue and Isabel Street side of the property. The mall also lost two other significant tenants. HomeSense moved to Thunder Centre, across Fort William Road, on March 20, 2018; Urban Planet later used the vacated space. Sears Canada closed its Intercity store in 2018. Marshalls subsequently moved into part of the former two-storey Sears unit, but did not fill the entire former department-store footprint. The upper level and some of the northernmost area remained unused, demonstrating the difficulty of replacing very large traditional department-store anchors. Lowe’s closed its Thunder Bay operation in 2020. The former southern anchor remained vacant for a period, although the space continued to be considered for possible redevelopment. Dollarama later opened in the eastern portion in 2022. The available reference material describes further plans for the area in 2025: the former anchor was to be divided into three spaces, with Dollarama moving to a central position, Sport Chek eventually relocating from its long-standing west-side unit, and Fit4Less occupying the portion nearest Memorial Avenue. The stated objective was to restore full occupation of the former anchor area by 2026. The former Lowe’s unit was also considered for community use. Thunder Bay Public Library explored converting some of the space into a central library that could consolidate or reorganize services currently associated with libraries in the former Port Arthur and Fort William cores. Although the proposal received zoning approval, the first version did not proceed in 2024. A modified proposal was presented in 2025, but city council voted against it in April of that year. The library instead expanded the Brodie, Waverley, and County Fair branches. Today, Intercity Shopping Centre remains an active regional mall with approximately 456,430 square feet of retail area. Its current described anchor mix includes Dollarama, Urban Planet, Fit4Less, Sport Chek, and Marshalls, alongside dozens of smaller retailers and service businesses. The centre also contains an Office Galleria on its second floor, a food court, and a Thunder Bay Transit hub near the main entrance. Its history reflects the evolution of Canadian suburban and regional retail: initial strip-mall development, enclosed-mall redevelopment, department-store turnover, adaptation to new retail formats, and consideration of non-retail uses for surplus anchor space.

• 2025

  Library proposal is rejected and anchor-space plans change

  [1]Intercity Shopping Centreen.wikipedia.org

  Thunder Bay council rejects a revised central-library proposal in April, while plans are described for subdividing the former Lowe’s area among retail and fitness tenants.

• 2022

  Dollarama opens in the former Lowe’s area

  [1]Intercity Shopping Centreen.wikipedia.org

  Dollarama occupies the eastern portion of the former Lowe’s anchor space.

• 2020

  Lowe’s closes

  [1]Intercity Shopping Centreen.wikipedia.org

  The Lowe’s Thunder Bay location shuts, leaving the southern anchor space vacant.

• 2018

  HomeSense relocates and Sears closes

  [1]Intercity Shopping Centreen.wikipedia.org

  HomeSense moves to Thunder Centre, while the Sears Canada store closes later in the year.

• 2016

  Lowe’s opens in the former Target space

  [1]Intercity Shopping Centreen.wikipedia.org

  Lowe’s completes renovations and becomes a southern anchor in August.

• 2015

  Target closes

  [1]Intercity Shopping Centreen.wikipedia.org

  The Canadian Target location closes on April 1.

• 2013

  Zellers closes and Target takes over the anchor

  [1]Intercity Shopping Centreen.wikipedia.org

  Zellers closes in January, and Target opens in the redeveloped space on July 16.

• 1990

  Site is redeveloped as an enclosed shopping centre

  [1]Intercity Shopping Centreen.wikipedia.org

  During the 1990s, the original strip mall is demolished and replaced with a modern enclosed mall.

• 1982

  Original strip-mall development opens

  [1]Intercity Shopping Centreen.wikipedia.org

  Intercity begins operating as a strip mall in Thunder Bay, Ontario.

A regional enclosed shopping centre positioned as Thunder Bay’s principal conventional mall and a major retail destination for Northwestern Ontario.

• Shopping centre retail · 1982

  Retail tenant mix

  Intercity Shopping Centre hosts dozens of retailers spanning clothing, footwear, sporting goods, discount merchandise, electronics, home-related goods, and specialty shopping. The centre’s principal large-format tenants described in the available material include Dollarama, Urban Planet, Fit4Less, Sport Chek, and Marshalls. The mix has changed repeatedly as national chains have entered, relocated, or closed.

• Food service

  Food court

  The food court is located near the Fort William Road main entrance and provides quick-service dining for mall visitors. Outlets identified in the reference material include A&W, Manchu Wok, Subway, Sam’s Kitchen, Tim Hortons, and New York Fries. Rocky Mountain Chocolates operates elsewhere in the mall, and Freshly Squeezed has moved to a larger internal location.

• Office and services

  Office Galleria

  The Office Galleria is a second-floor area on the north side of the mall. It accommodates offices and service-oriented occupants, extending the property’s use beyond conventional retail and food service.

• Transportation access

  Thunder Bay Transit hub

  A two-platform Thunder Bay Transit hub is located near the main entrance. Routes identified as serving the mall when it is open include 1, 3M, 8, 12, and 15, providing public-transport access for shoppers, employees, and visitors.

• 2025

  Reconfigure the former Lowe’s anchor areaStrategy

  Background

  The southern anchor area remained only partly occupied after Lowe’s closed in 2020 and Dollarama opened in part of the space in 2022.

  Action taken

  Plans described for 2025 called for dividing the space into three anchor units, relocating Dollarama to the middle, moving Sport Chek into Dollarama’s former area in 2026, and placing Fit4Less in the western portion.

  Aftermath

  The proposed arrangement would fully occupy the former anchor area for the first time since 2020, subject to the stated relocation schedule.

  Source

• 2025

  Reject proposed central-library conversionStrategy

  Background

  Thunder Bay Public Library considered acquiring part of the former Lowe’s space for a central facility that would reorganize services from the city’s existing core libraries.

  Action taken

  After an initial proposal did not proceed in 2024, a modified proposal was brought forward and rejected by city council in April 2025.

  Aftermath

  The library instead expanded the Brodie, Waverley, and County Fair branches.

  Source

• 2016

  Convert the former Target unit to Lowe’sProduct launch

  Background

  The closure of Target left the southern anchor space available for a new large-format tenant.

  Action taken

  Lowe’s renovated the unit and opened there in August 2016, including a garden centre.

  Aftermath

  Lowe’s later closed its Thunder Bay location in 2020.

  Source

• 2013

  Replace the Zellers anchor with TargetGeneration change

  Background

  Zellers closed its Intercity location in January 2013, creating a major vacant anchor space.

  Action taken

  The space was renovated and reopened as a Target store on July 16, 2013.

  Aftermath

  Target’s Canadian operation later shut down, and the Intercity store closed on April 1, 2015.

  Source

1. 1Intercity Shopping Centreen.wikipedia.org
2. 2Intercity Shopping Centre official websiteintercityshoppingcentre.com