I mentioned this in the Sears thread but I went into Simons in downtown today. Wow! They must have spent a fortune on that store. I'd recommend a visit for anyone that likes architecture and interior design.
I didn't expect much based on what I remember of Simons in Montreal and Edmonton but I'm super impressed by this. The space is really unique and creatively set up to make the most of the compact space. You can see vestiges of the old food court and Lancaster layout hidden in the maze. It's really cool.
I'm still a little disappointed in some of the changes to the historical building which had no protection. The 100 year old marble staircase from the Lancaster building was demolished and the wooden area from the jewelry/professional center that I remember as a childhood is of course gone. Ultimately, this is good for downtown as that corner of TD Square was stagnant for 20 years with nothing but TD bank and a failing mall corridor. The 2nd/3rd levels are bisected by the +15 mall hallway.
I think they may have impacted some of the open air space from the Devonian Gardens as well and of course, they forced the Unicorn to move out of the basement. Now the basement is nothing but bathrooms and customer service.
But this, this reminds me of some of the really cool stores in Europe and Asia where they had to be creative with an old space and really maximize it. The design is really cool and the inside is set up to resemble several independent stores. The interior design and custom art installations (from a lot of local artists) blows away the stale Eatons design of Holt Renfrew and Sears floorplan of Nordstrom.
Simons - New department store in the Core
