Lawrence Allen Centre

The Lawrence Allen Centre is an enclosed shopping mall and office complex in the North York neighbourhood of Toronto, Ontario. The mall features over 80 stores and services. The current anchors are Canadian Tire, PetSmart, HomeSense, Fortino's, Structube, Marshalls, Toys "R" Us, and Value Village. The Lawrence Allen Centre is overshadowed by Yorkdale Shopping Centre, a super-regional mall only a kilometer away. However, both malls coexist together. 
==History==
Lawrence Square Shopping Centre opened in 1989 with the anchors of Canadian Tire, Fortino's and Zellers. The first two levels were built as a retail section, and the top two levels were built for office space. A food court was opened on the second level. Even though the mall had competition with Yorkdale, Lawrence Square remained competitive as a lower scale shopping centre. 
In the 1990s, Lawrence Square was acquired by RioCan REIT, who continue to own the property today. 
On March 14th, 2013, Zellers permanently closed their Lawrence Square location after they were sold off to Target. This location wasn't converted to Target and sat vacant for several years. 
In 2016, the former Zellers space was converted into a new mall entrance, more mall space, and several store spaces. The first tenants to open in the former Zellers were Marshalls, HomeSense, and PetSmart. A Structube would also later open in 2018 as well. 
In 2019, a major renovation was done to the Lawrence Square. This was the first renovation of the property since its 1989 opening date. With the renovations, the malls name was changed to Lawrence Allen Centre. 
In October of 2023, a new Toys "R" Us store opened in the mall as part of the expansion of new Canadian Toys "R" Us stores. 
On August 8th, 2024, a new Value Village store held its grand opening ceremony. 
Today, the Lawrence Allen Centre continues to be a popular mall and employment centre in the neighbourhood. 
== Gallery ==
File:Lawrence Allen Centre old 2.jpg|Canadian Tire before 2019 renovations
File:Lawrence Allen Centre old.jpg|Former Zellers location
File:Lawrence Allen Centre inside old.jpg|Lawrence Allen Centres interior before 2019 renovations
File:Lawrence Allen centre 1.jpg|Lawrence Allen Centre in 2022
== See also ==
* Yorkdale Shopping Centre
Category:Shopping Malls
Category:Malls in Canada
Category:Malls in Ontario
Category:RioCan REIT-owned properties
Category:Malls that opened in 1989
Category:Enclosed Malls
Category:Multi-Level Malls
Category:Malls with Multi-Level Stores
Category:Former Zellers-anchored Malls
Category:Fortino's anchored-malls
Category:Canadian Tire-anchored Malls
Category:Toys "R" Us-anchored Malls
Category:Dollarama Locations
Category:Former Payless Shoe Source Locations
Category:North America