OttawaOttawa’s Westgate Shopping Centre opened in 1955. The aging mall is about to close, and some of the people who have enjoyed the community that has formed there over the years say they’ll miss it dearly.’It’s more than just a place to buy things,’ store owner saysCBC News · Posted: Oct 30, 2025 4:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 2 hours agoListen to this articleEstimated 3 minutesBrendon Banville, owner of Superior Photo at Westgate Shopping Centre, says he’s formed ‘a lot of friendships’ at the mall. (Giacomo Panico/CBC)Westgate Shopping Centre isn’t just where Brendon Banville has operated a camera and passport photo store for nearly four decades.The owner of Superior Photo also met his wife at the mall, back when she worked at another tenant called Toy City.”It’s more than just a place to buy things,” Banville said of the 70-year-old Ottawa institution. People would come for a coffee or to sit all morning and talk to shop owners and others, he recalled. “Yeah, it was a great place.”Banville speaks of the mall in the past tense because the Carling Avenue shopping centre’s story is coming to a close.Retail leasing giant RioCan said it will close the shopping centre “at the end of October” as part of a planned site revamp. This picture of a sign advertising some of the mall’s occupants was snapped in 2016. (Trevor Pritchard/CBC)The mall will be demolished except for the section containing Shoppers Drug Mart, which will remain open beyond October and “continue to be part of the long-term vision for the site.”Construction on a new grocery store is expected to begin in the first half of 2026.”We are grateful to all our tenants for their long-standing support and presence at Westgate,” a spokesperson added via email.Mohammed Hannawi, owner of Carducci’s Shoes and Satchels Luggage & Handbags, says he feels bad about the mall’s imminent closure. (Giacomo Panico/CBC)One of those tenants, Mohammed Hannawi, owns two stores across the hall from each other: Carducci’s Shoes and Satchels Luggage & Handbags. He’s been a mall fixture for over 30 years. “Half of my life,” he said, adding that he’s moving Carducci’s to Wellington Street. Linda Wang, owner of Fine European Tailoring, said she’ll work from home. One of her customers recently brought a thank you card to the store. “I [will] miss them all so much,” she said of seeing her patrons in the store. Linda Wang of Fine European Tailoring has been at the mall for almost seven years. (Giacomo Panico/CBC)The Rockin’ Johnny’s Diner franchise that sits at the heart of the mall will close too, though other Ottawa locations will remain open. Angela Nunn has worked as a server there for seven years. She worries about the restaurant’s regulars, especially the seniors whose families are far away. “We have been a comfort for them,” Nunn said. ‘We have good vibes here,’ says Rockin’ Johnny’s Diner server Angela Nunn. (Giacomo Panico/CBC)One of those regulars comes in every Sunday for breakfast, doesn’t have any family close by and even tries to open the door herself, despite being 93 years old, Nunn said. “We call her the Queen.” Pauline Nicholson, a fixture at Rockin’ Johnny’s Diner, is known to staff as ‘the Queen.’ (Giacomo Panico/CBC)That person, Pauline Nicholson, wears her reputation proudly.”I’m the Queen of Westgate,” she said, adding that it’s nice to come to the mall and “meet her people.” “You don’t stay in the house,” she said of her routine. “[You’d] go crazy.” WATCH | A final look at the restaurant in the heart of the mall:Customers say goodbye to Rockin’ Johnny’s in Westgate MallNicholson said she might decamp to Carlingwood Shopping Centre.But “it’s not the same,” she added. “Some [people] will talk to you. Some of them just say hi, you know, and then [a] long face. I don’t like that. That’s one thing I hate.”This ad for a store in the newly opened mall was published in the Ottawa Journal in April 1955. (Ottawa Journal)With files from Giacomo Panico
Patrons and shop owners of 70-year-old Westgate Shopping Centre mourn its closure
