Since January, work has been working to combine three vacant premises near H&M store in the capital’s H&M store. The purpose of this project is to welcome the largest uniqlo store in the region, the opening of which is scheduled for October.
This is the second breakthrough of the minimalist clothing retailer for men, women and children in Quebec. First scheduled for spring, the store’s opening in Place Ste-Foy is planned for the end of August, according to a publication of the Purchase Center on Facebook.
If the banner is an added value for the shopping center located on Laurier boulevard, it is also for the galleries.
The name of UNIQLO was among the most requested by its visitors, said the director general, Marie-Christine Paré, on the phone with the phone with the phone with The sun.
“In the polls in recent years, Uniqlo often returned. The people who traveled outside knew the brand. We are very happy to welcome them very soon in our places, ”adds the one who took the reins of the capital’s galleries in January.
To date, UNIQLO has five stores and three to come on Quebec soil. More than 2,500 shops are already located in Asia, Europe and North America.
The arrival of this banner, she says, again confirms the attractiveness of the capital galleries to major players in the detail industry.
At the same time, Winners seized almost all of the old gourmet galleries, in the east wing. This 36,000 square feet store will ring its cash register for the first time in the winter of 2026.
Another novelty: the Quebec company Beiko is preparing to serve donuts from October on the second floor of the central courtyard.
Over 172,000 unoccupied square feet
Although these banners will soon cut the ribbon, spaces have been deserted in the last months. The end of the MADAME restaurant after five years of activity as well as the recent bankruptcy of the Canadian chain The Hudson bay helped increase the number of unoccupied square feet.
The Director General is convinced that these spaces will find takers. “There is a craze towards the galleries of the capital. The center is dynamic, we always have something new. Traffic is good, ”she said, encrypting the increase in traffic since the start of the year at 3 %.
The 9000 square feet of the old restaurant imagined by Restos Plaisirs already have prospects.
“We want to find a restaurant. We think that the vocation of a restaurant [autant pour notre clientèle qui va au Méga Parc que pour celle qui magasine] is a beautiful destination to stop, take the time to sit down and have a good meal, ”she explains.
As for the closure of the last La Baie de la Région store, Ms. Paré sees opportunities. “It is an area that is important, yes. But it allows us to imagine different projects, ”she says, about the 163,000 square feet separated on two levels.
“We have no concern that we will fill these spaces. It just takes a little time. ”
— Marie-Christine Paré, Director General of the Galeries of the Capital
“You can think that a great player can take an entire level. The second level, perhaps that we could enlarge the email and offer different shops for customers, ”she says, stressing that the strategy is still in evaluation.
A renewal signed Primaris
In October 2024, the capital’s galleries changed hands. Hot for over 10 years by Oxford, they have been bought by Primaris.
This change of guard opens up new possibilities, while the buyer already has a portfolio of 27 shopping centers across Canada.
“He becomes a lessor who is very important. Often, retailers or brokers will say that they make a call and that they are able to enter several centers with an intermediary. It’s very competitive, ”says Ms. Paré.
Currently, several conversations are underway with different banners in order to develop concepts “unpublished, new and exclusive”. We will hear about it in the coming months, she promises.
Although one of the priorities remains to fill the vacant premises, Primaris has always in the viewfinder to develop the Galeries de la Capitale site like the work carried out by Trudel on Flower de Lys. “The residential is one of the options,” she admits, in an interview.
A mandate is also registered at the Lobby Quebec crossroads, indicating the desire “to integrate, in the short term, new commercial and residential uses for the shopping center”.
Obtaining the required municipal permits is at the heart of the approach with the deputy of Vanier-les Rivières, Mario Asselin, can be read there.
“It is a site that is very large. There are a lot of opportunities. We are at the corner of two highways, “said the DG, stressing that Lebourgneuf is” in effervescence “.