Let's celebrate 50 years of history together

An integral part of your daily life for 50 years, we are proud to celebrate this incredible milestone of five decades of existence and dedicated service to our loyal and valued customers.

From its modest beginnings in 1974, the Rivière-du-Loup Shopping Center has prospered and evolved, becoming an iconic place where families gather, friends meet, and memories are made. Over the years, we have witnessed many transformations, the evolution of fashion trends, retail and the advent of new technologies, but our commitment to customer satisfaction has remained constant.

The project for a shopping center in Rivière-du-Loup came about in 1973, thanks to the initiative of Mr. Claude Paradis, Mr. Hubert Bédard and Judge Bertrand Laforest. After a year of construction work, the largest shopping center in eastern Quebec officially opened its doors. Located in what was then a field to the west of the city, the Rivière-du-Loup shopping center offered the population a mall with a few shops and a grocery store, covering a total area of 110,000 square feet.

•    In 1976, the Lasalle department store moved in and increased the Center’s surface area by 45,000 square feet. In 1979, the 3-storey office building was constructed.pre;”>    In 1980, the real estate firm Burnac acquired the Center and in 1981, the expansion of nearly 175,000 square feet of the mall allowed for the addition of Zellers and The Bay stores, which gave this regional center breadth and depth. The Coop grocery store, which had been there since the beginning, also took the opportunity to expand, increasing its surface area by 3,000 square feet.

•    In 1990, SITQ, the real estate arm of the Caisse de dépôt et placements du Québec, became the owner of the shopping center and proceeded to carry out major renovations to the interior and a refresh of the exterior of the building.

•    In October 1994, La Cage aux Sports moved into the shopping center.

•    In 1995, the development of the first energy saving system enabled the shopping center to get involved in environmental issues by installing a state-of-the-art air conditioning, heating, lighting and load shedding system.

•    In 2002, the closure of La Baie led to the creation of a new mall offering 45,000 square feet of rental space for an investment of 2.8 million. At that time, several retailers decided to relocate to this mall, which encouraged the opening of new shops in the central aisle.

•    In 2003, the Caisse de dépôt et de placement du Québec decided to review the orientations of its two real estate entities. From that moment on, Ivanhoe Cambridge became the owner of the Center, considering that this division would be the one to concentrate its activities at the commercial level. In November 2004, Tim Horton’s opened its doors on the front lot of the Center.

•    In 2007, a new visual identity was created to provide a more up-to-date and representative image of what the Center has become over the years. Also in 2007, the departure of the Caisse Desjardins led to the redevelopment of 8,500 square feet at the mall level into eight rental spaces.

•    The year 2010 marks the departure of Coop Métro and the start of work on the Super C, which will open its doors the following year.

•    In 2013, another major change shook up the Canadian retail industry, with the bankruptcy of Zellers, which closed its doors on March 30.

•    In 2014, the shopping center celebrated its 40th anniversary and in August of the same year became the property of Cominar REIT in a real estate transaction involving 11 shopping centers from Ivanhoé Cambridge.

•    In December 2015, Maison en gros, a banner of the Hart company, set up shop on the front lot of the shopping center before moving inside the shopping center in 2022.

•    In 2016, the space vacated by Zellers will become the new 47,000 sq. ft. Super C, after 20 weeks of work and an investment of $6 million. In 2017, Giant Tiger will set up shop in Rivière-du-Loup in the former Super C premises. 

•    The year 2019 marks the arrival of RD Furniture and the Bon Voyage restaurant. The latter, initially located in the building that had previously housed Boston Pizza and Le Shaker, moved to the shopping center in 2023.

•    In 2020 Sports Experts is expanding, leading to the relocation and expansion of Ardène and the Librairie du Portage.

•    It was in 2022 that the Groupe Mach acquired the shopping center in a historic transaction, during which the developer welcomed 9 of Cominar’s 18 shopping centers into its portfolio.

•    Since 2022, the shopping center has welcomed new shops and branches such as Rieker, Easy financière, Mondou and Bijouterie Rêve.

On this special occasion, we would like to thank each and every one of our valued customers, tenants, business partners and community members for their unwavering support over the years. It is thanks to your loyalty and trust that we have been able to reach this remarkable milestone.

To celebrate its fiftieth anniversary, the Rivière-du-Loup Shopping Center has a series of new features, exclusive promotions and festive activities in store for you throughout the year. Stay tuned to our announcements so you don’t miss a thing during this year of festivities. On behalf of the entire Rivière-du-Loup Shopping Center team, we invite you to join us in marking this important milestone in our history. Together, let’s continue to write the exciting chapters that await us in the next fifty years and beyond.