Cadillac Fairview Relies On Its Eateries To Boost Profitability

Aug 13,2025 Leave a comment By The Lilly Commercial Team

Tasty food offerings cited as landlord dominates list of Canada’s top money-making shopping malls

Mall food needs to be good, Lillian Tummonds says. She adds that successful menus are a central ingredient to Cadillac Fairview’s success in dominating an annual survey of Canada’s most profitable shopping centres.

The mall owner’s senior vice president of retail cites good restaurants as one of the main reasons Cadillac Fairview owns 13 of Canada’s 25 most profitable shopping centres.

“We focus on food and beverage and feel that it is part of the offering of what our shoppers are looking for,” Tummonds, at Cadillac Fairview, said in an interview. She also praised the newly arrived Auric King Chinese restaurant and its “lovely dim sum” that recently opened in the Toronto-area CF Markville Mall.

Culinary appeal is only part of Cadillac Fairview’s recipe to get shoppers spending money in the malls that dominated this year’s ICSC Canadian Property Performance Data.

Cadillac Fairview, the real estate arm of the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan, keeps a finger on the pulse of its shoppers, as evidenced by the popularity of its Toronto’s Eaton Centre, as well as Pacific Centre and Richmond Centre, both in the Vancouver area and the CF Chinook Centre in Calgary, malls that filled out spots two to five in Canada’s profitability rankings.

The four CF malls trailed only Oxford Properties’ Yorkdale Shopping Centre in Toronto, ranked Canada’s most profitable retail centre with average sales of $2,300 per square foot.

Listening to customers

The secret to CF’s mall success lies in “keeping up and listening to our customers to ensure that the malls that we operate offer what they are looking for,” says Tummonds. The company conducts focus groups and looks for “trends in the marketplace and seeing what retailers are resonating (with shoppers).”

Tummonds notes that different shoppers seek different experiences. Some dutifully come to check items off a shopping list, while others “want a complete experience, grab a meal, see a movie, have an afternoon experience that includes food and beverages. For me, I might go in with my list and on other days, depending on who I’m going with, it might be for an afternoon bite and a coffee.”

Cadillac Fairview is among the mall owners aiming to add residential units to many of its shopping centres, including the Carrefour Laval, where CF bought out its 50% partner last year for $553 million, as reported by CoStar News. Tummonds says that the retail and residential mixes have one thing in common: “building a community.”

CF is also attempting to tackle the vacancies left by the bankruptcy of the Hudson’s Bay chain, after the venerable department store went bust. “I was born and raised in Canada, and we had all hoped for a different outcome,” said Tummonds, who notes that CF’s plans for the vacant retail outlets remain to be determined. “It’s too early to tell, but we have constantly evolved our retail experience to ensure the long-term success of our shopping centres. These boxes, locations, are not different.”

The departure of Hudson’s Bay is not without precedent. Tummonds notes that the Seattle-based Nordstrom retail chain also left a large retail space vacant at Eaton Centre in Toronto in June 2023. Cadillac Fairview recently found a way to fill the space. “We are welcoming Simons and Nike intoour (former) Nordstrom box. We have done it before and have been successful at recreating a vibrant retail mix, and we are looking at (similar) opportunities in these locations,” she said.

Source CoStar. Click here for the full story.

Comments are closed

FOR SALE – Retail Space – Toronto

Address: 270 Spadina Ave 3, Toronto Available area: 1,315 Sq Ft Price: $1,450,000 Rare opportunity t ...

FOR LEASE – Office/Medical Space – Toronto

🏢 1200 Lawrence Ave E, Toronto Space: Use: Total Area: Asking Price: 300 Office/Medical 1 ...

FOR SALE – Café Business – Two Prime Locations – Toronto

Business Highlights (Combined for 2 locations): Asking Price: $250,000 Approx. NOI: $168,000 YoY gro ...

FOR LEASE – Retail/Office Space – Mississauga

CLICK HERE FOR THE BROCHURE Click Here For Zoning Map 🏢 4550 Hurontario Street Mississauga, ON � ...

FOR SUBLEASE – Office Space – Broadview Ave, Toronto

🏢 100 Broadview Avenue, 400, Toronto, ON 💰 Asking Price: $39.50 Gross Lease 📐 Total Ar ...

FOR LEASE – Office Space – Scarborough, ON

🏢 2190 Warden Ave, 212a, Toronto, ON 💰 Asking Price: $18 Sq Ft Net 💲Taxes: ...

FOR SALE – Commercial Building – Smith Falls, ON

🏢 28 Beckwith St N, Smith Falls, ON 💰 Asking Price: $499,000 💲Taxes: ...

FOR SALE – Industrial And/Or Office Building – Etobicoke, ON

🏢 41 Chauncey Ave, Toronto (Etobicoke) 💰 Asking Price: $4,000,000 📐 Building S ...

FOR SALE – Business With Property – Georgina, ON

Address: 10246 Old Shiloh Rd, Georgina, ON L0E 1N0 Total Area: 20.54 Acres Asking Price: Contact Lis ...

Locations

RE/MAX Hallmark Realty Ltd., Brokerage
685 Sheppard Avenue East Suite 401, Toronto

Toronto

Riverdale Office

RE/MAX Hallmark Realty Ltd.

630 Danforth Ave
Toronto, ON M4K 1R3

Office: (416) 462-1888
Fax: (416) 462-3135

Cadillac Fairview Relies On Its Eateries To Boost Profitability

Listening to customers

Featured Properties

Pages