There's been a lot of excitement in the area since Tuesday's announcement Winners is coming to Winkler's Southland Mall.
Wes Harder, realtor and broker with The Property Brokers, says feedback since the news broke has been overwhelming.
"People are excited," he said. "I think the citizens of Winkler and the Pembina Valley have been very patient for years, and waiting for something to happen at the Southland Mall. A lot of people have just shared about fond memories, those that have grown up here and saying, 'I remember going there as a kid and spending time at the mall'. Over the years it's kind of emptied out, but we're excited there is an opportunity here for some revitalization."
The Property Brokers are the leasing agents for the ownership group of the Southland Mall.
Numerous changes will begin early next year as a portion of the exterior and interior of the mall, beside Shopper's Drug Mart, is demolished and reconstructed to include a separate entrance for the store.
"Now, people are going to have to be somewhat patient," added Harder. "There's going to be quite a bit of work to do. We're going to have to ask people to be fairly patient for Winners to officially be set up and ready to serve their customers and to be open."
That, added Harder, won't happen until 2025.
With blueprints posted to The Property Brokers' website, these are just a few of the improvements being made to the mall in anticipation for the arrival of more new tenants.
"We know we have some work to do," said Harder. "There's space available in the mall and so, our job is to go out there and fill those spaces and bring in new tenants. (It) could be new businesses in the community. Maybe it's existing businesses that are looking to expand or relocate. We're excited about it, but we know we've got some work to."
Harder is excited for the opportunity to revitalize the building.
"There's already been a number of conversations we've been having with other tenants. Even previous to this (announcement), we were in several talks with potential tenants who are looking to expand into the mall, and some of them reached out to us since the recent announcement about Winners and said, 'For us, this is exciting'. We know this will drive traffic to the mall, and that's something that they're excited about."
~With files from Pam Fedack~
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