More than Just a Shopping Center
Whenever I need to get some serious shopping done, I head to CF Masonville Place, also known as Masonville Mall. It’s the only mall that comes to mind when I know that I have a lot of people to buy for or a lot of different kinds of gifts to purchase. There’s a reason why the parking lot is jam-packed full during the Christmas season: people love shopping in this mall. It’s packed full of all of the hippest stores and has managed to pack a wide variety of types of stores inside its walls. Whatever I need, I know I can find inside of Masonville Mall. It has all of your shopping essentials and then some.
But the thing about Masonville Mall is that it’s not just a shopping centre, it’s an entertainment mecca. You can easily spend an entire day being entertained to the max at the mall without even realizing it from being distracted with all of the fun things that there are to do there.
It’s a two story mall with lots of parking and a bus station where a multitude of the LTC buses stop at. It’s located in the Masonville neighbourhood and is absolutely the place to go when it’s too hot to be outside and you want to spend a day being entertained, or shopping until you drop. It’s also the place to go when winter is going strong and keeping you in doors but you’re going stir crazy and the prospect of another night of Netflix is just not looking appealing. It’s also the place to go when fall starts and the prospect of new clothes and distraction are beckoning at you.
Trust me when I say that Masonville Mall is so much more than a shopping centre. It’s a place to be entertained. It’s a place to spend your days. It’s a place to get delicious food. It’s a place that you’re going to want to check out if you have not for a while, because it has been updated and is amazing.
Shops
What I love most about this incredible shopping centre is that they have everything you could possibly want in this place. Some of the biggest and hottest stores can be found here such as H&M, Hot Topic, Zara, Build-A-Bear, Lindt, Sephora, Lush, The Disney Store, HomeSense, and Marshalls.
Dining
The Food Court
Who doesn’t love the variety of food things that you can get at the food court. It’s amazing if your friends and family that you go with have different tastes. I love going and getting different things and then sharing things so that you get to taste a little bit of everything. Of course if you’re looking for something sweet, no mall is complete without a Cinnabon or a Dairy Queen.
The Keg
Who doesn’t like a great steak? And the sides at the Keg are something to write home about. If you want a really delicious meal after a day of amazing shopping and being highly entertained, you don’t even have to leave the Mall. Head over to The Keg and enjoy a truly indulgent meal.
Milestones
Milestones has amazing brunch, so head to the mall on weekends and enjoy a delicious brunch to fuel up for a long day of exploring this amazing shopping centre and being entertained at this entertainment mecca. Of course there is also great lunch and dinner options, but I adore the brunch here so much, I highly recommend it.
Java fuel
If you’re finding your energy waning and you need a little caffeine jolt to wake you up and keep you moving, Masonville has a couple of great options for you. If you have not tried Aroma Espresso Bar, you need to. Their coffee is absolutely divine. And there is always Starbucks for those who love their Caramel Macchiatos.
Rec Room
The Rec Room has amazing food. Three10 has amazing wood fired pizzas, delicious burgers, and amazing entrees. They also have incredible fun food for sharing like wings, dip, calamari, and giant pretzels. If you’re looking for amazingly delicious food while you’re being thoroughly entertained, then you’re going to want to hit Three10.
The Shed is for incredible snack foods to curb the hunger. They have to-die-for poutine and the most mouth-watering gourmet donuts like fireside s’mores and strawberry cheesecake.
Entertainment
One of the best things about Masonville Mall is that it’s not only an incredible shopping centre, it’s also one of the best places to be truly entertained in London Ontario.
Silver City
If you’re looking for a high quality theatre with luxurious leather seats, lots of legroom, and an arcade front, then head over to Cineplex. You can pause your shopping to enjoy watching the latest movies and enjoy the most delicious concession foods while you do. This theatre has giant screens and amazing surround sound.
Rec Room
The Rec Room is truly an experience. You can play nostalgic games like skee ball and bean bag toss. They have fun fair games that are infuriating and fun like trying to get the bottles down with a ball. They have energetic games that get your heart pumping like this one where there is a giant wall of buttons and the buttons will light up randomly, and you whack-a-mole the buttons as they light up as the timer counts down the precious seconds that you have. You can also play this game as a race against another person beside you to see who is faster.
There are also the arcade games that give you “tickets” (although since the Rec Room is very up-to-date with the latest technology the tickets are virtual tickets that are tracked on your wristband) which are both nostalgic and incredibly addicting.
If you’re more of a racer, there are many different kinds of racing games, both car and motorcycle. They come in big line ups so that you can race with your friends. Just, be warned that one of the games takes your photo before the race and if you’re not ready for it then everyone racing during the game can laugh at the unprepared look on your face. The Rec Room also has shooting games, if that is more of your fancy. There is even one shooting game that is in a booth. It is a full sensory game with surround sound, a seat that shakes, it’s even in 3D and even has air that blows out at you when doors burst open and Zombies lung at you.
If you’re dying to experience VR there is a VR section where you and a few friends can go in and wander around with the headsets on, experiencing video games in a way that you’ve never experienced them before. You’ll be right in the action, seeing it first hand as if you’re actually there.
If you’re more into pool, there are beautiful tables to play on. And if you happen to be in a more adventurous mood then you can try your hand at axe throwing, which is a lot harder than it actually looks.
History
This wonderful mall has been with London since 1985 when it was built by the Cadillac Fairview Corporation Limited. Then in 1991 it expanded with 75 new stores added to the building. They also then added an indoor mini golf course. If you ask Londoners who were around back then about the course, you’ll be greeted with bouts of nostalgia.
The golf course had water elements and beautiful sand traps. There were bridges and people loved that it was was much more of a real miniature golf experience than one of those mini putt courses with spirals and loops.
They built a Zellers in the mall in 1994 which was exciting at the time. The Zellers was replaced with Target in 2013, which then closed a few years later and in 2017 Marshalls and HomeSense then filled the empty space.
Development
In 2016 and 2017 CF Masonville Place announced that they would be developing the mall and investing around $106 million into the mall. Their goal was to give their “guests a vibrant destination that offers the best shopping, dining, and entertainment in the region.”
They added in The Rec Room, H&M, Hot Topic, Zara, Disney Store, Freshii, Michael Kors and so many more stores to make the mall the place to be.
Events
Campus Night Throughout the year Masonville Mall hosts Campus Nights for anyone in post secondary education. They offer free shuttles from the University to the Mall and shuttles back at the end of your shopping adventure. They offer amazing discounts at a variety of stores and as long as you bring your student card you can participate. They also have student ambassadors in the mall to give participating students giveaways.
Pop-Ups Look out for random pop-up shops to happen throughout the year to bring you stores that you normally cannot find inside of the mall. These pop up shops usually have great offers for the short time that you can find them in the mall. Keep an eye open on their Facebook page to make sure that you don’t miss our on any of these pop up shops.
Sales Masonville Mall’s events page often highlights big sales that are happening throughout the mall, so it’s a great idea to keep an eye out so that you know when you can go to save big time.