Eaton's, which was once Canada's largest department store chain,
partnered with development companies throughout the 1970s and
1980s to develop downtown shopping malls in cities across
Canada. Each mall contained an Eaton's store, or was in close
proximity to an Eaton's store, and typically the mall itself
carried the "Eaton Centre" name. These joint-ventures
represented a significant retail development trend in Canada
during that period. With the demise of the Eaton's chain in
1999, and the retiring of the Eaton's name as a retail banner in
2002, some of these malls have been renamed, although three of
the larger ones continue to carry the Eaton name. Some malls in
smaller urban areas, which were typically the least successful
of all the Eaton Centre developments, have been demolished or
converted to other, non-retail uses. Before the Eaton Centres
Prior to the building of these large shopping malls, Eatons,
like other departments stores in Canada and around the world,
built stand-alone buildings that would