Ottawa Mall to Fill Former Nordstrom Space with Three Home Retailers
Cadillac Fairview announced that Williams Sonoma, Pottery Barn, and West Elm will open together at CF Rideau Centre in spring 2027, marking their first Ottawa locations. The three brands will occupy part of the 157,000-square-foot, two-level store that Nordstrom vacated in 2023. This completes replacement tenants for all six former Nordstrom full-line stores in Canada.
The three home furnishing retailers will share the third-floor portion of the former department store, a space of roughly 78,870 square feet according to a May leasing plan. City building permits from December show preparatory construction work for these tenants, along with Dollarama and storage space on that level. CBRE, which handles Williams-Sonoma's Canadian real estate needs, has flagged the Rideau Centre transaction as a flagship deal.
This announcement completes the replacement of all six former Nordstrom full-line locations across Canada. Other properties have taken varied approaches, with Toronto's Eaton Centre box divided among Simons, Eataly, and Nike, while Vancouver's space went partly to Simons and Aritzia. The Ottawa store originally opened in 2015 following a $360 million mall redevelopment by Cadillac Fairview.
This deal could bring new retail employment and expanded home-goods options to downtown Ottawa shoppers who previously had no local access to these brands. The repurposing of large department store footprints into multi-tenant configurations may signal how landlords are adapting to shifting retail preferences, potentially influencing how other struggling mall anchors are redeveloped. Local businesses may face increased competition, while the mall's draw as a regional destination could strengthen, affecting foot traffic patterns and nearby commercial activity.