Brampton Mall is a shopping mall in Brampton, Ontario, Canada. Typical of early North American malls, the Brampton Mall is an outdoor plaza with two rows of stores, connected by a "covered breezeway".History of the mallInitially, Brampton Mall planned to stay open Mondays, against Brampton's closing hours by-law, announcing their intentions the morning of November 15, 1960. Also that day, the retail merchants committee of the Brampton Chamber of Commerce met November 15 with Brampton Shopping Centre officials regarding the "delicate subject" of business hours for retail in town. Officials from the mall wanted to arrange a meeting of all merchants after Christmas, both in the downtown and in the mall, to determine store shopping hours. Patrick McQuade, the mall's director of operations, later told the press that they indeed would observe Monday and evening closing hours, stating "We feel by-law amendments might be studied toward the end of the year."The 34 store plaza was anchored by Steinberg's, who simultaneously opened stores at Newtonbrook Plaza, Yonge Street and Cummer Avenue, and Cedarbrae Plaza, at Lawrence Avenue and Markham Road, adding to two previous GTA locations. (By 1962, the store was simply "Steinberg", singular.)Five stores were gutted in a fire in 1963; being a Monday, the mall was closed at the time, and no one injured. The fire caused damage to eleven other units in the mall, a variety of stores and offices. Starting in a drapery and fabric store, it spread to a photography studio, brides' shop, cleaners, and a dress and fur store. It caused $250,000 in damages. Firefighters had the flames under control within an hour, fighting "to the accompaniment of hi-fi music over the mall loudspeakers." Half of the 26-lanes in the mall's bowling alley were water damaged. The Toronto Star suggested the centre of the mall was "turned... into a miniature lake," which "dozens of children romped on bicycles through the water."
