The new fashion store brings several familiar brands together and restores activity to the mall’s former department-store anchor.
By Staff Writer
One of Hillcrest Mall’s largest and most recognizable retail spaces is active again, with Urban Behavior officially opening inside the former Hudson’s Bay location.
The new store occupies the space left vacant after Hudson’s Bay closed its Canadian locations on June 1, 2025. The Hillcrest store had initially been among six locations temporarily excluded from the company’s first round of liquidation, but it ultimately closed along with the rest of the chain.
Urban Behavior’s official store listing now identifies Hillcrest Mall at 9350 Yonge Street as one of its Richmond Hill locations.
Rather than operating as a traditional department store, the new location focuses primarily on affordable and trend-driven clothing. It combines several related fashion banners under one roof, including Suzy Shier, Bluenotes, West 49, Aeropostale and Forever 21. The retailer described the location as a new shopping concept bringing its different brands together in one space.
The opening is a significant change for the south end of Hillcrest. Hudson’s Bay had served as a major anchor at the mall for decades, offering clothing, cosmetics, furniture, housewares and other products. Its closure left behind a large darkened storefront and raised questions about how Hillcrest would reuse a space originally designed for a full department store.
Urban Behavior does not reproduce the broad range of departments once offered by the Bay. However, it puts the prominent location back into daily use, brings shoppers into that part of the mall and offers a new home for several brands that have disappeared from, or reduced their presence in, traditional Canadian malls.
The store’s arrival also reflects a wider shift in the retail industry. As department stores retreat, mall owners are increasingly turning to large-format retailers, collections of related brands and other new concepts to fill spaces once occupied by a single anchor tenant.
For Hillcrest shoppers, however, the immediate change is much simpler: after approximately a year sitting largely vacant, the former Bay space has reopened its doors.
Excerpt: Urban Behavior has officially opened in the former Hudson’s Bay space at Hillcrest Mall, bringing several familiar fashion brands together and restoring activity to one of the mall’s most prominent locations.