CLOSURE: Shoppers Drug Mart departs Burlington plaza as condo plans explored

A Shoppers Drug Mart at a neighbourhood Burlington plaza is closing for good as development plans for the area have resurfaced.

The store, located at Lakeside Shopping Village at 5353 Lakeshore Rd., will shut permanently next Wednesday (Nov.29) as customers are redirected to the Shoppers location at 3535 Rebecca St. in Oakville.

A spokesperson for the drug store chain said the move is primarily to relocate into a larger, more modern store.

However, some tenants in the plaza believe the store and others may all be leaving to make way for the eventual housing redevelopment at the site.

Lakeside is an aging plaza with a typical 1960s design, the kind both municipalities and builders look to reinvigorate.

A person who operates another store at the plaza told halton.insauga.com he believes the future isn’t bright for existing tenants and that it is only a matter of time before tall buildings appear.

“They are going to build here, it’s inevitable,” he said. “Of course, they have been saying that for years and nothing has happened. Who knows?”

The City of Burlington has a rezoning request from a development company for the site going back to 2019.

At that time there was a proposal to build several mid-size and high-rise buildings on the site to create 900 residential units as well as commercial and office space.

Plans for this development were put on hold during the pandemic but reports indicate that the developer still intends to pursue the plan.

This Shoppers Drug will soon leave Lakeside Village Shopping Plaza