"Foodtainment" is the word Nations Experience uses for what it is building inside the former Hudson's Bay at Oakville Place. It comes from Frank Ho, the company's Vice President of Real Estate Development. He explained the idea to Retail Insider in April: one environment that combines grocery, prepared food, dining and entertainment. In the same interview he said the format is designed around "frequency, dwell time, and a more immersive customer experience rather than conventional retail categories alone."
That sentence also describes the whole mall at the foot of College Park right now. The old Bay is the largest and slowest part of the change. The smaller changes along the corridors and in the food court point the same way, toward a mall you visit to eat, play and stay a while, more than one you visit for a single store.
Two Floors, Two Jobs
Hudson's Bay at Oakville Place closed in June 2025, as Oakville News reported. By early April 2026, Nations Experience had officially taken possession of the two-level space, which measures about 120,000 square feet.
The plan splits the building by floor:
- Lower level, Nations Experience. Grocery and prepared food, with fresh produce, seafood and meat counters, and a large international selection that fits the brand's "Where East Meets West" positioning. The company's own announcement describes more than 60,000 square feet of supermarket, including a food court.
- Upper level, Forever Young. Indoor play areas, arcade games, virtual reality and spaces for events and group visits.
Nations has run this model in the GTA before. Its Nations Experience at Stock Yards Village has combined multicultural grocery, food and entertainment since 2017. Its Forever Young location at Centerpoint Mall in Toronto covers about 55,000 square feet and includes arcade gaming, golf simulators, children's play areas and party rooms. Oakville is the first time the company is filling an entire former department store with both concepts at once. That is why a trade publication covering mall reinvention across Canada singled it out in early October.
Why the Opening Date Keeps Moving
The published timelines have never agreed with each other, and the most recent one still describes a building under construction.
| When it was said | Source | Stated timing |
|---|---|---|
| March 6, 2026 | Canadian Press, via Oakville News | Moving in "by early 2027" |
| March 31, 2026 | Oakville News | "Later this fall 2026" |
| April 2, 2026 | Retail Insider | Broader opening Fall 2026, some entertainment possibly into 2027 |
| October 7, 2026 | Retail Insider | Still described as being redeveloped |
In mid-October, the Nations page on the Oakville Place website still reads "Coming Soon," with Fall 2026 named as the target. Treat it as a target date. The April forecast also allowed for a staggered opening, with grocery first and some of the upstairs entertainment arriving later.
Nations did make one early appearance on the property this year. Ho told Retail Insider that a large garden centre would open in April as an early presence while construction continued indoors. A Nations Experience Oakville ad later promoted a garden centre sale from May 8 to May 14, 2026, open 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. daily, in the Oakville Place parking lot near PetSmart and Dollarama.
The Smaller Units Are Changing First
The new anchor will take time. The smaller units are already turning over. Here is how the Oakville Place directory listed these tenants in mid-October:
| Tenant | What it is | Directory status |
|---|---|---|
| Bourbon St. Grill | Quick-service Cajun and Creole, unit FC3 | Opening Soon |
| Gyutei Japanese Grill | All-you-can-eat Japanese BBQ with halal and gluten-free options, unit 235B | Opening Soon |
| Hearing Solutions | Independent, Canadian-owned hearing-aid provider, unit 210A | Coming Soon |
| Mobile Care | Cellphone repair and accessories, location K005 | Now Open |
| Red Coral Fashion | Canadian women's apparel and accessories | Now Open |
| Urban Customz | Made-to-order personalized T-shirts, wall art and apparel | Now Open |
| Peoples Jewellers | Jewellery, unit 239 | Closed for Renovations, Opening Soon |
Two of the arrivals are restaurants. Gyutei is a sit-down, grill-at-the-table, all-you-can-eat format, which by its nature keeps people in the building longer than a quick errand. That is the "dwell time" Ho described, showing up in a unit that has nothing to do with Nations.
The same idea appears in the smaller tenants. UniClaw, a family-friendly claw-machine arcade, is in the current directory. So is Sara Sakina, an Arabian fragrance boutique carrying Dubai perfumes, attar oils and bakhoor. A personalized-apparel shop, a claw arcade and a grill restaurant are all reasons to spend an afternoon at the mall. None of them is a department store.
One practical update for regulars: Shoe Medic, which repairs shoes and leather goods, has moved to a new spot by Mark's. Another directory entry, Campus 13, is tagged "Opening 2027" with no other details yet.
Who Gets to Decide What Comes Next
The ownership story explains why the changes are coming together now. When Hudson's Bay Company went through creditor protection, its 50 percent stake in Oakville Place went up for sale. Retail Insider reported in September 2025 that RioCan REIT, which already owned the other half and acted as managing partner, had bid roughly $63 million for that stake as a stalking-horse offer. The same report said full control would let RioCan address anchor vacancies and re-tenant the mall. It also said RioCan's strategy favors properties that can be repositioned over time with new retail formats, dining and entertainment, and potentially residential components. That last part is a stated strategy. No application for the site has been made public.
So the food court and the old Bay are moving in the same direction partly because one manager is steering both.
Planning a Visit Between Now and New Year's
The mall's holiday season starts four weeks after this post goes up. Cherry Hill Santa Photos opens in Centre Court on November 20 and runs through December 24, 2026. A $10 discount on the Elite package with code SANTA10 expires November 1 and covers visits on or before December 11, as listed by Oakville Digest.
Posted holiday hours for November and December:
- Monday to Friday, 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.
- Saturday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
- Sunday, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.
- Closed Christmas Day, Friday, December 25, and New Year's Day, Friday, January 1, 2027.
Getting there from the north is easier than it was. Halton Region has finished Phase 1 of the Trafalgar Road Improvements, which runs from Leighland Avenue, the mall's own street, to just north of Hays Boulevard. North of that, Phase 2 Contract 1 between Hays and Dundas Street East continues through November 2026. All traffic is shifted to the west side with two lanes each way, the east-side sidewalk is closed and replaced by a temporary walkway on the west side, and the Trafalgar Road entrance to the Morrison Valley North Trail is closed.
Farther up the same road, Sheridan's Trafalgar Campus holds its Fall Open House on Saturday, November 7, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., with free parking. Expect more traffic on the corridor that morning.
The Bay's old doors should be the next big change at Oakville Place. When they open, the Nations grocery store downstairs and the Forever Young play spaces upstairs will join a roster of smaller tenants that has already started changing.
A neighborhood's main mall turning into a place for food and family outings changes how the surrounding streets are used every day, and that matters when a College Park home goes on the market. If you'd like to know how changes like these could show up in your home's value, Christopher Invidiata Personal Real Estate can prepare a valuation based on what is actually happening on your street. Get My Valuation.
