I guess it really doesn’t matter if you go on a weekend or a weekday when you think most people will be at work. You will encounter a busy mall full of shoppers and be prepared for parking wars. With everyone wanting the close parking spot next to the entrance, it’s very easy to get frustrated. If only people would walk the extra few meters and use one of the hundreds of other parking spots provided… it would make for a much better start to your shopping experience.

If you’ve been to one mall you’ve pretty much been to them all and this was exactly the case at Vaughan Mills, except this one is a bit more grand and it’s fairly new. Plus you’ll find a lot more designer options and some of their last call or outlet stores. Such as Benetton, Armani Exchange, Banana Republic,French Connection UK (FCUK), LACOSTE, Tommy Bahama, Nine West, Hugo Boss,Tommy Hilfiger and Holt Renfrew to name a few.

Warning: If you think you’re going to this mall to take advantage of deals since there are so many “outlet” type stores, think again. It was very difficult to find any real deals, even though many stores were already into their “back to school sale” mode.

Food.

Again, typical mall food at the food court except there’s always a line no matter which spot you opted to eat at. The same can be said for finding a table and don’t expect the tables to be clean when you did find one. I know it’s only common sense that you clean up after you’re done at a table, but it would be nice to see more staff trying to maintain things. As a matter of fact I don’t recall seeing any staff while we were at the food court for about 45 minutes or so. The food court is the real heart of the mall, being very bright and airy though it does get crowded.

Maybe it due to the large volume of people/meals they cater, but out party had.. A & W, Taco Bell, Szechuan Szechuan (Chinese) and Sukiyaki (Japanese) and without a doubt they were the most terrible mall food we’ve ever experienced. Taco bell got our orders wrong and it was soggy, A & W was even more greasy than I recall, the Chinese and Japanese were just terrible! Both dishes were masked with some sort of weird flavour that was not what you would expect. Yes, I know this is food court food and much should not be expected, but when you pay $8-$10 a combo one should expect some consistency from the very same franchises you’ve had elsewhere before.

My sister and Caron were there getting some wedding accessories for my other sister’s wedding in September and our girls were there to get some back to school shopping done. All I wanted to do was window shop for a designer suit for the same wedding and finally get my chance at browsing “Out Door World”!

I guess I’ll be making another trip up the 400 if I’m to finally browse this mega outdoor store. Maybe the trick is to leave our girls at home or go to this store as soon as we walk through the doors of the mall. Again, they were finished shopping for their stuff and were “too” tired and started complaining about every known ache known to man. Head, feet back.. I’m surprised their hair follicles didn’t hurt! If you’re willing to pay normal rate for clothes etc, at least you have many options at Vaughan Mills. Indy’s only complaint was that there were no Abercrombie and Fitch and Hollister!

For the men?

Besides having one of those Nascar type stores (didn’t go in since it’s not my thing, so I don’t know exactly whats in there), they also have these seating areas with an arena type (scoreboard) tv screens mounted so you can sit, relax and catch the game while your party shop. I didn’t take advantage at this chance to rest since all the seats were taken.. they didn’t look very comfortable though!

No real deals, parking wars, crowds and terrible food but I’ll go back. I have to.. Outdoor world beckons! Plu s I love crowds and like all shopping you must search for the deals.

Contact and Getting to Vaughan Mills Mall.

VAUGHAN MILLS MANAGEMENT OFFICE
1 Bass Pro Mills Drive
Vaughan, ON L4K5W4
Tel:  905.879.1777
Fax:  905.879.1888
info@vaughanmills.com

Directions:

VIA CAR
Just 32 km north of downtown Toronto at Hwy 400 and Rutherford Road.

HWY 400
Northbound: Hwy 400 North to Bass Pro Mills Drive exit.
Southbound: Hwy 400 South to Rutherford Road exit.

HWY 401
Hwy 401 to Hwy 400 North, Bass Pro Mills Drive exit.

HWY 407
Hwy 407 to Hwy 400 North, Bass Pro Mills Drive exit.

GPS COORDINATES
43.825486, -79.538978

REGULAR SHOPPING HOURS
Monday – Saturday: 10am to 9pm
Sunday: 11am to 7pm

MANAGEMENT OFFICE HOURS
Monday – Friday: 9am to 5pm

View Larger Map