By Toni Vernon and George Klump
The Don Mills Shopping Centre in the 1950s.
E.P. Taylor originally bought the land where the Don Mills Centre is located in 1950 with the intention of building a brewing plant. Subsequently, he decided, instead to incorporate the property into his planned community (Don Mills) that was already underway. By 1955 a strip plaza was opened with a Dominion Supermarket and a Kofflers Drug Store (the first Shoppers Drug Mart) and number of other retailers.
Don Mills Centre was primarily intended to serve the local community, being centrally located within walking distance to most of its residents. It quickly became a regional centre, drawing people from North York, East York, and Scarborough.
