It’s been a very long time since anyone has heard the sound of hooves pounding around the big oval Sandown racetrack. The track's final race happened almost 20 years ago when the Randall family that owned the land had 12 acres designated for commercial development and donated the remaining 83 acres to North Saanich for agricultural purposes.
That 12-acre commercial land is now the Sandown Park Shopping Centre, and the development of the site has been a huge boon to life on the Peninsula.
Now, the North Saanich shopping experience is moving into a new and exciting period in its development as two simultaneous celebrations are poised to mark the latest chapter for the shopping centre.
First, the Canadian Tire store on the site will mark its grand reopening to showcase a significant increase in what they have to offer Peninsula residents.
“We’re always improving, but now we’ve remerchandised the entire store and improved our assortment by increasing the retail space by 25 per cent,” said owner John Cunningham.
Canadian Tire is one of the anchor stores at the shopping centre and was the first tenant to open its doors back in 2018, but recent improvements have significantly increased the store’s capacity.
“Our customer count is No. 1 in British Columbia and we’re in the top 20 in the whole country,” said Cunningham. “The hope has always been that (this development) will save people the hassle of having to drive into the city, and now I think we’ve achieved that goal.”
In conjunction with the grand reopening of the Canadian Tire store, the celebration will also act as a grand opening of the Sandown Shopping Centre in general.
“The 100,000 square foot retail plaza began with Canadian Tire back in 2018, but the construction of a new 47,000 square foot phase has made the centre a hub of the community’s shopping experience,” said Sue Hodgson, North Saanich Canadian Tire’s marketing manager.
“The new phase is home to Red Barn Market, Dollarama, Sandown Liquor Store, Joe’s Family Pharmacy, Domino’s Pizza, barBURRITO (Mexican) and Firehouse Subs along with other soon-to-open retailers including Sleep Country Canada, Higgie’s Pet Mercantile and Cheeky’s Cannabis.”
Three retail spaces remain available for lease, ranging from 1,650 square feet to 2,200 square feet, but Hodgson is confident that those spaces will soon be occupied as well.
“With the recent completion of this exciting new phase, Sandown Park is a well-rounded and convenient shopping node that is uniquely positioned to service the everyday shopping needs of residents and businesses in the area, as well as traffic along the Pat Bay Highway”, said Kyle Shury of Platform Properties, the development company behind the project
“There was a need for a commercial centre (on the Peninsula), and even though phase 2 of the Sandown development took a little while to gain momentum, we’re on track now and it’s been great,” said Russ Benwell, one of the principal owners of Red Barn Market, which opened at Sandown in July 2024 and is one of eight stores operated by Benwell and his partners.
“At 10,000 square feet, this is the largest of our eight locations and we’re doing very well, largely because of our approach to the business,” said Benwell. “We’re Canadian-owned and operated, and the hyper-local approach has always been a part of our business model.”
Red Barn is well known for its support of local growers and locally produced products. They operate their own smokehouse, and their sandwich bar (with the signature ‘tall as Red Barn’ sandwiches) has become legendary.
“We’re invested in the community and have always seen ourselves as a farmers market, supporting the community in a way that is unique to our approach.”
The double celebration at the Sandown Shopping Centre will take place on May 3 between 11 a.m. and 3 p.m. at the Garden Centre parking lot of the Canadian Tire store. Both Q and the Zone will be on hand with live remotes, and there will be face painting, a dunk tank and a barbecue hosted by Red Barn Market (with all the proceeds going to Canadian Tire's Jumpstart charity to help kids participate in sports).
There will be live music by Chase Varnes, and the VIJHL champion Peninsula Panthers will be in attendance with the Brent Patterson Memorial Trophy. There will also be a 50/50 raffle for Jumpstart, a photo booth, and the Victoria Humane Society will be in attendance with some puppies for adoption.
