CORE Shopping Centre – TD Square/Holt Renfrew

It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas here at The Core.
If you’re a fancy pants you’ll love it here! The flagship store is Holt Renfrew– for the big spenders and there is a large H&M– for the more frugal, although this location has a versatile selection of business and cocktail attire that other H&Ms don’t have.
The mall is under renovations but the mall management has done a great job providing information of where stores are located and what escalators are closed off. etc.
If you can, do you holiday shopping here. It tends to be busy during the lunch hours (rumour has it, 1130am-​3pm) and then fades off– which means shorter lines and less impatient shoppers.
The food court has a great selection and is near the newly renovated Devonian Gardens, which is stunning! I always dreamt of having a garden tea party and the DG seems like its been plucked out of my brain. So cute!
I took away a star because of the weekday parking rates. But I wish I could give a half a star for the weekend parking rates– 2 bucks on Saturday, all day and FREE on Sunday. There is also Valet parking and the mall is so close to transit, so you have no excuse to make your way down.

The Core Shopping Centre or CORE consists of TD Square and the Holt Renfrew. It is downtowns (DT) shopping complex and arguably Calgary’s premium shopping district. Spanning 3 city blocks and 4 levels it contains an impressive 160+ stores and is connected to Calgary’s +15 network. The highlight stores include the Holt Renfrew Flagship store, the Harry Rosen Flagship Store, H&M Flagship store and the Brooks Brothers Flagship store /​Country Club. 3 out of 4 of these are very high end and all are impressive! There is also an Eveline Charles Salon & Academy, and my personal favorite the Devonian Gardens!
The mall is very beautiful and is aesthetically pleasing from the inside, but from the outside you probably wouldn’t guess there was a gorgeous shopping centre just steps away. The architectural focal point is a vast suspended glass skylight that spans the length of the complex and is the largest point-​supported structural glass skylight in the world! So if you visit take a break from your shopping and take a minute to marvel at the structural accomplishment above you! An even bigger must mention is the Devonian Gardens, a unique 2.5 acre glass-​enclosed indoor botanical park! Please see my review on this if you’re interested in more, it’s my favorite part of the mall for sure!
Although this mall has several high-​end shopping options as I indicated above, there are also several other options for all price points and categories. At one point there was even a dollar-​store at this mall lol! Although that option has since been closed, there are still a number of affordable stores from names/​brands you’re used to seeing elsewhere. For fast food there is a complete food court at your disposal on the 4^th floor, as well as other speciality food options throughout the mall. For cafes, Starbucks and Second Cup are on the first floor, Tim Hortons is up top amongst the food court. There is also a Shoppers Drug Mart as a mini-​anchor on the ground level. Medical and Dental is on the fourth floor. For full-​service restaurants there are 3 options in the mall: Double Zero Pizza, Metropolitan Grill and Hy’s Steakhouse. Being in DT Calgary I wouldn’t limit yourself to these options though as there’s hundreds of restaurants within walking distance.
Although the mall is beautiful and offers a lot, it does have its short comings. First off the layout can be super confusing for newcomers as the escalators are placed in a way that you’ll have to walk to different spots depending if you want to go up or down. Also if you need a bathroom you may find yourself sprinting to the 3^rd or 4^th level as there are none on the first 2 floors! Parking is free after 4pm on weekdays and all day Saturday/​Sunday, this is actually a pretty good win for those who don’t visit DT Calgary often as parking is usually a fortune and isn’t free until after 6:00pm most places. There is also a complimentary Valet service, this service is free but parking fees do apply. The mall itself is quite busy, especially around lunch, however the rush dies down in the evening as everyone tends to jet out of DT after work hours. For this reason it shouldn’t be surprising that this mall has shorter hours than most. Lastly there’s free Wi-​Fi and guest services will do gift wrapping for a donation :).
CORE is a pretty solid mall, especially for its DT location right in the heart of Calgary. It can come off as a bit awkward to navigate, but you get used to it. It’s definitely a saviour for a lot of DT workers as an easy stopover before, after or between work, but as a go-​to shopping centre it’s just okay. If you don’t live/​work DT you’re probably better off going to your local shopping centre. The other exception is the strong anchors/​flagships, this might be a valid reason to visit if you’re not usually in the area. Beyond this the highlights for me are the architectural design and the Devonian Gardens. I give a full extra start for just the gardens ;)!

Downtown shopping. Reminds me of Eaton center in YYZ.
Pretty big mall with connecting (+15) to other stores. Everything from high end, Holt Renfrew to economical H&M. A bit for everyone.
Weekends parking is pretty cheap in Bankers Hall, Core, Holt Renfrew and TD Square. Which is great since parking during the week is crazy. The mall is also quieter, which I like.
Great selection of stores. Fantastic food court and the gardens on the top floor are beautiful. Great place to grab a coffee and just relax.

Gorgeous mall with its glass ceiling, in the heart of DT.
For a tourist, it’s pretty confusing with all the different escalator connections; I must’ve got lost a few times and ended up at Banker’s Hall.
Pretty high-​end, with Holt Renfrew and Harry Rosen’s so you get the idea.
2 huge Christmas trees.
The valet parking is actually pretty reasonable, $ 6 for the 1^st hour, then $ 2 for every 20minutes to a maximum of $ 30 for the day. Better than circling around these crazy 1-​way streets, then looking for a machine to stand in the cold entering your licence plate info etc.
And it feels good dropping it off right in front of the main entrance ground level, so close. Sheltered too.

Great mall just missing a Theater inside of it!!! The mall is big clean and way less people then at Chinook Center. Love this mall very organized and less overwhelming.

I did not really go shopping here, as I came here with my cousin to find clothes for her son after he soaked himself at Olympic Plaza. We found an outfit at H&M and just walked around a bit. My rating is for the architecture of the building and the cool indoor garden.
The glass ceiling is amazing and naturally lets in an incredible amount of sunshine. This is helpful for the garden that is an indoor public park. The food court seems to encompass many different types of «mall» cuisine and I even looked at the gelato place with longing, since I knew I shouldn’t eat gelato after eating several macarons at Monplaisir, the new French-​inspired dessert stand near the elevator.
While I did not expect that I would go to another city to visit a mall, circumstances required that we go to CORE Shopping Center and I was very impressed by how beautiful the place is. And oh, this is the first place where I have seen and used a touchscreen mall directory. Super cool.

This place was a small tight, 4 levels. But when i found out theres a graden on the top or 4^th level it was heavenly.
It drew away from the commercialized shopping. Great place to relax, bring children at play or just a lounge area. There are heated lamps for the tropical plants to keep its liveliness.
The food court is also at this level. Mostly students and mothers with strollers come over. Theres also a pond with gold fishes and kois. Yes an ease place to feel the warmth, because Calgary as we know it is cold to the bones. Well its winter when i went.
Overall, an amazing place. Loved it!

There are things about this mall I like a lot, and some things that I find a little annoying.
I’m not going to bring up the prices of most things in this mall, because as someone who has lived in the US for a long time, I would suspect its obvious that everything here is exorbitantly overpriced. That whole topic is settled as far as I’m concerned.
My favorite part about the mall is the food court on the top floor with the class roof/​ceiling. The views are amazing, and the selection of food court kiosks are in line with the general feel of the mall… being a lot of white, clean cut lines, water features and the food is very Asian fusion, looking very clean and healthy for the most part.
What I don’t really like is the awful escalator situation… I’ve found myself wasting much time looking for the right up or down escalator, and the elevators are slow, cumbersome, not much help, and the recorded voice that announces which floor one is arriving on, has an awful Irish accent (or something that passes for it («going down» sounds like «goin duyyyyn»). this is Calgary people, not the London subway. get with the program.(i say that with love of course)
Theres always a robust collection of transient street people present. No judgment here, i mean I’m sure they need to warm up at times in the winter, but seeing people in tattered «clothing» that may or may not have seen the inside of a clothes washer since the first Bush administration adds a certain edge to the mall’s ambience.
But I digress. I still like this mall better than larger centers like Chinook and would definitely recommend it to people staying downtown

I love this mall. It’s located downtown, and stretches across a couple of blocks.
There’s a lot of stores, but nothing specialized, for example, there wasn’t any sports/​outdoors outlets.
The mall also has a Devonian Garden on the top floor which is outstanding for a nice shopping break.

I always pass through the Core Shopping Center on my way home from school. The environment seems so busy, but in a good way. The area is always buzzing with traffic as people from work or school are traveling through the mall, as well as those that are just there for a shopping day. With an environment so lively, it’s not a surprise that The Core is always flooding with people. Not to mention, the fashionable stores that are slowly conquering. Connected to Holt Renfew, as well as other high-​end stores, The Core is the place to meet your fashion needs. I can’t forget about the food court either! The food court has a wide variety of options to suit your stomachs cravings. A simply enjoyable mall for those that have money to blow!

I love this mall! I always come here when I visit my bf is Calgary. I am for Toronto and I def agree with Renante C. It is like the mini-​noncrowded Eaton Centre.
Ok and how could you say no to 5% TAX AT HOLTS!!! It’s ridiculous almost!
I would give this mall a 4.5÷5 the only crappy thing is that there are just not enough good stores… it needs to learn a bit from the Toronto big malls like Eaton Centre or Yorkdale Mall. Plus the Holts doesn’t have as big of a selection as Toronto but still the tax is great and the mall is never jam packed!

This is probably one of my favourite malls in Calgary. I’m from Toronto and it actually reminds me of a smaller version of one our downtown malls, «Eaton Centre». It’s just not as crowded, and not sure if it was just the day, but it seemed pretty empty to me.
It’s definitely one of the better malls to visit if you’re looking to buy clothes. Not really for anything else. I was actually surprised to see that there wasn’t an Apple Store in there.
The only thing that kinda sucks about this mall is that since it’s downtown, you’ll have to pay a chunk for parking. Your other option is to park at a C-​train station and take the LRT down there.
Overall, it’s a pretty modern place to be and it has some cool things to see.

Hurray for shopping downtown!
Seriously, what is better than shopping on your lunch break at awesome stores and then feeling that sense of accomplishment when you find that perfect item that fills you with joy? Oh and did I mention you can celebrate with a cupcake or perhaps some new cute undies? No? Welll…
All this can be accomplished within an hour my friend because The Core offers all that and more!
I love that Holt, Guess, BCBG, MK (Opening Soon!) H&M. Townshoes, among so many others are all in one area! And if you’re hungry after all that heavy lifting of shopping bags all you have to do is go to the forth and pick one of the numerous food options in the food court!
The interior and décor is nice and what’s better then a mall that connects to even more shopping centres? nothing I tell you!

I really like the location as I work downtown and all the stores are great… HOWEVER I find it to be rather uptight. Of course many people are shopping there on their lunch break or at least thats what I think but the staff in several of the stores move as slow as molasses which in an hour lunch break I am on a mission to get in and get out… hard with slow employees.

The Core is super convenient if you work in the downtown area. It has a few stores, not a wide variety I’d say, but convenient if you need to run to the mall at lunch and grab something to wear or eat. I think in terms of the stores, they tend to cater to the downtown market more, which I guess makes sense, but for someone like me who doesn’t necessarily always wear dress clothes, it’s definitely missing casual stores (like it does have a Sirens and your generic chain stores, but it doesn’t have anything specializing in sporty or skate clothes). It’s cool to have a Shoppers here too.
The food court is really neat, they standardized all the signage so that it looks a lot neater and upscale. Good selection of food choices, and not all chains — which is nice. Tons of seating, very good cleaning staff that keep the tables clear. Nice bathrooms. Really not a whole lot of complaints here.
Also connected to the +15 and has valet parking after 4pm. I can’t wait until the garden is done =)

I love what they have done to upgrade and rebrand the core shopping centre. It is is modern visually pleasing, interactive. The marketing team does a fantastic job of promotion.

The core shopping center is a three level shopping mall that is in the core of downtown Calgary.
It has a wide variety of shops and is anchored by a Holt Renfrew and an H&M.
The idea that it is anchored by these two stores shows the wide variety of shopping, since Holt is high end and H&M is more of a bargain department store.
The core offers free underground parking on evenings and weekends.
If you are looking for a variety of shops, don’t overlook the core!