Fangliang Xu, Centretown News
Store managers at Rideau Centre say they have received complaints about the mall’s new tile floors. Although the massive renovations to the Rideau Centre are bringing in many anticipated new brands such as Nordstrom, not all the upgrades have been well received.
As part of the $360-million revamp of Ottawa’s leading tourist mall, many of the floors in the building are being replaced with new quartz tile. However, the new flooring has also generated concerns about the slipperiness of the gleaming surface.
“Many customers don’t like them because they are very slippery,” says Grace Jesionka, assistant manager at Coach, located on the third floor of the Rideau Centre. “Quite a few people say that it’s an accident waiting to happen.”
“If it gets a little bit wet it is very slippery,” says Tes Fazgi, a member of the Rideau Centre staff. Fazgi works in the food court and has first hand experience with the quartz tile.
“People seem worried about it so we’ve asked our managers and they say it will be okay because we do have a machine to dry wet floors.”
But the frontline staff at the mall are not the only ones to have been approached about the quartz tiles.
“We have received some customer complaints regarding the new quartz tile being installed as a part of our interior renovation.” Greg Ouellet, safety and security manager for the Rideau Centre, says.
“Unfortunately, we have quite a few floor conditions including the new quartz tile, original terrazzo, stripped terrazzo, flamed granite (Mackenzie King Bridge). We are aware that it can be uncomfortable when transitioning from one to the next, and it will take some getting used to.”
The Rideau Centre managers did not mention any specific plans for giving extra attention to the tiles once snowy weather arrives.
The revitalization project was announced in March 2013 with a projected completion date of August 2016.
“It (the renovation project) is bringing in more high end brands which makes the mall a cleaner and more respectable place to shop. The higher ticket prices draw a different kind of clientele, which the Rideau Centre has been looking for,” says Jesionka.