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Friday, April 5, 2013

Markham: Pacific Mall

Pacific Mall is a three story Chinese mall located in Markham, a suburb of Toronto. Majority of the retail is on the ground floor, with miscellaneous tenants selling electronic accessories, Asian (mainly Korean and Japanese) beauty products and Asian CDs and DVDs (both legit and counterfeit). Many of these stalls are random, unheard-of shops, but the chain brands include The Face Shop, Holika Holika, and to my surprise, soon Tony Moly! Here I'll highlight the shops I went to and what I bought.

Broadcast
This store occupies a corner spot, so despite there being hundreds of repetitive shops throughout the mall, it isn't too hard to find Broadcast if you just circle the perimeter. To further stand out, there are kpop posters against the exterior, but I'm not sure if they're for sale.
Out of all the shops at this mall selling Asian CDs and DVDs, I think Broadcast has the best (and is probably the only shop with a) reputation of selling only authentic discs. There are rows of fully packed shelves containing kpop and kpop CDs and concert DVDs, as well as Asian dramas and other genres. They carry newly released media, as well as older ones like Ss501. The latest kpop CDs and DVDs are at the front counter. There are two older Cantonese ladies running the shop, who were very helpful. Though they were out of the Infinite CDs I was looking for, she directed me to other popular and highly demanded CDs. She was more knowledgeable than I thought, but I did have to correct her about a few things.
There are also not authentic Kpop merchandise, such as scrolls, mouse pads (roughly $10), playing cards (Infinite's for $15.99), notepads, keychains, pens, and more.  Just a side note, no photos allowed inside the store. Whoops, I only saw the sign after I had started taking photos.

The Face Shop
The store is very simplistic and pristine with its glossy white panels.
Sadly a Kim Hyun Joong cutout doesn't greet customers at this location, but his face is still plastered throughout the store. The Face Shop is really using Hyun Joong as the face of the brand, even placing his face on the mirrors and business card. The workers are also friendly and helpful, so don't be afraid to approach them. Sometimes there's no worker at the register, however, so just seek one of the workers.
I wanted to buy something from The Face Shop despite not actually wanting any of their products, so I just bought their cheapest products. I chose three face mask sheets, costing $1.70 and $2 each. Sadly my purchase didn't come with any samples.

Holika Holika
This Holika Holika location is the only one outside of Asia, so I was thrilled to visit this one. The layout is simplistic like The Face Shop, but the storefront has two gorgeous Jung Il Woo cutouts greeting customers.
I had to take photos with them, as they'll be the closest I'll get to the real thing! Around the store are little advertisements of Jung Il Woo holding various Holika products and labels of his recommended products. Sistar also endorses the brand, but there was only a poster of the group on the side of the store. Prices are fairly expensive compared to other brands. The workers are friendly and helpful when I asked her to show me their lip balms; she ended up walking me to all of their lip products and describing each to me.
My first purchase (top) was the milk lip butter and nail polish, which came with a free sample. My second purchase (bottom right) was the strawberry lip butter and face mask sheet, and sadly that didn't come with a free sample. It may just be the worker, because during my first purchase the first worker sent me off without giving me a sample but then a second worker peered over and got one for me before I left. I think it just depends on the worker.

Debbie
This shop carries various Korean cosmetics. There are workers of different Asian nationalities, so if you're not confident with English, you might be able to communicate in Cantonese or Korean. They are all friendly and helped me test out products by getting the product and placing of on my hand themselves. One customer was even getting a makeover done. The prices seem a bit more expensive, but they can give you more samples as a compromise.
I ended up buying Tony Moly's Tomatox and Silky Smooth Balm and received samples for a full skincare routine that included four different products, which she determined by touching my cheek for my skin type, and she let me choose from a whitening and natural BB cream. All of my samples and the bag were from Missha, despite not buying any from that brand.

Tony Moly
I was so ecstatic to see my most favorite skincare brand about to open a store in North America! Though the glass walls are boarded with construction paper, it appears that construction is almost finished. According to the work permit posted on the front door, construction period is supposed to end on April 2nd, which is coming up!
I also took a sneak peek inside and can already see JYJ endorsing!
I got so excited about this Tony Moly location that these photos ended up extra blurry :/

Also outside of Pacific Mall is a sports shop that has large a 2NE1 for Adidas advertisement on the storefront. Unfortunately inside the store is only posters of soccer players.
If you're ever in need of cosmetics, there is an abundance of them throughout the entire Pacific Mall.  For the best selection of CDs and DVDs, your best bet is probably online.

16 comments:

  1. hehehe, i live in Markham and have been to some of the shops going to go check out some of the face shops there now :D Hope you enjoyed your visit!
    - Thanks for this post :D

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    1. Wow, I am so sorry for the year's late reply...oh I'm so jealous you live in Markham! I really had fun here and I think this is one of my most favorite malls in North America! Thanks for your comment, I really appreciate it^^

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  2. I'm Interested this house but I'm much more interested in houses located in the Markham area... ALL I need is the best homes for sale at Markham

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  3. is there an etude house in pacific mall by any chance?

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    1. Hi! Unfortunately, Etude stores are only located in Asia :(

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  4. is there an etude house in pacific mall by any chance?

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  5. Hi! Have you went back to Pacific Mall recently? I'm looking to get some Luhan or Sunggyu merchandise for a friend who really loves them, but I'm not allowed to order online or travel very far. ^^;

    Broadcast has loads of playing cards, card holders, and cups now. A friend of mine's told me that there's a store in which they sell kpop standees in Pmall, do you happen to know of this? And would you suggest any other Kpop stores in the Markham area? I've already made a trip to First Markham Place.

    Thanks in advance! Shopping for Christmas presents, aha!

    //I'll post as Anon for now, and check back for updates!

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    1. Hi^^ Sorry, I haven't been back to Pacific Mall :( I'm so sorry to be so unhelpful, but I don't know of any other kpop stores in the area or of a store selling standees, but that is the coolest thing if you do find that store with standees!! Honestly I only visited the area one time, but I wish I could live nearby because I love Pacific Mall! You seem like such an amazing friend to buy kpop related gifts for your friend hehe^^

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  6. Thanks for the info up there!~ ^_^ I just bought an authentic BTS album from Broadcast and was very happy with the condition of it. They were selling many of the latest k-pop albums there and it was so awesome!! I'd recommend going there if you're not comfortable with buying your k-pop albums off line ^_^

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    1. No problem~^^ I'm glad you had a good experience at Broadcast and that you're happy with your album! It's really nice being able to visit a kpop store in person^^

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  7. Hi, do you know if they sell kpop posters of certain people there? It's my friends birthday soon and she really likes the group "got7" and Youngjae in particular. I would appreciate the help, thanks!

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    1. And, do you know if they have anime posters anywhere, mainly "Tokyo Ghoul"

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    2. Hi^^ Hmm I think you can try the store Broadcast! I'm not sure if they sell posters there, but there are a lot of official posters taped on their walls. And sorry, I don't know where to get anime posters. Good luck finding a gift for your friend~!

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    3. There is an anime store that sells many things. (e.x key chains, pillows, figurines, posters, and cards) The store manager was very helpful. The store name is LNY

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    4. Thanks for the info! I'm so glad that the manager there was helpful^^

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    ReplyDelete