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KAMLOOPS - Ever since Sears Canada began shuttering its outlets across the country, Kamloops residents have been wondering what will replace the large space the department store took up at Aberdeen Mall.

Kristi Williams, marketing and specialty leasing manager with Aberdeen Mall, says there are no signed deals in place to replace the old Sears, but adds the mall is looking at plans that would see the space redistributed into several smaller units.

This isn't the first time a mall in Kamloops has split a large retail space into smaller ones. 

The former Target location in the Sahali Mall was vacant for two years before it was replaced by the Jump 360 trampoline park, Planet Fitness gym and Value Village thrift store.

It's a sign of big name businesses coming to scoop up spots within the city, as we've seen with the addition of Lululemon at Aberdeen Mall last year. The athletics store took over the vacancy in the mall left when East Side Mario's restaurant closed in 2014.

When Wholesale Sports announced store closures across Western Canada, its old location on Notre Dame Drive in Kamloops didn't sit empty for too long before being occupied by liquidation store Bianca Amor's.

Just a few months ago, makeup-giant Sephora replaced the Le Chateau store in Aberdeen Mall. 

At the time Sandra Neufeld, general manager of Aberdeen Mall, told iNFOnews.ca that Sephora had been in the top five most-requested tenants at the mall for a number of years, although she didn't disclose what other tenants were in high demand.

She added that the more people who shop locally instead of in bigger cities like Kelowna or Vancouver, the more attractive Aberdeen Mall becomes to big name brands. Kamloops's growth in population over the years has also had an impact on the tenants who seek out spots in Kamloops, as the city nears the 100,000 population mark.

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