Discover Alberni Episode 22: Pacific Rim Shopping Centre

On the northern end of Port Alberni, at the top of Johnston Road, you will find the Pacific Rim Shopping Centre. This is the ultimate one-stop shopping centre in all of Port Alberni for big box stores and restaurants. This power centre is located near the intersection of Cherry Creek Road and Johnston Road and runs along Johnston Road out towards the highway. Although it is great for residents to use, its placement is also ideal for tourists. Many come into town, stop at the Walmart or No Frills for some last-minute supplies, then continue down Johnston and beyond to places like Sproat Lake. 

Residents commonly visited the area for the Alberni Mall located across Johnston Street in the 1980s through to the early 2000s. While it was being reformatted into an outdoor mall, the Pacific Rim Shopping Centre was starting to emerge. Extra Foods (now No Frills) was the first to open in 2004, then Walmart joined shortly after in 2005. The third anchor tenant, Staples, opened in 2007. Since then, the shopping centre has expanded to include a variety of shops and restaurants such as a post office, office supplies store, insurance, banking facilities, coffee shops, clothing stores, a veterinarian office, and a dollar store. 

Business has been booming across the street at the Alberni Mall, too. Other shops and restaurants are using the same outdoor mall concept as the Pacific Rim Shopping Centre, making the entire area a great place to run errands and get everything done on your list. So much of Port Alberni’s history started in the Alberni Mall, and now the Pacific Rim Centre is an expansion of one of the many good features of the town. 

Unlike traditional indoor malls, where you’d have to leave the entire mall and walk across a parking lot to your car, Pacific Rim Shopping Centre is more condensed and the distance between the front door of a store and your vehicle is generally not that far. This saves time and energy, making it a very desirable place to shop. For those that use public transit, the city bus has a stop right in front of the grocery store - very convenient! 

So, whether it is to grab lunch, run errands, or have an afternoon of casual fun shopping, the Pacific Rim Centre is a shopping destination in Port Alberni that everyone should visit at least once. Come check it out for yourself.