In 1941 General Engineering Company of Ontario (GECO) a massive munitions plant was constructed covering the area southeast of Eglinton and Warden.

In the 1950s and 1960s, numerous factories producing mostly consumer goods operated along the Golden Mile including a 34 hectare General Motors van assembly plant.

Around the year 2000, the south section of Eglinton development of the former van plant property was being redeveloped into a new trend at the time American style "big box" retail uses.

The west section of the strip was severely damaged by a fire in 1986, which hastened the beginning of the transformation of the area into one of Toronto's largest concentrations of power centres and big-box stores.

The superstore was rebranded as a No Frills, and much later Toronto Employment and Social Services, popular retailer Joe Fresh (part of Loblaws), Fit 4 Less, and a dollar store became tenants in 2010, using space that Zellers and Fabricland had previously occupied.

The Government of Canada also operates several institutions in the neighbourhood, including a provincial courthouse, as well as the Toronto East Detention Centre.