Something Going On Former Hallmark In Polo Park Next To Bootlegger and Chatters

I visited the Hudson's Bay @ CF Polo Park today. Today I witnessed a "grab and run" theft. It happened so fast that a visual display in Men's shoes got knocked over as the criminals were fleeing to the north doors by Men's Footwear.

So went to toys r us the other day and they were setting up dvds for sale and had a bin with vinyl. Thought it was super random but apparently HMV is making a comeback and opening up an hmv section in toysrus. Almost bought the columbo boxed set.

It was reported on a Facebook group that the Sport Chek @ Unicity is closing on March 10, 2024.

Something Going On Former Spencer’s Location Next To Spencer’s in Polo Park

I was there yesterday. Closing and everything is being liquidated.

There were definitely deals to be had at Sportschek in the Unicity liquidation.

I was there on the first weekend and they had not shipped out inventory in advance and everything was 30% off the last ticketed price. Got a few smaller things but they also had a bunch of authentic Jets jerseys in stock. Got a 55 pro in a large size for about $100. Sure it is a season or two old but considering the minor changes to the jerseys since the team returned it was not a big deal.

The discount is likely a lot more generous now but I would guess a lot of the more in demand stuff is already gone.

Sunrise Records Has Open New Location In St Vital Centre and Kiehl’s Closed Old Location in Polo Park Move To New Location Next To Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory And Going On Former Michael Kors Next To American Eagle Outfitters

The Body Shop got taken down by the bankruptcy of its UK parent company. They are closing 33 stores in Canada with the only Manitoba one being Brandon Shoppers Mall. The four Winnipeg locations will remain open, for now.

Build-a-Bear is moving to a larger location at Polo Park.

https://assets.cadillacfairview.com/...EASINGPLAN.pdf

Leasing plans shows the old location @ 2,185 sq ft. New location is between Center Court and Hudson's Bay. Taking over 2 vacant spots? (3,685 and 2,416 sq feet) between Champs and American Eagle

Also Learned LensCrafters Is Moving To New Location Former The Children Store Next To Lego Store

Kiehl’s Is Moving Out Old Location Move To New Location Next To Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory In Polo Park

This post in honour of horrorbro123 - I noticed in Polo Park that Build-A-Bear is in fact moving to a new location.

https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/776....jpg?p=twitter


There are a lot of movements happening in Polo Park right now.

Apparently the movie theater in Garden City Shopping Center is being reopened. The permits suggest it may be a group focused on showing foreign language films to India and southeast Asian audiences. Apparently some of these same films were being shown at Cinema City in Northgate so perhaps that was a pay-to-play market test before taking on the renovation at Garden City.

Uptown sports cards which has been in the portage place area for as long as I can remember is relocating to sterling Lyon.

Definitely work going on inside, including lots of electrical. Foreign theatre makes sense for the area.

"For Sale" sign was taken down yesterday at the old 7-11 location on Ellice at Maryland.

Whoa, very interesting! A mixed use would be so great there especially one geared to affordable housing. Hope something good pans out and not another convenience store or payday loan shack.

Hillberg & Berk Move From Store To Kiosk In Polo Park

West coast kids is closing their first ever store on Princess Ave.

Children’s store leaving Exchange
West Coast Kids sets up shop on Kenaston Boulevard and opens new warehouse near airport

By: Gabrielle Piché

One Manitoba-born children’s store is growing up — and on its 50th birthday, it’s counting 10 shops across the country and a new Winnipeg distribution centre.

It’s also moving from its birthplace: it’s become too big for its Exchange District headquarters, according to the company leader.

“We had some really quick, fast growth,” said Robyn Dashefsky-Moar, CEO of West Coast Kids.
She called from her Vancouver office, three provinces away from where her parents first set up their business.

Currently, staff are removing the last items from West Coast Kids’ initial location. Cradles and cribs are in sparse supply at the four-storey Exchange District building, off the corner of Princess Street and Bannatyne Avenue.

West Coast Kids simply outgrew the space, Dashefsky-Moar stated. Crime and feelings of insecurity in the area didn’t help, she added.

Gone are the strollers and soothers. They might be in West Coast Kids’ Kenaston Boulevard showroom, or the company’s new 40,000-sq.-ft. warehouse near Winnipeg’s airport.

Even shipping partners asked for a move from the Exchange District location, Dashefsky-Moar relayed.

Products were transported via an “old, old freight elevator” up and down the building’s storeys.

“You can imagine, it wasn’t very efficient going to get somebody’s order… going from the fourth floor to the basement, back to the third floor,” Dashefsky-Moar said.

The Princess Street hub housed inventory for locations throughout Canada and products for website orders.

As West Coast Kids’ store count ticked up — six new shops within nine years — the need for different headquarters grew.

The company’s online sales basically “tripled in business overnight” during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Efficiency is really important,” Dashefsky-Moar said. “With the website… efficiency is time, and time is money.”

West Coast Kids took over a Bradford Street warehouse in January of 2023. It wanted to give customers ample time to realize the move from the Exchange, Dashefsky-Moar said.

The company’s new location has multiple loading docks and “proper warehouse management systems,” Dashefsky-Moar continued.

There aren’t any break-ins, unlike at the founding location, she added. Her staff felt a shift when the Public Safety Building closed in 2016.

“Our parking lot, we would come in the morning and never know what to expect, whether there would be people that had… set up camp there,” Dashefsky-Moar said.

“They made washrooms for themselves in our parkade.”

Even so, the move from the Exchange District is bittersweet, Dashefsky-Moar explained. Over the past year, staff have sorted through 50 years’ worth of items.

The upcoming Easter Sunday marks West Coast Kids’ last day in 103 Princess St. The building, which Dashefsky-Moar’s family owned, has been sold.

Dashefsky-Moar didn’t share details about the sale. An online listing advertised the 49,000-sq.-ft. building for $2.4 million. It had potential for residential or co-work conversion, the listing read.

Dashefsky-Moar’s parents bought the site and opened Friendly Bears (later called West Coast Kids) in 1974.

At the time, catalogues were the main shopping method for baby products. Dashefsky-Moar’s mother was pregnant and wanted to begin a brick-and-mortar shop for baby items.

The family began with a handful of staff. Now, Dashefsky-Moar counts more than 360 employees.

Growth was slow to start, Dashefsky-Moar recalled — over two decades, the family opened two more shops, in Calgary and Edmonton.

It changed names to E-Children as it planted an online presence. Then, in 2002, Dashefsky-Moar joined her parents’ venture. She’d returned from a retail management job in Toronto; next, she wanted to live in Vancouver.

Dashefsky-Moar moved to the west coast and opened a children’s store there, aptly labelling it West Coast Kids.

“It was quite catchy,” Dashefsky-Moar said.

The name stuck and was applied to the family’s stores. West Coast Kids sought trendy and proprietary items — Dashefsky-Moar believes, in part, it’s why the company has seen such growth.

It’s become a place people want to say they’ve shopped at, she described.

In 2013, West Coast Kids opened another Calgary store. Then came Vancouver, Toronto, second locations in Winnipeg, Toronto and Edmonton, and last year, a place in Burlington, Ont.

The company will continue looking for new markets, Dashefsky-Moar said.

Business staff across the road from 103 Princess St. will miss West Coast Kids.

“It’s nice when West Coast Kids is open, because sometimes their customers will trickle in here, and we’ll get new customers,” said Reianne Juan, a manager at stationery store 26 Market. “For them closing down, I guess those customers won’t be here.”

From: www.Winnipegfreepress.com