Winnipeg | True North Square | 86.9M | 77.8M | 25F | 17F | 22F | 17F | 19F | U/C

[esquire]

Originally Posted by robertocarlos

The hair salon in City Place is closing. Maybe they are moving to another space. I didn't ask.

Asia Gifts, Liquor Mart, Aura... there is a bit of an exodus from Cityplace going on now. There's going to be hardly anything left besides restaurants. I wonder if they're lining new tenants for when TNS is built?

I doubt we'll ever see the return of the days when Cityplace was a legitimate mall, but it would be nice if there were some retailers as opposed to converting it all to restaurants and MPI office space.

[buzzg]

Originally Posted by esquire

Asia Gifts, Liquor Mart, Aura... there is a bit of an exodus from Cityplace going on now. There's going to be hardly anything left besides restaurants. I wonder if they're lining new tenants for when TNS is built?

I doubt we'll ever see the return of the days when Cityplace was a legitimate mall, but it would be nice if there were some retailers as opposed to converting it all to restaurants and MPI office space.

Maybe this is planned just like Polo did when they had to move tenants for the expansion. Maybe they are preparing to open to Hargrave more. All the entrances right now are in the worst spots.

[esquire]

Originally Posted by buzzg

Maybe this is planned just like Polo did when they had to move tenants for the expansion. Maybe they are preparing to open to Hargrave more. All the entrances right now are in the worst spots.

Cityplace is designed the way you would design a mall if you wanted to keep it as much of a secret as possible. There is only one somewhat prominent entrance (St. Mary and Hargrave)... the rest are tucked away in the middle of the block.

No exterior signage to remind passers-by (and there are a lot of cars going by on Donald) of what's inside.

Entrances for the most part tucked away mid-block.

Not surprising that it's often a ghost town. Hopefully they'll up their game with TNS coming down the pike.

[Flatland Metropolis]

How much of a concern is TNS for Portage and Main. Certainly there have been a few big draw names away from those locations. Willl the lateral pull of commercial tenants away from P & M provide more exposure or a larger platform to new businesses or is this a P & M "drain"?

[Urban recluse]

Yes, Esquire. It seems as if Cityplace has no desire to welcome the shopping public in. Perhaps there is method to the madness; whatever pays the bills I suppose. Perhaps they are negotiating with better retailers, but keeping quiet about it...for now.

[Ando]

Originally Posted by Flatland Metropolis

How much of a concern is TNS for Portage and Main. Certainly there have been a few big draw names away from those locations. Willl the lateral pull of commercial tenants away from P & M provide more exposure or a larger platform to new businesses or is this a P & M "drain"?

Apparently there's this guy named Hartley Richardson who is heavily invested in Portage and Main and is a fifty-fifty partner True North square and he says everything is going to be fine - so l'd say that carries a fair bit of weight.

[Andy6]

Originally Posted by Urban recluse

Yes, Esquire. It seems as if Cityplace has no desire to welcome the shopping public in. Perhaps there is method to the madness; whatever pays the bills I suppose. Perhaps they are negotiating with better retailers, but keeping quiet about it...for now.

It was designed to be accessed directly from Eaton's when Eaton's was full of thousands of shoppers at every hour of the day. You were supposed to enter through Eaton's. It doesn't sound as though they're serious enough about its future as a retail mall to bother reconfiguring it at this stage.

[Andy6]

Originally Posted by Ando

Apparently there's this guy named Hartley Richardson who is heavily invested in Portage and Main and is a fifty-fifty partner True North square and he says everything is going to be fine - so l'd say that carries a fair bit of weight.

Possibly, although he'd have little reason to voice any concerns he has publicly at this point, even if he has some.

[Urban recluse]

Originally Posted by Andy6

It was designed to be accessed directly from Eaton's when Eaton's was full of thousands of shoppers at every hour of the day. You were supposed to enter through Eaton's. It doesn't sound as though they're serious enough about its future as a retail mall to bother reconfiguring it at this stage.

I guess it's anyone's guess at this point what plans are in store (pun intended) in terms of Cityplace in relation to TNS.

[Flatland Metropolis]

Originally Posted by Ando

Apparently there's this guy named Hartley Richardson who is heavily invested in Portage and Main and is a fifty-fifty partner True North square and he says everything is going to be fine - so l'd say that carries a fair bit of weight.

Fair enough but the two big tenants are both from 200/201 Portage rather than 1 Lombard, he's not that concerned at the moment.

I guess my question is rather directed at whether enough major new tenants can be found for the Portage & Main area. I'm sure there'll be more new announcements in terms of TNS as well. It is something I'll be keeping my eye on anyway

[BAKGUY]

Originally Posted by esquire

Asia Gifts, Liquor Mart, Aura... there is a bit of an exodus from Cityplace going on now. There's going to be hardly anything left besides restaurants. I wonder if they're lining new tenants for when TNS is built?

I doubt we'll ever see the return of the days when Cityplace was a legitimate mall, but it would be nice if there were some retailers as opposed to converting it all to restaurants and MPI office space.

Called Eaton Place, we are the only major city where we were ashamed of our pat and The Eaton name? why? Other Eaton Centres are still thriving?
People knew where Eaton Place was, not so much with City Place..
So, we renamed it and u c an see it failed...
Also to be fair when the annex part of Eaton Place was demolished to make way for MTS centre, we lost almost half the retailers and spaces.. 45 or more...

[Urban recluse]

I wish the second floor windows of Cityplace were restored. Prior to them being covered, the building looked more imposing, and grander.

[esquire]

Originally Posted by Andy6

It was designed to be accessed directly from Eaton's when Eaton's was full of thousands of shoppers at every hour of the day. You were supposed to enter through Eaton's. It doesn't sound as though they're serious enough about its future as a retail mall to bother reconfiguring it at this stage.

Yes, good point. It has never really been the same since Eaton's closed. The last time it functioned as a normal retail mall would be back in the mid 90s before the retailers all gradually left as Eaton's slowly withered away.

I recall the landlords gave Eaton Place a decent renovation around 1994 or so, and for a while it was in pretty good shape.

[cheswick]

Originally Posted by esquire

Yes, good point. It has never really been the same since Eaton's closed. The last time it functioned as a normal retail mall would be back in the mid 90s before the retailers all gradually left as Eaton's slowly withered away.

I recall the landlords gave Eaton Place a decent renovation around 1994 or so, and for a while it was in pretty good shape.

They just did a reno in the past year or two. It does look fairly modern inside. Something that portage place is severely lacking.

[esquire]

Originally Posted by cheswick

They just did a reno in the past year or two. It does look fairly modern inside. Something that portage place is severely lacking.

They did a reno and it looks good now, but retail is almost extinct in there. It's down to restaurants and neighbourhood strip-mall type services. The mid-90s reno actually brought in retailers... I'm pretty sure they had Winnipeg's first Eddie Bauer store in there, and possibly other first-to-market stores.

I agree that Portage Place is at a point where it is in need of an overhaul. In particular the food court, it's really getting run down.

[Urban recluse]

The amount of space available is crazy. According to Triovest, there are 150,000 shoppers who visit Cityplace every week. So, why does the mall have so much space still available? Given that the renovations were recently completed, should we expect to hear about new stores opening? Does it need a major rebranding? More exterior signage? I could see a Winners located there. Portage Place I suspect will continue to be transformed into medical offices, special services, offices, etc. Columbus Ohio is a good example: it once boasted a massive downtown mall with high end retailers. The mall has since been demolished, replaced by green space, a park, performance stage, etc.

[oftheMoon]

Originally Posted by Urban recluse

The amount of space available is crazy. According to Triovest, there are 150,000 shoppers who visit Cityplace every week. So, why does the mall have so much space still available? Given that the renovations were recently completed, should we expect to hear about new stores opening? Does it need a major rebranding? More exterior signage? I could see a Winners located there.

The foodcourt is a madhouse particularly over the lunch hour. Rexall is always lined up at least 6 deep with 3 or 4 cashiers open. That is how cityplace is surviving.

But since retail is failing there and has been for years, as much as TNS looks amazing, the amount of new retail space in there is concerning. What will make retail more successful one block over to the west?

Maybe if retail can succeed at TNS it will bleed over to cityplace, but not until that happens. In the meantime, if some new retail was going to come downtown, why on earth would they locate in cityplace when there's a brand new game in town next door?

Time will tell I suppose.

[Urban recluse]

That's it: time. If I were a reporter, I would have attempted to interview Cityplace management for their take on the effect of TNS.

[BAKGUY]

Originally Posted by esquire

Asia Gifts, Liquor Mart, Aura... there is a bit of an exodus from Cityplace going on now. There's going to be hardly anything left besides restaurants. I wonder if they're lining new tenants for when TNS is built?

I doubt we'll ever see the return of the days when Cityplace was a legitimate mall, but it would be nice if there were some retailers as opposed to converting it all to restaurants and MPI office space.

Called Eaton Place, we are the only major city where we were ashamed of our past and The Eaton name? why? Other Eaton Centres are still thriving?
People knew where Eaton Place was, not so much with City Place..
So, we renamed it and u c an see it failed...
Also to be fair when the annex part of Eaton Place was demolished to make way for MTS centre, we lost almost half the retailers and spaces.. 45 or more...

[BigG]

I think City Place should consider opening up their retail with individual entrances on the Hargrave St. side in order to be more inviting to people who will be living, working and playing at TNS.

https://www.google.ca/maps/@49.89187...2!8i6656?hl=en

This is what they would open up to:

http://www.truenorthsquare.com/wp-co...s/Hargrave.jpg

It would take care of the potential dead zone on that strip of Hargrave.