Quote:
Originally Posted by pegcity
CORYB- Just for fun, if you were in charge of the Sears location at Polo Park, what would you do with the space? And just for fun, what do you think/predict will actually happen? Drop some names that you think will eventually land at Polo Park.
Some Canadian malls are going the food market/hall route, can you see CF Polo Park doing that? Maybe in the Forever 21 location?
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Pretty sure I have covered this one before.
My guess, given the configuration on the Sears space over two floors with limited potential for mall access is as follows.
1. Split the Sears space in half along the north-south (Sears-Bay) line.
2. The section closest to Portage Ave would become Simons, potentially retaining the west side parking lot entrance and escalators in place. A new mall entrance to the first floor space would be added opposite Sports Check.
3. Some of the small stalls along the main floor Sears wall would be pushed further into the Sears space making them more a normal mall depth.
4. The existing main floor Sears entrance would be used for a mini-anchor of such, lets call it Microsoft Store to put a name to it.
5. Similar treatment to the second floor Sears entrance but lets call this split of the space Uniqlo.
6. What about that Sears loading dock area you say? How about some super premium heated and covered underground public parking. Keep in mind the space is roughly the same size as the Sears above ground.
I also strongly thing Zara is another contender. They are everywhere in other markets. Sort of covered that in the Forever 21 post though as that is going to be a tougher spot to carve up so ideally they want a single tenant wanting the 37,000 sq ft there. The blended Zara/Zara Home could reasonable cover that. That said there isn't a hybrid Zara/Zara Home yet and the Home store is a fairly new subbrand for them. That said CF is an important landlord and would be in a position to cut a deal to make that space work. It is too bad H&M is positioned where they are in the mall as it limits opening up a new U section like when Zellers left the second floor.
And the food hall? I don't think it will happen. The challenge is, in general terms, the seating area is not a high revenue generator. The dropped height of the Sears second floor also means they cannot smoothly transition the existing food court into the space.
One final long shot guess -- if they cannot land new, larger tenants to move into the Sears space Apple, Victoria Secrets or long shot H&M could relocate to the former Sears space to free up different space in the mall that is easier to split into smaller stores.
I was surprised Outlets opened without a Coach store. I would be even more shocked if when the drywall dust settles at Polo Park at Simons isn't finally in the mall. It has been close to a decade of them saying Winnipeg is on there list when the right opportunity happens. That said there isn't a much better opportunity than this and its clear CF is going to let the space sit for two years cause they have the right fit lined up.
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