Winnipeg Retail

[CoryB]

Welcome to the forum vjose32.

I think the reason Target passed on the Northgate Zeller's was the lack of parking. The front lot would often be close to capacity when it was a Zeller's and Target is likely looking for larger locations. There is the long rumored retail development for McPhillips and Murray (future Chief Pegaus) that Walmart originally looked at before settling on Court that could be a good fit for Target.

The will be interesting to see what happens with the Lelia Safeway. The high profile location with a large footprint would seem like it will be of interest to other stores looking to establish a presence in the area.

Looking forward to what you might be able to share about the Polo Park redevelopment.

[Biff]

Originally Posted by CoryB

Looking forward to what you might be able to share about the Polo Park redevelopment.

I have see what the near finished corridor looks like and it is going to be very nice. They have installed new skylights and the store fit-ups wil be starting soon.

[vjose32]

Originally Posted by Biff

I have see what the near finished corridor looks like and it is going to be very nice. They have installed new skylights and the store fit-ups wil be starting soon.

Well I can confirm the new H&M on the main floor, its taken over 2 stores, not sure which and a big area behind them.

Also heard there will be a Swarovski, Zumiez, and I can't recall what else, haven't been on the second much, but I did see some of the new corridor and skylights and it looks good. I'm guessing it wraps right around to the other side of the mall but i'm not sure, didn't get that far, lol.

I'll keep you posted.

Cory, I can understand now about Target at Northgate, though nothing prevented them from tearing it down and building a first floor parkade like they are doing at Polo Park, well nothing other than cost I guess. I do know that the mall once housed both a Zellers and Kmart and parking was never an issue that I recall and since Zellers was redone they did increase the parking capacity somewhat.

Anyway if you have more info on this development on McPhillips let me know, i'm interested. Though I wonder if they will wait til Chief Peguis is built, hopefully not as we don't when that will happen.

Maybe they can put in a London Drugs where Safeway is, we do need one at this end of the town and it's been forever since they opened the one store and nothing else.

[Biff]

^^^ I forget some of the others I have heard but I know that the Disney Store is going across the new hallway from Eddie Bauer.

[h0twired]

Originally Posted by Biff

^^^ I forget some of the others I have heard but I know that the Disney Store is going across the new hallway from Eddie Bauer.

Anthropologie is another store going in there.

[CoryB]

Zumiez in Polo Park is in the wing between Sears and centre court on the second floor, not the Zeller's reno.

In terms of a possible Northgate redevelopment, the only viable option would seem to be to remove most of the existing structure and build a new store set to the back property line. If you go far enough back There was Kmart, Zellers (Gambles) and a strip mall with an enclosed walkway. The strip mall stopped before the Kmart started. The Zellers always faced south while the Kmart faced towards McPhillips. Kmart and Zellers were both only accessible from the parking lot.

At some point in the 1980s a mirror of the enclosed strip mall was added on top of the original parking lot and a additional two sided mall leg was created long the front of the Zellers store. This made the available parking very small. At some point in the early 2000s following the closure of the Kmart the Zellers wing was demolished and they went back to a parking lot entrance.

The level of renovation the site would need to be suitable for most large tenants is relatively high. Further, the location near Chief Peagus Trail will be significantly higher profile and has more potential to pull in people from Riverbend and possibly even North Kildonan. Not sure where it is at in the planning process as it was discussed some time back on the thread as a possible Costco location. It is possible Costco and Target will both end up in the same development.

[esquire]

^ Northgate Mall was expanded in the mid-80s into a standard enclosed mall as you point out, right before the economy took a turn for the worse. The mall never really reached its potential.

I would expect that eventually, the owner will give it the Unicity treatment - they'll demolish the mall and replace it with a few big boxes set back against the eastern edge of the property. There appears to be decent demand for commercial space along McPhillips, but just not in that outdated community mall format.

[CoryB]

Originally Posted by esquire

I would expect that eventually, the owner will give it the Unicity treatment - they'll demolish the mall and replace it with a few big boxes set back against the eastern edge of the property. There appears to be decent demand for commercial space along McPhillips, but just not in that outdated community mall format.

I am not certain but I think the old Loblaws that now contains SportsCheck and other stores actually has a separate owner from the Northgate mall. I think this ownership structure further complicates any redevelopment of the site.

[bomberguy]

Originally Posted by h0twired

I still have yet to figure out why Winnipeggers are so crazy over H&M.

It is a pretty crappy store. Basically a mix between Old Navy and Le Chateau.

Hater, H&M is awesome!!!!

[1ajs]

^^ not really i find the quaility no different then that of giant tiger

[SpongeG]

its not meant to last - they do have some better quality lines though and you pay double the trendy stuff

[CoryB]

H&M is one of the "fast fashion" chains meaning they rush to get on-trend clothing into stores at relatively affordable prices. As there is always another trend right around the corner for which they will again have clothes to sell you it is well documented durability of their clothing is not a top priority.

[Prairie boy]

Regardless of individual preferences, H&M is extremely popular, and the city should act to lure such retailers downtown. H&M along Portage would do wonders in attracting more retail downtown. Who would not want to see this along Portage:


http://www.universaldesignstudio.com/projects/retail/

A Joe Fresh store in the Exchange, say along Princess, could be amazing, such as the one is on Granville:


Courtesy Toronto Star

[Riverman]

Downtown retail is done. Get over ti.

[esquire]

Originally Posted by Riverman

Downtown retail is done. Get over ti.

I can only agree, at least in the broad sense (leaving out smaller niche players like the ones in the Exchange).

You'd probably have to raise the typical $/psf by several orders of magnitude before you'd ever see anything like that H&M Tokyo flagship in downtown Winnipeg.

[Prairie boy]

Downtown retail, nay, upper end downtown retail can still exist. What needs to happen is the NDP must to be removed from Broadway, and a business friendly party get elected. The tax environment for business needs to be completely overhauled to increase investment in the province (mainly Winnipeg) to attract the higher paying jobs that will in turn attract and retain the people currently moving to Alberta who are the ones supporting the incredible revitalization of downtown Edmonton. The image of an economically depressed city is one that Winnipeg must shed.

[2lunds]

I wonder if this new(er) retail style of big-box stores in shared (exterior) parking lots will eventually urge people back to a downtown shopping experience (with covered parking/skywalks etc)? Personally, I hate having to walk outside in -30 to 7 different stores, dropping my packages in the car and starting it up to move it 200-300 feet every time. I was really surprised when this style of shopping started to take off here - it just doesn't seem like a good fit for our climate.

[CoryB]

I wonder how heavily subsidized rent would have to be to get something like a H&M store in Portage Place that fronted onto Portage Ave. Would making rent before utilities be effectives zero even be enough?

[Prairie boy]

A consultant from NYC released a report a few years ago vis-à-vis a retail strategy to attract retailers downtown. Has the city acted on any of those recommendations? Probably not!

[h0twired]

Retail will NOT bring people downtown. People working and living in the downtown will do more for downtown growth than an H&M or ANY retailer for that matter.

The more offices you have downtown, the less parking there will be. When there is less parking more people get frustrated with the cost of parking or rush hour congestion and decide to invest in a condo or find an apartment to avoid the commute. When there are more people living downtown the demand for restaurants, pubs and stores increases. It also raises property values in surrounding areas and as areas gentrify the riff-raff gets displaced.

This environment makes it more attractive to retail investment.

Sure you can give financial incentives now to retailers, but that would be a HUGE waste of money. A store without customers can shut down in a matter of months... they don't have the time to wait around for years waiting for people to move in just because they were given a bag of money from the government now.

For the time being Portage Place will be a "services" mall. One with a food court and shops that cater to lunchtime shoppers from the surrounding offices. When more people move in, things will change.