Canadian Retail Thread

[miketoronto]

I don't shop at Walmart, so I have not been in them to much. But how can the people really look that different when Walmart is located in every regular suburban area of this country??????

[IntotheWest]

...but you don't HAVE to, right? :-)

Ah...the joys of small town. For somethings, I like it. But, for shopping? Yeah, I do have to. Whether its for cheap kids clothes (under 2 years old), or certain "electronics" (computer-related stuff, DVDs, some CDs, etc...), there's really no other choice. I travel to the city about once a month - if that. So, I may happen to go to Shawnessy's "big box" area.

I do try to go to Home Hardware, Staples, or even Canadian Tire out here as well...just sometimes, you have to go to Wart-mart.

I never did until I moved out here.

[Denscity]

I'm hopin' and prayin' my city doesn't get a Walmart. Nelson 30 minutes northeast has one and Trail 25 minutes southwest has one already so is my city safe?

[Acajack]

I don't shop at Walmart, so I have not been in them to much. But how can the people really look that different when Walmart is located in every regular suburban area of this country??????

Every place and has both ugly and good looking people. For some reason, many of the ugly-looking people in most places seem to congregate at places like Wal-Mart, the cheapest fast-food joints, etc.

[MolsonExport]

http://img133.imageshack.us/img133/6715/79524918kn.jpg

Find of the century. Gold.

[harls]

I don't shop at Walmart, so I have not been in them to much.

That doesn't make sense..

[crooked rain]

I'm hopin' and prayin' my city doesn't get a Walmart. Nelson 30 minutes northeast has one and Trail 25 minutes southwest has one already so is my city safe?

Their opening everywhere. We went through Pincher Creek, AB last weekend and their was one there. It is not a large town, so I was surprised to see it so I think they will move into any town that is a reasonable size. They seems to be moving into smaller centres in Canada like they used to did in the U.S.

[christopherj]

Their opening everywhere. We went through Pincher Creek, AB last weekend and their was one there. It is not a large town, so I was surprised to see it so I think they will move into any town that is a reasonable size. They seems to be moving into smaller centres in Canada like they used to did in the U.S.

Yep. Last year they opened one in Wainwright, Alberta. I'm not even sure 10,000 people live there?

[mersar]

Yep. Last year they opened one in Wainwright, Alberta. I'm not even sure 10,000 people live there?

Pincher Creek is under 4,000. Wainwright is closer to 6,000. Biggest reason they are moving to these types of towns is that there isn't much within a close distance so its an easy market to enter.

[Rusty van Reddick]

American Apparel is opening a new store on 10 St in Kensington (Calgary)- it's where Lula Interiors was, and it's a much smaller space, maybe 1/4 the floor space, of their 17th Ave store.

[kirjtc2]

Last year Wal-Mart opened a store in Woodstock, NB, population 5000.

They've already had a store 15 km away in Houlton, Maine, population 6000, for 20 years.

They'd probably open across the street from each other if they could.

[christopherj]

They'd probably open across the street from each other if they could.

Soon they'll be like Starbucks. :yuck:

[miketoronto]

I am not happy with these large retailers under normal conditions let alone at the moment.
Walmart did the classic thing here in Scarborough and opened two stores near my house, and than they closed one down and left it vacant for years. The mall is finally getting rebuilt. But Walmart is famous for opening a number of stores within close proximity to each other and than closing one of them down.

And the lattest is LOBLAWS. We had a wicked LOBLAWS store in a mall that at one time was in decline. LOBLAWS moved in and the whole mall renovated and it is doing great. Now LOBLAWS built a SUPERSTORE about 5 minutes north at the town centre, and they closed the nice normal LOBLAWS store we had. Now everyone has to go to this mega supercentre, and reacation from the neighbourhood is not good. I have talked with one person who likes the new superstore. Everyone else is wishing the old LOBLAWS was still here.

These chains are getting a little to powerfull and oversaturated now. I am now limiting my shopping at LOBLAWS also, since they pulled this crap. And in addition they have changed the name to LOBLAW, so that they can be considered a new company and not have unionized workers or pay the higher wages they use to. Actually we know a guy who lost his job because LOBLAWS did not want to pay his high wage, so they changed to LOBLAW and fired all the people making a good wage. When I hear stuff like that I just have no respect for these companies anymore.

It is amazing the stir Walmart causes though. We have had discount stores for decades, like WOOLWORTHS, WOOLCO, etc. And these stores did not seem to have as bad a rap as Walmart. Infact Walmart replaced WOOLCO stores here in Toronto.

[crooked rain]

Mike, Walmart replaced Woolco everywhere. Woolco was a dying chain and by the time Walmart took it over, the stores were run down, the merchandise was garbage and it was on the verge on bankruptcy. The recession of the early 90s nearly killed it.

[SpongeG]

went thursday night and it was crazy busy many non shoppers just gawking

surprised to see so many people buying flat screens

went again Friday - had a bunch of stuff in the cart - than the lights dimmed and flickered than you could hear people go "uh oh" and than it stopped and lights were somewhat normal

but the store was darker as most of the lights never came back on - it seemed like every 3 or 4th light just strobed/flickered and half the freezers/fridge coolers lost their lights and never came back on

so we shoppped for a good 10 minutes when an announcement came over the PA asking customers to proceed to the exit sorry for the inconvenience - most people just ignored the message - my friend was oblivious has he looked at stuff and i said we have to leabe and he was like what? i said they want everyone to leave the store - the message kept saying leave the store - so halfway to the door we abandon our cart and than the alarms started going off and people took it seriously - finally - and seemed like a rush to the doors now - so we get outside and wait than some fire trucks arrived and we stayed there - than they cleared all the store employees to the one corner of the parking lot which was chaos as people were leaving in droves

so than we stood by the store for a good 10 minutes when someone said move away from the store please - so we got herded into the parking lot - where we waited a while than it started to rain so a bunch of people went to the smoking shelter but were told to move away from the store so they cleared out the shopping cart shelters fro people to stay dry

anyway after waiting around a good 40-45 minutes staff started telling the customers to leave as they were not sure when they would open

so the people that were waiting were the ones who had parked underground and told not to go down there during whatever was going on

so they said it was ok to go to your car underground so we did that and left finally

so it seems there was some kind of fire - some say an electrical fire in the store - some said smoke was coming out of the tim hortons thats inside the store

so they must have lost a lot of money today in the thousands - if you imagine every car spending $100 at least and just leaving empty

one woman we saw had been buying an xbox and a bunch of other pricey items

anyway pretty crazy down there

stores pretty nice - i don't know if its a lot more but the produce and meat and dairy is large and priced quite well and there is lots of room and you don't feel cramped like the other stores

[SpongeG]

American Apparel is opening a new store on 10 St in Kensington (Calgary)- it's where Lula Interiors was, and it's a much smaller space, maybe 1/4 the floor space, of their 17th Ave store.

they are all over here - big and small

they opened two stores on Robson street a while back - with a TNA store in between them

they are both very small - one does womens the other does mens and pets :haha:

never really see anyone inside them

[MolsonExport]

Walmart is bad. Woolco was much, much worse. Even shittier than K-mart (and that is pretty hard to beat on the shittiness scale). The dingiest stores, Evar!

[SpongeG]

did we we ever have woolworths here?


i vaguely recall going to them when i was a kid

[kirjtc2]

did we we ever have woolworths here?


i vaguely recall going to them when i was a kid

Yeah, they closed at the same time they sold Woolco to Wal-Mart.

They had more downtown/small-town locations than Woolco.

I remember being dragged to way too many of those stores when I was a kid in the 80s-early 90s. Anyone else remember The Met?

[artvandelay]

Speaking of Walmart, they got a new logo:
http://a248.e.akamai.net/f/248/16813/7d/www.walmart.com/i/catalog/modules/G0040/walmart_logo2.gif

They have really been expanding into smaller markets lately, a Supercentre just opened in Sylvan Lake. I hope it doesn't kill the local grocery store downtown.

[Policy Wonk]

American Apparel is opening a new store on 10 St in Kensington (Calgary)- it's where Lula Interiors was, and it's a much smaller space, maybe 1/4 the floor space, of their 17th Ave store.

I am under the impression American Apparel is garbage, true?

[SpongeG]

its pricey for what it is because its made in downtown LA and not poor paying china

but all it seems to be when i have looked is plain tshirts, leggings, sweatshirts, hoodies, underwear

all plain

quality is apparently good

but style wise its nothing impressive - really plain and boring basics

[SpongeG]

Canadian Tires Erects New Concept Stores for Rural Areas

Canadian Tire is developing new one-stop shopping concept stores specifically for rural markets, including 18,000 sq. ft of retail space, plus 5,300 sq. ft. dedicated to Mark’s Work Wearhouse brands, a 7,000 sq. ft. Garden Centre, 13,000 outdoor compound, and an on-site Canadian Tire bas gar.

The first of two such stores just opened in Heart, ON and Deep River, ON (gas bars are still to be added), and mark the first of four test locations planned to be opened this year. The other two, scheduled for fall openings, will be located in Athabasca and Cochrane.

"We have identified approximately 100 communities across Canada that we believe to be potential sites for this concept," says Mike Arnett, President, Canadian Tire Retail. "By leveraging the strengths of our interrelated businesses, we are able to bring this new concept to these markets enabling customers in small towns to get everything they need for their car, home and leisure activities conveniently under one roof."

These new concept stores will either replace existing larger-format Canadian Tire stores, or become new locations. Canadian Tire expects each new or revamped location, which is no doubt more cost-effective to the company, to generate $5.9 million annually.

http://www.marketnews.ca/news_detail.asp?nid=3912

[phesto]

I am under the impression American Apparel is garbage, true?

People seem to either love or hate this store.

I love American Apparel t-shirts; they fit well, and their quality is superior to any other t-shirt I’ve ever owned. I’ve had some for a few years that are still going strong. I think all of their clothes are similar quality. In that sense I don’t think it’s pricey at all seeing as you can get cheaper plain t’s that look the same at H&M, Walmart etc, but the quality is usually shitty, and they don’t last as long.

Of course, the downside as SpongeG mentioned, is that they’ve never really deviated from the plain and simple look, which many find boring. They do actually have some stuff now with stripes, patterns etc in there, but not much.

While they are meticulous about keeping every size and colour in stock, it's not really a browsing type store since there is usually nothing new to look at.

[kirjtc2]

Just what we need...more corporate consolidation.

http://canadianpress.google.com/article/ALeqM5hlRpxJRHtycfIWrag68lqa0geJLA

Metro name to be largest in Canada with consolidation of five banners in Ontario

48 minutes ago

MONTREAL — Venerable grocery banners Dominion and A&P will soon disappear as Canada's third-largest surpermarket chain, Metro Inc. (TSX:MRU.A), plans to consolidate five store names in Ontario under the Metro moniker, born 47 years ago in Quebec.

Metro will become the most common supermarket name in Canada, boasting 376 stores in Quebec and Ontario, after 158 stores in Canada's largest province are converted over the next 15 months.

Metro will have 376 stores in Quebec and Ontario, after 158 stores in Canada's largest province are converted over the next 15 months.

The move supplants IGA as the most common grocery banner, although that chain's stores are owned and operated by different companies across the country.

Metro announced Thursday it will spend $200 million to rebrand its stores in Ontario, where the company had been operating under the A&P, Dominion, Loeb, The Barn and Ultra banners.

"For Quebecers, it's good news to see a banner that we know well establish itself in Ontario to become the largest banner in Ontario," CEO Eric La Fleche said in an interview.

The change will see the disappearance from Canada's retail landscape two venerable grocery names: Dominion and A&P. The conversion will start next month with the rebranding of 49 Dominion stores in Toronto.

Hamilton will then lose The Barn, followed by the removal of Ultra in Guelph and Burlington.

By the end of 2008, 60 stores will be converted. Loeb will disappear early next year before A&P is converted by the end of 2009.

The long-awaited change comes as the Ontario grocery market is in the midst of intense competition, which has driven down profits as chains have been forced to lower their prices to win or keep customers.

Besides pressure from the two biggest national grocers, Loblaws (TSX:L) and Sobey's (TSX:EMP.A), Metro faces challenges from U.S.-based department store operator Wal-Mart and Toronto-based Shoppers Drug Mart (TSX:SC), which have both increased their grocery sales.

"We think that in Ontario we will be stronger with one banner than with five and we think that the $200 million that we will invest in our stores will help us to better compete in that market," said La Fleche, who recently took over from longtime CEO Pierre Lessard.

The only banner not included in the change is Food Basics, which competes in the discount food segment of the grocery market. There are also no immediate plans to open the Metro Plus banner or Brunet in-store pharmacies in larger Ontario stores.

No store closures are forecast.

The banner consolidation will produce savings by allowing the company to publish one flyer and market one store name.

"I think you get more bang for your buck under one name. You can build better equity and more brand awareness across the province and have a more consistent shopping experience across the province," he said.

While some stores will only be "refreshed," others will receive major upgrades. Metro's private label brands Selection and Irresistibles will continue to be added to store shelves.

Newly stylized Metro signs will be added to Quebec locations over the next two to three years.

La Fleche said the name on the store is secondary for consumers than the entire shopping experience.

"They want to buy from people they know and trust. They want to buy good product and they want fair price. That's what we're all about and this move is about making that even better."

The banner consolidation comes nearly three years after Metro purchased A&P Canada. It recently conducted extensive consumer research and considered maintaining two banner names.

The decision was delayed a few months as the company tackled internal IT systems conversions and intense market pressures in Ontario.

"We had a lot of work to do to set the foundation and be in a position to do these kinds of moves," La Fleche said.

Operating under one banner could make it easier for Metro to eventually expand operations but the company said there are no immediate plans for acquisitions in Western Canada.

Metro hopes the changes will improve its financial results, but wouldn't disclose targets.

In its financial statement Thursday, the chain reported it earned $92.6 million for the latest quarter, up 3.7 per cent from $89.3 million for the corresponding 2007 period. Sales jumped just under one per cent to $3.37 billion from $3.34 billion for the corresponding quarter last year. Excluding decreased sales of tobacco products, sales were up 1.5 per cent over last year.

Earnings per share rose to 82 cents compared with 77 cents last year, an increase of 6.5 per cent.

"We resolved the issues associated with our new information systems in Ontario and achieved good performance in our Quebec operations," said La Fleche.

With annual sales of nearly $11 billion and a workforce exceeding 65,000, Metro is Quebec's second biggest grocer and a growing food retailer in Ontario.

On the Toronto Stock Exchange, Metro shares rose $1.33 to $26.77, a gain of 5.23 per cent.

[ErickMontreal]

Just what we need...more corporate consolidation.

http://canadianpress.google.com/article/ALeqM5hlRpxJRHtycfIWrag68lqa0geJLA



No store closures are forecast therefore no lay-off... whats wrong there ?

[Bucolic Urbanity]

Walmart is a soul-destroying experience and I cannot fathom being SO poor that you'd have to shop there. I'd sell a kidney first.

I'm not a big fan of WalMart but that is a rather condescending statement about the folks who shop at WalMart on a regular basis. There are many poor folks out there who have no problem shopping there.

[MolsonExport]

Just what we need...more corporate consolidation.

http://canadianpress.google.com/article/ALeqM5hlRpxJRHtycfIWrag68lqa0geJLA

Metro name to be largest in Canada with consolidation of five banners in Ontario

48 minutes ago

MONTREAL — Venerable grocery banners Dominion and A&P will soon disappear as Canada's third-largest surpermarket chain, Metro Inc. (TSX:MRU.A), plans to consolidate five store names in Ontario under the Metro moniker, born 47 years ago in Quebec.

Metro will become the most common supermarket name in Canada, boasting 376 stores in Quebec and Ontario, after 158 stores in Canada's largest province are converted over the next 15 months.

Metro will have 376 stores in Quebec and Ontario, after 158 stores in Canada's largest province are converted over the next 15 months.

The move supplants IGA as the most common grocery banner, although that chain's stores are owned and operated by different companies across the country.

Metro announced Thursday it will spend $200 million to rebrand its stores in Ontario, where the company had been operating under the A&P, Dominion, Loeb, The Barn and Ultra banners.

"For Quebecers, it's good news to see a banner that we know well establish itself in Ontario to become the largest banner in Ontario," CEO Eric La Fleche said in an interview.

The change will see the disappearance from Canada's retail landscape two venerable grocery names: Dominion and A&P. The conversion will start next month with the rebranding of 49 Dominion stores in Toronto.

Hamilton will then lose The Barn, followed by the removal of Ultra in Guelph and Burlington.

By the end of 2008, 60 stores will be converted. Loeb will disappear early next year before A&P is converted by the end of 2009.

The long-awaited change comes as the Ontario grocery market is in the midst of intense competition, which has driven down profits as chains have been forced to lower their prices to win or keep customers.

Besides pressure from the two biggest national grocers, Loblaws (TSX:L) and Sobey's (TSX:EMP.A), Metro faces challenges from U.S.-based department store operator Wal-Mart and Toronto-based Shoppers Drug Mart (TSX:SC), which have both increased their grocery sales.

"We think that in Ontario we will be stronger with one banner than with five and we think that the $200 million that we will invest in our stores will help us to better compete in that market," said La Fleche, who recently took over from longtime CEO Pierre Lessard.

The only banner not included in the change is Food Basics, which competes in the discount food segment of the grocery market. There are also no immediate plans to open the Metro Plus banner or Brunet in-store pharmacies in larger Ontario stores.

No store closures are forecast.

The banner consolidation will produce savings by allowing the company to publish one flyer and market one store name.

"I think you get more bang for your buck under one name. You can build better equity and more brand awareness across the province and have a more consistent shopping experience across the province," he said.

While some stores will only be "refreshed," others will receive major upgrades. Metro's private label brands Selection and Irresistibles will continue to be added to store shelves.

Newly stylized Metro signs will be added to Quebec locations over the next two to three years.

La Fleche said the name on the store is secondary for consumers than the entire shopping experience.

"They want to buy from people they know and trust. They want to buy good product and they want fair price. That's what we're all about and this move is about making that even better."

The banner consolidation comes nearly three years after Metro purchased A&P Canada. It recently conducted extensive consumer research and considered maintaining two banner names.

The decision was delayed a few months as the company tackled internal IT systems conversions and intense market pressures in Ontario.

"We had a lot of work to do to set the foundation and be in a position to do these kinds of moves," La Fleche said.

Operating under one banner could make it easier for Metro to eventually expand operations but the company said there are no immediate plans for acquisitions in Western Canada.

Metro hopes the changes will improve its financial results, but wouldn't disclose targets.

In its financial statement Thursday, the chain reported it earned $92.6 million for the latest quarter, up 3.7 per cent from $89.3 million for the corresponding 2007 period. Sales jumped just under one per cent to $3.37 billion from $3.34 billion for the corresponding quarter last year. Excluding decreased sales of tobacco products, sales were up 1.5 per cent over last year.

Earnings per share rose to 82 cents compared with 77 cents last year, an increase of 6.5 per cent.

"We resolved the issues associated with our new information systems in Ontario and achieved good performance in our Quebec operations," said La Fleche.

With annual sales of nearly $11 billion and a workforce exceeding 65,000, Metro is Quebec's second biggest grocer and a growing food retailer in Ontario.

On the Toronto Stock Exchange, Metro shares rose $1.33 to $26.77, a gain of 5.23 per cent.

Quite an interesting turn of events. I remember how Loblaw's attempts to move into the Quebec market (by acquiring Steinberg, later Provigo) were long thwarted by various provincial governments. Personally, I don't give a rat's ass where the headquarters of my favourite grocery store is located. Which is good, because my favourite by a landslide is COSTCO!

Bloblaw's has gone right down the toilet over the past 2 years. Expensive, and fill of PC junk couches, furniture, etc.

Sluuperstore (part of the Blob) has great prices, but rotten produce. And you can fire a cannon down any aisle of the general merchandise section, and not hit anyone.

A&P: "We're fresh obsessed". NOT! The produce was fresh way back around the time that Abe Lincoln was president. They are, however, obsessed with providing long lineups, and rude cashiers.

Metro: Arguably has the best weekly flyer deals. But their regular prices are a bit high, and their housebrand (Merite) sucks the bag.

Provigo: expensive. Really expensive. Except they often have nice deals on beer (which is one of the things that I miss most about my home province of Quebec).

Walfart: The Walfart superstores are the worst of the lot. Some of the deals are amazing. But then, you pay more than money when you shop at the Wal-of-Farts. You pay with your eyes, on account of the ugly customers. You pay with your blood pressure, on account of (a) the intercom system constantly going off with some screetching voice beseeching customer assistance in the electronics aisle, (b) the insane crowds, the extremely long and narrow aisles, (c) the asinine way that people navigate the parking lots, (d) the only things really offering a great price deal are almost always super-processed junk food.

I reckon that COSTCO gets about half of my total retail spending, across the board. And with executive membership, I usually get a voucher that exceeds the price of my annual fee.

[osirisboy]

Yeah but that prototype has morphed into fat African American woman and fat Filipinas wearing fake Gucci sunglasses. It's all bad. Walmart is a soul-destroying experience and I cannot fathom being SO poor that you'd have to shop there. I'd sell a kidney first.

wow you are a very narrow-minded person. I find your statement personally insulting.

[neilson]

Quite an interesting turn of events. I remember how Loblaw's attempts to move into the Quebec market (by acquiring Steinberg, later Provigo) were long thwarted by various provincial governments. Personally, I don't give a rat's ass where the headquarters of my favourite grocery store is located. Which is good, because my favourite by a landslide is COSTCO!

Bloblaw's has gone right down the toilet over the past 2 years. Expensive, and fill of PC junk couches, furniture, etc.

Sluuperstore (part of the Blob) has great prices, but rotten produce. And you can fire a cannon down any aisle of the general merchandise section, and not hit anyone.

A&P: "We're fresh obsessed". NOT! The produce was fresh way back around the time that Abe Lincoln was president. They are, however, obsessed with providing long lineups, and rude cashiers.

Metro: Arguably has the best weekly flyer deals. But their regular prices are a bit high, and their housebrand (Merite) sucks the bag.

Provigo: expensive. Really expensive. Except they often have nice deals on beer (which is one of the things that I miss most about my home province of Quebec).

Walfart: The Walfart superstores are the worst of the lot. Some of the deals are amazing. But then, you pay more than money when you shop at the Wal-of-Farts. You pay with your eyes, on account of the ugly customers. You pay with your blood pressure, on account of (a) the intercom system constantly going off with some screetching voice beseeching customer assistance in the electronics aisle, (b) the insane crowds, the extremely long and narrow aisles, (c) the asinine way that people navigate the parking lots, (d) the only things really offering a great price deal are almost always super-processed junk food.

I reckon that COSTCO gets about half of my total retail spending, across the board. And with executive membership, I usually get a voucher that exceeds the price of my annual fee.
You forgot Sobey's and Safeway.

[SpongeG]

so what are the chains/names in various provinces?

BC:
Save on Foods
Pricesmart foods
Nesters
Urban Fare
Overwaitea
Coopers
Real Canadian Superstore
Extra Foods
Super Valu
IGA
IGA Marketplace
Safeway
Thrifty Foods
Costco

[ErickMontreal]

New-Brunswick

Sobeys
Price Shopper
Foodland
Costco
IGA
Atlantic Superstore (Loblaws)
Coop

Québec

IGA
IGA Extra
Bonichoix
Les Marchés Tradition
Metro
Metro Plus
Metro GP
Marché Richelieu
Épicerie Ami
Provigo
Loblaws
Maxi
Maxi and co
Costco
Coop
GP
GP Plus
Axep

[kirjtc2]

There are only 5 companies that either own or supply the vast majority of grocery stores in this country:

Loblaws (national)
Sobeys (national, but with a minimal presence in BC)
Metro (Quebec/Ontario)
Safeway (mostly west)
Overwaitea (BC/Alberta)

There are also the Co-ops and smaller regional players, but those 5 probably control more than 80% of the market.

[MTLskyline]

I find the worst grocery store is IGA... Everything is expired/rotten and the lineups never end...
________
CREAMPIE GANGBANG (http://www.fucktube.com/categories/456/gangbang/videos/1)

[SpongeG]

Rogers Video stores to change name to Rogers Plus

RICHMOND, B.C. — Canadian movie and video game rental chain Rogers Video will change its name to Rogers Plus by the end of the year to reflect the growing inventory of cable TV and wireless products in its stores.

The company, a division of Rogers Communications Inc.(TSX:RCI.B), said it will start the process this month and sweep across the country in a gradual change scheduled to wrap up by December.

A spokesman for the company said that all 292 Rogers Video locations will be affected.

Some Rogers Plus stores already exist, but they’re generally devoted to cell phones and other mobile technology in kiosks at malls. Those stores will continue to operate in their current form.

The change comes as Rogers Video grapples with an increasingly segmented rental industry.

The advent of both legal and illegal downloads, on-demand, rentals through the postal service, and the popularization of low-priced DVD sales have taken a chunk of the rental market and left major chains competing with “no late fee” policies and other customer incentives.

“We made the decision to go with one name so that it’s a consistent experience for customers,” said Rogers Plus spokesman Harold Simons in an interview.

Rogers video stores are “still thriving, and this is just a process where we can deliver better service.”

Simons added that movie and game rentals represent a $4 billion industry in Canada.

Rogers Video first opened for business in 1988 amidst the VHS and Beta wars, and before pay-per-view began to steal a slice of the rental pie in Canada.

Since then the company has adopted DVD, and more recently boosted the shelf space it devotes to wireless products across the country, as well as cable products in Ontario and New Brunswick.



http://winnipegsun.com/Entertainment/OtherEntertainment/2008/08/11/6418246.html

[vid]

Speaking of Wal-Mart, I went there earlier. It's more expensive than Superstore (where I usually shop; not sure why it's more expensive.) and I was in and out in ten minutes. All I got was a 2L of Pepsi, but still. The people there weren't all ugly but the store was still a mess, litter was everywhere. Superstore is pretty clean but their produce is garbage.

Thunder Bay has 11 big grocery stores, from 5 brands.

Canada Safeway, 3 locations. They've been here since the early 20s, they have a little store (>50,000sqft) in downtown Port Arthur, I worked there a short while. It's a nice store, clean, short line ups and friendly staff. I enjoyed shopping there. Working, not so much. Meat departments aren't fun.

A&P (soon to be Metro) 3 locations. Two are located within a mile of each other, the other is kind of out of the way. It's the most isolated of our big grocery stores, in terms of bus routes that lead to it. :P

Quality Market (locally owned and operated) 2 locations, including one in Downtown Fort William that is slightly smaller than the Safeway in PA.

Westfort Foods and Northwood Foods, I think both are owned by the same person? They're local, and both about as big as the average Safeway or A&P.

Real Canadian Superstore, the only grocery store in Intercity. They have a high ethnic food section, which is probably why immigrants shop there.

Now, speaking of Rogers -- in my old neighbourhood (Jumbo Gardens reprezent :rock:) there was a place called Video Network (they still have a location south of downtown PA!) and they had a location near my house. When a Chinese restaurant across the street from it closed, though, it was replaced by Rogers Videos. When the place opened, they had $1 rentals for everything. Games, new releases, etc. (This was before DVDs and fast internet. Back in 1997, I think.) But the week after Video Network closed (couldn't compete with Rogers' prices) the cost of their rentals went up to about 4$ each! I've hated them ever since.

[MolsonExport]

Rogers Video stores to change name to Rogers Plus

RICHMOND, B.C. — Canadian movie and video game rental chain Rogers Video will change its name to Rogers Plus by the end of the year to reflect the growing volume of extraneous charges that appear on customers' invoices.

“We made the decision to go with one name so that it’s a consistently bad experience for customers,” said Rogers Plus spokesman Hairold Symons in an interview.




http://winnipegsun.com/Entertainment/OtherEntertainment/2008/08/11/6418246.html:rolleyes:

[MolsonExport]

http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e308/Cassecroute/plaque.jpg

A classic.

[kirjtc2]

A very nerdy side project I've been working on these past few months...

http://www.the506.com/toronto.jpg

http://www.the506.com/montreal.jpg

http://www.the506.com/vancouver.jpg

http://www.the506.com/ottawa.jpg

http://www.the506.com/calgary.jpg

http://www.the506.com/edmonton.jpg

http://www.the506.com/winnipeg.jpg

http://www.the506.com/hamilton.jpg

http://www.the506.com/halifax.jpg

[MolsonExport]

Wow. Nice satellite maps of grocery outlets.

[IntotheWest]

Nice work on GE! Love all the content people like you add to it.

For Calgary, if you throw in the Calgary Co-op locations, it'd be complete.

[vid]

Well I just don't think Winnipeg has enough Safeways. :(

[SpongeG]

The central-area hub: An innovative new store format for Future Shop

Stores will be divided into four distinct quadrants

Future Shop has unveiled its first new store format in eight years with a feature that has taken a firm grip on the interior design world -- the central-area hub.

The consumer electronics chain spent three months and several million dollars revamping its Park Royal outlet in West Vancouver to create a 35,000-square-foot store with a hub and four retail quadrants.

The quadrants offer merchandise based on lifestyle -- Living (including appliances), Working (laptops and home office equipment), Playing (home theatre systems) and On the go (iPods, music and wireless).

The hub is where customers can ask non-commission staff how to connect systems at home for themselves.

"Technologies are changing so quickly that it can be very hard to understand how they can connect and work together," Future Shop vice-president of operations Todd Empey said.

When Future Shop asked four different architectural firms to come up with a new store design, they all came back with a central-hub concept Empey said.

Until now, Future Shop tended to design stores based on how the company bought its products -- not on how customers shopped, he said.

"We used to have computer software in the gaming and music section, but now we have computer software with computers," he said. "It's a lot easier to walk through the store now and find what you're looking for."

The company has also allocated retail space depending on the strength of a particular product line. Music industry sales are stagnant so the store's music section is small, but its appliance section is a lot bigger because Future Shop wants to double its share of the national appliance market to 10 per cent within five years.

The store also features an expanding gaming section and a 28-screen interactive "gaming tree" where customers can check out the latest video games.

The Park Royal store is one of two Western Canadian "concept" stores to open this year. A new 53,000-square-foot Future Shop location in Edmonton is scheduled to open this fall.

Empey said the retailer will get customer feedback from the two new locations and make any necessary changes before rolling out the new design across Canada.

http://a123.g.akamai.net/f/123/12465/1d/media.canada.com/idl/vasn/20080809/198846-68505.jpg
Future Shop general manager Skyler Bell shows the newly designed Park Royal South store's central-area hub.
Photograph by : Bill Keay, Vancouver Sun

http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/news/business/story.html?id=decd83ed-9430-42dc-ad16-598ec68b76c0

[SpongeG]

H&M to open flagship store

H&M's fans should mark their calendars - the cheap and chic chain's flagship store set to open on Thursday at noon.

Though the Montreal area has five H&M stores, this will be the first one to open downtown since the brand launched in Quebec in 2006. The mammoth three-floor store, located at the corner of Peel and Ste. Catherine Sts., will be chockful of H&M's signature clothing for men and women. Shoppers can expect sleek silhouettes, bohemian styles and romantic accessories at the new 15,670 square foot store. The chain is known for its collaborations with style stars like Karl Lagerfeld and Stella McCartney, and this fall Comme des Garçons' founder Rey Kawakubo will produce a sleek collection specially for the store.

To celebrate the opening of the flagship, local media, stylists and fashionistas have been invited to a Wednesday night pre-opening party. DJ-of-the-moment and Lindsay Lohan's rumoured girlfriend Samantha Ronson will spin records at the party.

The first 250 customers on Thursday will receive gift cards valued between $10 and $200.

A second downtown H&M with a stronger accent on teen fashions is set to open on Aug. 28 at 450 Ste. Catherine St. W.

H&M's flagship store opens Thursday at 1100 Ste. Catherine St. W. For information, go to www.hm.com.

http://www.canada.com/cityguides/montreal/story.html?id=9dcc9b42-39ac-4680-aaef-e4da7fb1a503

[SpongeG]

Yorkville's last grubby block gets a makeover

Cumberland Terrace is ugly, yet dreams of razing it have always failed. Now there's a plan to turn it into the next Mink Mile. The scheme's so bold it just might work, reports Kelly Grant

For a store tucked behind the Holt Renfrew Centre, discount clothier Fashion Biz couldn't be further from the haute shops of Bloor.

Ladies' slacks in lime and coral are on sale for $3.99 or three for $10 on a rack out front. Tank tops decorated with tiny guitars go for the same price. Across the way, Fashion Biz for men is displaying Hawaiian shirts and polyester jerseys.

Both Fashion Biz outlets are located in the basement of Cumberland Terrace, a low-slung indoor mall built before Yorkville's boom and left to linger like dirt beneath the neighbourhood's newly manicured fingernails.

"It's pretty sad," says Briar de Lange, general manager of the Yorkville-Bloor Business Improvement Area and a former retail manager at Cumberland Terrace. "[In parts of the Terrace] they've really only been able to keep the lights on."

Finally, there's a plan to bulldoze the mall: The property's owners want to transform the south side of Cumberland between Yonge and Bay into a sparkling retail promenade topped with luxury townhouses and a pair of condo towers, all designed by architect-on-the-rise Patrick Fejér of Toronto firm Bregman + Hamann.

If approved, the project would be an extreme makeover for Toronto's fashion epicentre, clearing the way for the eastward expansion of Yorkville and the northward expansion of the Holt Renfrew Centre on Bloor, a project that has not been confirmed.

"[It] has a lot of potential," says John Filipetti, vice-president of Oxford Properties Group, the site owner.

"One is the further transformation of Yorkville over time. So many of the streets in the neighbourhood now are very vibrant ... when you look at Cumberland Terrace, the design of the building does not really contribute to life on the street."

Holts won't comment on expanding its Bloor Street flagship, but Mr. Fejér's design features an underground tunnel and above-ground bridge connecting the back of the proposed development to the back of the Holt Renfrew Centre, across the Mayfair Mews laneway.

No matter what Holts decides, the new development could slake U.S. retailers' thirst for generous storefronts near Bloor, says John Crombie, senior managing director and national retail director for Cushman & Wakefield LePage.

"Apple's been on the street looking for a large chunk, Crate & Barrel's been on the street looking for a large chunk," he said. "You just can't get it."

All this doesn't mean it will be easy for Oxford - the real-estate arm of OMERS, Ontario's municipal employee pension fund - to make Mr. Fejér's vision a reality.

Cumberland Terrace has always proved immune to redevelopment. Rumours of the mall's demise have bubbled for years; proposals to raze it have been floated, then sunk.

Part of the challenge is one of the traits that makes the site attractive in the first place: the nexus of the Bloor and Yonge subway lines. Both run beneath the Terrace, making it impossible to dig underground parking garages to accommodate condo-dwellers' cars.

As well, Oxford could face resistance from those who consider the Terrace the area's last haven for independent shops. According to Mr. Crombie, Mink Mile landlords charge upwards of $300 per square foot, whereas Cumberland Street space goes for between $30 and $50 per square foot.

"The flavour of Yorkville has been disappearing," says Socrates Reppas, 58, owner of Marquis Jewellers, located in the Cumberland Terrace since 1975. "It's all condos now. The mom-and-pop stores are gone." Mr. Reppas says it will be "hard to swallow" a move after 33 years.

It won't be much easier for Bob Sagman, 60, the owner of Song & Script, a family business that specializes in Broadway recordings.

"I don't see why they need it. They don't need more condos, they don't need more office towers," says Mr. Sagman, who moved, six months ago, into the main floor of Cumberland Terrace, after rising rents forced him off Bay Street. From 1963 to 1978 his store was located on Bloor, where Williams-Sonoma's flagship is now.

"We figured [the redevelopment] was eventually going to happen," he sighed. "But we didn't think it would be right away."

As another hurdle, Oxford has to win over the city's planning mandarins.

Oxford's proposal, submitted to the city June 27 in a rezoning application, envisions a mix of large and boutique storefronts. The plan calls for an 18-storey residential tower at the corner of Yonge and Cumberland, a 45-storey tower in roughly the middle of the block, and nine luxury town homes located above the shops. (A rezoning application is necessary because both proposed towers exceed the height and density allowed in the area.) The proposal also includes an above-ground parking garage integrated into the design, masked by a façade of glass and living-plant walls.

"What we're trying to do is animate the streetscape and make it more of a vibrant pedestrian experience," said Mr. Fejér. One of his latest Toronto projects is Phase II of the MaRs Centre at College and University, now under construction.

The city won't publish its first report on the Terrace proposal until the fall. It typically takes a year to slog through rezoning, meaning work couldn't start until fall of 2009.

That's an optimistic timeline. But there's good reason to believe the city will embrace the plan. "We're thrilled that someone has come in with an application [to redevelop Cumberland Terrace]," said Paul Bain, acting manager for midtown, in Toronto's planning department. "It's been needed for a long, long time."

When Cumberland Terrace was built in the early 1970s, indoor strip malls were all the rage. Planners believed they would better attract shoppers in Canada's bitter winters.

The Terrace still boasts the fusty maroon floor tiles of that age. Its first floor is a mix of discount shops, jewellery stores and nail salons, none of which can be accessed directly from the street.

The second floor is largely empty, save for a campus of the Canadian Business College. (Mr. Filipetti says the Terrace's current vacancy rate is 10 per cent.) The basement is best known for its windowless food court and subway entrances.

While the Terrace seems frozen in time, Yorkville has gone from a hippie enclave to a luxury one.

Between 5,000 and 6,000 new condo-dwellers have flooded Yorkville in the past decade, according to Ms. de Lange. More are on the way, fat wallets in tow.

The new Four Seasons hotel-condo, the 80-storey Bazis Tower at 1 Bloor St. E. and the fledgling plan to erect more condos on the site of the Four Seasons at 21 Avenue Rd. will further boost the neighbourhood's cachet.

And that will attract more residents who shop at Holts, not Fashion Biz.

"[Redeveloping the Terrace] is only going to add to the change that we've seen in the last two decades," says Ms. de Lange. "It's been phenomenal."

Yorkville's changing face

Four Seasons Private Residences: The official groundbreaking was last month for two luxury towers - a 52-storey hotel-condo and a 26-storey tower - at the corner of Bay and Yorkville.

1 Bloor St. E.: Construction is under way at the site of the 80-storey Bazis International hotel-condo, which sparked a near-riot in the sales line last year.

21 Avenue Rd.: The current Four Seasons Hotel, this site will likely be demolished. An application is pending to build two condos: A 44-storey north tower and a 48-storey south tower.

192A Bloor St. W.: The site of a McDonald's, which just bought the land it had been leasing from the city. The move paved the way for Bazis to redevelop the northwest corner of Avenue and Bloor, but no development application has been submitted.

http://images.theglobeandmail.com/v5/images/newspaper/20080823/sectionM-188.jpg

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20080823.CUMBER23/TPStory/TPEntertainment/Ontario/

[The Jabroni]

A couple days late on this, but whatever...

---
Westfair's grocery workers set to strike

By: Carol Sanders

Updated: August 26 at 02:00 AM CDT

With the spectre of 24-hour outlets on the horizon and more pressure on a dwindling pool of labour, Manitoba's 3,000 unionized Westfair Foods Ltd. workers at Superstore and Extra Foods are preparing to strike.

On Sunday, workers across the province voted 99 per cent in favour of rejecting the company's last offer and 98 per cent in favour of strike action.

The unionized members are looking for "respect and dignity," said Blake Crothers of United Food and Commercial Workers Union Local 832.

"Members who've called in sick are told they need to bring a doctor's note in (before they can take time off)," said Local 832 representative Marie Buchan. "Or they're told 'too many people are off already. You have to come in.' They're told to suck it up," she said.

"People have gotten sick at work and told they can't leave," said Local 832 president Robert Ziegler.

Those who show up for shifts often bear the brunt of nasty customers and stressed-out supervisors, the union said.

"We've had employees harassed and inappropriately treated by customers," Ziegler added.

"Different supervisors are yelling at people and call them stupid in front of others," he said. Part of the problem is non-unionized supervisors who are working 60 and 70 hours a week and taking out their frustrations on unionized employees, he said.

The problem of staffing is only going to get worse as the company looks to extend store hours to offer more 24-hour shopping, Ziegler said. "How are you going to tell a single mom 'you have to work the 2-6 a.m. shift?' "

Ziegler said a job fair held at one of the stores on the weekend only attracted five new applicants.

The wages range from minimum wage to about $17 an hour for those who've been with the company 20 years or more, said Crothers. Those longtime employees are few, with the stores experiencing a high rate of turnover, he said.

Ziegler said contract talks are to resume today, and he's hopeful that progress will be made.

"I think it (the result of Sunday's strike vote) is a very strong, clear indication that our membership is united and that our members are not prepared to wait," he said.

The current contract expires Sept. 30.

http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/local/story/4218056p-4811339c.html
---

As an insider of this, of course, we're not really going to go on strike, but we will if we have to.

[SpongeG]

Shoppers Drug Mart unveils 'Murale'

Hollie Shaw, Financial Post
Published: Tuesday, September 02, 2008

TORONTO -- Beauty has a new name at Shoppers Drug Mart Corp. - "Murale."

The largest drug store chain in Canada has unveiled the name of its newest store concept, whose first stores will open in Ottawa and Montreal in November.

"Murale is a beauty masterpiece that will give access to the most innovative and leading beauty products, services, consultation, and advice," said Jurgen Schreiber, chief executive of Shoppers.

The company said in a statement that the name Murale "is distinctive, expressive and highly suggestive of art and beauty". Shoppers first announced that it would open stand-alone cosmetic boutiques at the annual general meeting of shareholders this year.

The stores, which will compete with standalone specialty beauty chains such as Sephora, will carry dermatological skin care and luxury beauty items and fragrances.

Shelley Rozenwald, president of Murale, noted the chain's lineup of 200-plus brands will cater to differing tastes and price points.

But Shoppers' decision to open the boutiques in addition to another new pilot concept of small pharmacy-only stores, has raised some eyebrows in the retail sector.

Opening new retail formats "suggests that Shoppers' extensive runway of expansion opportunities with its very successful large retail box format has come off track," analyst David Hartley, retail analyst at BMO Nesbitt Burns, said in a note to clients.

"Furthermore, while in very early days, the further push into the prestige cosmetics business suggests a move toward a relatively more consumer discretionary business at a moment when the economy has weakened."

http://www.financialpost.com/story.html?id=764350

[SpongeG]

Shoppers bets on beauty with Murale

Shoppers Drug Mart Corp. is preparing to launch a free-standing luxury beauty chain later this year.

The Murale stores will feature premium skin care, cosmetics and fragrances, along with expert service, for customers willing to pay for them.

"Luxury beauty isn't about price, it's about how a product makes you feel inside and out," Shelley Rozenwald, president of Murale, said in a statement.

Two Murale stores will open this year, the first in Ottawa's Place D'Orleans mall this November, followed by a flagship store in Montreal's Galerie Place Ville-Marie.

Five to seven more stores are slated to open in 2009 in major urban centres, which could include Toronto, Calgary and Vancouver, said Tammy Smitham, director of communications for Shoppers.

Shoppers is currently in lease negotiations for these stores, which will be located in enclosed malls in "high-end streetscapes," she said.

Future expansion plans will depend on the popularity of the stores opened this year and next, she added.

The stores will be between 5,000 to 8,000 square feet, and will include a pharmacist and a small pharmacy.

The move is a "natural extension" of Shoppers' strategy in Canada, David Hartley, analyst at BMO Nesbitt Burns Inc., said in a research note.

However, it also suggests opportunities in the company's highly successful big-box expansion may have now "come off track," he added.

Shoppers may also have a timing issue to contend with, as it moves into a high-end, discretionary business after the economy has weakened, said Mr. Hartley, who maintained a "market perform" rating on the stock.

Murale will feature over 200 brands, some of which are new to North America, Shoppers said in its statement.

"In developing this concept we truly had no boundaries or borders, allowing us to select the finest products and expert services in beauty," Jurgen Schreiber, president and chief executive officer of Shoppers, said in a statement.

Beauty product aficionados will have to wait until the company finishes its paperwork before finding out what those new brands are, with the first product announcements likely to start coming out next month.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20080903.RSHOPPERS03/TPStory/Business

[SSLL]

From: http://www.reportonbusiness.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20081012.wrbaker13/BNStory/Business/?page=rss&id=RTGAM.20081012.wrbaker13
_______________________
Can Richard Baker reinvent The Bay?

MARINA STRAUSS

From Monday's Globe and Mail

October 12, 2008 at 10:50 PM EDT

NEW YORK — Richard Baker, the new owner of retailer Hudson's Bay Co.,mingled with the New York fashion elite as the lights dimmed for designer Peter Som's recent show, offering opinions and taking a close look at the latest in skirts and dresses.

It's a stark contrast to previous HBC owner Jerry Zucker, who HBC insiders had a hard time picturing with fashionistas in New York.

But Mr. Baker, who made his name in real estate, knows it is time for a new approach at the struggling retailer.

“As an entrepreneur I'm not necessarily fixated on how things were done in the past,” says Mr. Baker.

“We function and we think much more like a specialty retailer rather than a department store retailer. A specialty retailer is much more nimble and willing to adjust to the environment than department stores, historically. Department stores, frankly, haven't changed a whole lot in 100 years.”

His Purchase, N.Y.-based equity firm, NRDC Equity Partners, has snapped up a string of dusty retailers, among them HBC's underperforming Bay and Zellers.

The Bay operates in the department store sector which is on the wane, squeezed for years by specialty and discount chains. Zellers struggles in a low-priced arena dominated by behemoth Wal-Mart Canada Corp.

The need for a makeover is clear: The Bay's sales per square foot are estimated at merely $142, and Zellers', $149 – a fraction of the estimated $480 at Wal-Mart Canada.

At Lord & Taylor, which also lags some of its key U.S. rivals in productivity, Mr. Baker has had some success in its efforts to return to its high end Americana roots. But the 47-store chain is feeling the pinch of tight-fisted consumers and, late last month, he unveiled a shakeup at the top ranks of his firm's $8-billion (U.S.) a year retail businesses to try to shave costs.

Still, he is pouring money into the chains in other ways, quickly distinguishing himself from Mr. Zucker, who died last spring. While the former owner had named himself CEO despite his lack of merchandising experience, the new owner has handpicked a team of seasoned merchants at the senior levels of his retailers.

And while Mr. Zucker shunned publicity and focused on more mundane, although critical, matters, such as technology to track customer demand, Mr. Baker enjoys the limelight. Now he is betting on the fragile fashion sector as an engine of growth. Last fall he set up Creative Design Studios (CDS) to develop designer lines for Lord & Taylor, now, HBC and, eventually, retailers around the world.

Mr. Baker is “looking at every one of the properties with a different viewpoint,” says Walter Loeb, a former member of HBC's board of directors and a consultant at Loeb Associates in New York. “He has new ideas. He doesn't want to keep Hudson's Bay in its present form.”

Nevertheless, “this team has taken over a not particularly healthy business,” says Marvin Traub, a former executive at Bloomingdale's who runs consultancy Marvin Traub Associates in New York. “They know and understand the challenges. It will take some time to fix them.”

What Mr. Baker looks for in retailers is faded brands that have the potential to be revived. Early this year, NRDC acquired Fortunoff, an insolvent jewellery and home décor chain. The synergies among NRDC's various retailers are tremendous, says Gilbert Harrison, chairman of New York investment bank Financo Inc., which advises Mr. Baker. So is the value of the real estate. At HBC, it is estimated to be worth $1.2-billion, according to industry insiders. That's just a little more than the equivalent purchase price of the retailer itself. Lord & Taylor's real estate was valued at $1.7-billion (U.S.) when Mr. Baker acquired the company in 2006 – about $500-million more than he bought it for.

“Initially I thought, good luck,” says Mr. Gilbert. “He's bought this in one of the most difficult retail environments that we've seen for 20 or 30 years. …

“But he's protected his downside because the basic real estate values of Lord & Taylor and, now Hudson's Bay, certainly help prevent tragedy.”

Mr. Baker likes to tell the story of buying Lord & Taylor for its real estate, and then on the way to signing the deal noticed how well the stores were performing.

Like most other U.S. retailers, Lord & Taylor has seen business slow down recently. But its transformation to appeal to the well heeled had begun even before Mr. Baker arrived. It had dropped an array of tired brands, such as Tommy Hilfiger and Nautica, and picked up trendier labels, among them Coach and Tracy Reese.

Mr. Baker encouraged the strategy of expanding and upgrading higher margin designer handbags and footwear. Ditto for denim wear and funky styles in the women's “contemporary” section under hot labels such as Free People and Diesel. “My job is to understand that we need to get the best brands in the store.”

But he also saw the opportunity to bolster margins by stocking affordable lines in the form of CDS brands, with a focus now on Black Brown 1826 men's wear line. “I thought there was a void in the market for exactly the kind of clothes that my friends and I wear, at a right price. Why should we pay $150 for a dress shirt?” he asks, holding up one for $69.

Now Mr. Baker wants to borrow a leaf from the Lord & Taylor playbook for HBC. He wants to introduce better quality products with higher margins, and plans to add his design studio merchandise to the stores early next year.

Besides the details, he sees a whole new concept for the big Bay department stores. It would entail shrinking the Bay, possibly introducing Lord & Taylor within the stores, and adding Zellers in the basement and Fortunoff jewellery departments upstairs, with office space at the top. Lord & Taylor would serve to fill a gap in the retail landscape between the Bay and carriage trade Holt Renfrew, he says. For discounter Zellers, he seems to take inspiration from Target Corp., the fashionable U.S. discounter, by putting more focus on branded apparel.

But he's not averse to selling parts of the business, or real estate, if the right offer came along either. “We're always available to sell things at the right price, or buy things at the right price.”

[miketoronto]

That is a shame about Cumberland Terrace. I walk through there alot as I work in the area, and no matter what, that cheap pants store is always busy.
Second, they have some great stores in there, like a store that sells nothing but board games. Things that make you go "lets go downtown", because it is different.
It would be a shame to see all that go just for more high class shops.

We do need some shopping for the middle class in that area.

However at the same time, there is no doubt the mall needs a redoing. It is very outdated and does not work well circulation wise.

[crooked rain]

A very nerdy side project I've been working on these past few months...



Interesting - well done!

[SSLL]

That is a shame about Cumberland Terrace. I walk through there alot as I work in the area, and no matter what, that cheap pants store is always busy.
Second, they have some great stores in there, like a store that sells nothing but board games. Things that make you go "lets go downtown", because it is different.
It would be a shame to see all that go just for more high class shops.

We do need some shopping for the middle class in that area.

However at the same time, there is no doubt the mall needs a redoing. It is very outdated and does not work well circulation wise.

Mike, why do we need shopping for the middle class in that area? It's the mink mile, the crème de la crème! I'm a little bit confused about how it's a "shame" it's being redeveloped, but needs a "redoing", is "outdated", and "does not work well circulation wise". Just sayin'...

[SSLL]

From: http://www.financialpost.com/story.html?id=879970
__________________
Tuesday, October 14, 2008
Chapters CEO unveils eco-gift store Pistachio

Hollie Shaw, Financial Post Published: Tuesday, October 14, 2008

TORONTO -- Opening an eco-gift store at which one can spend $30 on beeswax kids' crayons in the midst of an historic economic crisis might deter some retailers, but not Heather Reisman.

The chief executive of Indigo Books and Music Inc. on Tuesday launched her latest store concept, Pistachio, in a tony north Toronto neighbourhood and plans to roll it out nationally.

"The [target consumers] are the people who shop at Whole Foods and are getting on Bullfrog Power," she said. "It's an early and growing segment. The first couple of months might be tough, but this is a long-term strategy."

Ms. Reisman admitted that she was never "one of those people in Birkenstocks hugging trees" but was urged a decade ago by her children to start eating organic food and has realized it was still a relatively untapped market for gifts, beauty products and stationery.

The target consumer cited by Pistachio co-presidents Kirsten Chapman and Tracie Wagman is from the so-called LOHAS (lifestyles of health and sustainability) demographic, a fairly well-educated middle-class and upward segment willing to pay more for sustainable products, energy-efficient appliances and organic goods.

The store features recycled materials, a bright and airy design and is evocative of Ms. Reisman's style in Indigo's gifts - elegant, with a touch of whimsy. About 60% of stock is paper products, 25% is gift products and 15% is beauty. The last one is a segment that Ms. Reisman, who cites the debut of a new juice-based natural beauty line from Aveda founder Horst Rechelbacher, Intelligent Nutrients, is keen on growing.

Six to eight of the 2,000 to 3,000 square-foot boutiques will open in 2009, but Ms. Reisman envisions a couple of hundred across Canada and the U.S. over time.

"There has been a change in consumer buying habits in the last 18 to 24 months," said retail consultant Wendy Evans, president of Toronto-based Evans & Company Consultants Inc. "A core group is willing to go out of their way to buy green. This would not have worked two years ago, but the chances are pretty good now. Research shows consumers are not willing to pay a whole lot extra, but they will pay some sort of a premium. I [see Pistachio] as an urban concept first but perhaps as the word spreads as there are more opportunities beyond that. For a business like this it's about striking that balance between leading public opinion and following public opinion."

Half of the new chain's products are under its own private label or developed in concert with green manufacturers, a move that will help on pricing and margins, Ms. Reisman noted. The paper products will be sold at 50 Chapters and Indigo big box stores.

A Web site to sell Pistachio's wares will go live in three months.

[MolsonExport]

Another one of "Heather's picks" that I will have to take a pass on.

[SSLL]

Maybe an easy way for Bed Bath and Beyond to grow much quicker beyond their two GTA stores...

From: http://www.financialpost.com/story.html?id=893248
________________
Monday, October 20, 2008

Presented by
Linens 'N Things seeks protection in Canada

Thom Weidlich, Bloomberg News Published: Monday, October 20, 2008

The Canadian operating unit of Linens 'n Things Inc., the bankrupt housewares retailer, filed for protection under Canada's bankruptcy law.

Linens 'n Things Canada expects to appear in court in the next week to seek approval to liquidate the business, the company said Monday in a statement distributed by Business Wire.

"This is a difficult day, especially since our Canadian stores were among the best performing stores," the company's chief restructuring officer Michael Gries said.

Earlier this month, the company won permission in U.S. bankruptcy court to shut its 411 stores and sell the remaining merchandise.

U.S. Bankruptcy Court Judge Christopher Sontchi in Wilmington, Delaware, approved Linens' request to hire six companies that specialize in retail liquidations. In return for the right to conduct the sales, the joint venture has promised Linens will collect US$510-million from the liquidations.

Approval by the Canadian court would allow the company to also close its 40 stores in that country, the company said in the statement.

Linens 'n Things, based in Clifton, New Jersey, has been shutting stores, firing employees and liquidating merchandise since it filed for court protection on May 2. Linens failed to attract a last-minute buyer for the entire chain and decided to close its remaining stores in the U.S. and Canada beginning this month.

Before filing for bankruptcy, Linens had 589 stores and more than 15,000 employees in the U.S. Since then, the company has shut more than 200 stores and laid off thousands of workers. The company has 371 stores left in the U.S.

The U.S. bankruptcy case is In re Linens Holdings Co., 08-10832, U.S. Bankruptcy Court, District of Delaware (Wilmington).

[SpongeG]

aww sad

will leave some weird spots here in Vancouver area

i can't imagine what they could use the store next to IKEA for

[SpongeG]

A home decor venue with lofty aspirations


WEST ELM

109 Atlantic Ave., Toronto. 416-537-0110.

http://www.westelm.com

Wander through West Elm, the latest hotly-anticipated retailer to cross the border, and you'll quickly understand why the little sister brand to Pottery Barn and Williams-Sonoma is enjoying instant success as a fast furnishings store for the urban set.

First, the location. The Barrymore Building, a former factory in Liberty Village, is loft-lover heaven with its prerequisite soaring ceiling, exposed fixtures, red-brick walls, hardwood floors and reams of natural light. The space is a rambling 20,215 square feet, evenly split between stock and retail space. And still, it hardly seems enough to contain the scores of on-trend design - both sensible and fanciful - throughout.

An unfussy round dining table, for example, which comes in shades of chocolate or acorn, is priced at an unintimidating $439. The accompanying oval-back dining chairs is $179 each. An love seat/sofa ($799) with clean lines in a pleasant cream colour, quickly transforms to accommodate more bodies with the addition of armless ($499) and corner ($599) pieces. Then there's their exotic take on the chandelier: dozens of flat, semi-transparent capiz shells dangling from a rectangular frame ($259).

Trendy designs with modern aesthetics updated quarterly and at palatable price-points - it's the formula that has grown the brand from its catalogue-only origins (launched in 2002) to a retail chain. And this, the first venture into Canada - but without the catalogue-shopping component - makes 36 locations in a short four years.

"In the beginning, people were afraid of modern," says Dave DeMattei, group president Williams-Sonoma, Williams-Sonoma Home and West Elm of the stripped-down simplicity by which the brand is often defined. "But we don't think modern needs to be cold. We think modern can be warm, cozy and comfortable. I always say there's about a third ethnic influence, a third organic and a third modern, that's what we put together to create a modern style."

About 20 designers based in the brand's Brooklyn, New York, headquarters fashion the chain's looks of the season, which wind up in stores styled to a T in three apartment-like vignettes, each complete with bedroom, dining and living rooms.

"We have people who come in count the number of pillows, for example, and want their beds to look just like that," says DeMattei, "Or we have people who get the colour story and pick and choose out of it."

This fall, part of the narrative is cool. Think neutrals, whites and greys, like those found in an organic cotton-pin tuck duvet, which comes in sea spray, clay and natural (starting $99). White shows up in sturdy basic dinnerware (starting at $6) and plush organic cotton hand towels at $14. Metallics also figure prominently this season and flow into holiday offerings. A dash of the trend is found in a collection of holiday tree ornaments, some resembling delicate chandelier drop earrings, starting at $9. For spring, expect more organic designs and materials, says DeMattei. Yellow will be the colour of the season, he adds, and look forward to a dash of Moroccan.

Despite a launch during a slowing economy, DeMattei says they company is already considering more locations in Toronto and beyond. "It's more of a cautious environment now, but long term we think there's a marketplace for West Elm."

The retail gods have been unduly kind to Toronto recently. Target, we're waiting.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20081018.HOTSHOP18/TPStory/Entertainment

[SSLL]

From: http://www.financialpost.com/news/story.html?id=894696
__________________________
U.S. fashion and home store Anthropologie coming to Toronto

Hollie Shaw, Financial Post Published: Monday, October 20, 2008

The Canadian flagship of Anthropologie, the clothing and home decor chain, will be in Toronto's upscale shopping district, Yorkville.Brent Foster/National Post Staff The Canadian flagship of Anthropologie, the clothing and home decor chain, will be in Toronto's upscale shopping district, Yorkville.

Anthropologie, the eclectic U.S.-based clothing and home decor chain, will be making its debut in Canada next year in Toronto's upscale Yorkville shopping district.

Fashionistas began whispering about a possible Canadian entry for the chain after it began shipping its wares here earlier this year from its U.S. web site, Anthropologie.com.

The retailer, owned by trendy fashion retailer Urban Outfitters Inc., operates more than 100 Anthropologie retail stores in the United States and its direct business ships to 34 countries.

The flagship store will be about 12,000 square feet split between two levels at the 100 Yorkville at Bellair complex, a new mixed-use development combining retail and residential condominiums.

Jane Baldwin, vice-president of retail leasing and investment sales at Lennard Commercial Realty, also confirmed the addition of a flagship Teatro Verde store and a two-level Sunglass Hut at the complex.

Anthropologie sells women's casual apparel and accessories, home furnishings, decor and gifts, and is one of the rare bright spots in U.S. fashion retail this year. For the second quarter ended July 31, parent company Urban Outfitters of Philadelphia posted an earnings boost of 24% and sales rose 22% to US$348.4-million from US$285.6-million.

Same-store sales, which tallies performance at outlets open at least a year, rose a solid 14% at Anthropologie in the quarter.

Last week Jeffries & Co. Inc. analyst Randal J. Konik raised his rating on Urban Outfitters to buy from hold.

"Despite the tough environment, (Urban Outfitters) continues to gain share across its three core brands through a differentiated, on-trend assortment along with a unique shopping experience," he wrote in a note to clients.

[SpongeG]

i love anthropologie

I suppose vancouver will get one in two years we are years behind the t dot

[Mille Sabords]

i love anthropologie

I suppose vancouver will get one in two years we are years behind the t dot

... and Ottawa in a decade.

[SpongeG]

haha

[Policy Wonk]

Rumor: Look for another rebranding of The Source By Circuit City stores and a new larger format store rolling out in Western Canada.

[DHLawrence]

Rumor: Look for another rebranding of The Source By Circuit City stores and a new larger format store rolling out in Western Canada.

Ah, they finally realized the new name stinks?

[craneSpotter]

Toyota announces Scion coming to Canada

Nicolas Van Praet, Financial Post
Published: Sunday, October 19, 2008

Link - http://www.financialpost.com/news/story.html?id=891897

TORONTO -- Toyota Motor Corp. is bringing its Scion brand to Canada, saying the timing is finally right as consumer appetite gels for smaller, fashionable cars.

The automaker will launch the brand, which targets affluent urban youth, starting in Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver in 2010, said Stephen Beatty, managing director of Toyota Canada Inc.

"Obviously we're pretty pumped about this," Mr. Beatty said in an interview Sunday.

As recently as this summer, Toyota denied it was making plans to introduce Scion to Canada despite having filed trademark applications with Industry Canada to use the name. The company had previously said that Canada does not have the same demographic strength in urban areas to justify the costs of marketing and supporting Scion vehicles.

But an even greater shift towards smaller cars in Canada brought on by a rapid climb in gasoline prices earlier this year has changed the equation, Mr. Beatty said. Scion's target market, the so-called "echo generation" or Generation Y, now represents roughly 24% of Canada's population, he noted. They are the children of baby-boomers, born anywhere between 1976 and 2001...

[SteelTown]

Canadian Tire store in Welland to sell food

October 28, 2008
The Canadian Press, 2008

Canadian Tire is planning to open two experimental stores in Ontario that will offer an expanded variety of food and other consumable items as part of a new product assortment.

The two stores, which will be in the Niagara region city of Welland, Ont., and the Ottawa suburb of Orleans, will test a new retail concept called the "smart store."

Canadian Tire spokeswoman Lisa Gibson said the stores will open in mid-November.

She said convenience food items, such as bread and milk, will be one small part of the new concept, which will offer one-stop shopping for customers.

"Our research tells us that (selling food items) will probably increase customer traffic to the store and certainly if someone's in buying other items, if they need milk or bread, it's a great opportunity to purchase it there," Gibson said.

When pressed for details about what other products would be offered at the new stores, Gibson declined to be specific.

Most Canadian Tire stores already sell some consumables, such as cleaning products and laundry detergent, as well as snack food items like pop and chips.

However the iconic retailer is best known for selling a range of sporting and outdoors goods, household small appliances, gardening products, automotive parts and, increasingly, clothing and footwear.

Gibson said the new stores will expand upon the products already available.

[harls]

I imagine it would be somewhat unappealing to buy groceries at a place that smells like rubber.

[mmmatt]

Moncton is getting the first H&M clothing store east of Quebec in the coming months :) ...supposedly before even Winnipeg gets one (or at least thats what our local paper said, dunno sometimes with them haha).

[bigcanuck]

I imagine it would be somewhat unappealing to buy groceries at a place that smells like rubber.

But your loaf of sourdough bread could also be used to check the pressure in your tires as well as tighten a light bulb safely.

[SpongeG]

Rumor: Look for another rebranding of The Source By Circuit City stores and a new larger format store rolling out in Western Canada.

finally

there was rumour a while ago that they would open some Circuit city stores in Canada

some competition for best buy/future shop :tup:

[SpongeG]

Metro H&M to open in spring

It's official. Clothing store H&M, the international success story many consider the Ikea of fashion, is coming to Metro Moncton.

For many Atlantic Canadians, a trip to Montreal or Toronto or New York is not complete without a pilgrimage to H&M, whose innovative fashions offer exceptional quality at reasonable prices.

By next spring, the H&M experience will be available here, the Swedish company's first in Atlantic Canada. The retailer's Canadian spokeswoman Emily Scarlett confirmed yesterday what the Times & Transcript's Sleuth reported October 11, that the retailer was coming to Metro.

Scarlett wouldn't, however, say whether it would be in the newly renovated Champlain Mall or the soon-to-be-built Mapleton Fashion Centre. Construction of its foundations got under way in the past few days.

H & M Hennes & Mauritz AB (H&M) was established in 1947 and today there are 1,600 H&M stores in 29 countries. Regular viewers of Sex and the City know H&M as a long favourite shopping destination of Carrie Bradshaw and her fictional friends, and many a Maritimer has sought out store outlets in other parts of North America and Europe. There are also H&M stores in Japan, China and the Middle East.

The first H&M in Canada opened just in 2004, but already there are now 43 stores in Quebec, Ontario, Alberta and British Columbia.

While even big city Winnipeg has yet to land an H&M, Metro Moncton's reputation as a central shopping destination for an entire region seems to have carried the day in the company's decision to locate its sole store east of Quebec here.

The company's clothing collections are created by its own designers, pattern makers and buyers. H&M has a wide product range that is divided into a number of different concepts for women, men, teenagers and children.

It prides itself on trying to find a good balance between modern basics, current fashions and high fashion.

http://timestranscript.canadaeast.com/news/article/462449

[SpongeG]

Toronto is getting the First North American store for Bench clothing from the UK http://www.bench.co.uk/

they are also getting TNA - from Vancouver http://www.tna.com/

and Abercrombie Kids http://www.abercrombiekids.ca/kids/index.html

[vid]

Isn't H&M the one the uses slave labour?

I got my computer from Future Shop and its almost five years old, still doing OK. (Knock on wood..)

It's 256MB Ram, 2.4GHz Intel Pentium 4, 40GB hard drive with CD Rom, and came with a monitor, wired and wireless mouse and keyboard. (The keyboard stopped working, the wired mouse died about two years ago and I now use the wireless one.) It cost just under $1,200 at the time. Probably could have gotten the same thing (in November 2003) for about $800 if we were smart. We were going to get a "custom built" $600 computer from a place that just opened next to Future Shop (at the time, it's about 5.5 years old now.) but it was closed when we went there, so we tried Future Shop instead. Also, Purolator screwed up our delivery and it ended up sitting in a wear house on the waterfront for three days.

(I mentioned that because I read this (http://futureshopsucks.com/) and didn't realize I found that on Google and not the forum until after I hit enter. :))

[SpongeG]

futureshop - i know the guy was really trying to get me to buy the extended thing but i never did - he seemed kinda irked that i didn't i said i would come back in a week and get it - lol he said i had a week to decide

my friend worked there once they promise the world - the day after boxing day they laid him off and a few other dozen i suppose

[MolsonExport]

H&M...I don't see what the big deal is. Reminds me of a "Le Chateau".

[harls]

^ it's got some pretty good kids clothes... better than the generic asexual Zellers or Wal-Mart garbage. My wife wishes a location to open in Ottawa. I can't stand shopping, so I'm indifferent. :D

[Biff]

I guess i feel the same way about H&M as people do about IKEA. I was in a monstrous store in Chicago and thought everything in here was crap. Four floors of stuff and everything looked like it would fall apart or rip just taking it off the hanger.

[kirjtc2]

I was in one at a mall in Boston...spent 5 seconds and walked out.

Then again, I get half my clothes at Winners.

[SpongeG]

it just means your city has "arrived" to get an H&M

sort of like when a neighbourhood gets a starbucks

[Denscity]

"they are also getting TNA - from Vancouver http://www.tna.com/"

Didn't know TNA was from Vancouver the whole time i lived there. Makes sense though as they seem pretty good at making yoga style pants, second only to the original yoga pant maker, Vancity's Lululemon. ;)

[SpongeG]

yah TNA stands for Talula National Athletics... its an offshot brand of Aritzia

and Aritzia just opened its first US store in Chicago

[Policy Wonk]

yah TNA stands for Talula National Athletics...

Right...

[SpongeG]

Right...

it does

and yes it has a double meaning

but thats the name

anyway

Apple is opening a second Vancouver store at Oakridge Centre - summer 09 - but thats just a rumour can't find any confirmation

[SpongeG]

stussy is opening a store in Vancouver's Gastown

http://www.stussyvancouver.com/

[SpongeG]

Brooks Brothers looks to crack Canadian market


MARINA STRAUSS

November 21, 2008

Brooks Brothers, the 190-year-old U.S. men's clothier, will open its first Canadian store in Vancouver in April, with stores in Toronto and Calgary soon after, the company said yesterday. The retailer, known for its button-down shirts and seersucker suits, has been a destination for Canadians in their cross-border visits as well as their on-line shopping. It has named Brian Shaughnessy, a seasoned retailer and former executive at Gap Inc., Holt Renfrew & Co and Harry Rosen, to head the Canadian division. Brooks Brothers is betting that it can find a niche in the $5.9-billion Canadian men's apparel market, despite a slowdown in the economy and an increasingly tightfisted consumer. The oldest U.S. retailer, Brooks Brothers has rapidly expanded worldwide under the leadership of Claudio Del Vecchio, scion of a wealthy Italian family that made its fortune in eyewear. The new owner is returning Brooks Brothers to its upscale roots.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20081121.RTICKERA21-4//TPStory

[waterloowarrior]

Loblaw, Sobeys to stop giving free plastic bags (http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20081127.wloblaw1127/BNStory/Business/home)

The Canadian Press
November 27, 2008 at 2:24 PM EST

TORONTO — Canada's two largest grocery chains, Loblaw Cos. Ltd. and Sobeys, are putting a lid on the use of plastic shopping bags.

Loblaw said Thursday it will no longer provide free bags at checkout counters of its corporate locations and participating franchise stores across the country as of next April. The plastic bags will be available only on request, and will cost five cents each.

Sobeys said it will charge five cents per bag, but only in the Toronto area, in response to the city's proposed waste reduction bylaw. It said its program will be in place by June 1, expected to be the first day of Toronto's waste diversion charge.

Loblaw said it will continue to encourage consumers to use alternatives to plastic bags and will enhance its sale of reusable bags. The country's biggest supermarket operator offers reusable bags at checkout counters for 99 cents and tallies loyalty points when they are used.

Loblaw said the move announced Thursday will result in a 55 per cent decrease in the number of plastic shopping bags it distributes and help to eliminate one billion of the bags from landfills in 2009.

Canadians currently take home about 55 million of the bags each week.

Loblaw said most of the proceeds from the sale of the bags will used to cover the cost of its plastic bag reduction program.

Sobeys plans to use money from bag sales for environmental and sustainability initiatives.

The Liquor Control Board of Ontario is also ending its use of plastic shopping bags, offering shoppers paper bags instead.

[vid]

Superstore has done this for years (ever since the opened, I think). They sell fabric bags for a dollar each, I use those and my backpack. I only ask for a plastic bag if I have something like milk or meat that might leak or stain my bag or backpack. I haven't used plastic bags for grocery shopping in general since 2006 or so. For a short time in 2007, I re-used old plastic bags.

There is a natural foods store downtown that has a bin for old garbage bags, too. They send them to be recycled. I bring them down there occasionally. Safeway locations usually have one near their main entrance as well.

[SpongeG]

Downturn has many retailers 'standing on the edge'

2008 holiday season could be a make-or-break period for merchants

Bruce Constantineau
Vancouver Sun


Saturday, November 15, 2008


Linens 'N Things trumpets a "going out of business" sale.

The Source by Circuit City files for court protection from creditors.

A 25-year Vancouver giftware retailer -- Kim-John Gifts & China -- closes its last store this fall.

It's hard to remain overwhelmingly positive about the Metro Vancouver retail sector these days.

Retail sales that grew by five to six per cent during the first half of this year have slipped to monthly increases in the one-per-cent range and the global financial meltdown has seriously damaged consumer confidence.

A recent Deloitte survey found that 40 per cent of Canadians plan to spend less on holiday gifts this year.

The retail sky isn't falling yet but the 2008 holiday selling season looms as the most important in a decade -- likely a make-or-break period for many merchants.

"This economy will shake out some retailers for sure," Vancouver retail consultant David Ian Gray said in an interview. "It's hard to pick them right now but in the new year, we will see the weak business models get exposed."

Retail BC president Mark Startup doesn't feel there's a higher rate of store closures taking place now and notes some retailers tell him they've had outstanding sales recently. But others are suffering and he agrees the industry faces unique economic challenges now.

"Right now, we're kind of standing on the edge of this thing -- hoping to weather the storm," he said. " . . . B.C. and Alberta could still eke out growth even if the country falls into recession."

Gray said most major B.C. retailers based in the province are still doing well -- including companies such as Aritzia, London Drugs and Urban Barn. Even Lululemon, with a significant presence in the U.S., has performed well recently but he fears its exposure to the U.S. market might hurt sales over the short term.

"It's the retailers based elsewhere with operations in B.C. that seem to be most vulnerable now," Gray said, noting the Canadian operations of Linens 'N Things and The Source by Circuit City essentially got caught up in bigger problems in the U.S.

He said the U.S. downturn has caused successful retailers such as Crate & Barrel and Abercrombie & Fitch to delay their Canadian expansion plans.

Retail consultant Ian Thomas said U.S. consumers appear to be "hiding" now but feels that negative mindset hasn't yet fully taken hold in Western Canada.

"I've never seen double-digit sales growth disappear so quickly as it has in the U.S.," he said. "You know something is wrong when a store like Williams-Sonoma -- the darling of the industry a year ago -- has sales decline by an average of 28 per cent in October."

Thomas said the North American retail market has seen this movie before, with mediocre or declining sales that lasted from 1990 until 1995. He said the retail winners then were stores that offered value, along with great selection and quality merchandise -- including stores such as Wal-Mart, The Gap, Costco, Future Shop and London Drugs.

But Thomas said people still rewarded themselves with small indulgences, which explains the phenomenal 1990s growth experienced by Starbucks.

"Look at the success of the Apple Store," he said. "Even in these problematic times, it has become one of the most successful retailers of all time by creating must-have products."

Park Royal Shopping Centre vice-president Rick Amantea, whose mall houses a 47,000-square-foot Linens 'N Things store, feels there should be no problem filling that space when the store closes.

"We've had lots of interest in that space from a number of parties," he said.

Longtime Park Royal tenant Kim-John Gifts & China fell on tough times recently and had to close for good after being in business since 1983. But Amantea doesn't feel many more will automatically follow.

"Sales have not been extraordinary lately but I think many retailers bought smartly when the Canadian dollar was strong," he said. "That should help offset a decrease in sales for a while."

A strong dollar earlier this year briefly became more valuable than the U.S. dollar, making it much cheaper for Canadian retailers to buy U.S. goods.

Startup said during challenging economic times like this, it's vital for retailers to stay focused with a strategy that emphasizes costs savings and customer service.

"But none of that will help if the retailer is undercapitalized," he said. "If they have cash-flow problems or didn't focus on the expense side of the business during better times, they're going to have a rough ride."

bconstantineau@vancouversun.com

online

Comment on this story at vancouversun.com/business

GOING, GOING ... GONE

The Source by Circuit City

- Canadian operator InterTan Canada Ltd. filed for court protection from creditors this week following similar action by its U.S. parent -- Circuit City Stores.

- There are 772 The Source stores across Canada and 683 Circuit City stores throughout the U.S.

- The Canadian operation is profitable and rumoured to be up for sale.

Linens 'N Things

- The company is winding down operations at 371 U.S. outlets and 40 Canadian stores, including seven in B.C.

- It had more than 600 U.S. and Canadian stores before filing for bankruptcy in May.

Kim-John Gifts & China

- The china, flatware and cookware store opened in 1983.

- Chain had three stores at its peak.

- Its last store, in Park Royal mall, closed this fall.

- Maynards is now selling the company's remaining $500,000 worth of inventory.

http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/news/business/story.html?id=ca5dea35-74f3-4f25-a9a4-495ba72b0589

[Jay in Cowtown]

Where in the hell can you buy 'Polo' by Ralph Lauren clothes in Canada? The Bay used to sell them but I haven't seen it there (in Calgary) for about 3 years now, and for some fucking reason there's no Polo stores anywhere in this country.

Christ, I wish Macys would come up here!

[SpongeG]

Where in the hell can you buy 'Polo' by Ralph Lauren clothes in Canada? The Bay used to sell them but I haven't seen it there (in Calgary) for about 3 years now, and for some fucking reason there's no Polo stores anywhere in this country.

Christ, I wish Macys would come up here!

holt renfrew - they made an exclusive deal with Ralph Lauren a few years ago apparently to be the only stockist in Canada for his line - hence why the bay no longer sells it and why you can't really get it anywhere else

holt renfrew vancouver has a polo room - i am sure the holt renfrew in calgary does too if not the new store should - but prices are pricier than they used to be at the bay

vancouver used to have a polo store on robson street and than it moved to gastown and than it died a few years after that move :(

I beleive Ralph Lauren thought his polo was becoming too common and he has pulled back on where its available stateside too and prices for the polo line have gone up to be a little more exclusive

i know for years you could buy polo stiff at ross and tk maxx but lately its very hard to find anything there even

[LeftCoaster]

Yeah polo was becoming somehwat ubiquitious, the brand was definetly hurting. They were turning into the next Tommy Hilfigger. Good business decision by Ralph.

[SpongeG]

he also started a new younger line called Rugby - Seattle has one store - i think there are only 3 or 4 on the west coast - 3 in california than the one in Seattle - more on the east coast

basically like polo but younger

http://www.rugby.com/

http://akcdn.rugby.com/graphics/banners/men_hol08_1.jpg
rugby.com

[Jay in Cowtown]

holt renfrew - they made an exclusive deal with Ralph Lauren a few years ago apparently to be the only stockist in Canada for his line - hence why the bay no longer sells it and why you can't really get it anywhere else



Thanks for the info, I've only been to Holt here in Calgary once... not only did I not see Polo, I'm not sure I saw mens clothing, but it was a quick in and out to avoid my wife from breaking us. ;)

[SpongeG]

other thread is gone :shrug:

Wal-Mart makes Vancouver foray

From Herald News Services
Published: Wednesday, January 21, 2009

Retail - Wal-Mart plans to open its first Vancouver store today.

The new outlet represents the retailer's long-sought break into the Vancouver market following the very public and political rejection of a proposed development at another location in 2005.

david Cheesewright, who takes over as Ceo of Wal-Mart Canada on Feb. 1, said cracking the Vancouver market has been a tough job, even though Vancouverites make about two million shopping trips per year to its stores just outside the city.

http://www.canada.com/calgaryherald/news/calgarybusiness/story.html?id=61671c10-4ffa-4ceb-b6a7-57a49b484226

its in an old Costco store - the parking is very small - i can't imagine it will be an easy place to shop

[Coldrsx]

^is that the one near boundary and grandview?

walmart > nothing

[Mille Sabords]

Poor Vancouver. So you've decided to start smoking. See you with a respirator on like the rest of us.

[SpongeG]

yes its the old Costco location

I heard that it was insanely busy today and the parking situation is really bad - the lot is way too small and people are circling and lining up for a spot

but those who went inside said it was nice and all the "deals" were sold out early - as there were no limits some people had carts full of the same item and others were pissed

[Coldrsx]

^the only "deal" to be found at a Walmart is your soul to the devil.

[SpongeG]

well to a certain group of people in this city known paper towel and toilet paper is worth selling their soul for

[mmmatt]

Papa Johns will be opening their first Atlantic Canadian location in Moncton in the next couple of months.

[yyzer]

Juicy rumour over at SSC that Saks are looking at 1 Bloor E in TO for a store location.....just a rumour, however...