I was checking out the new Roots store today and noticed the vacant spot between Globo and Roots had "The Children's Place" sign in the window. It's a children's clothing store - that's pretty obvious from the name :)

http://thechildrensplace.ca/

Target
 

Here is an update on Target in the city via the Telegram. Looks like they will try to be open before Christmas of next year.

http://www.thetelegram.com/Business/...-winter-2013/1

Has there been any updates for PF Chang's? The land next to the Keg has been cleared for quite some time now but still no movement.

I thought there were two restaurants going on this site, and that one of them is a Red Lobster. Not sure if it is true though.

Indeed, there are two restaurants going on that site. One is supposedly a PF Chang, as they're opening up a bunch of Canadian locations, and the other was supposed to be a locally owned restaurant. However, I haven't heard anything on the progress of that development

There is one only restaurant going there now and it is not PF Changs anymore. I don't think it has been anounced publicly yet though. The building is still in the design phase. Construction maybe late fall or early next spring.

Hmm interesting... so it seems that PF Changs has pulled out setting up shop. Is there any confirmation on this? If so, not a huge deal in my eyes, I'd much rather see local restaurants - it's better for the local economy. One thing I like about St. John's (especially downtown) is its high number of locally owned shops and restaurants.

Village Parking Lot
 

The building in the village parking lot now has a newly installed DT window... Starbucks or 2nd up?

Hopefully it is one of those two. That area of town really needs another coffee shop.

I heard it is a Wendy's Restaurant.

There's some store going in the parking lot of the Village that sells some kind of work supplies for construction people or something. The Village may not booming in the coming years.

Ya I heard it was a Wendy's aswell. Also the first restaurant next to The Keg will be an original concept italian restaurant that will start this summer.

^^^ That's interesting. It would be nice to get an upper scale Italian restaurant in the downtown; I'm not sure sure if such a one currently exists.

I'm just trying to get a handle on where these new developments are happening. Is it the building that currently houses Tip Top Tailor's?

Also, I was looking at the Village Mall's website and noticed job postings for a new retail store called 'City Streets'. It looks as if they sell brand name clothing such as Hurley, DC, Quicksilver, Toms, etc. Here is a link to their website:

http://www.cstreets.ca/index.html

Yes where Tip Top is. I forgot to mention City Streets.

I visited the Village Mall parent company's website: www.plaza.ca and they have Wendy's listed in the floor plans of the Mall schematic. Link to the pdf below...
http://www.plaza.ca/portfolio/Newfou...Jan%202012.pdf

I was looking through the PDF and there seems to be a few available spaces for lease at the Village. Having a large (and strong) anchor tennant such as Bed, Bath, and Beyond may appeal to other businesses to lease space at the Village; there'll definitely be increased foot traffic. In addition, with a new Walmart opening up in the old Zellers location and a new west-end high school in the works, I think the Village is in a great position for growth. The next few years will be very interesting :tup:

One of the problems with the Village Mall is that it no longer has a flow to the floor plan. When Sears and Walmart were there, you could walk for ages without having to backtrack over the same space. Now all you can do is walk between those to former stores. Plazacorp too, has to stop leasing its retail space out for office space and call centres if they really want to keep this mall relevant. Bed, Bath & Beyond will get some new customers but they still need a lot more destination stores. Stores like Rossey, Labels and Urban Planet are not really bringing in customers in the droves. I have never seen any more than half dozen people in Labels at one time and they have such a huge floor space. Same goes for the Urban Planet.

I've been under the impression for a long time that P.F. Changs will be going downtown next to The Keg. Perhaps this is old news, but this is no longer the case. The owners of The Keg have gone back on their plans to put a P.F. Changs there, and are instead building their own unique restaurant. Apparently the menu is developed, as are the floor-plans. A name was picked out as well, but I can't for the life of me remember what they're intending to call it. Whether or not this will go ahead, or go the same route as Changs, remains to be seen.

Le gros & Motti is the name of the new resturant and heres the teaser for the new website http://legrosmotti.com/. Talking to the owners and there should be some movement on the site during the summer.

Bed, Bath and Beyond and Menchies Frozen Yogurt are both now open.

Bed, Bath and Beyond is huge.

I was looking thorough Moncton's retail thread and notice St. John's was referenced as a place where the retail chain Jump+ will be setting up shop. Apparently they're a premium reseller of Apple products (as well as provide business IT solutions). They set up in smaller markets where an Apple store wouldn't normally open. I'm not sure when or where they'll open - but it looks as if we're getting one. Here is a link to their website:

http://www.jumpplus.com

and careers webpage:

http://www.jumpplus.com/careers/

Confirmation that Jump+ will be coming to the Avalon Mall

http://stjohns.kijiji.ca/c-jobs-sale...AdIdZ386572570

Interesting store, it'll be a great addition to the mall :tup:

I hope it opens soon.

There are also commercials on the radio for Relish, which is the new burger store opening across from the convention centre.

There's a sign advertising Walmart outside the old Zellers on Topsail Rpad now.

I imagine the conversion from Zellers to Wal Mart doesn't entail too much work, probably just replacing all the red colors with blue.

I noticed a large section of the 2nd floor of the Avalon mall has been sectioned off for what could be a new store. It's the walk able area that connects the stores such as Bell Aliant and the Body Shop to the other section of the mall with EB Games and Pretzel Maker. It's a fair sized area of mall, if it's being used for a store it'll be comparable in size to the other mid-sized stores (such as Pseudio). I'm not sure how large Jump+ stores typically are, but it would feel somewhat large for something like that.

Hmmm.... I wonder how that will affect traffic flow through that section of the mall. More importantly, how will that affect businesses on the Pretzel Maker, Le Chateau side seeing that's a less traversed side. If only one store goes there maybe it'll have two entrances to preserve throughput... just a thought.

Noticed that today as well. It's quite strange.

https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net...34230262_n.jpg

Apologies for the blurry cell phone pic.

This was posted in today's Telegram. I would imagine these restaurants will eventually go down at the new Field Power Centre where the new Empire Cinemas are being built on Torbay Road. But I guess they could go anywhere in St. John's and surrounding area really and be successful. Nice to see some new restaurants coming to town.

I would venture to guess those restaurants would be a part of the restaurant pad site for the Field Power Centre. You typically see restaurants such as these in power centres throughout Canada. I've been to both; Kelsey's is family-style restaurant very similar to BP/Montana's/Eastside Marios while Milestones is a bit more upper scale, kind of similar to The Keg (although not as pricey - I guess it depends on what you order). Retail is really starting to pick up steam in St. John's, it's great to see. Hopefully someone will take on the franchises here.

Smokey's Poutinerie is opening tomorrow. Go and get yourself some real(ish) poutine guys!

KFCs disappearing
 

Although this story relates to KFCs outside the St. John's area, I think it's interesting and warrants posting here.

Source: The Telegram, July 10, 2012.

http://www.thetelegram.com/News/Loca...disappearing/1

Hmmm.....transitioning from the company that brought us the "double down" to a chain of family restaurants specializing in healthy nutritious food choices.

Sounds like somebody has "got religion" to me!!! :jester::haha::jester:

So the area of the Avalon Mall that is now blocked off to make way for a new store has a sign up now advertising for New Envy. There's already a store called Envy but I don't think they're the same store, I thought they were expanding originally.

I googled "New Envy" yesterday and nothing came up. Maybe a local store? On the other side of the boxed in area the sign just says "new retail", so looks like that part of the reno hasn't been taken quite yet.

Also, back on the topic of jump+, there are two potential locations within the mall which already exist for such a store to open. One would be the old Donovan's (I think that's what it was called) location next to Bell. The other would be where the current but temporary Bluenotes is housed near Scotia Bank. It looks like the frame shop has closed so once Bluenotes moves back to their renovated location it could open up there.

They are making quite an assumption that home cooked Nfld style food is healthier than KFC. :rolleyes:

It's also quite an assumption that people who frequent KFC will enjoy this home cooked food over Mary Browns. I know a lot of people in Marystown who will definitely not be happy about this :P

As a Marystown native, I certainly concur. ;)
A huge KFC following out there in rural Nfld. Those giant rotating chicken buckets at the various commercial hubs across the island have been a beacon for many a rural Nfld'er over the years. Once the banking and shopping was done, KFC would be one of the last stops before heading home.

Somehow I don't think this is the end of KFC in rural areas of the province. I'm originally from central and KFC always did very well in Gander (and I'm sure other places as well). I heard on CBC last night that YUM brands will be looking for new franchisees to keep KFC in the area.

Maybe they won't re-open all ten, but I'll bet you'll see a bunch of new KFCs opened across the island now that the franchise rights are up for grabs.

Target has released their opening dates for stores across the country.

http://pressroom.target.ca/pr/tgt-en...ns-236413.aspx

OPENING FALL 2013

Nova Scotia
Bedford – Bedford Place
Dartmouth - Mic Mac Mall
Halifax – Bayers Lake Power Centre

OPENING WINTER 2013/2014

Nova Scotia
Sydney – Sydney Shopping Centre

New Brunswick
Fredericton – Uptown Centre
Moncton – Northwest Centre
St. John - Mcallister Place

Newfoundland
Corner Brook – Corner Brook
St. John’s - Cabot Square

PEI
Charlottetown – Charlottetown Mall

Plazacorp announces six new retail projects
 

Source: The Daily Business Buzz, July 17, 2012.

http://www.nl.dailybusinessbuzz.ca/P...ail-projects/1

Koodo, second location
 

Koodo has posted for store manager and staff for a new location opening up in the village mall. It will probably be a kiosk very similar to the one in the Avalon.

Just some restaurant info/questions (sorry if any has been reposted)....This is from a couple people i know in the biz:

A new restaurant is going into the Cellars old location; apparently same owner. Might be called 'Chop' or something like that...(this might've been posted before).

Another will be opening in the old Magnum & Steins location. Don't know much about it yet.

The owners of the Gypsy Tea Room will be opening another restaurant, apparently in the old Hungry Fisherman location. I think the idea is supposed to be an 'up end' steakhouse. I've heard about this for a bit...don't know if it actually will happen or not.

And apparently Atlantica will be moving downtown.

That's all i've got for now.

Anyone try Relish yet?

My roommate tried Relish when he was in New Brunswick (before it was coming here. He had met the owner at a business comp and heard about the chain that way). He raves about it. Thinks it fantastic. Actually claimed it was the best burger he's had. I've yet to determine whether or not he's right.

Wow... thanks for the update leo minor! I didn't realize there was this much activity in the restaurant front downtown.... great stuff. :tup:

I was reading through the list of 2012 capital projects (posted by a few people in other SJ threads) and noticed construction of an 8 unit strip mall in Torbay. Does anyone know what this is all about? It may not have anything to do with retail, but I decided to post here since it was stated as a strip mall.

I heard on the radio today that Relish Burger is now open. I walked past that place no more than a month ago and nothing was done inside... now's it's open! These guys made pretty quick work of it!