Small format IKEA in St John's???
 

Interesting article. IKEA is considering small format stores to better support e-commerce business in smaller Canadian markets.

They've got the major markets covered well & need a way to penetrate markets like St John's, Halifax, Moncton, London, Sudbury, Thunder Bay, Regina, Saskatoon, Kelowna & Victoria (my guess for their Top 10).



http://www.biv.com/article/2014/12/i...across-canada/

I hope that happens. The good deals you can get there are almost always killed by the shipping costs. There's actually a guy, known as the 'Ikea guy' who has made a business of shipping Ikea items to people here in NL. I think he drives trucks that are usually returning empty to NL otherwise.

Eddie Bauer
 

It's official Eddie Bauer is closing - signs in the window now. While it is disappointing to see it close, I believe it is a direct result of their outrageous prices. You can't get a dress shirt under $90 - really? Be interesting to see who will go into that space - for sure the mall has some plan!

Probably another friggin lingerie store. LOL.

I wouldn't be surprised if it was.

They're going to rename that part of the mall "sexy lane"

Pets Unlimited has closed their location off of Aberdeen and opened a new store, Pet Culture, on Hebron Way next to Wing n' It. The new store is about half the size of the former, if it's even that big.

Burrito Jax is opening a location in St. John's. No word on location yet, but for anybody who has had the pleasure of visiting this spot in Hfx, it's great news. Maybe something to finally fill the void Mustang Sally's left?

https://www.facebook.com/burritojax

I loved Mustang Sally's.

From VOCM:

We can have big box stores in the suburbs, but not one customer at a time visiting a house on Elizabeth Avenue. It makes me wonder why council bothered paying for Envision St. John's. Surely, the Allandale Place Condominium Corporation could install gates with electronic access if its members were seriously inconvenienced by soccer moms or future customers.

Found a map of Galway Big Box Retail Centre on City of St. John's site.

http://www.stjohns.ca/sites/default/...rvoir%20Rd.pdf

From looking at those specs I think it is safe to say the "rumor" of a second Costco has been shot down.

Wonder what restaurants are going in there?

Why would you say that?

Looking at the drawings, I'm surprised the buildings are being proposed to be built over the water transmission mains....those are some pretty big water pipes.

just an assumption from looking at the size of the buildings thats all. i would expect COSTCO to be over 125000 sq ft.

According to the Costco website, stores range in size from 73,000 to 205,000 sq ft with the average being 143,700 sq ft. Interestingly, I was told by an employee awhile back that the Stavanger Drive store was around 125,000 sq ft.

Any guesses on what the Galway stores will be? We can omit Walmart, Dominion, Sobeys, Kent and Canadian Tire as they are already near by. As well, Mr. Williams said in a news release in 2014 that several stores will be unique to Newfoundland. I'm hoping one of these first-timers will be an IKEA myself. As for the restaurants/fast food establishments seen on the map, I'm guessing more of the same things we already have, including ones that are already in nearby Mount Pearl such as Tim Horton's and McDonald's. I'm sure Cara Operations will have an offering or two in the restaurant segment as they seem to be a success everywhere they open one of their many brands.

I just did a calculation of the size based on measurments taken from the google maps image and I got it to be around 140,000 sq.ft. Also, don't know if the drawing is an actual layout plan or really just a concept drawing.

If a Costco does go there, and is the 2nd one in the city, I suspect it wouldn't need to be any bigger than the current one.

I'm gonna go ahead and guess that a Hudson's Bay store may open. There are 2 in Nova Scotia so I'm sure we could support one. Maybe another Bed, Bath and Beyond. An outdoor store would be nice, maybe a MEC or Coast Mountain Sports. Cabelas or a Bass Pro Shop is another possibility.

With all the new homes in that area, I would think more hardware/appliance stores such as Lowe's and HomeHardware. The smaller-format IKEA would also fit in there.

Not likely to be a Target.

Maybe a new RONA to replace the old one on Topsail Road in Paradise. That one is pretty old and small and there isn't much parking.