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-   -   [St. John's] Retail Thread (https://skyscraperpage.com/forum/showthread.php?t=198935)

Arrakis Sep 30, 2013 2:59 PM

https://fbcdn-sphotos-h-a.akamaihd.n...76573418_n.jpg

Is it me or is this renovation of Walmart on Aberdeen Drive really lame? Not sure what Walmart Canada is thinking here? They moved the main Walmart sign off to the side for some reason and put a lame-ass welcome sign in its place. They have also repainted the front of the building in several different shades of beige too which brings nothing to the facade of mixed tiles, rough brick and flat surfaces. The actual paint job is pretty poor too if you look at it up close...crooked paint lines everywhere. Hard to paint clean straight lines though on mixed surface of tiles and rough faced bricks. A real hodge podge of colours and styles that go against everything that is good branding. I imagine they are renovating in anticipation of Target's opening later this fall. But this is pretty sad look building. I think they actually made it look worse than it was before. Old and outdated. I am actually quite surprised that this new paint scheme looks so amateurish. Geez Pipers looks better than this mess.

jeddy1989 Sep 30, 2013 4:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Arrakis (Post 6284499)
https://fbcdn-sphotos-h-a.akamaihd.n...76573418_n.jpg

Is it me or is this renovation of Walmart on Aberdeen Drive really lame? Not sure what Walmart Canada is thinking here? They moved the main Walmart sign off to the side for some reason and put a lame-ass welcome sign in its place. They have also repainted the front of the building in several different shades of beige too which brings nothing to the facade of mixed tiles, rough brick and flat surfaces. The actual paint job is pretty poor too if you look at it up close...crooked paint lines everywhere. Hard to paint clean straight lines though on mixed surface of tiles and rough faced bricks. A real hodge podge of colours and styles that go against everything that is good branding. I imagine they are renovating in anticipation of Target's opening later this fall. But this is pretty sad look building. I think they actually made it look worse than it was before. Old and outdated. I am actually quite surprised that this new paint scheme looks so amateurish. Geez Pipers looks better than this mess.

They're re doing all the wal marts :S

Arrakis Sep 30, 2013 7:28 PM

I know. And they are doing them all wrong. LOL. Hate the new floor plan which is same as they did with the Mt Pearl store couple of years ago. Totally confusing with isles changing direction all over the place. I dont mind them moving depts around, most large stores do that, but you need to keep the flow simple.

Quote:

Originally Posted by jeddy1989 (Post 6284590)
They're re doing all the wal marts :S


Townie709 Sep 30, 2013 7:53 PM

It's not a good time for them to be putting a bullet in their foot.. They're making it that much easier for the grand unveiling of Target in November. The new look of the walmarts is very amateur to me.. I also don't like the confusing new layout.

Trevor3 Sep 30, 2013 9:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Arrakis (Post 6284499)
https://fbcdn-sphotos-h-a.akamaihd.n...76573418_n.jpg

Is it me or is this renovation of Walmart on Aberdeen Drive really lame? Not sure what Walmart Canada is thinking here? They moved the main Walmart sign off to the side for some reason and put a lame-ass welcome sign in its place. They have also repainted the front of the building in several different shades of beige too which brings nothing to the facade of mixed tiles, rough brick and flat surfaces. The actual paint job is pretty poor too if you look at it up close...crooked paint lines everywhere. Hard to paint clean straight lines though on mixed surface of tiles and rough faced bricks. A real hodge podge of colours and styles that go against everything that is good branding. I imagine they are renovating in anticipation of Target's opening later this fall. But this is pretty sad look building. I think they actually made it look worse than it was before. Old and outdated. I am actually quite surprised that this new paint scheme looks so amateurish. Geez Pipers looks better than this mess.

That mess on Aberdeen is the same scheme they use on Walmart Supercentres and it looks terrible on a last generation Wal-Mart building. One of the Walmarts in Fredericton was just reno'ed into a Supercentre and has the same paint scheme, but it's on a building that was built for it with 2 peaks, one blue with a sign and one brown.

Marty_Mcfly Sep 30, 2013 10:35 PM

Same awkward, nasty Wal Mart reno happening here in Charlottetown.

Arrakis Oct 1, 2013 1:47 AM

Yeah its bizarre. I like their new logo but the new exterior paint scheme is so poorly excited, it makes the building look 10 times worse than it did before. I have no idea what they are thinking here.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Marty_Mcfly (Post 6285132)
Same awkward, nasty Wal Mart reno happening here in Charlottetown.


Larla77 Oct 3, 2013 7:54 PM

Seeing on a job posting site that children's store Carters is looking for a store manager for a new store in the Harvey Power Center. Also Town Shoes is looking for a manager and staff as well for a store in St. John's.

wmemeadusjr Oct 4, 2013 4:19 PM

Every time I drive by Walmart I'm just puzzled at the new colour scheme. It looks like they couldn't decide on a colour. Target uses several different colours, but they blend really well together and the place looks great. They really did do a great job on the old Zellers building on Stavanger Drive. The Walmarts look completely aweful now.

wmemeadusjr Oct 4, 2013 4:24 PM

I'm really disappointed with the job Walmart did on the old Zellers Topsail Road location as well. K-mart open there in the laste 60's, Zellers took over the place in the 90's and did little with the building except change the sign and now Walmart has done basically the same thing. It really shows on the exterior. Inside is just as bad as much of the same flooring remains and the ceiling tiles and lighting of the old K-mart still remain.

SpongeG Oct 4, 2013 5:00 PM

walmarts had that scheme a couple years now in BC, looks much better than the old colour scheme which anything they did was an improvement

Arrakis Oct 4, 2013 6:17 PM

Totally agree. The exterior paint job looks totally amateurish.

Quote:

Originally Posted by wmemeadusjr (Post 6290473)
Every time I drive by Walmart I'm just puzzled at the new colour scheme. It looks like they couldn't decide on a colour. Target uses several different colours, but they blend really well together and the place looks great. They really did do a great job on the old Zellers building on Stavanger Drive. The Walmarts look completely aweful now.


Arrakis Oct 4, 2013 6:20 PM

I can understand though why they didnt spend too much time working on the the old Topsail Road location as they don't own that building and are only leasing. It's still owned by Sobey's and the Empire Group. Not many people are going are shopping there though. I thought more people would shop there but the smaller floor space is really turning off customers.


Quote:

Originally Posted by wmemeadusjr (Post 6290490)
I'm really disappointed with the job Walmart did on the old Zellers Topsail Road location as well. K-mart open there in the laste 60's, Zellers took over the place in the 90's and did little with the building except change the sign and now Walmart has done basically the same thing. It really shows on the exterior. Inside is just as bad as much of the same flooring remains and the ceiling tiles and lighting of the old K-mart still remain.


Arrakis Oct 4, 2013 6:27 PM

Gonna make a retail prediction here in relation to the popularity of Walmart and Target and other department stores entering Canada. I predict that within several years Sears Canada will call it quits and shut down in Canada if not even North America. They are continually losing market share and sales during each quarter. They are already closing very prominent locations across Canada in larget markets like Vancouver and other large cities.

I would not be surprised at all if you see Target taking over many of the Sears locations throughout Canada as I am sure Sears got a lot of hot real estate that Target would love to have also. I can see Sears in the Avalon Mall becoming a Target at some point if my prediction comes true. Be nice to see a Hudson's Bay here though but not sure what their expansion plans if any are in the works since they unloaded Zellers to Target.

wmemeadusjr Oct 8, 2013 7:21 PM

Does anybody know if any retail has been announced for Glencrest/Dannyland? For the last week, equipment has been working frantically to clear the area just off Ruth Avenue near the water tanks and the new Bell Aliant tower. They were working Sunday and now have flood lights set up for working at night. According to the Glencrest plans, this is the retail/commercial area of the development, not the Industrial area which is further west. I've seen no activity in the Industrial area, other than the signs.

ThisIsJustePourDire Oct 10, 2013 6:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wmemeadusjr (Post 6295413)
Does anybody know if any retail has been announced for Glencrest/Dannyland? For the last week, equipment has been working frantically to clear the area just off Ruth Avenue near the water tanks and the new Bell Aliant tower. They were working Sunday and now have flood lights set up for working at night. According to the Glencrest plans, this is the retail/commercial area of the development, not the Industrial area which is further west. I've seen no activity in the Industrial area, other than the signs.

Yes, I do know because my dad is working with the people incharge of the the retail there. I also know, but, I am not allowed to share it with anyone. All I can say is that there will be another Costco and Target.

jeddy1989 Oct 10, 2013 7:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ThisIsJustePourDire (Post 6298404)
Yes, I do know because my dad is working with the people incharge of the the retail there. I also know, but, I am not allowed to share it with anyone. All I can say is that there will be another Costco and Target.

that would be a great start!

Architype Oct 10, 2013 7:46 PM

St. John's has so many new suburban stores, but I feel I didn't miss anything by not going into a single one while visiting!
Yes, I know - they are for residents not for tourists ! ;)

Arrakis Oct 11, 2013 12:55 AM

Like all the other proposed rumours of stores, until we see an official announcement by the stores themselves, I will believe it when I see it. Costco has been rumoured for years to go in the west end. I honestly don't think St.John's needs two Costcos for the size of the population.

Quote:

Originally Posted by ThisIsJustePourDire (Post 6298404)
Yes, I do know because my dad is working with the people incharge of the the retail there. I also know, but, I am not allowed to share it with anyone. All I can say is that there will be another Costco and Target.


J_Murphy Oct 11, 2013 1:14 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Arrakis (Post 6298939)
Like all the other proposed rumours of stores, until we see an official announcement by the stores themselves, I will believe it when I see it. Costco has been rumoured for years to go in the west end. I honestly don't think St.John's needs two Costcos for the size of the population.

Have you ever been to costco in St. John's? I have never been there when it isn't busy. That is mostly the reason I don't go there often, and the fact I live with one other person and don't need that much stuff. I have heard that store does some of the highest sales chain-wide, specifically around Christmas. Also if you consider projected growth in the region, it may be needed even more in a few years from now.

AllBlack Oct 11, 2013 1:45 AM

Costco is blocked with people pretty much all the time, so much that I rarely go and always dread it. I'd like to see a second one built.

MonctonRad Oct 11, 2013 2:04 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AllBlack (Post 6299001)
Costco is blocked with people pretty much all the time, so much that I rarely go and always dread it. I'd like to see a second one built.

All Costco's are zoos all the time. It is an unwritten rule. :)

There are Costco's in Moncton, Freddy & Saint John. There are two Costco's in Halifax but Halifax has twice your population. I sincerely doubt that you will see a second store in St. John's, sorry......

EDIT - I just realized the discussion was about new retail in "Dannyland". This changes things a bit. This is a potentially huge development, and I'm sure that Danny Williams could make a good case to Costco to build a new location there. I still think 2 Costco's for 200k people is a bit much, but if somebody can talk Costco into doing this, it would be Danny Williams......

Architype Oct 11, 2013 3:06 AM

Greater Vancouver has 7 Costcos, only one is in the city, but that's about one per 350,000 for the metro. I think St. John's may have a higher demand per capita though.

jeddy1989 Oct 11, 2013 5:14 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MonctonRad (Post 6299025)
All Costco's are zoos all the time. It is an unwritten rule. :)

There are Costco's in Moncton, Freddy & Saint John. There are two Costco's in Halifax but Halifax has twice your population. I sincerely doubt that you will see a second store in St. John's, sorry......

EDIT - I just realized the discussion was about new retail in "Dannyland". This changes things a bit. This is a potentially huge development, and I'm sure that Danny Williams could make a good case to Costco to build a new location there. I still think 2 Costco's for 200k people is a bit much, but if somebody can talk Costco into doing this, it would be Danny Williams......

I have to be honest I don't think it's too much at ALL .... lots of money floating around these parts and people come in across the province just to shop

J_Murphy Oct 11, 2013 10:51 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jeddy1989 (Post 6299229)
I have to be honest I don't think it's too much at ALL .... lots of money floating around these parts and people come in across the province just to shop

If you consider metro area alone and 200K people, it may not seem like much. Like you said, people come from all over the province to shop as St. John's is the only real shopping destination in NL. So really stores in St. John's service a majority of the entire province for peoples shopping needs. I used to work with a guy that lived in Corner Brook and he would come in sometimes just to go drop $1,000 at Costco. Also, around Christmas it is common for families to drive into St. john's, stay with some relatives and do all their shopping in here.

kwajo Oct 11, 2013 12:32 PM

Yeah and the fact that it is an island means that St. John's has a much larger than normal catchment area for retail, because the only alternative [other than online shopping of course] is to leave the island entirely.

statbass Oct 11, 2013 1:21 PM

Just to add to the growing discussion about Costco... St. John's retail is a very unique retail sector (as Kwajo mentioned) for a number of reasons, the biggest being we are an island and quite isolated from rest of the retail sector in Canada.

Retail in the St. John's is not limited to residents of the metro and surrounding area. Many people from Clarenville (approx 1.5 hours drive) east come to SJ on a regular basis to shop/dine/play etc. This actually pushes the catchment area up around 300,000+. As for Costco, this number is bigger since people from all over the island will come to shop, for both personal and business reasons. Someone from Corner Brook may only come in twice a year to shop at Costco but is very likely to drop a large sum of money. I have family from Central that come in with a large list of items to pick up at Costco for themselves and other family members and friends - further evidence to justify J_Murphy's claim... :) .

So is there large enough demand to justify another Costco on the island? On the surface is does seem so. But as Arrakis mentioned nothing is certain until we here it officially.

PoscStudent Oct 11, 2013 1:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jeddy1989 (Post 6299229)
I have to be honest I don't think it's too much at ALL .... lots of money floating around these parts and people come in across the province just to shop

Supposedly Costco has been interested in setting up in central, either Grand Falls or Gander.

J_Murphy Oct 11, 2013 2:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PoscStudent (Post 6299430)
Supposedly Costco has been interested in setting up in central, either Grand Falls or Gander.

That would probably make more sense than another in St. John's...

Trevor3 Oct 11, 2013 3:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PoscStudent (Post 6299430)
Supposedly Costco has been interested in setting up in central, either Grand Falls or Gander.

Costco has had discussions with Gander and Grand Falls-Windsor town councils this year. If they do go into central it will be with a new format store for smaller markets, more or less a pilot project. They have been pretty good at cornering the market in larger centres and now they have to look at secondary markets which are smaller in order to keep growing.

Deer Lake also made a pitch to Costco but I think they ended up getting laughed out of the boardroom. The company was pretty clear about 10 years ago that if they go to the west coast it has to be in Corner Brook, they turned down a power centre development in Pasadena as well a while back because it was too far out.

wmemeadusjr Oct 11, 2013 4:18 PM

The mayor of St. John's said awhile back that traffic and overcrowding problems in the Stavanger Drive area would be alleviated when a new retail development opens in Glencrest. That would lead me to beleive a Costco and/or Target would be a possibility as these are the only things unique to the Stavanger Drive area. What else would draw people from Stavanger and into Glencrest?

Chew Oct 11, 2013 6:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wmemeadusjr (Post 6299641)
The mayor of St. John's said awhile back that traffic and overcrowding problems in the Stavanger Drive area would be alleviated when a new retail development opens in Glencrest. That would lead me to beleive a Costco and/or Target would be a possibility as these are the only things unique to the Stavanger Drive area. What else would draw people from Stavanger and into Glencrest?

The Best Buy twins are also exclusively east end larger stores. There are lots of small stores too like Henry's that are only out that way.

But, Costco has to be the biggest draw down that way. Target's popularity remains to be seen, but has been somewhat of a flop in the rest of Canada.

Arrakis Oct 12, 2013 12:32 AM

We will likely see more Target's here before more Costcos, but like the discussion says, we are in a unique place here and isolated which kinda changes thing a bit. So who knows. I think Target will gain in popularity once it has open all of its stores in the former Zellers locations. I think Target will take hold better once they start building their own new stores.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chew (Post 6299846)
The Best Buy twins are also exclusively east end larger stores. There are lots of small stores too like Henry's that are only out that way.

But, Costco has to be the biggest draw down that way. Target's popularity remains to be seen, but has been somewhat of a flop in the rest of Canada.


statbass Oct 12, 2013 2:00 PM

BTW, I drove by the new development area on Hebron Way (or is it WhiteRose Dr? It's where Golftown is located). I noticed a sign in one of the retail spaces advertising a Carter's/Oshkosh opening soon. I believe someone else previously posted about Carter's job opportunities here. For those who don't have small children this post is probably a snooze-fest. But for those with small children (e.g. me) this is a big plus.

IronMan Oct 18, 2013 8:09 PM

Looks like there is a Carter's/Osh Kosk Store opening at the Henry Power development. Saw an ad on the internet (Career Beacon I think) for sales associates. Nice addition to our shopping compliment for those with small children. :)

wmemeadusjr Oct 19, 2013 1:46 PM

I had forgotten about the Best Buy twins. There's also Michael's, Old Navy, Pier 1, etc. but Costco seems to be the big draw.

wmemeadusjr Oct 19, 2013 1:52 PM

I noticed on the map of the Glencrest commercial area that there's a new overpass over Pitt's Memorial Drive midway between the Ruth Avenue overpass and the Trans Canada Highway interchange. It will definitely be needed as the two-lane Ruth Avenue interchange doesn't seem big enough to handle the traffic that will be going in and out of the area with the new commercial, residential and industrial development in the area. The map also shows future access to the area from an extension of Southlands Boulevard from one end and the Cochrane Pond interchange from the other end.

goodgrowth Oct 19, 2013 5:48 PM

Where did you see this map of Glencrest?...
Quote:

Originally Posted by wmemeadusjr (Post 6308467)
I noticed on the map of the Glencrest commercial area that there's a new overpass over Pitt's Memorial Drive midway between the Ruth Avenue overpass and the Trans Canada Highway interchange. It will definitely be needed as the two-lane Ruth Avenue interchange doesn't seem big enough to handle the traffic that will be going in and out of the area with the new commercial, residential and industrial development in the area. The map also shows future access to the area from an extension of Southlands Boulevard from one end and the Cochrane Pond interchange from the other end.


rthomasd Oct 19, 2013 10:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by goodgrowth (Post 6308617)
Where did you see this map of Glencrest?...

There may be others, but here's a start -
http://www.stjohns.ca/sites/default/...ngs%20Maps.pdf

jeddy1989 Oct 19, 2013 10:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rthomasd (Post 6308833)
There may be others, but here's a start -
http://www.stjohns.ca/sites/default/...ngs%20Maps.pdf

look at all them roundabouts! :D

Marty_Mcfly Oct 20, 2013 1:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jeddy1989 (Post 6308838)
look at all them roundabouts! :D

It's a start :notacrook: Roundabouts are pretty awesome, grown an appreciation for them here in Ch'town.

wardo44 Oct 22, 2013 6:34 PM

The Atlantic Canada portion of the Empire Theatres > Cineplex purchased seems to have been approved & closed. Apparently today (Oct 22) is Empire's last day of business at Avalon Mall & Mount Pearl Sqaure. They re-open at the end of the week as Cineplex Cinemas.

Hopefully, this opens the door to the start of construction of the Torbay Cineplex.



https://www.empiretheatres.com/thankyou

rthomasd Oct 22, 2013 6:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wardo44 (Post 6311803)
The Atlantic Canada portion of the Empire Theatres > Cineplex purchased seems to have been approved & closed. Apparently today (Oct 22) is Empire's last day of business at Avalon Mall & Mount Pearl Sqaure. They re-open at the end of the week as Cineplex Cinemas.

Hopefully, this opens the door to the start of construction of the Torbay Cineplex.



https://www.empiretheatres.com/thankyou

I'd heard that steel has already started rising on the site, although I haven't visited recently.

Townie709 Oct 22, 2013 6:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rthomasd (Post 6311810)
I'd heard that steel has already started rising on the site, although I haven't visited recently.

There is steel going up for a building in that area, and it looks pretty big from what I saw but I don't think it's in the right place to be the new theaters. So even with ownership transferring to Cineplex, they still plan on building the Torbay Road theaters?

rthomasd Oct 22, 2013 7:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Townie709 (Post 6311852)
There is steel going up for a building in that area, and it looks pretty big from what I saw but I don't think it's in the right place to be the new theaters. So even with ownership transferring to Cineplex, they still plan on building the Torbay Road theaters?

Yes they committed to building the new Torbay (8 cinemas) complex.
http://www.thetelegram.com/Business/...er-expansion/1

And according to Wikipedia, the planned "Empire Extra" will be "UltraAVX with Dolby Atmos" instead

Arrakis Oct 23, 2013 3:11 PM

https://fbcdn-sphotos-f-a.akamaihd.n...85292046_n.jpg

I posted this pick earlier this week of steel being erected for another building on Hebron Drive but I don't think it's for the proposed cinemas as they are planned for the eastern side of the site towards the airport. This is a mixture of industrial and commercial buildings approved for this area so it just might be an office building. I didn't see any posted signage for it when I was driving by recently so hard to really know what it is until more of the building is completed.

Construction equipment though is all over the area where the proposed cinemas are going and looks like they are preparing the land for eventual future construction.


Quote:

Originally Posted by Townie709 (Post 6311852)
There is steel going up for a building in that area, and it looks pretty big from what I saw but I don't think it's in the right place to be the new theaters. So even with ownership transferring to Cineplex, they still plan on building the Torbay Road theaters?


J_Murphy Oct 24, 2013 4:10 PM

There's a new chocolate factory coming to town. Noticed the signs up in Churchill Square next to Newfoundland Camera.

http://rockymountainchocolatefactory...rol/portalHome

Arrakis Oct 28, 2013 7:54 PM

Thought this was pretty cool from Youtube. A time-lapse of a Zellers store being converted into a Target store in 120 seconds.
The next wave of store openings in Canada is November 13th with 31 more stores to open across the country. I wonder if St. John's is one of them?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0EJ6jq5WJgo

Townie709 Oct 28, 2013 11:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Arrakis (Post 6318561)
Thought this was pretty cool from Youtube. A time-lapse of a Zellers store being converted into a Target store in 120 seconds.
The next wave of store openings in Canada is November 13th with 31 more stores to open across the country. I wonder if St. John's is one of them?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0EJ6jq5WJgo

Probably. Looking inside, it's pretty much ready to go. Shelves are stocked and staff are trained, shopping carts are there. November 13th seems like a reasonable date

Arrakis Oct 29, 2013 11:06 AM

http://www.cbc.ca/news/business/sear...hers-1.2286483

Another sign that Sears Canada is slowly disintergrating in Canada. If you close almost all of your most iconic locations, surely a national closure is not far behind.


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