Canadian Retail Thread

[ue]

Originally Posted by kwoldtimer

That would seem awfully ambitious, but it would be cool to see a Simons flagship store in that location. Or, how about both Nordstroms and Simons?

Agreed, but it would be great brand exposure. I couldn't see Nordstrom and Simons opening next to each other like that, though. Perhaps in the same mall, but not the same spot in said mall. It would be like having McDonalds and Burger King right next to each other, except on a far grander scale.

[J.OT13]

Originally Posted by ue

Agreed, but it would be great brand exposure. I couldn't see Nordstrom and Simons opening next to each other like that, though. Perhaps in the same mall, but not the same spot in said mall. It would be like having McDonalds and Burger King right next to each other, except on a far grander scale.

What, you don't have fast food boulevards somewhere up north? Seeing both McD's and Burger King (and a whole lot of other fast food joints) next door to each other is quite common in Ottawa-Gatineau.

That said, I agree that two such big department stores next to one another might seem a little off. Usually you want your anchors at different ends. In Ottawa, Simons will be at the north east corner of the Rideau Centre and Nordstrom at the south east end.

[ue]

More like out west (Edmonton) . Yes, same vicinity and perhaps in a suburban area with vast parking lots separating buildings, it does happen. I'm thinking more along the lines of say Yonge St having a storefront occupied by a McDonalds, then next door is Wendys, and next door to that is Burger King.

[casper]

Originally Posted by ue

More like out west (Edmonton) . Yes, same vicinity and perhaps in a suburban area with vast parking lots separating buildings, it does happen. I'm thinking more along the lines of say Yonge St having a storefront occupied by a McDonalds, then next door is Wendys, and next door to that is Burger King.

In the "old days" pre-mall this was closer to being the norm. In Vancouver the Bay and Eatons (Sears) were across the street from each other. It was not unusual to have department stores across the street from each other.


The typical modern day mall is fashion store, next to fashion store, next to fashion store.

[ue]

^ Right, but those clothing stores generally have different "images" and attract different clientele or the same clientele looking for different things. Simons and Nordstrom have similar clienteles, making a corner oversaturated if they were next to each other. It would be less of an issue if it were say Simons and Sears (not that they would likely set up shop next to each other).

[J.OT13]

Originally Posted by ue

More like out west (Edmonton) . Yes, same vicinity and perhaps in a suburban area with vast parking lots separating buildings, it does happen. I'm thinking more along the lines of say Yonge St having a storefront occupied by a McDonalds, then next door is Wendys, and next door to that is Burger King.

In that case, I agree. In downtown Ottawa, we have Tim's and McD's next to one another, but not lines of burger joints, although we do have a lot of coffee places and shawarma restaurants and Shopper's Drug Marts in close proximity.

As for casper's comment about big department stores in the old days opening near each other, we had that too. Rideau (4-5 large ones on a kilometer stretch) and Sparks (don't know the exact number, byt I would say at least half a dozen on two blocks) were jam packed with department stores. The street's themselves had a similar function as malls today.

[LeftCoaster]

Originally Posted by ue

^ Right, but those clothing stores generally have different "images" and attract different clientele or the same clientele looking for different things. Simons and Nordstrom have similar clienteles, making a corner oversaturated if they were next to each other. It would be less of an issue if it were say Simons and Sears (not that they would likely set up shop next to each other).

Retailers, even fashion retailers like to cluster. Often they will have co-tenancy clauses stipulating that they need a certain amount or like tenants (often named) in the mall or even in close proximity.

[HTania]

Black Friday is getting popular in Canada. Lots of people takes today off for shopping. Only a few people on my floor.

[eternallyme]

Originally Posted by HTania

Black Friday is getting popular in Canada. Lots of people takes today off for shopping. Only a few people on my floor.

It's also growing in popularity overseas, such as in the UK and Australia as well, so it is becoming global.

The key year IMO was 2010(?) when Canadian retailers were blindsided as Canadians flocked south in droves on Black Friday and 2010 was a bad Christmas for Canadian retail mainly because of that. Realizing it had expanded beyond the US, there is nothing to stop it from crossing oceans as well.

[ue]

^ Interesting. The Canadian invasion makes sense (though I don't support it), but I never thought about it spreading overseas too, especially so soon after Canada started partaking in it. Last year's Black Friday didn't seem anywhere near as significant as this years. I wonder how long it'll take before it eclipses Boxing Day/Week.

I think Black Friday was less necessary here in Alberta, though, which may explain why years prior were more lacklustre in sales and events. The bulk of our population (Edmonton-Calgary corridor) is, unlike every other province, more than a few hours from the border and what is across the border (Montana) isn't exactly a retail goldmine like Bellingham or Buffalo are. Couple that with Alberta's high disposable income, and the sales are less necessary here.

Were the Black Friday sales also a bit lackluster the past few years in other parts of Canada too?

[kwoldtimer]

Originally Posted by ue

^ Interesting. The Canadian invasion makes sense (though I don't support it), but I never thought about it spreading overseas too, especially so soon after Canada started partaking in it. Last year's Black Friday didn't seem anywhere near as significant as this years. I wonder how long it'll take before it eclipses Boxing Day/Week.

I think Black Friday was less necessary here in Alberta, though, which may explain why years prior were more lacklustre in sales and events. The bulk of our population (Edmonton-Calgary corridor) is, unlike every other province, more than a few hours from the border and what is across the border (Montana) isn't exactly a retail goldmine like Bellingham or Buffalo are. Couple that with Alberta's high disposable income, and the sales are less necessary here.

Were the Black Friday sales also a bit lackluster the past few years in other parts of Canada too?

Black Friday is huge in Panama - 30,000 international tourists were expected to arrive in Panama City to shop. It has also caught on in El Salvador.

[eternallyme]

Originally Posted by ue

^ Interesting. The Canadian invasion makes sense (though I don't support it), but I never thought about it spreading overseas too, especially so soon after Canada started partaking in it. Last year's Black Friday didn't seem anywhere near as significant as this years. I wonder how long it'll take before it eclipses Boxing Day/Week.

I think Black Friday was less necessary here in Alberta, though, which may explain why years prior were more lacklustre in sales and events. The bulk of our population (Edmonton-Calgary corridor) is, unlike every other province, more than a few hours from the border and what is across the border (Montana) isn't exactly a retail goldmine like Bellingham or Buffalo are. Couple that with Alberta's high disposable income, and the sales are less necessary here.

Were the Black Friday sales also a bit lackluster the past few years in other parts of Canada too?

Ontario and British Columbia are likely most entrenched due to the close proximity to cross-border shopping and large populations.

[vid]

It's not Black Friday, it's Black November. The hype was on as soon as we threw out our pumpkins.

And starting Tuesday, once we get past "Cyber Monday", is "Boxing Month".

It's a great way for capitalism to completely remove any mention of holidays altogether. "No holidays, just boxing day. Please shop here."

[TownGuy]

Originally Posted by ue

I think Black Friday was less necessary here in Alberta, though, which may explain why years prior were more lacklustre in sales and events. The bulk of our population (Edmonton-Calgary corridor) is, unlike every other province, more than a few hours from the border and what is across the border (Montana) isn't exactly a retail goldmine like Bellingham or Buffalo are. Couple that with Alberta's high disposable income, and the sales are less necessary here.

Really? People don't require sales in Alberta cause they have that much money coming out their ass? Ha.

It more than likely has everything to do with the points you made prior to that. The main reason it became a thing in southern Ontario is customers were being lost to the easily accessible US.

[bikegypsy]

Originally Posted by Acajack

They have two stores in Quebec City (old town and Place Laurier mall) that are only 7 km apart but Simons has been a retail icon there for centuries and people in Quebec City are also arguably more fashion-oriented than people in Ottawa-Gatineau.

That's also what I thought until I had to work in Quebec City. But no, this is not the case. It's just another myth. Outside Montreal and Toronto, the fashion style of most canadians is pretty much the same everywhere: outdoorsy, comfortable and low.

[someone123]

Originally Posted by LeftCoaster

Retailers, even fashion retailers like to cluster. Often they will have co-tenancy clauses stipulating that they need a certain amount or like tenants (often named) in the mall or even in close proximity.

A lot of retail stuff is counter-intuitive. I think the "clustering" advantage is that it turns a retail area into more of a destination than it otherwise would be. The payoff to being the best place in down to shop instead of second-best is huge, so it can be worth the increased competition.

A lot of post-war urban retail streets ended up on the wrong side of this effect, so they face a chicken-and-egg problem. They don't have a lot to draw people in so the customers don't come and retailers don't want to set up shop there. It makes sense that adding lots of residents is one of the more reliable ways of breaking this cycle.

Another counter-intuitive retail thing is when businesses close down because landlords jack up rents in response to increased demand for retail space. It's common to hear people say "this street is so bad that even <low value business X> can't survive!" when the reality is that the business has been pushed out because the area is too successful.

[SpongeG]

Originally Posted by TownGuy

Really? People don't require sales in Alberta cause they have that much money coming out their ass? Ha.

It more than likely has everything to do with the points you made prior to that. The main reason it became a thing in southern Ontario is customers were being lost to the easily accessible US.

i moved to albeta from bc and have way more disposable incom now and can buy what i want but still being a cheap ass sales are good but i do tend to buy more of what i want rather than waiting for the sale price

[SpongeG]

i was just at simons in edmonton, its a great store, does have some high end like versace, marc by marc jacobs, dsquared etc. but i find compared to nordstroms it really seems to pack its space with cheaper house brand stuff which is nice but definately makes it different enough to nordstroms which seems to have very few house brands and probably has a higher end price overall compared to simons nd thusly i don't really see them being that much of a threat to each other

i didn't notice any cosmetics or fragrances at simons or even shoes but was in a rush as my friend was giving me hate for making him shop lol so ditched out quicker than i would have wanted

[miketoronto]

Originally Posted by SpongeG

i was just at simons in edmonton, its a great store, does have some high end like versace, marc by marc jacobs, dsquared etc. but i find compared to nordstroms it really seems to pack its space with cheaper house brand stuff which is nice but definately makes it different enough to nordstroms which seems to have very few house brands and probably has a higher end price overall compared to simons nd thusly i don't really see them being that much of a threat to each other

i didn't notice any cosmetics or fragrances at simons or even shoes but was in a rush as my friend was giving me hate for making him shop lol so ditched out quicker than i would have wanted

Simons was never considered a high end store like Nordstroms. If anything it is known for bringing affordable fashion to the masses. Yes some stores do have high end designer names, but overall Simons is all about their house brand which is what makes it unique. I never buy anything at Simons but their house brand, because the other names you can get anywhere.
But Simons' house brand stuff is truly unique, and I always get asked where I get my nice clothing from when I wear Simons clothes. My American co-workers especially find Simons clothing interesting, and always ask where my clothes are from.

I do fear however that as Simons expands to the rest of Canada, they are going to lose some of their cutting edge unique designs. I say this because Simons apparently has had to adjust their clothing for Edmonton where they are less fashion forward and larger than Quebec people. That to me would be boring to have a dumbed down Simons.

[manny_santos]

Originally Posted by Nouvellecosse

So buying groceries online is a thing now? This is something that people really do?

Grocery Checkout (www.grocerycheckout.com) has been serving London, Ont. for at least 6 years. It was actually born out of a project in a business class at Western.

The ironic thing is that Canadians used to get milk and bread delivered to their door decades ago, so this is nothing new for people of a certain age.