General Retail News

[bikegypsy]

Originally Posted by mykl

While I agree that in general, Ottawa and Gatineau can each support a Simons store (Edmonton is getting a second one, for example), there's a long history of Quebec chains that have had the people of Quebec turn against them. Simons took MANY years before deciding to make any moves outside of Quebec, even though Ottawa in particular was begging for the store. By moving to Ottawa, Simons knows that Gatineau would have been outraged that they didn't receive the fabulous Quebec chain that they know and love. So yes, both cities can support it, but there's more than one reason why Gatineau got a store, and before Ottawa.

That being said, I am headed to Simons tomorrow and I am excited as hell. I just hope its not too much of a nightmare to bus there lol.

The only reason companies open stores is that it is worth doing so based on the numbers they have in a particular market in terms of demand and market share as well as a location which is in line with the brand. Not to outrage people has nothing to do with it.

[canabiz]

Originally Posted by eternallyme

I personally disagree, since the target market isn't necessary local residents anyway. Tourists, especially from abroad, would be the big spenders.

I don't disagree with you but per this article, our city was only the 7th-most visited one in Canada last year

http://www.torontosun.com/2014/08/26/20-canadian-cities-international-travellers-visit-most

Louis Vuitton only has 8 stores across the country (3 in Toronto, 2 in Vancouver, and 1 each in Montreal, Edmonton, and Calgary). I believe Prada only has 4 stores here (1 each in Toronto, Montreal, Calgary and Vancouver).

I am sure these companies have done their due diligence and the fact they have not opened anything here (or even talk about the possibility of opening a store) speaks volumes, IMO.

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by bikegypsy

The only reason companies open stores is that it is worth doing so based on the numbers they have in a particular market in terms of demand and market share as well as a location which is in line with the brand. Not to outrage people has nothing to do with it.

I don't think he meant that Simons opened in Gatineau simply to avoid outraging Gatineau people. But Simons did open in Gatineau in order to capitalize on the Gatineau market in a way it could not have with just a store in Ottawa.

[bikegypsy]

Originally Posted by Acajack

I don't think he meant that Simons opened in Gatineau simply to avoid outraging Gatineau people. But Simons did open in Gatineau in order to capitalize on the Gatineau market in a way it could not have with just a store in Ottawa.

Oh I totally agree. But it's more to satisfy the size of the market than not having to go to the Rideau Center. People in Gatineau shop in Ottawa in droves.

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by bikegypsy

Oh I totally agree. But it's more to satisfy the size of the market than not having to go to the Rideau Center. People in Gatineau shop in Ottawa in droves.

There is a décent sized subset of Gatinois who will not shop at a Québec chain's Ottawa store if they feel snubbed.

[canabiz]

I went to Simons today & first impression is nice store and selections. I'm a Winners/Costco kind of guy so it is unlikely I'll go out of my way to shop here but my wife may find this place interesting. Half of the store is for the ladies (clothing, shoes, purses, jewellery) and lots of them were milling around the Home section as well.

They were offering free iced coffee and meatballs & that's certainly appreciated.

[citydwlr]

Wasn't planning on going to Simons today, but I found myself going out there after all and I gotta say I'm pretty impressed. Good selection, and most of the product is affordable. A lot of the mens section was their own brand "le 31" which was very reasonably priced and of decent quality. Then they had a few luxury and "aspirational-luxury" brands thrown in the mix (Comme des Garçons, Y-3, Strellson, Tiger of Sweden, G-Star, etc...). It definitely fits a wide demographic, and I can see these guys giving Nordstroms a run for their money for sure. The place was buzzing. One thing I liked was that the staff weren't following you around the store all the time asking you if they could help you with anything; unlike Nordstroms (or Harry Rosen, for that matter)... All in all, a pretty positive experience. Looking forward to having them at Rideau!

Also, in terms of the design of the place, the exterior pre-cast walls were awesome! I want to see more of that in Ottawa!

[Source]

[canabiz]

I am somewhat looking for a watch and casually checked out the selection at Simons and I am surprised they don't carry the more established brands (unless I am not looking at the right spot).

They have your typical Fossil and associated brands like Skagen, Michael Kors, etc. I don't know if Nordstrom has a more established selection (a quick check of their website shows they are more or less in the same boat as Simons for watches) and I am not a watch snob by any means but it'd be nice to see something like Tissot or Frederique Constant at these spots.

[Acajack]

We went for ice cream at the awesome new Chocolats Favoris nearby and ended up at Simons too!

We could have run into each other guys!

Very nice store. I was impressed.

[mykl]

Originally Posted by bikegypsy

The only reason companies open stores is that it is worth doing so based on the numbers they have in a particular market in terms of demand and market share as well as a location which is in line with the brand. Not to outrage people has nothing to do with it.

I work for an old company based out of Montreal, for a boss who has worked for several large Quebec companies. I beg to differ. Quebec is its own little universe and as I said, the people will turn on a business in a heartbeat if it doesn't please them.

[mykl]

I've been to Simons in Quebec City, Montreal and Edmonton. After my visit to the Gatineau store in Saturday, I can safely say that it is smaller in comparison. Its honestly half the size of the Edmonton store, and definitely lacked the selection although I think it did well to showcase the Simons brands that are really the reason people love the store in the first place. I was also disappointed that the café wasn't open yet.

I'll definitely return though. I hadn't been to that mall before, and I hadn't used the RAPIBUS routes before. I kind of liked the mall and didn't mind the transit, so good things to keep in mind until the Rideau store opens, which will be bigger and should have the full range of what Simons offers.

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by mykl

I've been to Simons in Quebec City, Montreal and Edmonton. After my visit to the Gatineau store in Saturday, I can safely say that it is smaller in comparison. Its honestly half the size of the Edmonton store, and definitely lacked the selection although I think it did well to showcase the Simons brands that are really the reason people love the store in the first place. I was also disappointed that the café wasn't open yet.

I'll definitely return though. I hadn't been to that mall before, and I hadn't used the RAPIBUS routes before. I kind of liked the mall and didn't mind the transit, so good things to keep in mind until the Rideau store opens, which will be bigger and should have the full range of what Simons offers.

FYI Simons Gatineau is 80 000 sf. Simons Rideau will be 100 000 sf. Simons Edmonton is 115 000 sf. Simons Ste-Catherine in downtown Montreal is about the same size as Gatineau.

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by mykl

I work for an old company based out of Montreal, for a boss who has worked for several large Quebec companies. I beg to differ. Quebec is its own little universe and as I said, the people will turn on a business in a heartbeat if it doesn't please them.

Gatineau's also got the "little brother" syndrome vis-à-vis Ottawa.

They'll happily go to Ottawa for American or Anglo-Canadian chains like Nordstrom, Aeropostale, The Works, Lulu Lemon or Justice that aren't in Gatineau.

But Quebec chains that only have locations in Ottawa (and not in Gatineau) seem to be a tougher sell as people in Gatineau seem to see that as a snub, going for the higher incomes and "brighter lights" (sic) of Ottawa over their more modest city.

It goes for restaurants too, and in my circle no one's ever suggested we go to the Three Brewers in Ottawa (Trois Brasseurs in Montreal, but it's actually a French company). But people on the other hand will go to Kinki Sushi, The Works and a bunch of other Ottawa places all the time.

[bikegypsy]

Originally Posted by mykl

I work for an old company based out of Montreal, for a boss who has worked for several large Quebec companies. I beg to differ. Quebec is its own little universe and as I said, the people will turn on a business in a heartbeat if it doesn't please them.

Gatineau is a completely different beast than the rest of Quebec. The rest of the province of Quebec is rather Montreal-centric, where as the Outaouais has 2 poles of attraction.

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by bikegypsy

Gatineau is a completely different beast than the rest of Quebec. The rest of the province of Quebec is rather Montreal-centric, where as the Outaouais has 2 poles of attraction.

I think this last bit is a pretty good characterization.

Just looking at my kids, who've never lived or gone to school in Ottawa, it's a city that they like and everything. They like going to the Market, they like shopping there, going to shows there and various attractions.

But their big city is still Montreal. That's where the "cool" stuff they pay attention to comes from: books, music, magazines, TV shows, etc. At least, as far as their "national" culture goes, the stuff comes from Montreal.

Of course, they're also interested in stuff from other places, but that stuff tends to come from NYC, LA and even Europe. Not so much Ottawa or even Toronto.

For example, coming up in few weeks is this thing:
http://www.vrak.tv/karv-l-anti-gala-2015

For whatever reason this is a HUGE deal to preteens and teens in Quebec. My kids and all their friends are into it just like kids in Baie-Comeau and Rimouski. But they don't even bother talking about it to their cousins from just across the river as they've never even heard of it.

And of course, the Anti-Gala takes place in Montreal.

[begratto]

Originally Posted by Acajack

It goes for restaurants too, and in my circle no one's ever suggested we go to the Three Brewers in Ottawa (Trois Brasseurs in Montreal, but it's actually a French company). But people on the other hand will go to Kinki Sushi, The Works and a bunch of other Ottawa places all the time.

I'm pretty sure that the Trois Brasseurs franchise is owned by anglophones, which would explain why they overlook Gatineau and probably didn't factor in the negative image it would give them to only go to the Ontario side. My guess is that they probably don't know their francophone customers as well as they think if they didn't open up in Gatineau first; they probably figured that the Gatineau francophones would just go across the river to the Ottawa locations.

A few hints that the management is anglo:

• Their website is in English by default, even when you type les3brasseurs.ca
• For years, in their locations list, the listed the rue St-Denis and rue St-Paul restaurants as being on "St.Denis" and "St.Paul" with a dot instead of a dash. In French, we use the dash, not dots. They now use a special font which seems to be a hybrid between a dash and a dot. To please everyone I guess.
• They use capital letters everywhere. Look at what happens when you click on "Bières" in their navigation tool. It shows "Bières En Fût", "Bière Du Moment", etc. We don't do this in French.

Maybe I'm reading too much into this... but it might explain why they are on Sparks and not on Maloney or du Plateau.

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by begratto

I'm pretty sure that the Trois Brasseurs franchise is owned by anglophones, which would explain why they overlook Gatineau and probably didn't factor in the negative image it would give them to only go to the Ontario side. My guess is that they probably don't know their francophone customers as well as they think if they didn't open up in Gatineau first; they probably figured that the Gatineau francophones would just go across the river to the Ottawa locations.

A few hints that the management is anglo:

• Their website is in English by default, even when you type les3brasseurs.ca
• For years, in their locations list, the listed the rue St-Denis and rue St-Paul restaurants as being on "St.Denis" and "St.Paul" with a dot instead of a dash. In French, we use the dash, not dots. They now use a special font which seems to be a hybrid between a dash and a dot. To please everyone I guess.
• They use capital letters everywhere. Look at what happens when you click on "Bières" in their navigation tool. It shows "Bières En Fût", "Bière Du Moment", etc. We don't do this in French.

Maybe I'm reading too much into this...

You may be right. The original company is based in Lille, France but the Canadian franchise at the moment is presided by a guy named Terry Secord. Not sure if francophones started up the Canadian franchise originally, which still appears to be HQd in Montreal.

That said, most people still identify such companies as "Québécois". La Maison Simons, owned by an anglo Scottish family from Quebec City, being the prime example.

It could also be that the 3 Brasseurs people think Gatineau is already saturated (for the size of the market) with micro-brew pubs, what with the Brasseurs du Temps and Le Gainsbourg both downtown.

[begratto]

Originally Posted by Acajack

That said, most people still identify such companies as "Québécois". La Maison Simons, owned by an anglo Scottish family from Quebec City, being the prime example.

Oh, absolutely! But my guess is that an anglophone from Quebec City "gets it" (by "it", I mean the particularities of the French-speaking québécois market) more than an anglo from Montreal, who tend to live in some kind of anglo bubble.

[phil235]

Originally Posted by canabiz

I share the same sentiment. I only know about this theatre as somebody living in Barrhaven because i go to the garage right besides to get my car serviced

Contrast this to let's say the Great Canadian Theatre on Wellington in Westboro, right at the corner of Holland, highly visible location with a lot of condo owners/restaurant patrons/government workers for exposure.

On another note, Simons opens in Gatineau today.

I just got this from the Gladstone. Looks like it will be staying a theatre, which is great news!

The Gladstone is staying The Gladstone
FOR GOOD!

Heard gossip in the media about The Gladstone being sold? We've had to bite our lips because the sale isn't official yet—but here's one fact we're free to tell you NOW: WE'RE HERE TO STAY!

With the sale imminent, ownership is on track to change but The Gladstone will stay The Gladstone, not just for 2015–16, but for decades to come! Our new owner is committed to The Gladstone, and is giving Plosive Productions and our partners free rein to carry on—and to keep The Gladstone growing!

More details to follow once all the i's are dotted and the t's are crossed.

And what perfect timing! With The Norman Conquests about to kick off our biggest season yet, THE BOX OFFICE IS BACK OPEN AT LAST! Don't delay, buy your tickets or subscriptions now!


Now it's your turn to spread the good news!

Get a discount on Gladstone shows with our
"Tell-A-Friend" promotion!

[rocketphish]

Gladstone likely to remain arts venue, patrons told

Peter Hum, Ottawa Citizen
Published on: August 18, 2015 | Last Updated: August 18, 2015 2:28 PM EDT

The future of the Gladstone Theatre as a performing arts venue seems secure following a meeting Monday between the unidentified buyer of the landmark Gladstone Avenue property, the current owner Steve Martin and others including David Whiteley, co-artistic director of Plosive Productions.

Plosive Productions, a locally based professional theatre company, has been leasing and operating the property near popular Preston Street as an arts venue for the past few years. In addition to mounting its own productions, Plosive has been subletting the space to other theatre companies and artists.

Whiteley says that, based on the meeting, the arrangement with Plosive seems likely to continue.

“It’s a conditional sale … but there’s every expectation that the conditions will be met and it will close,” says Whiteley. “The purchaser wants to park his investment for the very, very long term and keep the theatre as it is, be collecting rent and let the property value increase.”

Whiteley, who would identify the buyer only as “someone who knows real estate well” but has no involvement in theatre, expects the sale to close as early as the end of August.

The good news about the Gladstone was announced in an email blast that Whiteley sent to about 6,000 Gladstone patrons and others Tuesday morning.

The Gladstone’s future as an arts venue has been in question since Martin listed it for sale for $995,000 in July. Although he made it a condition of sale that any buyer would honour the already-planned 2015-16 theatre season, the long-term fate of the property was uncertain.

That property started life as a truck repair garage and in the 1980s became the home of the Great Canadian Theatre Company. In 2007, GCTC moved to its current site at the Irving Greenberg Theatre Centre on Wellington Street, and Martin bought the old theatre.

He poured $1 million into renovations, but revenue was lower than expected and he found himself in debt. Martin listed the theatre for $1.5 million in 2010 but it didn’t sell at the time.

When it went up for sale again this summer, bidders included a local arts consortium led by Chris White, a CKCU host and former artistic director of the Ottawa Folk Festival. That bid, reportedly one of several, was not accepted.

Martin could not be reached for comment on the continued use of the Gladstone as an arts venue.

http://ottawacitizen.com/entertainment/l...likely-to-remain-arts-venue-patrons-told