[Moncton] Retail Thread

[MonctonRad]

Originally Posted by lirette

Doing some digging through their FB page, I can also see that Arlos "likes" another page called Mystic Sea Brewing, which has the same address of 214 Church. Given the size of the space, having a brewery here would make a lot of sense. The high ceilings should give lots of space for tanks.

This would put them about a 15 minute walk or short bike ride to Tire Shack for those that like to go hopping from place to place especially in summer.

Very interesting. I saw that one of the posters over at Retail Talk & Share mentioned a combined pizzeria and brew pub a few days back, so you may very well be correct.

[MonctonRad]

Scottish Outdoor Clothing Retailer ‘Trespass’ Enters Canada with Plans for Aggressive Store Expansion
By Mario Toneguzzi
Date: November 16, 2023
https://retail-insider.com/retail-inside...or-aggressive-store-expansion-interview/

“The goal is to build just as many of our stores as you would have Mountain Warehouse across the country. We want to go coast to coast with a plan of 30 to 40 stores over the course of the next few years,” he said.

“We have goals to be in Vancouver and goals to be in the East Coast as well. But right now our primary focus is really getting Ontarians into the product and making sure we’re in all of the centres that we feel will have the most impact.”

Comment - So, 30-40 stores nationwide within the next 3-4 years. That's getting pretty damned aggressive. They also go out of their way to state that the east coast is on their radar. I can certainly see a store in Halifax (especially since this is in "new" Scotland), but could there also be a store in NB, specifically Moncton? 40 stores is getting pretty close to my "rule of 50" (where a Moncton location is virtually inevitable), but, this particular segment is pretty much at market saturation in the city right now, and, I don't know if we need another store of this type right now. It will be interesting to see how this plays out.

[MonctonRad]

Firehouse Subs Expanding into Western Canada with Aggressive National Growth Plans
By Mario Toneguzzi
Date: November 13, 2023
https://retail-insider.com/retail-inside...ressive-national-growth-plans-interview/

They currently have 63 locations in Ontario, and, although they are in expansion mode, they are currently only focussed on the western provinces.

They did say this in the article however:

“We’re really optimistic about how far we can go in Canada. We think we can have hundreds of locations, four or five hundred locations I think is reasonable,” he said.

“One of our sister companies has an incredible presence with (Tim Hortons), they’ve got close to 4,000 locations in Canada. We know that our brand resonates really well with Canadian guests from what we’ve seen in Ontario. We’re one of the only sandwich brands that is growing in the entire country. Several of our competitors are contracting in size. We’re one of the only players that are growing.

If they are planning 500 locations nationwide, this chain will eventually end up in the Maritimes. This is inevitable.

[MonctonRad]

The H&R Block sign at the Northwest Centre has been taken down.

The most reliable rumour is that the Dollarama next door is going to expand to incorporate the former H&R Block space, and, that H&R Block will move next door to occupy the former Subway space.

The new Subway on Mountain Road that is replacing the Northwest Centre location looks to be only a couple of weeks from opening. The building is essentially complete and the parking lot paved with lines painted.

[MonctonRad]

A commenter over at Retail Talk & Share mentioned that they inquired of a Brown's Shoes employee down in Halifax if the rumour of a Champlain Place store is true and, apparently, they said "yes." Still not official, but this is strong second (or third) hand evidence in support of the rumour.

Changes at CF Champlain, either in progress or upcoming:

1) - Tesla is moving into the vacant storefront between Spring and Envy.
2) - Just Cozy has moved into former employee lounge close to Sobeys.
3) - Aritzia is rumoured to be coming to the former Just Cozy space.
4) - Soft Moc has moved into former Bootlegger location, despite construction not yet being 100% complete.
5) - Calendar Club has moved into the former Soft Moc location (apparently a pop-up location).
6) - lululemon is moving into former Victoria's Secret location. NOTE - this is now listed on the CF Champlain leasing plan, and there is huge signage on the construction hoarding.
7) - Brown's Shoes is possibly moving into the (soon to be former) lululemon location.
8) - Villa Medina is setting up in the former KFC in the food court. NOTE - Villa Medina is now listed on the CF Champlain leasing plan.
9) - Charmed Aroma is closing, and reverting to an online and pop-up model (in association with Calendar Club)
10) - Santaville seasonal pop-up is open in the court in front of Walmart
11) - Hickory Farms seasonal pop-up is open in the court in front of Walmart.
12) - I am aware of a major renovation project for one of the mall tenants in the upcoming year, but I have been sworn to secrecy.

[DyAm00394]

CF Champlain update:

Opening soon advertisements for Lululemon are now up on the construction hoarding surrounding the former Victoria's Secret spot.

Looks like the entrance will either be on the side of the unit or there will be a corner entrance. A nice upgrade for them, increasing almost double in size.



Picture from Retail Talk & Share.

[DyAm00394]

So with today's news of Primaris acquiring Halifax Shopping Center and the Annex across from it, it leads me to wonder if they plan to eventually acquire the other big malls in Atlantic Canada. Their press release mentions discussions are continuing for further acquisitions. I wouldn't be surprised if Champlain Place will become a Primaris property at some point in the future. I think it would be good for all the big Atlantic Canada malls to be under the same management. Opens the doors for more possible retail options/deals between all 6 big malls. Primaris seems to, (at least with McAllister Place and Regent Mall), have deals in place that the same new tenants open a location in the other mall as well. Just some thoughts I've had.

[MonctonRad]

Mastermind Toys has apparently filed for creditor protection. They plan on closing some stores and are looking for “options” for the remainder.

I’m not entirely surprised. This chain underwent a massive nationwide expansion about 3-5 years ago and no doubt were deeply leveraged. Things were compounded by the pandemic and supply chain issues.

No idea yet what this means for the local store at the Mapleton Centre.

[MonctonRad]

CBC article about the troubles at Mastermind Toys:

https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/mastermind-toys-creditor-protecton-1.7038910

As part of its creditor protection proceedings, Mastermind said all 66 of its stores across Canada will remain open for business, and all ongoing sales and holiday promotions, including its Black Friday sale, will continue.

However, it will immediately liquidate and close some "underperforming" stores while exploring alternatives for the business with an unnamed buyer, who has been in "accelerated negotiations" to buy the company, management consulting firm Alvarez & Marsal Canada Inc. said in court filings made on behalf of Mastermind.

"If a transaction with such purchaser materializes, it is the Mastermind Entities' intention to conduct a holiday sale for continuing stores in the normal course," court documents say.

"If the proposed transaction is not finalized imminently, the Mastermind Entities will have no choice but to commence a full liquidation of all 66 of their retail locations."

I am hopeful that the Moncton store might not be considered "underperforming", but, the deal with the "white knight" investor could still fall through. Apparently the competition bureau s involved, which leads me to suspect that perhaps it is Toys R Us that might be the potential buyer.

[Taeolas]

TRU would make sense as a possible buyer. Their parent is already known for rescuing strugglign businesses. And Mastermind might fit a niche between Big Box/Mall store and smaller footprint kiosk stores.

Hell, I could see them rebranding their TRU section in Rooms+ to Masterminds Express since the smaller footprint would fit well as a Store within a Store brand, and Masterminds stock tends to be more cerebral type toys in general.

The Competition Bureau likely wouldn't like TRU buying up MasterMind, but it would probably be allowed. Between Walmart and online options like Amazon, standalone Toy Store markets are in a tough bind, and I don't think the Canadian market could really support more than one or two pure Toy store chains. Maybe they could be mandated to maintain the chains somewhat independently, or differently focused, with Mastermind focused on toys like Lego, Science kits, puzzles, and so forth, while TRU focuses more on the mass market action figures and dolls like they currently do.

[MonctonRad]

My thoughts are similar to yours. The Competition Bureau may not like it, but a TRU acquisition may be the only hope for the Mastermind chain.

I also agree that they might stipulate maintaining the two brands separately, which TRU might not mind. I could see Mastermind carrying on as the educational toys and game brand within the larger TRU universe.

In Moncton, Mastermind has the advantage of being on the other side of town from TRU. This could give them some protective advantage.

[MonctonRad]

Interesting editorial regarding the travails at Mastermind Toys:

https://retail-insider.com/retail-inside...s-omnichannel-isnt-enough-anymore-op-ed/

[MonctonRad]

Chatter seems to indicate that both the SJ and Freddy locations of Mastermind Toys are liquidating prior to closure. The fate of the Moncton location is less certain at present, but, it is too soon to breathe a sigh of relief.

[Taeolas]

Freddy location isn't surprising. It's never seemed to be that busy throuhg the years, and it's a stones throw from TRU as is, not to mention another stones throw from Rooms+, so even if Mastermind is bailed out, that location was probably going to be chopped.

Now if 2NC Smart Centres had been fully developed and Mastermind had setup over there instead, maybe that location might have survived; but 2NC wasn't ready back then.

[MonctonRad]

They are finally removing the construction hoarding from in front of the recently relocated (and already open) Soft Moc at CF Champlain.

[OliverD]

As was rumoured a while ago, Jaguar Moncton has closed. Land Rover is still open.

[MonctonRad]

I drove into the dealership the other week just to see what was going on and they have a broad selection of Land Rover vehicles on the lot.

In truth, this change will mean very little to the dealership as I am sure 95% of their sales were Land Rover and not Jaguar.

The Jaguar brand is in deep, deep trouble............

[MonctonRad]

Mastermind Toys has released a list of store closures:

https://www.mastermindtoys.com/pages/storeclosures

Both the SJ and Freddy locations are on the list. The Moncton store at the Mapleton Centre however is not, and, as such, appears to be one of the survivors.

[MonctonRad]

Stacked Pancake and Breakfast House appears to be under construction in the Champlain Plaza second phase.

https://www.stackedpancakehouse.ca/

[MonctonRad]

Thai Express at the Granite Centre may not be happening. There is now a "for lease" sign in the window of the unit they were going to occupy.