Economy Thread

[Djeffery]

Interesting, that's the building Drexel recently moved into and added a couple hundred thousand sq ft expansion to. They've also taken over the former Westinghouse/ABB building at Clarke and Huron, as well as of course the large warehouse section of 100 Kellogg.

[Djeffery]

Also down in that area of town, McCormick's has a very large expansion project going on with their warehouse at Green Valley and Hubrey Rd.

[jammer139]

Economic forecasts for London show slow down. Population still expected to increase 2% per year which is and additional 8000+ new people living in the city each year.



https://lfpress.com/news/local-news/robu...-construction-manufacturing-cools-report

[MolsonExport]

Is Mike Moffatt the only source for all news? I see his name EVERYWHERE.

[jammer139]

Great news to see this $165M plant coming to London Innovation Park to produce medical gloves. Medicom is expecting the new plant to be in production in 2026 employing 135.



https://london.ctvnews.ca/new-multi-mill...supply-plant-fits-like-a-glove-1.6669749


https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/london/me...-ontario-to-be-built-in-london-1.7046149

[Djeffery]

Originally Posted by jammer139

Great news to see this $165M plant coming to London Innovation Park to produce medical gloves. Medicom is expecting the new plant to be in production in 2026 employing 135.



https://london.ctvnews.ca/new-multi-mill...supply-plant-fits-like-a-glove-1.6669749


https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/london/me...-ontario-to-be-built-in-london-1.7046149

We've heard this before, have we not? Or is this in addition to their announcement in spring 2022?

https://medicom.com/en_ca/news/medicom-a...s-and-an-investment-of-over-120-million/

[jammer139]

Investor led growth fund to support up and coming businesses launched.


https://lfpress.com/news/local-news/new-...gets-start-up-companies-in-london-region

[jammer139]

Office vacancy rate continues to climb in London.


https://lfpress.com/news/local-news/nearly-one-third-of-downtown-london-offices-sit-empty-analysis

[jammer139]

Urban Outfitters closes store at Oxford and Richmond.


https://lfpress.com/business/local-busin...val-trendy-retailer-abruptly-shuts-doors

[MolsonExport]

Originally Posted by jammer139

Urban Outfitters closes store at Oxford and Richmond.


https://lfpress.com/business/local-busin...val-trendy-retailer-abruptly-shuts-doors

I guess that sucks. I never bought anything there, although I browsed on a half dozen occasions over the years.

[ssiguy]

I think they will be able to find a major tenant fairly quickly. It is a prime location along RR yet far enough away from Dundas to not get any of the street people and crime.

[Djeffery]

Masonville also lost a couple bigger stores (typical after Christmas). Cleo closed this past weekend, and Guess is either closed or is on the way out. Both spaces apparently have been spoken for, with Cleo supposedly being the new Tesla location. I heard the name of the store going in to Guess but I can't recall. There's also supposed to be a London police office going in the mall as well.

I'm always amazed at how Masonville manages to fill a space. If you had said 10 years ago that they were going to lose Sears, Target, Mexx, Bootlegger, Cleo, a couple Laura stores, Le Chateau, Guess, Forever 21 and Express, most of them very large stores, and not miss a beat, I'd say you were crazy. But here they are.

[jammer139]

Might make a interesting location for a Panera Bread restaurant. Popular with the college age crowd and if they are able to stay open til bar closing time would do well although they usually close at 9pm.



https://www.panera.ca/en-us/home.html


Was sad when Pickles restaurant closed down after the fire. Stayed open past last call and always had customers then. For you grey beards that still remember Pickles. Maybe a similar restaurant too Pickles will take over the space instead of the likely Pot and Vape shop.

[MolsonExport]

Why the heck are there so many pot and vape shops? Surely the market is not large enough to sustain all of them? I am also wondering how a cannabis store can advertise their wares in massive letters (ROYAL HIGHNESS, IN STORY-HIGH LETTERING), when cigarettes are hidden behind black boxes, with nary a wiff of advertising of any sort.

[Djeffery]

Originally Posted by jammer139

Was sad when Pickles restaurant closed down after the fire. Stayed open past last call and always had customers then. For you grey beards that still remember Pickles. Maybe a similar restaurant too Pickles will take over the space instead of the likely Pot and Vape shop.

I've heard the name, but I can't place it. My go to late night place back into the early 90's was the Alibi. Used to be open until 4am Thurs-Sat back then. Website says they are only open until 2 now. I'm not sure there is the same type of late night market like that anymore.

[haljackey]

Originally Posted by MolsonExport

Why the heck are there so many pot and vape shops? Surely the market is not large enough to sustain all of them? I am also wondering how a cannabis store can advertise their wares in massive letters (ROYAL HIGHNESS, IN STORY-HIGH LETTERING), when cigarettes are hidden behind black boxes, with nary a wiff of advertising of any sort.

I think in time it will be treated somewhat similar to cigarettes/cigars but we're still in the first decade since legalization and still learning what works and what doesn't. The number of weed / vape stores also baffles me.

There's also a push to regulate alcohol the same way. Yukon has tried it but there's been a ton of push-back from customers and companies alike. Booze is poison, but the taxes on it are a huge money maker for the government, so any push to possibly diminish sales is difficult to execute properly. Advertisers hated when smoking ads were made ilegal... imagine what would happen to them if they can no longer run those annoying Coors Light commercials (I'd also like to see gambling ads go bye-bye too).

[jammer139]

Another article on the Urban Outfitters closure with good photo.


https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/london/london-ontario-downtown-urban-outiftters-closed-1.7098167


Comment about it being a good location for a bar.

[MolsonExport]

Originally Posted by haljackey

I think in time it will be treated somewhat similar to cigarettes/cigars but we're still in the first decade since legalization and still learning what works and what doesn't. The number of weed / vape stores also baffles me.

There's also a push to regulate alcohol the same way. Yukon has tried it but there's been a ton of push-back from customers and companies alike. Booze is poison, but the taxes on it are a huge money maker for the government, so any push to possibly diminish sales is difficult to execute properly. Advertisers hated when smoking ads were made ilegal... imagine what would happen to them if they can no longer run those annoying Coors Light commercials (I'd also like to see gambling ads go bye-bye too).

I agree completely. Especially with respect to gambling (which takes a terrible toll on society...it shouldn't be banned, but fer crissakes, the ads only attract those that have a gambling addition....plus the ads are usually terrible in quality).

[GreatTallNorth2]

There are at least 5 vacant spaces at Masonville. Both Cleo and Guess are bigger footprints that align (Cleo on 1st level, Guess on 2nd). It would be interesting for Uniquo to take that space as they are typically 2 floors and are aggressively expanding across Canada. They would be a major draw for the mall and fit nicely for the nearby University population.

[Djeffery]

My original thought when the Tesla rumour came out for Masonville was the empty Scotiabank spot. Outdoor access right at a mall entrance. But it's been a long time since I was in that bank and not sure how big the actual footprint of that space is. Of course, I have no idea how big a space Tesla would want either. But you'd think they would want ground floor with easy access to put a few cars in the store. The former Cleo space is a nice size space and easy enough to build a door directly out the back of the store into the loading dock area outside to bring cars into the store. Not that it's required to have direct outside access to the store for that purpose as this mall has had cars on display hundreds of times over the years, (including recently with Teslas in there, right near Cleo actually lol), they can get them in the mall entrances. This location also has good visibility inside the mall, just off the main intersection.