The Metro Vancouver Retail Thread

[Tvisforme]

Originally Posted by SpongeG

I wonder what they can do with all the bay stores now. There is no real store to take over an entire space, Guildford could be broken up into more mall space perhaps. Bring in Zara, Decathalon, even a winners/homesense would be good for the area. The old Sears space never got properly used though.

It was the same at Capilano Mall when Sears left. Elections Canada was renting space for several election campaigns and there's (at least for a few more weeks) an indoor bike park - but no anchor tenant to replace Sears.

[jollyburger]

Originally Posted by Tvisforme

It was the same at Capilano Mall when Sears left. Elections Canada was renting space for several election campaigns and there's (at least for a few more weeks) an indoor bike park - but no anchor tenant to replace Sears.

Well it closed in 2017 and QuadReal was already speculating about redevelopment of the mall in 2019 so I mean with demolition clauses that would probably eliminate most retailers from wanting to take the space.

https://www.urbanyvr.com/capilano-mall-redevelopment/

[connect2source]

Originally Posted by SpongeG

I wonder what they can do with all the bay stores now. There is no real store to take over an entire space, Guildford could be broken up into more mall space perhaps. Bring in Zara, Decathalon, even a winners/homesense would be good for the area. The old Sears space never got properly used though.

You answered your own question. There are so many large format fashion / sports and discount retailers now that filling these spaces shouldn't be too much of a problem for many centres. Some of the newer Zara and H&M's have almost morphed into mini-department stores at this point. Some newly opened Zara locations I've recently visited in Europe are multiple storey buildings with escalators, same goes some H&M locations, Mango and others. If Primark were to enter Canada they could quickly fill many of the former Hudson's Bay locations too.

[Vin]

Originally Posted by Changing City

What makes The Bay building a good candidate for an art gallery? It would probably cost more to convert than building new, and according to the mortgage it's worth $200m+. And why would RioCan want to acquire a parking lot and a hole in the ground on an off centre site Downtown? They're not going to build a new mall. (Despite Vin saying they will).

Oh you really didn't have to mince my words thanks for being too kind. I said "they can build a mall", and guess what? They should.

[Changing City]

Originally Posted by Vin

Oh you really didn't have to mince my words thanks for being too kind. I said "they can build a mall", and guess what? They should.

That's an odd way of agreeing that they're not going to build a mall. They might be interested in doing something with the Bay building, and if they choose not to, it says something about the likelihood of any additional retail development Downtown in the near future.

[jollyburger]

Earlier this afternoon, the Court-appointed Monitor advised the Court that significant progress with respect to the resolution of various issues was being made, and that discussions were continuing. The Monitor requested that I grant an extension of time to allow those discussions to continue to see if issues could not be resolved.

. Accordingly, the hearing of these motions shall resume tomorrow, March 19, 2025, at 2:00 PM at the Courthouse, at which time I will receive an update on status and make further directions and orders as are appropriate at that time.

https://www.alvarezandmarsal.com/sites/d...y%20Co%20Endorsement%20Mar%2018%2025.pdf

[SpongeG]

The Hudsons Bay at Guildford seems to have a third level up top, does anyone know what it was used for?

[jollyburger]

I can't make anything out from the Guilford Town Centre Phase 2 planning documents (super low-res diagrams)

https://www.surrey.ca/sites/default/files/planning-reports/PLR_7909-0174-00.pdf

[Tvisforme]

Vancouver Sun: Tesla kicked out of Vancouver Auto Show after recent protests

The Vancouver International Auto Show has removed Tesla, the electric vehicle company controlled by Elon Musk, from this week’s show, citing security concerns.

“The Vancouver International Auto Show has removed Tesla … after the automaker was provided multiple opportunities to voluntarily withdraw,” Eric Nicholl, the auto show’s executive director, said in a statement.

“The Vancouver Auto Show’s primary concern is the safety of attendees, exhibitors and staff.”
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[SpongeG]

was at Park Royal two weekends ago and the West Vancouver Police had set up a blue light with cameras on it, next to the Old Navy intersection and it looks like it gives them a good view of the Tesla Dealership and the Teslas charging area in the back parking lot. Side note they have a new Model Y on display and it looks really good, a big improvement.

I haven't heard of any destruction of vehicles here, I know the dealership had some grafitti and there was a few protests this past weekend. But there has been a lot of Tesla cars spray painted or damaged and the dealerships and charging stations have been hit with fires and such.

[jollyburger]

It got moved to Ambleside for the Persian festival this weekend.

https://www.instagram.com/p/DHW9sq0yvo3/

It was at the mall starting around March 7th

https://www.instagram.com/p/DG6JBvJSzXn/

[RDW989]

Further progress on the new Ralph Lauren on Alberni, taking up part of the space left empty when Brooks Brothers vacated, my pix, Mar 3
[IMG][url=https://flic.kr/p/2qT7zwL]

[Vin]

^^^
The existing decor is well-suited for a Ralph Lauren store. Glad to see this unit taken up.

[whatnext]

Originally Posted by SpongeG

was at Park Royal two weekends ago and the West Vancouver Police had set up a blue light with cameras on it, next to the Old Navy intersection and it looks like it gives them a good view of the Tesla Dealership and the Teslas charging area in the back parking lot. Side note they have a new Model Y on display and it looks really good, a big improvement.

I haven't heard of any destruction of vehicles here, I know the dealership had some grafitti and there was a few protests this past weekend. But there has been a lot of Tesla cars spray painted or damaged and the dealerships and charging stations have been hit with fires and such.

Why are the Police involved? Let Musk and Tesla pay for their own private security. Haven't they leeched off the taxpayer enough?

[SpongeG]

I don't know why. We were at Park Royal a week or two before, and there was no camera set up. There was a sign with an explanation of why the cameras had been set up, but it just seemed odd, and then we thought, oh, maybe it's because of what is going on with the Tesla thing. I had never heard of Park Royal as being a hotbed for crime before.

[Changing City]

HBC are apparently trying to retain just six stores to stay in business. Three are in Ontario, and three are in Quebec. Looks like they have no plans to stay in BC, so there will be more vacant retail space in a few malls, and Downtown Vancouver.

[Capitol Hill]

So what would be viable for the downtown HBC space now? Obviously the current design that they have with a large office building on top won’t be built any time soon, will this just be a vacant giant for a decade?

[connect2source]

Originally Posted by Changing City

HSBC are apparently trying to retain just six stores to stay in business. Three are in Ontario, and three are in Quebec. Looks like they have no plans to stay in BC, so there will be more vacant retail space in a few malls, and Downtown Vancouver.

You mean HBC?
So... moving forward I'm actually quite excited to hear about upcoming visions and plans for the downtown building and space. The last 2-3 years have been agonizing watching Hudson's Bay slowly rot away. It's barely been a shadow of its former self since the pandemic and now we have an opportunity to redefine a huge slice of our downtown retail scene.

[Changing City]

Originally Posted by connect2source

You mean HBC?
So... moving forward I'm actually quite excited to hear about upcoming visions and plans for the downtown building and space. The last 2-3 years have been agonizing watching Hudson's Bay slowly rot away. It's barely been a shadow of its former self since the pandemic and now we have an opportunity to redefine a huge slice of our downtown retail scene.

sorry, yes. Weird autocorrect!

[Spr0ckets]

Originally Posted by Capitol Hill

So what would be viable for the downtown HBC space now? Obviously the current design that they have with a large office building on top won’t be built any time soon, will this just be a vacant giant for a decade?

It's not a great sign of things to come.

In combination with the former Nordstrom space across the street (where they're yet to find any replacement ancor tenant(s)), there's going to be a large portion of empty vacant retail space smack dab in the middle of the 'Entertainment district' Granville strip.

I wonder if this would make the city rethink their plans to make Granville pedestrian-only in the future.

Having the HBC building completely vacant proper will only increase the number of homeless that mill around the area, rather than decrease it.