The Metro Vancouver Retail Thread

[jollyburger]

The new Create & Barrel at Oakridge Park

https://retail-insider.com/retail-inside...mproved-vancouver-flagship-store-photos/

[whatnext]

I saw an online ad saying “Genesis Downtown Vancouver” by Dilawri Group was opening soon. Hadn’t heard anything about it downtown, turns out it will be 1718 West 3rd, which would be the same block as the proposed new VW store.

[jollyburger]

Originally Posted by whatnext

I saw an online ad saying “Genesis Downtown Vancouver” by Dilawri Group was opening soon. Hadn’t heard anything about it downtown, turns out it will be 1718 West 3rd, which would be the same block as the proposed new VW store.

Different building. They're moving into the temporary Lamborghini showroom across the street.

The redeveloped VW is 1701 West 3rd.

[whatnext]

Originally Posted by jollyburger

Different building. They're moving into the temporary Lamborghini showroom across the street.

The redeveloped VW is 1701 West 3rd.

Yes, but same block. That makes me wonder if the VW store is going to be Dilawri as well. Interesting that the Lamborghini building was being renovated, I believe with Lamborghini still in there. I wonder if this was a sudden change. Has the market for Lambos dried up?

[Changing City]

Originally Posted by whatnext

Yes, but same block. That makes me wonder if the VW store is going to be Dilawri as well. Interesting that the Lamborghini building was being renovated, I believe with Lamborghini still in there. I wonder if this was a sudden change. Has the market for Lambos dried up?

The plans say the client is Vancouver Volkswagen. That suggests they'll switch sales from an isolated location (for vehicle dealerships) on Main Street, to West 3rd. The new building appears to be purely a sales location, not service. (It's not even a new building - they're doing a makeover of an existing warehouse).

Lamborghini Vancouver are now in their newly renovated building on West 2nd Avenue.

[jollyburger]

Vancouver Volkswagen still seems to be independent.

Their Main St location was on sale in 2019 with a five year lease back.. so maybe it's a redevelopment site. Current building with service is 21K sq feet (14K main floor)

https://vancouvermarket.ca/2019/04/10/fo...lopment-opportunity-with-holding-income/

[madog222]

The Kingsway & Joyce London Drugs will be closing in February.

[whatnext]

Originally Posted by Changing City

The plans say the client is Vancouver Volkswagen. That suggests they'll switch sales from an isolated location (for vehicle dealerships) on Main Street, to West 3rd. The new building appears to be purely a sales location, not service. (It's not even a new building - they're doing a makeover of an existing warehouse).

Lamborghini Vancouver are now in their newly renovated building on West 2nd Avenue.

Interesting. Not the greatest location for a mass market brand. All the others are right on Burrard. I also wonder where there service dept will be? It wouldn’t make sense to continue to lease the Main Street property just for that. Could this be a temporary location while something is built elsewhere? Maybe the old MCL showroom?

Disappointed that Genesis isn’t doing something downtown like they did in NYC with Genesis House:

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=lkBv3-zQhio&pp=ygUNZ2VuZXNpcyBob3VzZQ%3D%3D

[jollyburger]

They were trying to sell Main Street with a short leaseback so they obviously have no plans to keep both.There is no way this is a temporary location if they are dumping that much money into renovating the exterior.

They were going to redevelop the MCL showroom or they'll come back with something more dense.

To develop a 3-storey Motor Vehicle Repair Shop and General Office with 3 levels of underground parking having vehicular access from the lane.

https://plposweb.vancouver.ca/Public/Default.aspx?PossePresentation=Guest&PosseObjectId=145703997

[whatnext]

Originally Posted by jollyburger

They were trying to sell Main Street with a short leaseback so they obviously have no plans to keep both.There is no way this is a temporary location if they are dumping that much money into renovating the exterior.

They were going to redevelop the MCL showroom or they'll come back with something more dense.

https://plposweb.vancouver.ca/Public/Default.aspx?PossePresentation=Guest&PosseObjectId=145703997

JLR can justify such a big expense on a service and repair facility because they know it will be well used.

It will be interesting to see where VW service ends up going. I’m surprised they didn’t look to build showroom and service on Terminal.

[jollyburger]

The first North American VW City Store location was in West Edmonton Mall.

Rendering of what they look like:

MetaSpaces developed a highly flexible, scalable format for Volkswagen: The Volkswagen City Stores. Human, inviting, inspiring, focused - the new brand tonality is also the basis of the staging here. By combining physical and digital elements, we created a holistic brand experience in places where you wouldn't expect it.

https://metadesign.com/en/work/retail-concepts-pos-volkswagen-1-1-1

[whatnext]

Originally Posted by jollyburger

The first North American VW City Store location was in West Edmonton Mall.

Rendering of what they look like:





https://metadesign.com/en/work/retail-concepts-pos-volkswagen-1-1-1

Interesting concept but that block of West 3rd seems like an odd choice for it vs somewhere downtown or even in Oakridge.

[jollyburger]

Hudson’s Bay is returning its former stores to landlords, effectively ending a B.C. billionaire’s fight to take over the collapsed retailer’s leases.

Franco Perugini, HBC's senior vice-president of real estate and legal, said in a Monday email to The Canadian Press that the company is disclaiming the leases it had for 25 properties Ruby Liu tried to buy.

A disclaimer is a legal mechanism that ends a lease before it expires and thus, releases the tenant from obligations like paying rent or maintaining the property.

As long as no landlord objects to the disclaimer, Perugini says the HBC leases will be terminated Nov. 27.

https://www.biv.com/news/hudsons-bay-lan...-bc-billionaire-wanted-retailer-11437067

[officedweller]

London Drugs on Kingsway near Joyce is closing down.

https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/london-drugs-vancouver-closing

[SpongeG]

Sounds like Zellers die-hards don't like the new Zellers; it seems to be Fairweather or International Clothiers clothing and some home goods. Most are complaining about there being no restaurant. If that's the format to base on, it probably wouldn't be able to fill out the old Hudson Bay stores, maybe one floor.

Is that London Drugs spot getting redeveloped?

[jollyburger]

Doesn't sound like anything is imminent on that London Drugs site.

[officedweller]

Originally Posted by SpongeG

Sounds like Zellers die-hards don't like the new Zellers; it seems to be Fairweather or International Clothiers clothing and some home goods. Most are complaining about there being no restaurant. If that's the format to base on, it probably wouldn't be able to fill out the old Hudson Bay stores, maybe one floor.

I remember Zellers (in Nanaimo) for household stuff similar to a London Drugs, hardware, automotive and sporting goods.
They also had a pet department with fish.
You didn't shop Zellers for clothing!

[bluefox]

Originally Posted by SpongeG

Sounds like Zellers die-hards don't like the new Zellers; it seems to be Fairweather or International Clothiers clothing and some home goods. Most are complaining about there being no restaurant. If that's the format to base on, it probably wouldn't be able to fill out the old Hudson Bay stores, maybe one floor.

It sounds like that is their business model moving forward, they don't plan on assuming vacated HBC stores' floorspace 1:1 and they don't seem keen to compete against Dollarama or Canadian Tire for market share on consumables like household cleaning supplies, packaged food, etc.

That said, they need to quickly respond to customer feedback and start tweaking their product mix to avoid becoming a Target 2.0 (3.0?). The owners said their intention was to lean in on feedback so I'd give them the benefit of the doubt for now and try to tune out the marketing hype that is trying to sell us on the new Zellers. Still very early days.

[officedweller]

If the new Zellers is focusing on clothing, it'll be more like Fields, Saan or Robinson's.

[SpongeG]

It looks like a Zellers, they did a good job. You can watch a tour here from YouTube

Cotti Coffee in Lougheed Mall took over the old Body Shop location, they have basically kept the outside of the store as it was, they have their signage up now and you can get a peek inside, I didn't look but it's coming along. There is also a new colourful clothing store opening next to the Starbucks in the old T&N Gaming store which moved to a smaller space downstairs. There is no indication of what it will be, but the previously dark space is really bright now, and I imagine it could open soon, the fixtures etc look done, just needs stock.