[Saint John] Retail Thread

[darkharbour]

Originally Posted by bingun

The photos from Facebook are nuts, people lined up around the parking lot! I appreciate that this is something new, but it's an almost freezing Thursday morning at 11 am! This reminds me of when Popeyes opened.

I saw that too. I cannot imagine waiting in line for a dollar store to open

[DyAm00394]

Signs are posted at Tim Hortons at 75 Lansdowne Avenue. They will be closing on November 16th at 3pm to undergo renovations. Will take approximately 4 weeks to be completed.

[RaginRonic]

Originally Posted by DyAm00394

Signs are posted at Tim Hortons at 75 Lansdowne Avenue. They will be closing on November 16th at 3pm to undergo renovations. Will take approximately 4 weeks to be completed.

The Hilyard Street Tim Hortons will have to take all North End traffic for the time of the renos to the Lansdowne location.

Odd though, because the post-reno Tims will only be open under whatever it's new look will be before it's Christmas Day closure.

A similar reno is happening at the Concession Street Tims in Hamilton, Ontario.

[DyAm00394]

Originally Posted by RaginRonic

The Hilyard Street Tim Hortons will have to take all North End traffic for the time of the renos to the Lansdowne location.

Odd though, because the post-reno Tims will only be open under whatever it's new look will be before it's Christmas Day closure.

A similar reno is happening at the Concession Street Tims in Hamilton, Ontario.

Now the website shows December 26th is the reopening date, was showing December 23rd originally.

[RaginRonic]

Originally Posted by DyAm00394

Now the website shows December 26th is the reopening date, was showing December 23rd originally.

Then I guess this means that the 2025 Christmas retail season at the Lansdowne Tims has ended, with that location only open for 4 days of that season.

[bingun]

Any update on JYSK? I thought it might have opened by now.

[sailor734]

Originally Posted by bingun

Any update on JYSK? I thought it might have opened by now.

Yeah, for a building that just needed to be refitted and not built from scratch it seems to be taking forever.

[Helladog]

Originally Posted by sailor734

Yeah, for a building that just needed to be refitted and not built from scratch it seems to be taking forever.

Hey, cheer up, at least it wasn't a huge hole in the ground for 2+ years.

[EnvisionSaintJohn]

Originally Posted by sailor734

Yeah, for a building that just needed to be refitted and not built from scratch it seems to be taking forever.

Perhaps they had to deal with asbestos or something? Place sat empty for quite a while. They definitely want to get a move on though, not opening before Christmas could be quite a missed opportunity.

Although, a Grand Opening on Boxing Day could be quite a spectacular way to market the store. Too bad that's like illegal here in New Brunswick.

Speaking of Boxing day... I have to say, I find the NB attitude against Boxing Day to be preposterous. This province has some of the lowest labour standards for retail workers in the country, yet some people go on like big box stores being open on Boxing Day would be "so unfair to retail workers", etc.

Yeah, Boxing Day in the rest of Canada doesn't have the lustre that it used to have before the dominance of online shopping and introduction of Black Friday to Canada, but it's still a very busy in person shopping day across Canada, and some of my best holiday memories growing up in Winnipeg involve Boxing Day shopping.

New Brunswickers are missing out on what many other Canadians consider a holiday tradition... would love to see attitudes change on this... even if Boxing Day isn't quite what it used to be.

[RaginRonic]

Courtesy of a Rob Pitman at FB, like he queried...does anyone know what's going in the back end of Lancaster Crossing?

[Taeolas]

As for Boxing Day, I don't see it being that big a deal. It's a Provincial Day of Rest so businesses are legit not allowed to be open. It's seemed a bit strange when I first noticed it long ago, but now, I just take it as one of the happy quirks of our province and not really worth fighting to change it one way or another. That time of year is both busy enoguh as is, and sort've a timeless period, so an extra shopping day doesn't seem that needed. Especially since, as you noted, the pressure of Boxing Day Sales (and Black Friday Sales for that matter) has fallen off as the retail landscape has moved around.

But that's just an old fogey talking I guess.

[thefishingnut]

It's now black friday month, followed by boxing day month. We went shopping for furniture today, we can already post-date a purchase for black friday, and they price match through xmas. The importance of individual days in the 2 month blitz really doesn't move the needle any more. Surely people can survive for 2 days in a row without shopping.

[DyAm00394]

Originally Posted by RaginRonic

Courtesy of a Rob Pitman at FB, like he queried...does anyone know what's going in the back end of Lancaster Crossing?

It was posted long ago that a new 18,000sf daycare facility is opening there. They are taking up a large chunk of the former indoor mall space.

[DyAm00394]

Status update on Walmart’s exterior renovation at 450 Westmorland Road. At some point in the future the interior will have a major renovation, it’s unknown of when. They are now going for a more muted color scheme for the exterior. Also, they've dropped "Supercentre" from their main signage too.



(Photo is from Retail Talk & Share NB).

[EnvisionSaintJohn]

Originally Posted by thefishingnut

It's now black friday month, followed by boxing day month. We went shopping for furniture today, we can already post-date a purchase for black friday, and they price match through xmas. The importance of individual days in the 2 month blitz really doesn't move the needle any more. Surely people can survive for 2 days in a row without shopping.

There's still lots of Boxing Day specials that are Boxing Day Only / in store only deals. If you've lived in NB all your life or never spent Christmas in another Canadian city with Boxing Day shopping, you've never really got to experience the uniquely Canadian holiday and Christmas tradition. It's definitely not what it used to be, but it is still a major shopping holiday in the Canadian retail landscape, and still a day a lot of kids look forward to more than Christmas.

For a moment, pretend you're a 12 year old kid who just got a bunch of money for Christmas and there's a limited sale on an item they really wanted to get for Christmas. My friends and I never got our hands on the craziest door crasher deals that people would have to camp out for to get on Boxing day, but we'd always come home some good deals. The vibe of the mall was unlike any other day of the year.

Christmas is a holiday to spend with family, while Boxing Day is a holiday to meet up with your friends, discuss what everyone got for Christmas, and try and buy what you really wanted for Christmas, but didn't get.

Malls and Big Box stores being open on Boxing Day is just good for business, and retail workers can survive getting paid double time to work the day after Christmas. I just don't get why NB is so restrictive when it comes to holiday shopping hours, when it's a single holiday. Not saying Best Buy needs to be open on Remembrance Day or Thanksgiving 😅 ... just Boxing Day, like is the case in much of the rest of Canada.

[RaginRonic]

Originally Posted by DyAm00394

Status update on Walmart’s exterior renovation at 450 Westmorland Road. At some point in the future the interior will have a major renovation, it’s unknown of when. They are now going for a more muted color scheme for the exterior. Also, they've dropped "Supercentre" from their main signage too.



(Photo is from Retail Talk & Share NB).

Also, the new font for the 'Walmart' store name is there too. This marks the 3rd such adjustment to the store's sign in it's history.

Plus, the exterior is looking better too. The store has also needed a refresh, because the store looked as it did for 12 years.

Hard to believe that Walmart store would be 30 years of age 4 years from now too.

[DyAm00394]

Posted over on Retail Talk & Share NB:

The Keg is apparently coming to East Point Shopping Centre next to Vito's. Presumably will be a new build in the empty area that's right next to the little strip mall building that contains Vito's.


Also, the source was told a temporary ice-skating rink will be installed at East Point as well.

[bingun]

Originally Posted by DyAm00394

Posted over on Retail Talk & Share NB:

The Keg is apparently coming to East Point Shopping Centre next to Vito's. Presumably will be a new build in the empty area that's right next to the little strip mall building that contains Vito's.


Also, the source was told a temporary ice-skating rink will be installed at East Point as well.

The Keg! That's a big addition to East Point.

[EnvisionSaintJohn]

Originally Posted by DyAm00394

Also, the source was told a temporary ice-skating rink will be installed at East Point as well.

I wonder what that will look like. I believe they've had a rink there before?

[darkharbour]

Originally Posted by bingun

The Keg! That's a big addition to East Point.

The Keg out East? I was really hoping they would go for a location Uptown, but I guess that leaves a better market for local restaurants which is a positive.