[Moncton] Retail Thread

[MonctonRad]

Interesting.

All I can say is the originating source (to me) is highly reliable but second hand. The info about A&W is highly reliable. The rest of the info may be a little less reliable, but, I see no reason why my source and I would have been purposely led astray. I will confer with my source again.

[MonctonRad]

I've reached out to my source. His relationship to his own source is rock solid. The A&W information is absolutely accurate (an agreement has been signed). He sees no reason why his friend would confabulate with him about the broader shopping centre.

In any event, we should know soon. Construction begins in the spring. If any variances are necessary, then we will know even sooner (PAC and city council presentations).

[MonctonRad]

Zellers Sets Sights on National Expansion After Edmonton Debut
By Craig Patterson
Retail Insider
Date: January 22, 2026
https://retail-insider.com/retail-inside...national-expansion-after-edmonton-debut/

With the Edmonton store performing ahead of expectations, Zellers is actively pursuing new leasing opportunities across the country as part of its national expansion strategy. The focus is on major Canadian markets, with flexibility around store footprints and real estate configurations.

“Our goal is to bring Zellers back to communities across the country,” Benitah said in a January 2026 statement. “We are already in active conversations with landlords nationwide.”

No indication how long we have to wait for Zellers to reappear in greater Moncton, but, the greatest challenge will likely be in finding appropriate real estate.

[josh_cat_eyes]

Originally Posted by MonctonRad

I've reached out to my source. His relationship to his own source is rock solid. The A&W information is absolutely accurate (an agreement has been signed). He sees no reason why his friend would confabulate with him about the broader shopping centre.

In any event, we should know soon. Construction begins in the spring. If any variances are necessary, then we will know even sooner (PAC and city council presentations).

This should be an excellent location for retail. I also wouldn’t be surprised if one of the banks or pizza places nearby on Mountain road moved into this development as it gets larger. Could we potentially also see new to market stores in this area?

I also should note that the Colliers listing for 11 intercolonial way has been removed.

[MonctonRad]

Originally Posted by josh_cat_eyes

This should be an excellent location for retail. I also wouldn’t be surprised if one of the banks or pizza places nearby on Mountain road moved into this development as it gets larger. Could we potentially also see new to market stores in this area?

I also should note that the Colliers listing for 11 intercolonial way has been removed.

The fact the Colliers listing has been removed might be evidence that the land has been leased or sold, and that development is planned.

My contact did mention he received a DM after posting about this himself, indicating a bank may also be coming to the plaza (either BMO or Scotiabank).

[MonctonRad]

My "contact" is of course Jeff Boucher over at Retail Talk & Share on Facebook. We discuss a lot of things behind the scenes, and since we both have different sources of information, we often complement each other.

In any event, Jeff made this post today over on his site, and, I think his analysis is spot on:

A Large Scale Retail Development may be on its way to Moncton!

We broke the news last week of a potential retail development on the corner of Vaughan Harvey Blvd and Millennium Blvd. Which will likley include several stores. Based on conversations and chatter in the threads here is what we figure so far.

Superstore...We now belive this may very well be a No Frills store...it was rumored last year that No Frills was coming near Atlantic Wholesalers, so this is all starting to make sense.
Starbucks... A sourse indicates that this is very possible.
Dollarama....Now this one we were told "A Dollar Store" is it Dollarama? DollarTree? Or Great Canadian Dollarstore?? I am now leaning more to DollarTree givin the fact they are looking to enter Moncton....this makes more sense to me.
A&W...This is confirmed for the site. We have information that makes this indisputable.

I really feel that we may see something very simular to what was built in Fredericton North with a No Frills, Starbucks, bank, and other restaurants and services.

This will be a game changer for the Emmerson Park area, which has been struggling to define itself over the course of its creation. I could even see a service station among the mix as well.

In any case this is positive growth coming to a area exploding in residential growth.

- the grocery store could very well be No Frills rather than Superstore. They are both Loblaws banners, but, No Frills is franchised, not corporate, which is why Josh's contacts at Superstore have no idea about any of this. Moncton needs No Frills.
- If the grocery store is No Frills, then the Starbucks would have to be a standalone store.
- I could see Starbucks and A&W being placed as side by side standalone units with drive-thrus right on the NW corner of the VH/Millenium intersection.
- Jeff's contact said "dollar store", not specifically Dollarama. Since we know that Dollar Tree is planning on at least three locations in greater Moncton, it would make sense they would like to place one of their locations in a brand new retail plaza in a highky visible location with abundant traffic passing by.
- A bank anchoring the included retail plaza makes a lot of sense.
- A gas station would also be a good addition. It could be included as part of the A&W/Starbucks combo on the cormer of VH/Millenium.

[josh_cat_eyes]

This makes more sense. I knew there was no way it could be a Superstore. I’ve reached out to my contacts about the dollarama as well, they saw Jeff’s post, but hadn’t heard anything about it through the company yet.

I’m also not surprised about the bank, especially if it’s Scotiabank, they would be moving out of that older location on mountain road, and could add a drive thru to a new location. I think this is likely.

[josh_cat_eyes]

Did a little digging. The land of this development was rezoned back in 2019. It lists the land owner as w Brunswick Investment Management Corporation (NBIMC) which is a crown corporation. It has no listed sales on SNB which would tell me that they still own it.

It also shows that the property is managed by Fiera Properties. This is the website for them. https://www.fierarealestate.ca on their map of their properties it shows Moncton as as development site, how ever when you click on developments Moncton is not listed.


The green dots are development sites.

[AGGUS]

Bravo Pizza @ 1633 Mountain Road rebranded to Atlantic Pizza

Facebook Group Link

The sign is still on the bulkhead, with a hand drawn rebranding sign.

[drewber]

Originally Posted by AGGUS

Bravo Pizza @ 1633 Mountain Road rebranded to Atlantic Pizza

Facebook Group Link

The sign is still on the bulkhead, with a hand drawn rebranding sign.

They also recently took the old owners to court, at least the Riverview locations owners. Might be related.

[kreven]

It looks like Eddie Bauer is looking to exit the retail space in North America and file for Chapter 11.

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/eddie-bauer-said-preparing-bankruptcy-210448880.html

The Champlain location will be affected, presumably.

[MonctonRad]

Originally Posted by kreven

It looks like Eddie Bauer is looking to exit the retail space in North America and file for Chapter 11.

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/eddie-bauer-said-preparing-bankruptcy-210448880.html

The Champlain location will be affected, presumably.

Hasn't been picked up by mainstream media yet, but it has been mentioned on chainstoreage.com

https://chainstoreage.com/news-briefs/2026-01-30

If true, and it probably is, that would be a big blow (but also big opportunity) for Champlain Place. That's a large footprint. I wonder if someplace like Miniso would consider this space.

[sailor734]

Originally Posted by MonctonRad

Hasn't been picked up by mainstream media yet, but it has been mentioned on chainstoreage.com

https://chainstoreage.com/news-briefs/2026-01-30

If true, and it probably is, that would be a big blow (but also big opportunity) for Champlain Place. That's a large footprint. I wonder if someplace like Indiqlo would consider this space.

Sad if true. Sorry to see the end of what was (years ago) an iconic brand.

[MonctonRad]

Add another legacy retail brand to the list of notable market exits over the last few years. According to WWD, Eddie Bauer is preparing to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, with unnamed sources claiming that the retailer would be closing down an estimated 200 locations across North America.

Things get a little bit complex from there. Following the formation of Catalyst Brands last year (by Simon Property Group, Brookfield Corp., Authentic Brands Group and Shein) — with Eddie Bauer, Aeropostale, Lucky Brand, Brooks Brothers, Nautica, and JCPenney making up the brand holdings — Eddie Bauer’s reported bankruptcy would leave the manufacturing, e-comm, and wholesale operations in North America intact. Those operations are currently in the process of transitioning away from Catalyst Brands “to a new licensee,” as WWD’s Jean E. Palmieri noted.

“Beginning Monday, Eddie Bauer will move its e-commerce, wholesale, design and product development to Outdoor 5, a global brand development and licensing platform. That deal was announced on Jan. 8. The bankruptcy filing is expected to happen once that has been completed, or later in the month,” Palmieri wrote.

“A Chapter 11 filing would also not impact the 20 or so Eddie Bauer stores operating in Japan,” the WWD editor added.

https://retailwire.com/discussion/lessons-learned-eddie-bauer/

The evidence continues to mount.

[sailor734]

Originally Posted by MonctonRad

https://retailwire.com/discussion/lessons-learned-eddie-bauer/

The evidence continues to mount.

So, if I understand that correctly the brand continues operate retail online as well as manufacturing and wholesale but the bricks and mortar stand alone retail stores all close. Sign of the times?

[MonctonRad]

Originally Posted by sailor734

So, if I understand that correctly the brand continues operate retail online as well as manufacturing and wholesale but the bricks and mortar stand alone retail stores all close. Sign of the times?

Yes.

I don’t care about the online. I NEVER shop online. I only care about the bricks and mortar.

[jonny golden]

Originally Posted by MonctonRad

Yes.

I don’t care about the online. I NEVER shop online. I only care about the bricks and mortar.

Same here. I did some online shopping at one time, but after some bad experiences, I'm brick & mortar as well.

[sailor734]

Living in SJ I find I'm shopping more and more online simply due to not being able to buy what I want here.

[Ire Narissis]

I shop online quite often, not least of which because of the availability problems sailor734 points out.

But apparel is a big exception. I rarely buy clothes without being able to try them on first.

[EnvisionSaintJohn]

Originally Posted by MonctonRad

Hasn't been picked up by mainstream media yet, but it has been mentioned on chainstoreage.com

https://chainstoreage.com/news-briefs/2026-01-30

If true, and it probably is, that would be a big blow (but also big opportunity) for Champlain Place. That's a large footprint. I wonder if someplace like Miniso would consider this space.

Uniqlo is what they should be aiming for (if the space is big enough) maybe it's not. Perhaps The Gap would be a good fit too. I was surprised to see Moncton doesn't have a Gap Factory Store despite there being locations in both SJ and Freddy.

I used to live nearby both a Miniso and Uniqlo, and Uniqlo is the store I miss much more. Hopefully we see both brands enter the NB market soon.