Canadian Retail Thread

[ibz]

They sell mens clothes now too, there stuff really isnt my cup of tea, but I know many girls who love that store.

[Kilgore Trout]

re. spendid china: kind of a weird name for an asian mall. what's the chinese name? if it really ramps up the chinese kitsch, it doesn't seem to me like it would be very successful at attracting the kind of monied HK chinese crowd on which asian malls rely. i think the future of asian retail is in vancouver's aberdeen centre, not a place named after a theme park in shenzhen.

She self-identifies as a fob only when she listens to Cantopop music, observing that fobs rarely socialize outside of their circles. "They don't necessarily want to fit into Canadian culture," she says. "Fob culture arises 'cause there's no pressure to fit in like Asians that live in the States."

that's kind of a trope repeated by many canadians. problem is, the exact same things are happening in the united states. young fobs in suburban california are just as "fobbish" as those here in canada.

[SpongeG]

richmond is one chinese mall next to another

just in one block or two

is parker place I & II, next to Aberdeen across from pacific plaza, which is next to yaohan - and than acorss the street are more

-----------------------------

i saw that ROCHE BOBOIS is opening a Calgary store soon - they got some hot stuff - they are like the chanel of furniture

[SpongeG]

Last B.C. Starbucks outlets cut ties to union

CAW says number of certified stores was too small to give it negotiating clout

Workers at seven Vancouver Starbucks locations have bolted from the Canadian Auto Workers Union, leaving the global coffee giant with just one unionized company-owned store -- in Regina.

The B.C. Labour Relations Board last week approved the results of a decertification vote at the seven Vancouver stores so the CAW no longer represents any Starbucks workers.

Even workers in the lone unionized Starbucks store in Regina have recently applied to be decertified from the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union. Starbucks operates about 7,000 company-owned stores throughout the world.

CAW representative John Bowman said the union began organizing Vancouver Starbucks stores in 1996 and represented 12 stores and about 150 workers at one point. But he said those numbers were never big enough to give it real clout when negotiating with the company, which operates about 90 Lower Mainland stores.

"The employer is extremely anti-union and never had any interest in trying to work with the union at all," Bowman said in an interview.

He said the union negotiated three collective agreements with Starbucks over the years but only succeeded in gaining improvements in job language and shift scheduling. Wages and benefits at the unionized locations never differed much from those at non-union stores.

The last seven Vancouver Starbucks to decertify from the CAW include 1645 Robson Street, 1752 Commercial Drive, 3451 Kingsway, 1395 Main Street, 811 Hornby Street, 1095 Howe Street and 1055 West Georgia (Royal Centre).

Bowman said high staff turnover rates at Starbucks affected union strength, as many of the workers who wanted the union ended up leaving after a year or two. He said apathy among service sector workers also hurt union efforts.

"For a lot of people in the service sector, their job is not a significant part of their life so they don't really care [about workplace issues]," Bowman said.

He said Starbucks is actually a "pretty good employer" by the "abysmal" standards of the service sector.

"But when you look at their profitability, they could actually pay their people a living wage and still make money but they don't do that," Bowman said.

Starbucks said in a statement it looks forward to working directly with its Vancouver "store partners" to provide a great place to work.

"As a testament to our pro-partner environment, earlier this year we were recognized as one of 'The 100 Best Companies to Work For' by Fortune magazine for the ninth time," the statement said.

"Additionally, our 2006 Partner View Survey, completed by more than 100,000 partners worldwide, showed 86-per-cent satisfaction with Starbucks work environment."

Meanwhile, 128 workers at the Terminal City Club in Vancouver have also voted to leave the CAW, which has represented them since 2000.

http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/n...9f0359&k=35134

[m0nkyman]

http://www.starbucksunion.org/

Go Wobblies!

[kirjtc2]

Originally Posted by ryanE

Thats some quality reporting....they announce that the first Canadian Forever 21 will open in TOronto and that there has been a store in Edmonton since 2001 (which is still open)

Oh come on...you know as well as any that the national media says that if it's not in Toronto, it doesn't exist!

[SpongeG]

haha - and people wonder why the rest of the country has it on for the big t dot

[SpongeG]

Army & Navy shoe sale steps up to $1.2 million on first day

TOM JONES was on the Orpheum theatre stage in 2004 when he urged female audience members to forget about throwing underwear and concentrate on buying footwear "during my friend Jacqui Cohen's sale at the Army & Navy store."

That was the year the six-store chain's annual sale moved 27,000 pairs of shoes, many from name designers, on its first day. Two years later, without the singer's aid, 52,000 pairs went, and the A&N took in $990,000 on opening day. This year, Cohen said, first-day sales hit $1.2 million.

According to A&N shoe buyer Silvio Urbani, 100,000 pairs of shoes -- from the likes of Ann Taylor, Steve Madden and Via Uno -- awaited buyers, who snapped up more in five days than they did in 12 last year. One thousand pairs daily carried the A&N house brand, Karen Elise, which commemorates Cohen's late sister, while the Jeffrey David line for men is named for her late brother.

But it is Cohen's long-late grandfather Sam who will have the greatest upcoming influence on the discount department-store chain he founded in 1919. That's because a five-hectare piece of Port Coquitlam property he bought in the later 1940s will soon house the seventh Army & Navy store. Like the six-year-old Langley operation and a slightly later opening in Edmonton's Londonderry Mall, it will occupy some 60,000 square feet on a single floor. Unlike them, though, it should be part of a 150,000-square-foot retail complex Jacqui Cohen, who sold some of the PoCo land for a PCL (Costco) operation, plans to build on the site's remaining four hectares.

With a Wal-Mart store reportedly due to rise on Rick Ilich's neighbouring property, that strip of Lougheed Highway is a retailing hot spot. It certainly warrants Cohen-mentor Joe Segal's word two decades ago when, regarding the then-fallow land, he said: "Young lady, you don't know what you own in Port Coquitlam."

For decades the property's only occupant was a billboard that read: Army & Navy: We Sell For Less.

By the late 1990s, the chain was earning less, too. Urban decay had surrounded its East Hastings store which, with a down-at-heel New Westminster facility, Cohen calls the A&N's "old gals." Starting in 1998, Cohen said income from real-estate holdings covered the privately owned chain's losses, which were finally stemmed in 2004.

The Langley and Edmonton operations helped A&N break even and return to profitability. So did a three-for-one draft of younger managers -- merchandising director Darrell Peck, operations director Debbie Elliott and finance director Don Chan -- from Superstar Athletics.

Today, of course, the Woodward's redevelopment is superheating Downtown Eastside property values -- a 25-foot lot is being added to an assembly for $1.26 million this week -- and with them the A&N's intrinsic worth. Still, Cohen is "aggressively" seeking a site for an eighth outlet.

"We'd kill for the [Vancouver] Island or a second store in Calgary," she said. Discount-retailing "makes us bottom feeders for rent, and we need at least 60,000 square feet ... but, if the deal was right, we'd pay as much as $8 [a square foot]."

Upcoming A&N operations will be "Abercrombie & Fitch meets Old Navy meets Urban Fare," Cohen said in the moviebiz comparison manner.

Regarding Hollywood, actor Ryan O'Neal, scribe Jackie Collins and Mamas and Papas singer Michelle Phillips should be in town June 9, when Cohen hosts the 17th and last Face the World charity gala in her Point Grey waterfront home. But it won't be the last for this year's $1,250 ticket-holders. It's just that the house will be razed, so that architect Russell Hollingsworth can have a successor designed and built for Olympics year 2010, when 10 Army & Navy stores may be holding $2-million shoe sales annually.

http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/s...dca8b8&k=77669

[bc2mb]

Originally Posted by SpongeG

http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/s...dca8b8&k=77669

army and navy would do a killer business in winnipeg. surprised they're not here...altho giant tiger is similar, but not as good.

discount city baby!

[204]

Originally Posted by BlackRedGold

Steel demand has never been higher. The auto industry is still huge. I doubt the manufacturing industry is dead.

Your unionphobia is based upon faulty assumptions.

I do not understand why unions aren’t considered illegal cartels. If I wanted to become a subway train driver, I could not do so without first joining the union, whether I wanted to pay the union dues or not. What’s the difference between that and being forced to pay protection money to the mafia? In either case, the mob or the union “protects” me (or my job), whether I want the protection or not.

Similarly, if a group of merchants got together to decide that they’re going to sell gasoline at $10 a gallon, it would be considered illegal collusion, and the merchants would be prosecuted. So why can individuals band together to fix prices for labor? They are in effect merchants of their work, and they’re colluding, via the union, to subvert the free market and set artificially high prices for what they are selling.

[neilson]

Originally Posted by 204

I do not understand why unions aren’t considered illegal cartels. If I wanted to become a subway train driver, I could not do so without first joining the union, whether I wanted to pay the union dues or not. What’s the difference between that and being forced to pay protection money to the mafia? In either case, the mob or the union “protects” me (or my job), whether I want the protection or not.

Similarly, if a group of merchants got together to decide that they’re going to sell gasoline at $10 a gallon, it would be considered illegal collusion, and the merchants would be prosecuted. So why can individuals band together to fix prices for labor? They are in effect merchants of their work, and they’re colluding, via the union, to subvert the free market and set artificially high prices for what they are selling.

In the USA, it is illegal to be forced to join a Union in order to work someplace.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taft-Hartley_Act

^Canada doesn't have anything similar to Taft-Hartley?

[Rusty van Reddick]

Originally Posted by 204

I do not understand why unions aren’t considered illegal cartels. If I wanted to become a subway train driver, I could not do so without first joining the union, whether I wanted to pay the union dues or not. What’s the difference between that and being forced to pay protection money to the mafia? In either case, the mob or the union “protects” me (or my job), whether I want the protection or not.

Similarly, if a group of merchants got together to decide that they’re going to sell gasoline at $10 a gallon, it would be considered illegal collusion, and the merchants would be prosecuted. So why can individuals band together to fix prices for labor? They are in effect merchants of their work, and they’re colluding, via the union, to subvert the free market and set artificially high prices for what they are selling.

Negotiating salaries is not "fixing prices for labour" any more than is offering salaries to begin with. Unions are bargaining units in which all workers participate in the bargaining. This is no more "collusion" than is a board of directors or, for that matter, stockholders. Stockholders "set artificially high prices" to the extent that they demand profit- labour wants high salaries which can impact price. Why are you not railing against management and stockholders?

[big W]

Originally Posted by ryanE

Thats some quality reporting....they announce that the first Canadian Forever 21 will open in TOronto and that there has been a store in Edmonton since 2001 (which is still open)

Its because Albertans are different and already their own country.

[SpongeG]

aeropostale is expanding into Canada opening 10 stores this summer - the only BC one seems to be for Guildford mall in surrey - they have it on the malls website as opening soon

from wikipedia

Aéropostale was established in 1987. The brand was introduced by Macy's and primarily sold young men's clothes. Since then, the company has evolved, introduced girl's clothes, and opened several hundred stores. Stores can be found around much of the United States.

In 2007, the company began doing promotions with successful figures to increase brand awareness. The first promotion was selling the new Fall Out Boy album with a store-exclusive t-shirt.

In the summer of 2006, it was announced that Aéropostale will be entering into the Canadian market beginning in 2007. The first 10 stores are set to open during 2007.

The first confirmed Canadian stores are White Oaks Mall in London, Ontario, Oakville Place in Oakville, Ontario, Fairview Park Mall in Kitchener, Ontario, Georgian Mall in Barrie, Ontario, the Pickering Town Centre in Pickering, Ontario, Vaughan Mills in Vaughan, Ontario, and the Guildford Town Centre in Surrey, British Columbia

[danby]

Originally Posted by SpongeG

aeropostale is expanding into Canada opening 10 stores this summer - the only BC one seems to be for Guildford mall in surrey - they have it on the malls website as opening soon

from wikipedia

Aéropostale was established in 1987. The brand was introduced by Macy's and primarily sold young men's clothes. Since then, the company has evolved, introduced girl's clothes, and opened several hundred stores. Stores can be found around much of the United States.

In 2007, the company began doing promotions with successful figures to increase brand awareness. The first promotion was selling the new Fall Out Boy album with a store-exclusive t-shirt.

In the summer of 2006, it was announced that Aéropostale will be entering into the Canadian market beginning in 2007. The first 10 stores are set to open during 2007.

The first confirmed Canadian stores are White Oaks Mall in London, Ontario, Oakville Place in Oakville, Ontario, Fairview Park Mall in Kitchener, Ontario, Georgian Mall in Barrie, Ontario, the Pickering Town Centre in Pickering, Ontario, Vaughan Mills in Vaughan, Ontario, and the Guildford Town Centre in Surrey, British Columbia

I have a feeling WEM will be added on here aswell...ive heard rumors of it going there

[SpongeG]

yeah they have loads of stores in the states almost every other mall has one of the stores it seems

pretty cheap too - get lots of presents there for the niece and nephews

[204]

Originally Posted by furrycanuck

Negotiating salaries is not "fixing prices for labour" any more than is offering salaries to begin with. Unions are bargaining units in which all workers participate in the bargaining. This is no more "collusion" than is a board of directors or, for that matter, stockholders. Stockholders "set artificially high prices" to the extent that they demand profit- labour wants high salaries which can impact price. Why are you not railing against management and stockholders?

You're entitled to your opinion.

Q. How many Teamsters does it take to change a light bulb?

A. Seventeen. Ya got a problem with that?

[SpongeG]

A/X Armani Exchange is opening a new store in Burnaby's Metrotown

[Policy Wonk]

I was wondering why kids were wearing clothing with a Venezuelan airline on it, http://www.aeropostal.com

[miketoronto]

To be honest, this retail thread is pretty depressing. All that is ever posted is another store you can find in any other city in the world, opening in a Canadian city.

I really don't understand the hype or praise that the retail in Canadian cities is each day becoming even more of a carbon copy of our American neighbours or even European cousins.

To be Forever 21 opening in Toronto is a sad day, not a happy one. Because now that means when I go to the USA, there will be maybe two stores in the malls instead of three, that actually are different and remind me I am in another country.

It would be nice to see a retail thread in this Canada section that talks about the homegrown, unique business opening in our cities, instead of the multinational chains that do nothing for our cities.

Thats my little rant.