The Official Saint John, NB Project Thread

[Helladog]

Originally Posted by PostModernPrometheus

Nice shots.

The new steel going up along the side of the indigo.....what is that going to be?? (please, please, please don't say another "Starbucks")

Not sure what that is...where is Costgo going?

[Wrightguy0]

I've got familly who work at Starbucks, and it is anything but crappy. Don't give us that "it spreads everywhere and takes over" bit, go out and count the ridiculous number of Tim Hortons we have in Saint John.

Please watch what you post, you don't know who you're going to offend

[Helladog]

Originally Posted by Wrightguy0

I've got familly who work at Starbucks, and it is anything but crappy. Don't give us that "it spreads everywhere and takes over" bit, go out and count the ridiculous number of Tim Hortons we have in Saint John.

Please watch what you post, you don't know who you're going to offend

I have no issues with Starbucks. I even have a nephew who works there.

[PostModernPrometheus]

Originally Posted by Helladog

Not sure what that is...where is Costgo going?

? unsure......there's not a lot of options in the area for a store / parking lot that size...

[PostModernPrometheus]

Originally Posted by thebrad

hope i dont get in trouble for this. i am apologizing ahead of time but it fits.

ouch....bit of a crass photo...

i don't have a problem with starbucks per se; typically, chapter's seem to be built with a starbuck's kiosk inside....given that there'ss a full sized stand alone starbuck's a few hundred metres away, as well as an outlet down the street in mcallister (? and a third one apparently nearby, though the location escapes me) it would seem more than a little silly & redundant to have one in/by the indigo...

[PostModernPrometheus]

Originally Posted by Helladog

Not sure what that is...where is Costgo going?

hmmm...checked the eastpoint site (http://www.eastpointshopping.ca/) and that side structure isn't even showing up on their layout

[PostModernPrometheus]

Could see at least one (maybe two) large cranes at work near the entrance/"condo sector" of the new Drury cove subdivision from the highway yestrerday (http://www.drurycove.com/layout.htm)...the number of `sold' lots seems to be picking up in the past several months...

[PostModernPrometheus]

Originally Posted by Wrightguy0

Don't give us that "it spreads everywhere and takes over" bit, go out and count the ridiculous number of Tim Hortons we have in Saint John.

lol
good point

[PostModernPrometheus]

Found this interesting...

1.4 million visitors in '07 is waaay higher than i thought it would have been...(to put it in perspective, the 133,000 cruise ship passengers only made up about 10% of the total figure)

the high hotel occupancy rate is probably a combination of a fair number of bookings plus the fact that there has been relatively few "new rooms" added until well into 2007/2008...i'd guess the total # rooms booked in '08 will be higher, but the occupancy rate may drop a little....


Tourism Saint John looks forward to another banner yearPublished Friday May 16th, 2008

http://telegraphjournal.canadaeast.com/city/article/298242

C5ANDREW MCGILLIGA
TELEGRAPH-JOURNAL


SAINT JOHN - Tourism Saint John is reporting record-breaking numbers for 2007 and expects to set a new benchmark in at least one area this summer.

The city is reporting its strongest gains in cruise ship business and hotel occupancy rates. In fact, Saint John is leading eastern Canada in annual hotel occupancy rate and room sales increased in 2007 as well.

Tourism-related expenditures for the past year totalled more than $240-million, an increase of seven per cent over 2006, and an estimated 1.4 million visitors flocked to the city.

Acting Tourism Saint John manager Shirley Elliott said the hotel occupancy numbers were a bit of a surprise. In 2006, McKellar, Cunningham and Associates Ltd., the company that conducts the hotel study, said 2006 was a strong year, but predicted a decline for 2007.

"That didn't hold true, so that was very good news," Elliott said.

As for the cruise ship numbers for 2007, they were strong and Elliott said 2008 is poised to be the best ever. Over the past two years the number of cruise visitors jumped from 88,000 in 2006 to 133,000 last year. This year, the city is expected to welcome 182,000 visitors on an estimated 82 ships.

Elliott said Tourism Saint John is not solely responsible for the gains and credits a partnership between the city, Saint John Port Authority, the province of New Brunswick and Aquila Tours.

"We pooled our resources and did some additional marketing for 2006 and 2007 and it definitely paid off," Elliott said.

Betty MacMillan, manager of business development for the Saint John Port Authority, said the group gave training sessions on the Bay of Fundy area to travel and booking agents.

"It really worked because when they took phone calls they had all the information about the area and were excited about it," MacMillan said.

Most of those visiting the Port City are from Ontario, Atlantic Canada and the eastern United States. In fact, when it comes to the U.S. visitors, Saint John is bucking a national trend. Elliott said the tourism industry is seeing declines across the country in Americans crossing the border to visit Canada.

*sic*

[random11]

I met the GM for Indigo for coffee 2 weeks ago - There is definitely going to be a Starbucks located inside the Indigo store. Whether or not it is located where the new steel is going up beside Indigo, I do not know. And yes, the store location in McAllister Place is staying so there will be 3 Starbuck's in that general area. However, there are 19 Tim's in Saint John so ...

[PersonPlaceorThing]

Originally Posted by random11

I met the GM for Indigo for coffee 2 weeks ago - There is definitely going to be a Starbucks located inside the Indigo store. Whether or not it is located where the new steel is going up beside Indigo, I do not know. And yes, the store location in McAllister Place is staying so there will be 3 Starbuck's in that general area. However, there are 19 Tim's in Saint John so ...

You're right the proliferation of chains of all types is distrubing. Too bad we judge our quality of life based on what brands we have at our disposal.

[kwajo]

Originally Posted by PersonPlaceorThing

You're right the proliferation of chains of all types is distrubing. Too bad we judge our quality of life based on what brands we have at our disposal.

We'll if society didn't judge quality of life that way, what other reason would people have for living in Moncton?






(I kid, I kid)

[SJTOKO]

Originally Posted by kwajo

We'll if society didn't judge quality of life that way, what other reason would people have for living in Moncton?






(I kid, I kid)

CAST HIM INTO THE DEN OF LIONS!!!!

[Wrightguy0]

Originally Posted by kwajo

We'll if society didn't judge quality of life that way, what other reason would people have for living in Moncton?






(I kid, I kid)

Oh god, you're horrible

[ErickMontreal]

Originally Posted by kwajo

We'll if society didn't judge quality of life that way, what other reason would people have for living in Moncton?

You ought to ask to the 10 000 people that moved here since 2000 why they picked up Moncton over Irving Oil city ?

(I kid, I kid)

[kwajo]

Originally Posted by HalifaxMtl666

You ought to ask to the 10 000 people that moved here since 2000 why they picked up Moncton over Irving Oil city ?

(I kid, I kid)

Okay I will, just send me a list of all 10,000 names and I'll call them up and ask them why they chose Moncton - although something tells me that the "Because it has The Gap" won't rank very high on their list of reasons...

[michael_d40]

Saint John gets huge shot in the tourism arm
Published Saturday May 17th, 2008


SAINT JOHN - With the busiest cruise ship season set to get underway on May 30, the city's reputation as a cruise destination have been given a shot in the arm.

Saint John received recognition in two categories in Dream World Cruise Magazine's annual awards. The first distinction was in the 'Destination with Best Tour Guides' category. Saint John was named among 20 destinations in the world where the professionalism and quality of guides is considered outstanding. This is the second time in five years Saint John has received this recognition.

In the 'Best Services Companies' category, Aquila Tours was named among businesses recognized worldwide for outstanding service to passengers, crew or ships. Since Aquila has secured contracts to provide tours to 95 per cent of cruise ship passengers visiting the city, the majority of tour guides recognized in the first accolade are Aquila guides.

Aquila Tours Inc. owner Beth Kelly Hatt said the credit for the recognition goes to her employees. "They love their city, they love what they do and it shows."

Meanwhile, the city is still pursuing plans to overhaul its tourism department. In February, common council accepted the recommendation from deputy city manager Pat Woods to overhaul Tourism Saint John into a public-private partnership involving organizations such as Aquila, Hospitality Saint John, Cruise Saint John and others.

In an e-mail, Woods said the city has partnered with three tourism industry representatives to prepare a job profile and be part of the hiring process for a director for what's being called a destination marketing organization.

The city has been without a director of tourism since Margaret Totten's resignation was accepted in September 2007. Woods said the hope is to have the position filled by mid-summer.

[Seely32]

Tip of East Point iceberg
Development Agreement in place for Costco to set up shop at East Point, and Troy Northrup says there is more to come
C1Dave MacLean
Telegraph-Journal

SAINT JOHN - If Troy Northrup were a schoolboy, then Costco would be the prettiest girl in class.

"The first discussions I had with them took place in 1997, so it's been a long courtship," he said.

After 11 years of wooing, Northrup recently landed himself a date and tonight he will take the next step in preparing for the big day.

Northrup's East Point Shopping will appear before the city's planning advisory committee at 6 p.m. in council chambers to seek permission for propane to be sold at the Retail Drive location soon to be occupied by Costco, the major box-store retailer that is considered a prized anchor tenant in any major retail development.

Costco, the world's largest members-only warehouse shopping company, is slated to bring its fourth Atlantic Canadian outlet to Saint John soon. The Port City location would join Halifax, Moncton and St. John's as Costco stores east of Montreal.

And if Northrup has a bit more jump in his stride these days, it has as much to do with what this means for the city as what it means for his reputation or for East Point.

"This means so much for the city," said Northrup, the visionary developer who has carved a highly-touted retail oasis out of a rocky, barren mountainside on the city's east side. "All of a sudden now, it lets people know that we're worthy. We're worthy of the first (free-standing) Starbucks in the province. We're worthy of the second of an award-winning Indigo design in Canada - the first and only Indigo in New Brunswick. We're worthy of the largest Costco in New Brunswick.

"We're worthy of a lot of things in Saint John and this puts us on a very competitive playing field with Halifax. What this brings is not only other retailers in the community, but also families who want to live in the community."

Long before the East Point development began to take shape, Northrup pursued Costco as a potential anchor tenant. He's thrilled a deal is finally in place.

"What I'm able to confirm is that we have a signed purchase-and-sale agreement in place," he said. "I think everyone on both sides of the table was happy. It's been a long courtship for both sides."

The East Point development kicked off with the Home Depot location a few years ago and later added fashion outlets for retailers such as Moore's men's clothing stores, Randy River, Le Chateau, Cotton Ginny and the first Urban Planet store in Atlantic Canada.

More recently, a 118-room Hampton Inn and Suites hotel opened, as has a Montana's Cookhouse restaurant. The province's first free-standing Starbucks location is set to open within a couple of weeks - staff is already on-site training - and the first Indigo (described recently as 'Chapters on steroids') in New Brunswick will open this summer.

Northrup says Costco's arrival to Saint John is great for the city's morale and it sends a signal to other retailers that the Port City is open for business. He said the Costco location will provide 152,000 square feet of space. To give the project some context, the store will be more than one and a half times bigger than the Home Depot at East Point.

"What's important with any of these retail developments is the anchors," he said. "They attract everybody else. It's great to have such a well-known worldwide name as Costco endorse your site. But it's also the endorsement of the community. This is great for Saint John and it says a lot about where the city is going."

While he was coy about any other irons in the fire, Northrup admitted he expects the most recent news is just the tip of the iceberg as the next phase of the development continues. He promises many more announcements over the coming months.

If past experience is a sign of things to come, the future is bright. In Moncton, for example, Costco's arrival to the city was the catalyst for the large box-store developments at the so-called Trinity Drive Power Centre.

"It's certainly an enticement and it says a lot about the community," Northrup said. "Retailers look at demographics, they look at past trends and history, but a world-class retailer like Costco brings a lot of attention.

"It says a lot about Saint John - about where we are and about where we're going. And it speaks volumes about the confidence they have in Saint John."

[Seely32]

Could someone possibly blow up the picture that's attached to this article.

[Helladog]

This is a conceptual image of the view from Forest Hills showing the 152,000-square-foot Costco, which will be East Point Shopping’s newest tenant. Costco is the world’s largest membership-only warehouse shopping company.