The Metro Vancouver Retail Thread

[Built Form]

Another US retailer is setting up shop here in Vancouver. Eileen Fisher womens wear which has been carried by Holt's and other retailers is opening there first Canadian store on south Granville in september.

[Van23H]

Thomas Sabo and Stuart Weitzman are opening stores in oakridge centre. Also Tiffany and 7 for all mankind are supposed to be opening there but I have not gotten a proper confirmation from my source and also burberry has been looking seriously at oakridge!

[SpongeG]

cool - i was in oakridge and there was a lot of empty spaces which was surprising to see none of them said any names of what would be just "Excting retailer" kind of signage

with crate and barrel taking over all the plaza stores and the theatre - will those little plaza stores just have to move away from the centre? or just close down?

I would really love to see a kiosk starbucks or something in that plaza - the starbucks in the food court is really badly positioned and makes the food court awkward which is already not very walkable

[SpongeG]

looks like vancouver is getting two Crate & Barrel Stores...

June 22, 2011

High-end mall expansion planned for West Vancouver

RICHARD GILBERT
staff writer

Construction work is scheduled to begin later this summer on the expansion of The Village at Park Royal Shopping Centre in West Vancouver, B.C.

The Village is cluster of outdoor shops, which share land and ownership with the Park Royal Shopping Centre.

“Phase one of this project is to eliminate parking below the existing parking levels and put in retail stores,” said John Moorcroft, associate with Musson Cattell Mackey Partnership.

“So, the grade level parking is eliminated and replaced.”

Park Royal Shopping Centre is extending The Village along the southern portion of the mall (Park Royal South), in order to replace unattractive surface parking with new retail space for luxury retailers.

“To compensate for the loss of parking, we are building two new parking levels above existing parking,” said Moorcroft.

“One of the ramps to the upper level parking will be eliminated to make space for a new Crate and Barrel store. There will also be enhanced connections into the existing mall, like new escalators and elevators.”

Moorcroft said Park Royal is hoping to recreate the atmosphere at The Village, by providing exterior shopping, angled parking and a landscaped street front, complete with gathering places, public art displays, cafes and restaurants.

The project is expected to go to tender in September.

Construction is scheduled to start early next year and will be completed in 2012.
The project will add 120,000 square feet of retail space to the mall.

Park Royal and The Village currently have 1.2 million square feet of retail space.
Construction of The Village at Park Royal was completed in September 2004 and is located on an 18-acre parcel adjacent to West Vancouver’s Park Royal Shopping Centre.

It is a complex of nine distinct buildings ranging in size from 9,600 to 72,000 sq. ft.

It has a pedestrian friendly Main Street, with front-of-store parking and wide landscaped sidewalks.

The development was planned by F&A Architects of California and Musson Cattell Mackey Partnership from Vancouver.

The 238,000 square foot expansion will cost about $30 million.

The Village is specifically designed for the affluent West Vancouver market.
All retailers offer mid to upscale lifestyle services.

A new intersection is also being constructed west of Taylor Way to provide at-grade, signal protected pedestrian crossings across Marine Drive.

Park Royal is also upgrading landscaping along the Marine Drive median to improve the aesthetics at the entrance to West Vancouver.

Architects are also working on possible concepts for two residential towers that will mirror the scale of the Westroyal complex located on the municipally owned property at 300 Taylor Way.

A portion of the profits from the residential sales will directly subsidize the construction of a new multi-screen movie theatre complex also planned for Park Royal South.

...

http://www.journalofcommerce.com/article/id44941

[wrenegade]

I believe Apple and Anthropologie will also join Crate & Barrel at the Park Royal expansion.

[SpongeG]

popped into the bay this afternoon, the second floor is half closed off for renovations, the mens level, where the water damage was is now all closed off - probably for the renovations, the basement level is a mix right now - it says all the kitchen stuff has been moved to the 5th floor and it is now a mix of leftovers and the food places and mens underwear and mens pyjamas, luggage etc.

is the plan to have the basement become more mens dept? as they want to expand it?

[officedweller]

What water damage to The Bay?

[s211]

Originally Posted by officedweller

What water damage to The Bay?

Putting out car fires during the riot.

[jayyb]

Ballagio Cafe looks like it almost done and ready to be open soon (Lower retail of convention centre). Anyone know what's taking the Cactus Club by Jack Poole Plaza so long to get going? I'm assuming they are paying rent but it has sat vacant without any work for months now. I would have thought they would have tried getting it ready for summer to catch all the tourists in the area.

[jlousa]

It was placed on the back burner as they are more desperate to get the English Bay site opened this year, the Plaza location is now delayed till 2012. Not sure what lease arrangement they have with Pavco. Also haven't heard much regarding the Harbour Green restaurant, I imagine they are waiting for the seaplane terminal to vacant before they proceed.

[vancity2010]

Whats happening to Robson St, everything is closing? From my understanding Mexx is to close aswell as Tommy?

[LeftCoaster]

Is it what's happening to Robson or is it what's happening to Mexx and Tommy Hilfiger? Neither are particularily influential retailers, wouldnt be surprised if they couldnt afford their locations.

Liz Claiborne, Mexx's parent company is in a world of trouble with negative EPS, declining revenue and very little cash on the books.

PVH, Tommy Hilfiger's parent company is doing much better, but I don't know how TH is doing within their profile.

[connect2source]

So true, the city centre is gradually moving back to Granville. Robson enjoyed a 20 year stint as Vancouver's main high street while Granville was run down but now it's renovated, new shop fronts everywhere and it's returning to it's former glory as our city centre. This will continue at the expense of Robson which will likely continue to become a Korean influenced street catering to international students. All principal city streets go through similar life cycles and we can look forward to a much improved Granville Street, Gastown and Alberni shopping districts in the future.

Robson has also suffered as of late due to the closure of Robson Square for the past year and a half which greatly reduced foot traffic. Robson also has never made any attempts to widen sidewalks, improve the appearance of the street with new street furniture. Developers and landlords on Robson have not catered to the new larger requirements of most retailers. Most shops are more suited to smaller requirements of the 1980's but now retailers need much larger spaces, usually 5000 sq feet and up of which Granville St, South Granville, Alberni and Gastown developers and landlords are providing.

[s211]

Originally Posted by connect2source

So true, the city centre is gradually moving back to Granville. Robson enjoyed a 20 year stint as Vancouver's main high street while Granville was run down but now it's renovated, new shop fronts everywhere and it's returning to it's former glory as our city centre. This will continue at the expense of Robson which will likely continue to become a Korean influenced street catering to international students. All principal city streets go through similar life cycles and we can look forward to a much improved Granville Street, Gastown and Alberni shopping districts in the future.

Robson has also suffered as of late due to the closure of Robson Square for the past year and a half which greatly reduced foot traffic. Robson also has never made any attempts to widen sidewalks, improve the appearance of the street with new street furniture. Developer and landlords on Robson have not catered to the new larger requirements of most retailers. Most shops are more suited to requirements in the 80's but now retailers need much larger spaces, usually 5000 sq feet and up of which Granville St, South Granville, Alberni and Gastown developers and landlords are providing.

Ummm, no. Granville will always be hillbilly central, home to itinerants from the islands and interior. It's been that way since at least the 70s.

[connect2source]

Originally Posted by s211

Ummm, no. Granville will always be hillbilly central, home to itinerants from the islands and interior. It's been that way since at least the 70s.

True but look at the flagships and redevelopment in the past five years:
-adidas ( 2 stores )
-puma
-urban outfitters
-north face
-aldo
-pacific centre opening up flagships to Granville like :
-aritzia
-H&M
-Holt Renfrew
..and now the redevelopment of Granville and Robson which is rumoured to perhaps contain the new Apple flagship.

Compare that to Robson which is simply losing high profile chains at an ever increasing rate, even the former Esprit store has yet to be leased. Granville certainly has not lost it's 'character' but is otherwise making all the right moves to re establish itself as our principal downtown street.

[phesto]

Rents on Robson Street are on average 2 to 4x greater than Granville Street and it is likely to remain that way for the foreseeable future. Most high profile chains (including Apple) far prefer Robson for a variety of reasons.

[s211]

Originally Posted by connect2source

True but look at the flagships and redevelopment in the past five years:
-adidas ( 2 stores )
-puma
-urban outfitters
-north face
-aldo
-pacific centre opening up flagships to Granville like :
-aritzia
-H&M
-Holt Renfrew
..and now the redevelopment of Granville and Robson which is rumoured to perhaps contain the new Apple flagship.

Compare that to Robson which is simply losing high profile chains at an ever increasing rate, even the former Esprit store has yet to be leased. Granville certainly has not lost it's 'character' but is otherwise making all the right moves to re establish itself as our principal downtown street.

Let me clarify: Just because a few stores in a large downtown mall happen to front on Granville doesn't turn Granville into Fifth Avenue. Everything else is just Lord of the Flies. Having worked in an office building half a block off Granville since 1989, I can assure you that Granville is just as much a shithole today as it was over 20 years ago.

[LeftCoaster]

Granville is a long street. Saying Granville is one thing is like trying to characterize Canada as one place.

North Granville will become much more upscale while south granville will continue to improve but with chain stores geared towards younger crowds. The souther portion of granville will also always be the entertainment hub so ultra-highend retail will stay away and tend to cluster around Granville and Hastings and Alberni and Thurlow.

As for Robson, well it isn't going to decline that much, it will remain a mid-upper level retail mall filling in the void between the younger hipper areas of Gastown and South Granville and the ultra-highend like Alberni and West Hastings.

[duener]

I remember years ago asking city staff about the narrow sidewalks on Robson. They said that the business community told them "if it ain't broke..."

So hopefully Robson will lose business - thereby encouraging a redesign of the street with wider sidewalks / more comfortable pedestrian space.

[officedweller]

Stores like narrow sidewalks - it puts customers closer to store display windows and slows walking speed which allows pedestrians to be distracted by goods on display.

In comparison, you can walk down Granville and be 12 feet away from a display window the entire time.