The Retail Thread

[5seconds]

Originally Posted by Calgarian

Agree to disagree I guess.

Genuinely curious, why do you think going from a 2 lane road (with 2 lanes oncoming) to a 2 lane road (with 1 lanes oncoming) would increase commuter use?

[Calgarian]

Originally Posted by 5seconds

Genuinely curious, why do you think going from a 2 lane road (with 2 lanes oncoming) to a 2 lane road (with 1 lanes oncoming) would increase commuter use?

Because it would be telling motorists that you want to help them get through the area as fast as possible, which in my mind would go against what the area is intended to be used for, and could be to the detriment of the businesses in the area.

17th avenue is the destination, not the route one should take to get to the destination.

[5seconds]

Originally Posted by Calgarian

17th avenue is the destination

agree

Originally Posted by Calgarian

not the route one should take to get to the destination.

partially disagree

Originally Posted by Calgarian

Because it would be telling motorists that you want to help them get through the area as fast as possible, which in my mind would go against what the area is intended to be used for, and could be to the detriment of the businesses in the area.

agree to disagree

[Calgarian]

Originally Posted by 5seconds

agree to disagree

Agreed!

[Ferreth]

I'm not fond of 17th as it is right now - it's a mediocre pedestrian environment and a piss-poor car environment. I'd like to see the road reduced to 2 lanes, with left hand turning lanes left at intersections AND traffic lights with scramble crossings for pedestrians similar to 3rd Ave and 3rd St. SW. Left hand turns only on left signals(for 17th Ave, and major streets), no right hand turns on red either. That's the best situation I can think of to make things easy for pedestrians, while allowing traffic to keep going during green lights. It certainly would decrease car traffic, which would improve the environment for everyone NOT in a car. I'd also consider raised intersections with some sort of cobblestone roughness to remind cars to slow for intersections.

The extra space would be used for enhanced sidewalks, patios etc. I'm sort of thinking of something like Stephen Avenue, just slightly more tuned toward having car traffic. I might be coming off as a bit anti-car here, but I'm not really - I like the bit of traffic allowed on Stephen avenue at night - the design of the road really seems to limit speeding and engine gunning (pedestrians could jump out at any moment) and it seems to have become a bit of a hot spot for parking your "classic car" or exotic. A few strategically placed parking spots could be accommodated along 17th too, come to think of it.

[lineman]

Wouldn't strangling traffic on 17th divert traffic through Mission, Lower Mount Royal, and Connaught?

[jeffwhit]

Originally Posted by Ferreth

I'm not fond of 17th as it is right now - it's a mediocre pedestrian environment and a piss-poor car environment. I'd like to see the road reduced to 2 lanes, with left hand turning lanes left at intersections AND traffic lights with scramble crossings for pedestrians similar to 3rd Ave and 3rd St. SW. Left hand turns only on left signals(for 17th Ave, and major streets), no right hand turns on red either. That's the best situation I can think of to make things easy for pedestrians, while allowing traffic to keep going during green lights. It certainly would decrease car traffic, which would improve the environment for everyone NOT in a car. I'd also consider raised intersections with some sort of cobblestone roughness to remind cars to slow for intersections.
.

Scrambles are the most underused traffic/pedestrian strategy.. I like your thinking here.

[Calgarian]

Aren't scrambles less efficient for both traffic and pedestrians? they just increase safety (assuming everyone knows it's a scramble and is paying attention).

[jeffwhit]

How are they less efficient? The fact that pedestrians don't interfere with turning vehicles makes traffic flow better since cars aren't just stopped trying to make right turns.

[lineman]

Considering many pedestrians don't understand the concept of the flashing don't walk, this might help out.

[MalcolmTucker]

In Toronto they allow pedestrian movements on all light phases at their scrambles - it really holds up traffic.

[freeweed]

Originally Posted by jeffwhit

How are they less efficient? The fact that pedestrians don't interfere with turning vehicles makes traffic flow better since cars aren't just stopped trying to make right turns.

I only regularly encounter one scramble intersection here and it takes FOREVER to cross. Both as a pedestrian and vehicle. If it actually saw a lot of traffic it would be perpetually backed up.

A big part of this is the inability to make right turns on red, even when there's no reason not to (ie: zero pedestrians).

[YYCguys]

http://business.financialpost.com/2011/10/17/walmart-canada-will-just-keep-growing/

Walmart Canada will just keep growing

Hollie Shaw Oct 17, 2011 – 10:34 AM ET

Walmart Canada will keep growing long after its rollout of grocery superstores is complete given how it operates in the fairly saturated U.S. market, according to analyst Keith Howlett of Desjardins Securities.

“Canadian retailers should not expect that Walmart Canada’s ambition will be less expensive or less intense,” he said in a note to clients, and investors and grocers should expect the Arkansas-based mass merchant to roll out new formats in this country even before it is done building grocery supercentres, which will take an estimated four to five years at the current pace.

Mr. Howlett predicts the mass merchant will bring its new 15,000-square foot Walmart Express format into the country within three to five years. “Canadian grocers are going to need to begin playing offence against Walmart Canada, not merely defence. …We expect that the risks related to Canadian grocery stocks will begin to escalate after 2013, as Walmart Canada introduces new formats into Canada and Target Canada fine-tunes its offering.”

Walmart’s focus on growing market share was underscored by its acquisition of 39 Zellers locations from Target, which will open as Walmart outlets in late 2012 — just a few months before the March 2013 opening of Target in Canada.

Yikes! This would most likely ruin unique shopping streets like 17th Ave and the like!

[DizzyEdge]

Not sure if it has been mentioned before, but a Save-On-Foods will be part of the Seton development.

http://sinsblog.com/2011/10/02/overwaitea-announces-save-on-foods-expansion-to-calgary/

Can anyone tell me where this chain fits in the increasingly crowded grocery scene?

[Calgarian]

Originally Posted by jeffwhit

How are they less efficient? The fact that pedestrians don't interfere with turning vehicles makes traffic flow better since cars aren't just stopped trying to make right turns.

It's because you have to wait for both directions of traffic to go if you are a pedestrian, and one direction of traffic and the pedestrians if you are a motorist. Basically, it takes longer to get through the intersection for both cars and pedestrians.

[5seconds]

Originally Posted by YYCguys

Mr. Howlett predicts the mass merchant will bring its new 15,000-square foot Walmart Express format into the country within three to five years. “Canadian grocers are going to need to begin playing offence against Walmart Canada, not merely defence. …We expect that the risks related to Canadian grocery stocks will begin to escalate after 2013, as Walmart Canada introduces new formats into Canada and Target Canada fine-tunes its offering.”
![/I]

In London, all of the supermarket chains have urban 'express' style stores (Tesco Metro, Co-op Local, Sainsbury's Express, I think) And I can't help but wonder why that isn't happening to some extent here.

The stores focus on lunch and quick take-dinner-home-after-work kind of shopping (as well as serving basic groceries to local residents) and I was thinking that since Co-op already has a kind of 'Market Place' theme, they should run with that. If they opened a 'Co-op Marketplace' in that new building in Inglewood, they would do really well. There is no local supermarket anyway, and there are enough daytime workers in the area to make it worth their while.

I would shop there.

[DizzyEdge]

Two food trucks, Blam!wich and Alleyburger will be in the West Canadian parking lot 11:30 - 2pm today

1601 9 Ave SE

[Ramsayfarian]

Originally Posted by DizzyEdge

Two food trucks, Blam!wich and Alleyburger will be in the West Canadian parking lot 11:30 - 2pm today

1601 9 Ave SE

I saw that earlier. Kind of an odd location if you ask me. JoJo's is going to be at Manchester, which seems like a better spot. Too bad I had BBQ yesterday.

[DizzyEdge]

Originally Posted by Ramsayfarian

I saw that earlier. Kind of an odd location if you ask me. JoJo's is going to be at Manchester, which seems like a better spot. Too bad I had BBQ yesterday.

I think it's a combination lunch for the ~200 people in the WC building, plus a promotion in a sense (I think they were invited by WC as they will be in the WC parking lot)

[Ramsayfarian]

Originally Posted by DizzyEdge

I think it's a combination lunch for the ~200 people in the WC building, plus a promotion in a sense (I think they were invited by WC as they will be in the WC parking lot)

WC might have greased their wheels to show up.