The Metro Vancouver Retail Thread

[SpongeG]

marks is opening up in the former barnes wheaton on lougheed hwy in coquitlam, next to IKEA, the dealership is being converted to a new shopping place with the dealership divided into smaller stores - they added onto the main building where it seems Marks will go and have built a new structure in the parking lot close to the mcdonalds, that means the old marks next to winners will probably close when the new one opens

also starbucks is opening soon next to the new white spot in the home depot parking lot on united blvd, it will have a drive thru - its about time that area got a starbucks, the tim hortons there seems to always being doing well, being a drive thru they will get a lot of commuter traffic

[SpongeG]

a couple shops have closed at metrotown or were closed today, cara a makeup place and some skate and ski shop near UB - looks like zumiez was too much for them perhaps

Urban behaviour at coq centre and lougheed mall are completely closed off and gone, I wonder how long the metrotown store will last

[LeftCoaster]

Originally Posted by SpongeG

just saw on CBC news - that the sears canada stores will not be affected by these closures

oh well

Yes Sears Canada is a separate operating entity from their US counterpart, but financial hardship on their US parent will still effect Canada. If the US operation is under hard up for cash they will be more likely to offload some of their Canadian assets. One can only hope this happens.

Originally Posted by Conrad

Macy's would be great though, because average people can afford to shop there.

Nordstrom is in a similar bracket, between the Bay and Holt Renfrew. Should be a welcome addition to the Canadian retail scene.

[wrenegade]

Originally Posted by officedweller

Taylor's Crossing in North Vancouver has closed - that was a Mark James restaurant / pub - the microbrewery and liquor store wuill remain open.

http://www.nsnews.com/story.html?id=5929523

Wow, that's surprising to see. Sad, I liked that place. Was a great place to go watch a game, and it was usually packed too!

[sacrifice333]

Originally Posted by wrenegade

Wow, that's surprising to see. Sad, I liked that place. Was a great place to go watch a game, and it was usually packed too!

Was also under the impression that Cactus had taken it over not too long ago... but maybe that was misinformation.

[Conrad]

Originally Posted by LeftCoaster

Nordstrom is in a similar bracket, between the Bay and Holt Renfrew. Should be a welcome addition to the Canadian retail scene.

Agreed. I'd be happy to see Nordrom occupy the Sears space. Higher end, but still attainable. Not outrageous like Holt's.

[officedweller]

Originally Posted by Built Form

A couple of doors down they are adding another floor to what was supposed to be only 2. They must have a tenant they're expanding it for.


pic by Built Form

Project: Addition to Commercial Building Status: Proposed
Location: 950 GRANVILLE ST Zoning: DD
Project Type: Addition / Alteration Department: Planning Department
Application Date: 2011/06/06 No: DE414894
City Contact: Joe Bosnjak 604-873-7755 [email protected]
Applicant Contact: TOMAS WOLF STUDIO ONE ARCHITECTURE INC. 604 731 3966
Description: Addition of 4,824 square feet to create a new 3rd floor to the existing commercial building on this site.

http://cfapp.vancouver.ca/planning_wa/index.cfm?SelectTypeID=1

So 4,824 sq ft on third level, maybe a bit less on the others, yields about 14,000 sq ft in total if it's one tenant.

[hollywoodnorth]

I heard back from Whole Foods in regards to the potential expansion of the Robson store and they said this ... typical city crap


Unfortunately city by-laws prevent us from expanding our store into the retail space next door. we are currently looking for a suitable tenant to lease the space from us.

and


It is true that we are much smaller then the Cambie Whole Foods and do not carry the same number of products. Our location was originally a Capers store and designed to have a much smaller footprint then the Cambie Whole Foods and the Whole Foods store you see in the United States. We were acquired by Whole Foods in 2007.

Saying that, we would love to expand our floor space and add new venues to our shopping experience. Unfortunately the City of Vancouver has very specific by-laws about how much street front space a single location can take up on Robson St.

[officedweller]

Is the upper floor retail space in The Ritz (Coal Harbour) still available?

[ckkelley]

The upper floor is still available. The second floor was leased recently but no indication of what just yet.

[SpongeG]

Originally Posted by hollywoodnorth

I heard back from Whole Foods in regards to the potential expansion of the Robson store and they said this ... typical city crap


Unfortunately city by-laws prevent us from expanding our store into the retail space next door. we are currently looking for a suitable tenant to lease the space from us.

and


It is true that we are much smaller then the Cambie Whole Foods and do not carry the same number of products. Our location was originally a Capers store and designed to have a much smaller footprint then the Cambie Whole Foods and the Whole Foods store you see in the United States. We were acquired by Whole Foods in 2007.

Saying that, we would love to expand our floor space and add new venues to our shopping experience. Unfortunately the City of Vancouver has very specific by-laws about how much street front space a single location can take up on Robson St.

if the movie theatre were to move out of denman place mall would it be a bigger space for whole foods than their robson space?

[SpongeG]

Target announces first 24 stores in Canada; initial openings all in Ontario

screw you target i am boycotting you now lol

http://ca.news.yahoo.com/target-december-sales-rise-miss-expectations-lowers-4th-192743111.html

[Waders]

Underground Clothing at Metropolis will be closed after Jan. 15. They will no longer have any store in BC so you will have to buy from their online store.

[whiteshadow]

Vancouver's getting its first Lego store, sometime this spring. Its going into Oakridge Mall.

http://www.oakridgecentre.com/store/lego

See also: http://jobsatlego.com/ca/vancouver/retail/store-manager-vancouver-jobs

Got most of this info from www.toysnbricks.com.

[Conrad Yablonski]

Fourth Avenue in Kitsilano is looking terrible these days-empty store fronts stand out like missing teeth some are papered some are just empty others a mess-it's interesting to see how much shows when a person takes the bus as opposed to driving.

I also note that crowds were way down during the holiday season-the groups of young people from the suburbs we used to see were thin on the ground.

[dreambrother808]

Originally Posted by hollywoodnorth

Saying that, we would love to expand our floor space and add new venues to our shopping experience. Unfortunately the City of Vancouver has very specific by-laws about how much street front space a single location can take up on Robson St.

Yeah, I was told that they were working on that issue. I guess they gave up. Safeway dealt with it by putting itself on the second floor. I wonder if they would have bothered with a multi-level design otherwise.

Sadly, the owner of Three Graces needlessly closed her business at the Whole Foods site. She seemed rather disappointed at the time.

[Denscity]

Originally Posted by SpongeG

Target announces first 24 stores in Canada; initial openings all in Ontario

screw you target i am boycotting you now lol

http://ca.news.yahoo.com/target-december-sales-rise-miss-expectations-lowers-4th-192743111.html

Target wants to open a store here in Castlegar. We don't even have a walmart. This would be huge for us! Some people drive over three hours to kelowna just for a pair of jeans!

[jozero]

Originally Posted by whiteshadow

Vancouver's getting its first Lego store, sometime this spring. Its going into Oakridge Mall.

http://www.oakridgecentre.com/store/lego

See also: http://jobsatlego.com/ca/vancouver/retail/store-manager-vancouver-jobs

Got most of this info from www.toysnbricks.com.

Thanks for the info ! I'm a huge lego nut. If you haven't checked lego lately you should. They clued in a few years ago they have plenty of adult fans and have released sets tuned to them. I'm building an urban lego city in my basement.

Check out the Modular Building Series :
http://search2.lego.com/exec/?q=modular%20buildings&pt=&lang=2057&cc=US&u=legojozero
The Trains (which are motorized) :
http://search2.lego.com/exec/?q=trains&pt=&lang=2057&cc=US&u=legojozero

And of course since its lego, your imagination only limits the kind of buildings you can build.

[whatnext]

Originally Posted by Conrad Yablonski

Fourth Avenue in Kitsilano is looking terrible these days-empty store fronts stand out like missing teeth some are papered some are just empty others a mess-it's interesting to see how much shows when a person takes the bus as opposed to driving.

I also note that crowds were way down during the holiday season-the groups of young people from the suburbs we used to see were thin on the ground.

There's really very little reason for people, young or otherwise, to come into downtown Vancouver for retail. Pretty much everything is available in their own town, from retail to coffee shops, to trendy restaurants. Why pay for the privilege being accosted by beggars while you do your shopping etc.? All we need now is a misguided congestion tax to totally kill whatever appeal is left.

As to Fourth, are you talking about the 2000 block where Sophie's is? There's a lot of empty store fronts there due to that one old block slated for demolition.

[GeeCee]

Originally Posted by whiteshadow

Vancouver's getting its first Lego store, sometime this spring. Its going into Oakridge Mall.

http://www.oakridgecentre.com/store/lego

See also: http://jobsatlego.com/ca/vancouver/retail/store-manager-vancouver-jobs

Got most of this info from www.toysnbricks.com.

omg

omg