Canadian Retail Thread

[miketoronto]

Originally Posted by MolsonExport

^If you are right, do you expect this fate to befall Walfart?

Sooner or latter they will fall. What makes you think they will stay on top forever?
I still don't get the obsession with Walmart. Aside from toilet paper and cleaning supplies. What else is there really to buy from Walmart?

[SpongeG]

lots of things, TV's, makeup, shampoo, paint, bookcases, sheets, dishes, pet food, magazines, socks, t-shirts, toys, DVD's, patio furniture, chocolate, peanuts, broccolli, coca-cola, pepsi-cola, 7up, orange juice, apple juice, cheese, kit kat bar, knitting supplies, car washing stuff, light bulbs, hammers, screwdrivers, band-aids, exlax, tylenol, condoms, toothbrush, pots, pans, tumblers, need i go on?

its convenient and always packed obvioulsy people like the convenience

but if you shop and shop around you will find they are not always the best price

anyway i like nordstrom, most vancouverites love them and there is a history with them for most people from vancouver - we can all remember going down to seattle on a weekend with the family to shop there or the first time you go as an adult with your friends and you shop there etc.

[miketoronto]

Originally Posted by SpongeG

lots of things, TV's, makeup, shampoo, paint, bookcases, sheets, dishes, pet food, magazines, socks, t-shirts, toys, DVD's, patio furniture, chocolate, peanuts, broccolli, coca-cola, pepsi-cola, 7up, orange juice, apple juice, cheese, kit kat bar, knitting supplies, car washing stuff, light bulbs, hammers, screwdrivers, band-aids, exlax, tylenol, condoms, toothbrush, pots, pans, tumblers, need i go on?

Patio furniture? Have you seen how low quality and poorly built their products like that are?

Broccolli? I would not trust Walmart food at all.

Anyway my family does not shop at Walmart on principle. But the odd time we walk through there, it is amazing just how crappy the stuff is. Why buy it when you will need to replace it because it will break after one use?

[Me&You]

Originally Posted by miketoronto

Patio furniture? Have you seen how low quality and poorly built their products like that are?

Broccolli? I would not trust Walmart food at all.

Anyway my family does not shop at Walmart on principle. But the odd time we walk through there, it is amazing just how crappy the stuff is. Why buy it when you will need to replace it because it will bring after one use?

I'm far from a frequent Walmart shopper, but even I know this is bordering ridiculous.

What makes the Xbox at Walmart inferior to the one at your "local" electronics store? Or the Levis jeans? Or the Tide detergent? Walmart is not the bastion of inferior quality that you like to believe it is. They sell the same shit as everyone else. Does that set them apart? No. But they sell more of that same shit than anyone else and that usually allows them to sell that same shit for less than everyone else.

Hate on them for pushing out the independent retailer. Or hate on them their unsustainable big-box model. Or hate on them for whatever unicorns-farting-rainbows idealogical dreams you can come up with, but don't just make stuff up so you can feel better about your stance on them. There are plenty of accurate and legitimate reasons...

[telyou]

Originally Posted by miketoronto

Patio furniture? Have you seen how low quality and poorly built their products like that are?

You do realize not everyone can or wants to pay $1,000 for patio furniture.

[MolsonExport]

Those patio lanterns
They were the stars in the sky

[SpongeG]

haha

I buy a few things at walmart since its one of the only things open past 9 pm in the area i live and its handy

BC is not like ontario - most malls shut tight at 6 pm unless its thursday or friday, some big box stores like winners, home depot, dollar tree stay open till 9, walmart stays open till 11, so does superstore not much else stays open that late

[miketoronto]

Originally Posted by Me&You

What makes the Xbox at Walmart inferior to the one at your "local" electronics store? Or the Levis jeans? Or the Tide detergent?

Name brand stuff like that is fine. But the other stuff like their no name patio furniture is junk.

Also their prices are not always cheap like people think. And if they are cheaper, it is usually only by a penny or two.
People are just brainwashed into thinking Walmart is there to give you the best price, when in fact it is all just marketing.

[miketoronto]

Originally Posted by SpongeG

BC is not like ontario - most malls shut tight at 6 pm unless its thursday or friday, some big box stores like winners, home depot, dollar tree stay open till 9, walmart stays open till 11, so does superstore not much else stays open that late

That is so cool. I believe Quebec still has or did have the same thing where malls close early.

It is nice and encourages people to spend time doing other things other than shopping.
Would be nice to go back to Sunday shopping only being allowed in the downtown cores, like we used to have until the early 1990's.

Australia also has pretty tight retail trading hours, and just now some cities have started allowing suburban malls to open on Sunday's.

[SpongeG]

aww if we all lived in houses with white picket fences and mom pregnant in the kitchen and we all pile into the station wagon and go to the drive-in movie

what world do you live in?

some of us have to work for a living and need to shop at 10 pm some days

[MolsonExport]

Personally, with a few exceptions for stat holidays, stores should be able to open whenever they want. I enjoy the vitality of the streets in Asian cities for this reason.

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by miketoronto

That is so cool. I believe Quebec still has or did have the same thing where malls close early.

It is nice and encourages people to spend time doing other things other than shopping.
Would be nice to go back to Sunday shopping only being allowed in the downtown cores, like we used to have until the early 1990's.

Australia also has pretty tight retail trading hours, and just now some cities have started allowing suburban malls to open on Sunday's.

It can vary from region to region and there are exceptions but generally:

Big boxes across Quebec are open until 9 pm Monday to Friday

Most malls and on-street department stores close around 6 Monday to Wednesday, and are only open late until 9 on Thursdays and Fridays.

EVERYTHING except grocery stores closes at 5 on Saturday and Sundays. Even Wal-mart closes at 5 on weekends.

So basically if you want to shop in a mall or a department store in the evenings, generally speaking Thursday and Friday night is it.

[Doug]

Originally Posted by MolsonExport

Personally, with a few exceptions for stat holidays, stores should be able to open whenever they want. I enjoy the vitality of the streets in Asian cities for this reason.

It is a huge shock going to a place with more restrictive store opening hours. When I moved to Toronto in 1988 I couldn't believe that a much larger city did have evening openings Mon through Wed or Sun openings at all (not even grocery stores). Calgary had been a free for all since the late 70s. Similarly traveling from Seattle where malls are open to 10 every day of the week and many big box stores are 24 hrs, back to Canada seems like stepping back a few decades. The 24 hour Target by my place seems to operate all night with a only a handful of teenagers working.

[eternallyme]

Originally Posted by miketoronto

That is so cool. I believe Quebec still has or did have the same thing where malls close early.

It is nice and encourages people to spend time doing other things other than shopping.
Would be nice to go back to Sunday shopping only being allowed in the downtown cores, like we used to have until the early 1990's.

Australia also has pretty tight retail trading hours, and just now some cities have started allowing suburban malls to open on Sunday's.

Using Ontario as an example - Such would not happen on a large scale, since cross-border shopping is a major issue these days and it would be seen as giving one group (downtown for business, suburbs for rest) an unfair advantage over others (the suburbs for rest, downtown for business) in either point of view.

Municipalities (except in the GTA, where a regional view should be taken) should have full control over retail hours and holidays, once approved in full committee with full hearings if the population desires such. In many cases, a more permissive view should be taken, i.e. where cross-border or nearby areas would otherwise give them a major disadvantage by adding restrictions. In some cases, especially in northern Ontario, a more restrictive view might be desirable. There should be no rules against additional restrictions (i.e. limiting hours or a total ban on Sunday shopping in a specific area) though. Perhaps some statutory holidays could be excluded, but only those that are pretty much universally taken and approved by most municipalities (i.e. Christmas Day).

[SpongeG]

i moved to a small town in ontario from BC in 1992 and was surprised to see that the local mall and almost all the stores in the area, other than downtown, were open till 9 pm mon - sat, there is only one mall open those hours in vancouver area, metrotown and its packed for that reason

i know someone who was here from saudi arabia a few years ago and he used to complain that city shuts down so early and there is nothing to do at night other than go to a movie or a handful of coffee shops - in his country/culture they socialize at night and like to go shopping at night, most of the malls over there are open until 11 pm or 12 am

i know the same goes for a lot of asian countries too - that's why they started the night market here in vancouver - people want to shop/eat/browse on a friday late night, you go down there at 11 pm and its just packed with people

[PoscStudent]

All I want in St. John's is The Bay.

[Policy Wonk]

Originally Posted by miketoronto

That is so cool. I believe Quebec still has or did have the same thing where malls close early.

It is nice and encourages people to spend time doing other things other than shopping.
Would be nice to go back to Sunday shopping only being allowed in the downtown cores, like we used to have until the early 1990's.

Australia also has pretty tight retail trading hours, and just now some cities have started allowing suburban malls to open on Sunday's.

• Video Link

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by Doug

The 24 hour Target by my place seems to operate all night with a only a handful of teenagers working.

Not slamming you personally Doug, but teenagers working all night in a Target - not sure this is pointing in the direction of positive societal outcomes...

[Taeolas]

Originally Posted by eternallyme

Municipalities (except in the GTA, where a regional view should be taken) should have full control over retail hours and holidays, once approved in full committee with full hearings if the population desires such. In many cases, a more permissive view should be taken, i.e. where cross-border or nearby areas would otherwise give them a major disadvantage by adding restrictions. In some cases, especially in northern Ontario, a more restrictive view might be desirable. There should be no rules against additional restrictions (i.e. limiting hours or a total ban on Sunday shopping in a specific area) though. Perhaps some statutory holidays could be excluded, but only those that are pretty much universally taken and approved by most municipalities (i.e. Christmas Day).

I agree with this view; in fact I think that's what NB does for the most part; except that no one seems to be stepping up to the challenge to change what we have now.

As is, in Fredericton, stores can be open 24/7 EXCEPT on Sundays, where they are limited to 12-5 unless they meet certain criteria. Shoppers Drug Mart got into trouble once they finished expanding/renovating their stores because they were offering 7-midnight hours 7 days a week, until someone pointed out a city bylaw.

Personally, I feel that Hours of Operation should be left up to the business. If a store feels they can survive by being open literally once during a Blue Moon while said moon was visible, then let them be open at those times. And if a business feels they can survive going 24/7/365, go for it.

But I'd be satisfied if Freddy would just get rid of the Sunday laws, so I don't have a 5 hour window to do grocery shopping on Sundays. (St. Marys Supermarket is open 9-9 7 days a week, but they aren't close enough for me to reach by walking)

[isaidso]

Sunday shopping hour restrictions are a relic of a religion dominated past. In 2012, should we really be letting religious people dictate when we can and can't shop? It's ridiculous, we're supposed to have 'Separation of church and State' in this country. This isn't Vatican City.

Originally Posted by PoscStudent

All I want in St. John's is The Bay.

I'm surprised you don't have one. I assumed every place over 100,000 had a Bay.