Unfortunately, the two photos I shot today confirms that St. Hubert has indeed closed. A sign thanks its customers and states that it is now closed. Surely, if it was to be renovated the notice would have said so. St. Hubert Notice by I'm Me, Who are You?, on Flickr St. Hubert Closes by I'm Me, Who are You?, on Flickr
hopefully something else will move in there soon...but the spot were second cup was suppose to go is still vacant as well, maybe if it was a True St Hubert (non Express) it would have done better, or if it was on the West Side West side, however it would be nice to have something over there that's not fast food that's finer dining.
I'm not really surprised by St-Hubert closing, anglophone areas are not usually fond of Quebec based chains or companies. When I heard they were opening in SJ, I thought; this is not going to do well. Was this a franchise or corporate location?
Last edited by OUIR@random; Oct 28, 2013 at 1:31 PM.
I'm not really surprised by St-Hubert closing, anglophone areas are not usually fond of Quebec based chains or companies. When I heard they were opening in SJ, I thought; this is not going to do well. Was this a franchise or corporate location?
Same goes with Francophone areas are not really fond for ROC based chains such as Cara Operation / Swiss Chalet although Moncton-based Invescor is doing fairly well in this market as more than half their restaurants/franchises are located in Quebec.
Both St-Hubert were franchisee to begin with but bailed out, corporate had taken over and then realized that the short-term profitability warranted closure. At the end of the day, I can not blame them, it was half empty most of the time. The Express Concept by itself in Quebec seems to do pretty well sorely based on the reputation of the chain, we have to admit that it was not the case around here.
I always enjoyed St-Hubert as a young boy and then as a college student in Montreal, it's a nice change to Swiss Chalet sometimes, it's unfortunate for SJ. Maybe they were a bit overpriced, I've never been to an Express location before.
As for the building itself, it's a nice looking & quality building for a big box development, I imagine it will find a tenant in the coming months.
A Five Guys Burgers perhaps! I doubt that we'll have one before Halifax.
As far as the Saint John store goes, it has just gone through a rather large renovation project, which saw the electronic department closed and replaced with a larger children's selection of goods. Sears, generally speaking, is in a lot of trouble and I wouldn't be surprised if the entire chain were to disappear, but I hope not.
[QUOTE=Wolkenkratzerliebhab;6319337]As far as the Saint John store goes, it has just gone through a rather large renovation project, which saw the electronic department closed and replaced with a larger children's selection of goods. Sears, generally speaking, is in a lot of trouble and I wouldn't be surprised if the entire chain were to disappear, but I hope not.[/QUOTE
The writing on the wall has been there for years now. They are losing their target demographic as the population ages and not getting enough newer customers. They simply do not have a connection to most of the retail customers that would purchase their products. Ideas on what would be good in this space should they vacate?
Probably a US retailer would be my guess?? A lot of US Chains like Kohl's are eyeing Canada. A similar deal like the Zellers/Target one could happen to gain entry to the Canadian Market for any us company.
The Canadian & US economy is not the best right now, retail sales data are not especially encouraging. The only few US retailers eyeing Canada are luxury retailers and those are planning very few locations, secondly the luxury market is underserved in Canada, but you won't see another massive arrival similar to Target for a very long time. The Canadian market will be saturated at some point. Sears is not necessarily the problem, the typical department store might just be.
In any event, if Sears Canada folds, we will have many large spaces in malls across Canada for many months, even years to come...
Sears might just be the next Woolworth's in the not too distant future, not tomorrow or next year, but someday, because I don't see the massive turnaround needed happening. Brands like Craftsman and especially Kenmore will live on as independent brands, as they are more valuable than the Sears name itself.
Last edited by OUIR@random; Oct 30, 2013 at 12:26 AM.
Anything is possible although that could be a ways away. Sears has some great brands, just poor management and advertising in my opinion. Time will tell what happens. McAllister Place is in decent shape so they would attract a new anchor tenant should there be one out there looking to establish in Saint John, otherwise perhaps the space could be subdivided.
Crowds were large around noon in the new Saint John Target store. I was surprised to see that it has its own Star Bucks inside. Prices are more-or-less equal to Walmart. Nice store though.
Crowds were large around noon in the new Saint John Target store. I was surprised to see that it has its own Star Bucks inside. Prices are more-or-less equal to Walmart. Nice store though.
I was in last night. It looked good. Not sure if they sold lots of stock or waiting for more but plenty of shelves were bare. Overall a decent design and a good flow. I'm expecting them to do well.
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West side, however it would be nice to have something over there that's not fast food that's finer dining.
I doubt that we'll have one before Halifax.
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