The Metro Vancouver Retail Thread

[spm2013]

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[connect2source]

Sears Holdings looking to unload Sears Canada :

http://nypost.com/2013/11/24/sears-ceo-considering-sale-of-company/

[officedweller]

Without Sears, would we have any mid-market Department Stores - or is that category dead (with the shrinking middle class?)?

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I think the YVR outlet mall is supposed to be high end.


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Park Royal must be mounting the Grand Opening before Christmas as a marketing boost to help the few new retailers that are open for the Christmas season.

[spm2013]

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[officedweller]

Sears Canada is denying the rumour:

http://business.financialpost.com/2013/1...ed-by-u-s-based-parent-firm-report-says/

[spm2013]

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[Klazu]

Originally Posted by spm2013

It might have been said earlier, but why did they make the mall on the furthest end of the lot to maximize walking distance from the Templeton station?

[Vancity]

Originally Posted by Klazu

It might have been said earlier, but why did they make the mall on the furthest end of the lot to maximize walking distance from the Templeton station?

that's true. that doesn't make much sense...

[Pinion]

Why do they have a surface parking lot at all? It's disgusting.

[GeeCee]

I think you guys might want to take a look at the demographics at the kind of people that shop at outlet stores.

[WarrenC12]

Make the surface lot smaller and paid (with validation).

[phesto]

Regarding the distance from Templeton Station, my guess is that the rationale is to place it further from the North runway to mitigate heights and noise. The greater visibility from the Arthur Laing Bridge is probably viewed as a plus as well.

Their target demographic will be driving, hence the amount of parking; and no, they are not interested in charging for parking or making it difficult for their customers to park by shrinking the lot. Underground parking would've been nice but simply not feasible on this site.

I heard that there is a provision in their agreement for future expansion on some of the Western parking if demand warrants. That would reduce the surface parking.

Also, the development itself will be phased. Only the West half of the mall will be built now. The Eastern half would be completed in ~2016.

[djh]

It would make more sense to build a multi-level car park (e.g., 5-6 floors) and then there would be more buildable land for retail and services. And it's far cheaper to build up than down, especially in Richmond.

[jlousa]

Building a multi-story parkade would involve much different preloading/piling then a surface lot. There is also an airport right next door, you wouldn't be going very high anyways. Certainly not 5/6 floors of parking.

[spm2013]

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[djh]

There are already 3-4 story car parking structures at the airport, that's why I mention it.

[spm2013]

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[djh]

Originally Posted by spm2013

Well they have lots of land and nothing is cheaper than an asphalt parking lot (above or below ground).

Thanks Phesto for the details on the mall!

Yes, it's cheap to build a flat huge expanse for parking, but 2 thoughts: a) it's not very practical for the customers to have to walk 1/4 mile from one end of the huge car park to the nearest stores, with big box shopping, and b) land used for non revene-generating car parks is "cheap" but actually a missed opportunity to build more retail space on that spot.
As I suggested, instead of acres of one-level parking, fold that same amount of parking into a multi-floor above-ground structure, use the rest of the space for more retail, both problems solved.

[djh]

Originally Posted by spm2013

Well they aren't at the end of the runway though... different case.

What?

[spm2013]

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