[Moncton] Retail Thread

[MonctonRad]

Originally Posted by Norshorer

I think there's a stigma in the Maritimes when it comes to big American chain restos. People around here are on either too much of a health kick or are too "NIMBY" to allow these chains to succeed. Most take a stance that if it isn't Canadian, it doesn't belong here.

Overall, big American chains that succeed out in Western Canada only succeed due to Western Canadians being more "accepting" of foreign concepts. Well, the larger demographic & cultural melting pots out there likely have a big role to play in that as well.

I think our problem is that most of these chains need local franchisees with unencumbered cash of a million dollars or so. This limits the pool of potential entrepreneurs quite significantly. Also, we lack the regional population density and the larger urban areas where chains like the ones we are talking about generally would want to go first. Geographic isolationism is another factor.

Originally Posted by Norshorer

It seems the only restos that are able to open here are ones that already exist and that's what's driving me nuts. Like how many damn Subways, McDonalds & pizza joints does the Greater Moncton Area need? Enough already... give us something DIFFERENT. I'm sure if a kale-based resto or an organic salad-only resto would open up in Moncton, they'd be packed 24/7, but an American chain we've never seen here before? I doubt it.

I hear ya. How many Subway's and Mickey D's do we really need in metro Moncton. I think we have 13 Subways and, with the new McDonald's opening on Dieppe Blvd, a total of 9 McDonald's in the city. Don't even get me started on Timmie's (34 and counting). Greater variety (and better quality) in chain eating establishments is certainly in order!!

As for an "organic salad only restaurant", I think the new Freshii that will be opening downtown will fit the bill there…….

Originally Posted by q12

Most of the Moncton forum is pro-american chain. I believe the big box restaurant chain is a dying phenomenon as consumers become more educated about the the benefits of buying local and eating healthier food.

That's a bit of a generalization q12. Moncton is not obsessed with American chains and we have our own share of quality local eating establishments in the city, places like Maverick's, Little Louis', Pastalli's, The Windjammer and also a whack of new ethnic eating establishments, especially Thai and Japanese. It's just that most of these eateries are relatively expensive and few can actually be considered as family restaurants. I think this is a key point here. If you want to take the whole family out to eat at a reasonable cost and in a family friendly environment (but yet avoid fast food), you are limited to a few choices like ESM, Montana's and Boston Pizza (Moxie's and the Keg factor in, but only for special occasions). We need a few more choices in the city for casual family dining - places like Kelsey's or Jack Astor's.

Originally Posted by q12

When Applebee's was in Halifax it did not have great reviews, TGIF's was popular however their menu today is not as good as it was when it was in Halifax IMO.

I wonder how much of the failure of those restaurants in Halifax could be chalked up to bad management and/or poor choice in location. Applebee's was in a suburban strip mall that most visitors to the city would not know even existed. TGIF was a little off the beaten track at the casino, and the only time I tried to go there, they wouldn't let us in because we had the kids in tow - bad planning for a family restaurant to be behind the security barrier at a casino!!

In any event, I do support locally owned and independent eating establishments. They provide great variety to the culinary scene and probably contribute more to the local economy than a chain restaurant would, but I remain firm in my assertion that there is still a niche to be filled in terms of a greater variety of family friendly mid range restaurant chains in the region. These could be either American or Canadian, I don't really care. There is just a need there to be filled……..

[MonctonRad]

I contacted Denny's Canada the other day about coming to the east coast and this was their response:

"We love our fans on the East Coast, and are working towards expanding our reach through to the Maritimes. We can't say for sure when or where this will happen, but it's definitely on our list of locations to set up shop"

Take this what what it's worth. It might just be a generic response, but it is possible that the east coast might be in their future expansion plans at some point……...

[MonctonRad]

Conceptual drawing of the new Cabela's at Mapleton Crossing.



Image from the Cordova Realty website……

[micks5477]

Originally Posted by Vorkuta

Mexicali's is still alive in downtown Moncton, yes.

I wouldn't mind an Olive Gardens. I like them a lot better than ESM.

Mexicali's is good but they are far from a true Mexican Food restaurant. Moncton could use a true Mexican restaurant such as On the Border or Pepe's Mexican restaurant.

[micks5477]

Originally Posted by Taeolas

I'd love to see Chipotle move in here; it's a restaurant I try to visit when I can when I'm in Vegas. It's not a sitdown chain; it's fast food, similar to Subway. But I don't know how far they're expanding in Canada so it'll probably be a while yet. For some reason they don't think Canadians like Mexican food. (Why else would Taco Bell have fries be the default with their meals instead of nachos? *sigh* )

It would be nice to see Chipotle move into the Maritimes. There are now several locations in Ontario such as Toronto and Mississauga. And yes much like Subway, you pick the type of shell and the server adds whatever ingredients you want into the shell. I think for the health conscious you can have all vegetarian. They are testing a sofritas, Tofu based product also.

[Monctoncore]

Or some one could open a non chain Mexican restaurant, one that serves authentic food cooked fresh daily.

[haligonia]

Originally Posted by MonctonRad

That's a bit of a generalization q12. Moncton is not obsessed with American chains and we have our own share of quality local eating establishments in the city, places like Maverick's, Little Louis', Pastalli's, The Windjammer and also a whack of new ethnic eating establishments, especially Thai and Japanese. It's just that most of these eateries are relatively expensive and few can actually be considered as family restaurants. I think this is a key point here. If you want to take the whole family out to eat at a reasonable cost and in a family friendly environment (but yet avoid fast food), you are limited to a few choices like ESM, Montana's and Boston Pizza (Moxie's and the Keg factor in, but only for special occasions). We need a few more choices in the city for casual family dining - places like Kelsey's or Jack Astor's.

q12 suggested that the Moncton forum was pro-chain, not that the entire city was obsessed - twisting words will get you nowhere.

Also, why the hell must a "family" restaurant be a 🞵🞵🞵🞵🞵🞵🞵 american chain? Families can eat at locally-owned and ethnic restaurants too, you know! I find it incredibly narrow-minded that you only see Montana's, Jack Astor's, etc. as restaurants that are suitable for meals with kids. What constitutes a "family-friendly" environment? White people, american food and paper tablecloths? If you got your head out of your consumerist, chain-obsessed 🞵🞵🞵 for two seconds you might realize that many of the numerous Japanese and Thai restaurants that you mentioned are perfectly suitable for families.

[MonctonRad]

Most children (at least those less than 12) are pretty fussy eaters. A known quantity (a North American restaurant) can be a safer choice.

Also, I will endeavour to keep my head out of my 🞵🞵🞵, just for you (but it can be a struggle)……

[gehrhardt]

My wife and I were shopping at the Trinity Wal-Mart last night and discovered that the new grocery section is about 2/3 open. The dairy and frozen food sections are open, along with the normal grocery items. Prices did seem slightly lower than the competition. You can see where the bakery/deli still needs to be completed, and the meat coolers are still covered up. What I assume is the produce section is still fenced off.

I would compare this to the layout of the Brewer, ME Supercenter. I think it may be a bit larger, though.

[BlackYear]

I'm not a big shopper, but when I do need something, I will hit 1 or 2 stores and find what I'm looking for and get out.

A couple of weeks ago I had 30 minutes to spare and was nearby Target so I decided pop in and see what the fuss was all about. First reaction, wow, big store. After 10 minutes, my second reaction was, wow, small store and there's nothing in here that I need and there's nothing in here that would bring me back.

Last weekend I needed some outdoor garland, so I decided to hit WalMart. This store trumps Target by a long shot. It's freekin massive!!! Will Target survive the North end shopping war?

[MonctonRad]

Latest site plan for Mapleton Crossing:

[OUIR@random]

Originally Posted by Budyser

I'm not a big shopper, but when I do need something, I will hit 1 or 2 stores and find what I'm looking for and get out.

A couple of weeks ago I had 30 minutes to spare and was nearby Target so I decided pop in and see what the fuss was all about. First reaction, wow, big store. After 10 minutes, my second reaction was, wow, small store and there's nothing in here that I need and there's nothing in here that would bring me back.

Last weekend I needed some outdoor garland, so I decided to hit WalMart. This store trumps Target by a long shot. It's freekin massive!!! Will Target survive the North end shopping war?

I don't think Target will dethrone Walmart, that's not their purpose, however it's another option which was lacking before, I will also admit that they are not up to their American locations... But at the end of the day, they're another player, so that's good for the customer. Nothing more, nothing less. With the money they used to buy Zellers leases and an average of 10 million dollars per store for renovations, they are here for the long term. Overall, Target is better shopping experience, I'm not talking about prices or selection. They did all of my ''price match'' from Walmart and Shoppers too. I was at Target and people were happy to help out, the store was quiet (acoustics), clean and relaxing. I never had that at Walmart before.

Some people say that Target Canada is Target-Lite compared to the US, well I say that Walmart Supercentre Canada is Walmart Supercentre-Lite compared to the US. Our Walmart Supercentre is laughable compared to the one just in Bangor! So it just goes to show that comparing stores in Canada to their US counterparts is comparing apples and oranges. I hope people won't expect the same Cabela's in Moncton compared to the one in Scarborough, because people will start complaining that it's a Cabela's-lite!

[josh_cat_eyes]

That's a pretty decent sized site plan for Mapleton Crossing! I wonder want the other tenants are going to be!

Regarding target, I was in the one in PEI and Moncton, they are almost identical. The staff is really nice, they smile at you, they are polite and they can help you. They look as though they want to be there. The building is clean, quiet (no music playing, can't hear the air systems etc.) I will probably shop at Target rather then Walmart now.

[bigrivernb]

A tidbit of information on Champlain mall...I fairly good source has mentioned to me that Ben moss jewelers last day of operation will be December 31, They have chosen not to relocate. that adds another spot to that mystery corner of empty units....lets see what happens.

[MonctonRad]

Originally Posted by bigrivernb

A tidbit of information on Champlain mall...I fairly good source has mentioned to me that Ben moss jewelers last day of operation will be December 31, They have chosen not to relocate. that adds another spot to that mystery corner of empty units....lets see what happens.

This block of empty stores is obviously being reserved for something big.

Halifax and St. John's already have Victoria's Secret/Pink. I think the evidence that they are going to come to Moncton is getting stronger and stronger by the month. VS has been rumoured for Moncton for several years now and I'm pretty sure this is where they are going to go……...

Victoria's Secret, here we come!!

[MonctonRad]

It would appear that Marshall's is starting to ramp up for their spring opening. There are several managerial positions being advertised online which are new.

I imagine the plan is for the Moncton and Halifax stores to open concurrently…...

[OUIR@random]

Originally Posted by MonctonRad

It would appear that Marshall's is starting to ramp up for their spring opening. There are several managerial positions being advertised online which are new.

I imagine the plan is for the Moncton and Halifax stores to open concurrently…...

They've been announcing positions for months and months.

I'm not sure what the points is, the Moncton store has been ready for several months, kinda strange... I was in Dartmouth last month and they are only at the steel beams at Dartmouth Crossing on this thing.

After looking inside the anticipated Marshalls next to Target, I realized how small the store is, it's not the size of a US location, even the one in Bangor is larger, ugh! We already know this but, we get everything ''lite'' in Canada! Walmart, Target, Winners (TJMaxx), Marshalls and so on...

[MonctonRad]

According to the Plazacorp website, the Moncton Marshall's store will be 31,000 sq ft. I don't know how large the US stores are, but 31,000 sq ft isn't tiny. That's the same size as the Toys R Us at Champlain Place.

I agree that the Moncton store is ready to be occupied, I imagine the delay is so that it will open at the same time as the Dartmouth Crossing location. This might have something to do with supply chain……..

[OUIR@random]

Originally Posted by MonctonRad

This might have something to do with supply chain……..

That must be it, good point.

If so, get it on Dartmouth!

This one seems small, maybe it's because it's so empty. According to the TJX Companies website, Marshalls stores average approximately 31,000 square feet in size, so right on the nose I guess.

[drewber]

Anyone aware of KFC Moncton/Dieppe locations being shut down? The website no longer has them searchable and apparently i've heard from a few sources they were being closed down.