Canadian Retail Thread

[srperrycgy]

Originally Posted by SpongeG

nordstrom calgary will be smaller than the previous sears

Fall of 2014: Chinook Centre, Calgary — two levels, approximately 140,000 square feet

The old Sears space has been completely gutted and will be under construction for a few months yet. There was a massive Mammoet crane on site the other day lifting in new HVAC equipment on the roof. Should be a decent store, but its not really my style.

[GreatTallNorth2]

Originally Posted by miketoronto

North American stores just don't know how to do retail anymore. If this was Europe, they would have a grand architectural design, tons of selling space, etc.

And if this was Asia, it would probably be even better. A department store in South Korean just opened not long ago the worlds largest department store, surpassing Macy's in New York.

The big large department store is not dead. North American retailing is dead with no style, passion, or sense of thinking big anymore.

^This.

European department stores put Canadian one's to complete shame. In the UK, department stores really know how to build and showcase their brands. Stores like John Lewis, Marks & Spencer, Debenhams, House of Fraser, Selfridges and Harrods. Walking through these stores, you are amazed at how well retail stores can look. In Canada, walking through department stores after living in the UK, it is such a disgrace. I remember walking through the Bay when I got back in Canada and saw fold out tables in the isles with clothing merchandised like it was their last day in business. Maybe these American brands coming to Canada will cause Canadian brands to do better. I guess we have Simons and Holt Renfrew, but these brands are out of reach for most consumers and don't have a lot of locations.

[OTSkyline]

Hey, at least it's giving us more retail choices than before. In Canada we don't have any department stores other than Sears and The Bay really... Sears seem to be a disgrace. It's closing everywhere, never hear from it, and the few times you do go there, there's nothing.

Me personally, I like The Bay, I think it has a lot of work to do but it has potential. It usually has some good offerings (Ralph Lauren Polo, Calvin Klein, Diesel, the new section for Top Shop etc..), good prices, good amount and space and good locations. What they do need to work on it layout and renovations. Their Rideau St location is a mess. There's always stuff laying around, dust bunnies rolling in the ailes, mix-matched floorings, squeeky flooring, random wig shops in the middle of the store etc... I think if they would repair and renovate the entire building, re-merchandise, there's good potential there and I don't see why it wouldn't be successful and competitive with Nordstrom and Macy's...

[Gerrard]

Maison Simon is most definitely not out of reach for most Canadians. It's a mid-priced department store with a bit of luxury. And they have a great online presence with free shipping in Canada.

I suggest people visit the revamped Bay at Yonge and Bay if they think department stores in Canada are losing their way. They've done a great job.

The other issue is North American shopping habits are a bit different. If you're looking for a European shopping experience, get on a plane (or better yet, a steamship) and go to Europe.

[SignalHillHiker]

I just find the largest Canadian stores, like the Bay, Sears, etc., stock such outdated clothes. Unless you're looking for something very basic, they're hard places to find anything. That said, when they have sales, they're real sales with great deals. I put up with a wool winter jacket that wasn't double-breasted for several years because the sale price at Sears was just too good to pass up.

Everything else is hideously overpriced and seems to be targeted to a middle-aged woman's aesthetic. I prefer smaller stores for things like housewares, etc.

In Winnipeg, the Happy Cooker is amazing. Here, JUNK has really good housewares:

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Weare...92063977515561

These are the kinds of places that stock what's actually interesting.

[esquire]

Originally Posted by GreatTallNorth2

European department stores put Canadian one's to complete shame. In the UK, department stores really know how to build and showcase their brands. Stores like John Lewis, Marks & Spencer, Debenhams, House of Fraser, Selfridges and Harrods. Walking through these stores, you are amazed at how well retail stores can look. In Canada, walking through department stores after living in the UK, it is such a disgrace. I remember walking through the Bay when I got back in Canada and saw fold out tables in the isles with clothing merchandised like it was their last day in business. Maybe these American brands coming to Canada will cause Canadian brands to do better. I guess we have Simons and Holt Renfrew, but these brands are out of reach for most consumers and don't have a lot of locations.

No question that European and especially Asian department stores blow away what we have on this continent. So what hurt North American department stores so badly? It has gotten to the point where even the biggest, grandest department stores left in thriving, vibrant cities like NY, Chicago, Toronto, SF would be considered third-rate in Seoul or Tokyo. And don't even ask about the department stores in tier two or three cities, most of which are badly neglected and look like they're on life support.

It is amazing how quickly department stores went from utterly dominating retail spending in Canada as recently as the 60s to being relegated to the sidelines by 2000. I guess people have moved on from department stores to other forms of shopping, but the effect that losing these huge stores has had on downtowns is unfortunate.

[SignalHillHiker]

Damn it. It's a part of our heritage. Hopefully they aren't planning to do it...

They replaced Ayre's with Dominion, and that was bad then, but now we're used to Dominion.

Originally Posted by Chew

To start this post off, let me say I have no source and this is pure observational speculation...

I think Loblaws is going to drop the Dominion name and rebrand their NL stores to brands used in the rest of the country. I've noticed many of their printed multi-store materials that used to bear the Dominion logo no longer do. They have also flipped the logo around on the Pearlgate Mount Pearl store to make the Loblaw L instead of the Dominion D.

This may all mean nothing but it seems logical to me that they are going to align our stores with the rest of the country..

Loblaw has enough retail banners to manage without having one just for NL (Loblaw, Superstore, Longo's, Zehrs, Extra Foods, No Frills, etc, etc)

[GreatTallNorth2]

Originally Posted by SignalHillHiker

Damn it. It's a part of our heritage. Hopefully they aren't planning to do it...

They replaced Ayre's with Dominion, and that was bad then, but now we're used to Dominion.

This is something else that I find bizarre. Why does Loblaws (and others) have so many brands? Once again, in the UK, stores have one brand. Tesco is Tesco. Sainsbury's is Sainsbury's. They have smaller format stores and big stores, but they are the same brand. No such thing as "here is our cheap ugly store format" and our "posh store". One store with standard pricing across the chain.

[SignalHillHiker]

Originally Posted by GreatTallNorth2

This is something else that I find bizarre. Why does Loblaws (and others) have so many brands? Once again, in the UK, stores have one brand. Tesco is Tesco. Sainsbury's is Sainsbury's. They have smaller format stores and big stores, but they are the same brand. No such thing as "here is our cheap ugly store format" and our "posh store". One store with standard pricing across the chain.

Regionalism at its finest, I suppose. People seem very conscious of how their region is treated by national/international companies.

Coca Cola here is a non-starter. They closed their local factories. Pepsi here is actually branded "Your Local Cola". There are places that won't serve Coke.

Loblaw's (Dominion locally) is a mixed bag. Built great new stores, but closed old ones downtown and refused to lease out the spaces, leaving them vacant. On the other hand, they feature us well in national commercials, they made their store in the old Memorial Stadium a real showpiece.

Some Halifax (I believe) clothing company called East Coast Style is showing us the time of day with extensive promotion here. You see their clothes EVERYWHERE now, just because they went with hyper-local promotion.

That'd be my guess why national chains are reluctant to get rid of their regional brands in certain areas.

But I doubt if it really matters. Tim Horton's, fast food chains, all of that... they all do well. People get used to it. And I doubt anyone really thinks Dominion is run by the Ayre family, or that Pepsi's local profits stay in the province.

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by SignalHillHiker

Regionalism at its finest, I suppose. People seem very conscious of how their region is treated by national/international companies.

Coca Cola here is a non-starter. They closed their local factories. Pepsi here is actually branded "Your Local Cola". There are places that won't serve Coke.

.

Another thing NL and QC have in common!

[ue]

Originally Posted by SignalHillHiker

I just find the largest Canadian stores, like the Bay, Sears, etc., stock such outdated clothes. Unless you're looking for something very basic, they're hard places to find anything. That said, when they have sales, they're real sales with great deals. I put up with a wool winter jacket that wasn't double-breasted for several years because the sale price at Sears was just too good to pass up.

Everything else is hideously overpriced and seems to be targeted to a middle-aged woman's aesthetic. I prefer smaller stores for things like housewares, etc.

In Winnipeg, the Happy Cooker is amazing. Here, JUNK has really good housewares:

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Weare...92063977515561

These are the kinds of places that stock what's actually interesting.

I agree with you about Sears, which really seems dated and geared to the middle aged and elderly. The only store in Edmonton that's really any sort of busy seems to be the huge Kingsway location on the Northside.

The Bay though, in my experience, the layouts and interior design choices still feel dated (though they seem to be slowly renovating stores from the flagships down), but the vibe is a lot less depressing than that of Sears. Especially over the past few years, as the store has picked up its game and tried to win back customers. The Bay offers a lot more trending fashion and brands than Sears does. It still isn't Simons or Holt Renfrew (which are the nicest looking national dept stores), but far better than Sears or most American department stores or the Bay of 10 years ago.

[SignalHillHiker]

Originally Posted by ue

I agree with you about Sears, which really seems dated and geared to the middle aged and elderly. The only store in Edmonton that's really any sort of busy seems to be the huge Kingsway location on the Northside.

The Bay though, in my experience, the layouts and interior design choices still feel dated (though they seem to be slowly renovating stores from the flagships down), but the vibe is a lot less depressing than that of Sears. Especially over the past few years, as the store has picked up its game and tried to win back customers. The Bay offers a lot more trending fashion and brands than Sears does. It still isn't Simons or Holt Renfrew (which are the nicest looking national dept stores), but far better than Sears or most American department stores or the Bay of 10 years ago.

That could very well be. There isn't one in St. John's. The last time I was in one was in Winnipeg, prior to 2010.

[Trevor3]

Originally Posted by SignalHillHiker

Regionalism at its finest, I suppose. People seem very conscious of how their region is treated by national/international companies.

Coca Cola here is a non-starter. They closed their local factories. Pepsi here is actually branded "Your Local Cola". There are places that won't serve Coke.

Loblaw's (Dominion locally) is a mixed bag. Built great new stores, but closed old ones downtown and refused to lease out the spaces, leaving them vacant. On the other hand, they feature us well in national commercials, they made their store in the old Memorial Stadium a real showpiece.

Some Halifax (I believe) clothing company called East Coast Style is showing us the time of day with extensive promotion here. You see their clothes EVERYWHERE now, just because they went with hyper-local promotion.

That'd be my guess why national chains are reluctant to get rid of their regional brands in certain areas.

But I doubt if it really matters. Tim Horton's, fast food chains, all of that... they all do well. People get used to it. And I doubt anyone really thinks Dominion is run by the Ayre family, or that Pepsi's local profits stay in the province.

I hate when you make me feel like the anti-Newfoundlander. I ALWAYS choose Coke over Pepsi, always, it's just better... and now I feel terrible for it

This East Coast Lifestyle thing is really taking off, I see it everywhere. City Streets in Stephenville stocked a bunch of it over Christmas though and hardly moved any of it, I guess somebody at the company didn't realize they were sending items to a place that identifies as being on the west coast. Slight oversight there.

I've said before to many people, every time I go to Sears I feel like I'm stepping into 1983. The Corner Brook store was renovated last year, now it feels like 1988. In all honesty they simply changed the tone of toupe coloured paint on the walls.

[SignalHillHiker]

Originally Posted by Trevor3

I hate when you make me feel like the anti-Newfoundlander. I ALWAYS choose Coke over Pepsi, always, it's just better... and now I feel terrible for it

This East Coast Lifestyle thing is really taking off, I see it everywhere. City Streets in Stephenville stocked a bunch of it over Christmas though and hardly moved any of it, I guess somebody at the company didn't realize they were sending items to a place that identifies as being on the west coast. Slight oversight there.

I've said before to many people, every time I go to Sears I feel like I'm stepping into 1983. The Corner Brook store was renovated last year, now it feels like 1988. In all honesty they simply changed the tone of toupe coloured paint on the walls.

Oh, don't feel bad. I buy Coke Zero myself. But, honestly, I have been told off for it in a pretending-it's-a-joke way a couple of times.

Also @ selling "East Coast" on the west coast. That's cute!

And yes, Sears is brutal. I like it for dress shirts, socks, underwear, etc... but that's about it.

I wonder if it's a local thing? I wouldn't be surprised if the Sears here just stocks what isn't selling in the larger centres. But can they get away with that in the digital age?

[SpongeG]

sears should be replaced with kohls who is apparently looking at opening in canada

[miketoronto]

Was just at The Bay Queen Street today. I have to say, The Bay is doing a great job with their downtown stores. It is looking great, edgy, nice modern merchandise. And something you almost never saw before, young people including teens with Hudson's Bay bags at Queen Station.

They are not fully there like their European or Asian counterparts. But the stores are doing better.

I was also impressed with the Hudson's Bay's 1670 brand. Some really nice looking clothing coming out of that line, that I would actually want to wear.

[ue]

^ Downtown Stores? Edmonton and Winnipeg would beg to differ.

[Nouvellecosse]

Toronto has two downtown Bays don't forget.

[ue]

^ Haha, yeah, I was thinking Mike was talking about Downtown Bay stores nationwide. I know the ones in Toronto, Calgary, and Vancouver (not sure about Montreal) are looking pretty slick these days, but other downtown locations, while perhaps not struggling, definitely do not look like the Queen West Bay.

[vanatox]

Originally Posted by ue

^ Haha, yeah, I was thinking Mike was talking about Downtown Bay stores nationwide. I know the ones in Toronto, Calgary, and Vancouver (not sure about Montreal) are looking pretty slick these days, but other downtown locations, while perhaps not struggling, definitely do not look like the Queen West Bay.

I thought they were just renovating the ones in Toronto, Vancouver and Montréal? The are the only one for now I think that are going upscale with The Room, for example.