[St. John's] Retail Thread

[jeddy1989]

Forever Flawless has a kiosk set up in the Avalon mall, the woman there said that they are opening a location in the mall. According to their website the only other stores in Canada are in Vancouver, Edmonton and Victoria.

http://www.foreverflawless.com/v/vspfiles/locations.asp

[wmemeadusjr]

I just heard that Sobeys, complete with a Liquor Store will be built on the corner of Topsail Road and MaNamara Drive in Paradise with an anticipated opening for November 2014.

[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)

[Arrakis]

That's interesting. I always wondered why they kept the "Dominion" name in Newfoundland especially since for a while there was a competing Dominion brand in Ontario (which is now called Metro). Maybe because Dominion in Newfoundland is unionized and Loblaws isn't.

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)

[mrjanejacobs]

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)

Oh, that's too bad. It's nice to have regionalized, localized, place-names, even if for something like a large grocery store.

[PoscStudent]

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)

I've noticed the flipped logo. It would make more sense to have fewer brands, especially with things like flyers.

[the_nomad]

Noticed on Plaza Retail's website that the Village lists Home Hardware as a tenant in the upstairs in the old Sears space with Rossy. Can anyone confirm?

http://plaza.ca/portfolio/Newfoundla...024%202014.pdf

[Trevor3]

Originally Posted by PoscStudent

I've noticed the flipped logo. It would make more sense to have fewer brands, especially with things like flyers.

I was home last week and can tell you that a new sign went up on the Stephenville store but it is in the same "D" position as always. If I had to guess I would say the contractor saw the instructions, figured it was a mistake, and put the sign up the way it's always been

Originally Posted by the_nomad

Noticed on Plaza Retail's website that the Village lists Home Hardware as a tenant in the upstairs in the old Sears space with Rossy. Can anyone confirm?

http://plaza.ca/portfolio/Newfoundla...024%202014.pdf

Generally when a mall posts an updated floorplan it's confirmed, so I'd say that's official. Found it strange there was no Home Hardware in the city before, I think the nearest was CBS?

[rthomasd]

Originally Posted by Trevor3

I was home last week and can tell you that a new sign went up on the Stephenville store but it is in the same "D" position as always. If I had to guess I would say the contractor saw the instructions, figured it was a mistake, and put the sign up the way it's always been



Generally when a mall posts an updated floorplan it's confirmed, so I'd say that's official. Found it strange there was no Home Hardware in the city before, I think the nearest was CBS?

There's been a Home Hardware on Topsail road for more than 25 years. It moved across the street to the Old Dominion Supermarket location several years ago. So it's strange that there'd be another location so close to this one, even Halifax only has one location (and it's in Dartmouth). There's also one in the Goulds. Perhaps the Village Mall one will be a Home Hardware Furniture store.

[Marty_Mcfly]

I was at the Village last week and can confirm that there isn't a Home Hardware there; Rossy is still there in all its ...uhh...glory. There's a Home Hardware on Topsail Road, but I'm not sure of any others in the city. There's probably more competition in the city with Rona/Kent/Home Depot preventing a huge expansion.

[Chew]

Originally Posted by Marty_Mcfly

I was at the Village last week and can confirm that there isn't a Home Hardware there; Rossy is still there in all its ...uhh...glory. There's a Home Hardware on Topsail Road, but I'm not sure of any others in the city. There's probably more competition in the city with Rona/Kent/Home Depot preventing a huge expansion.

It isn't supposed to have already happened, nor is it supposed to replace Rossy. It is in the other part of the former Sears space, with what appears to be access only from outside the mall, much like Bed Bath & Beyond.

Here's the relevant part from the layout plan:

[Marty_Mcfly]

ahhhh interesting! They're really filling in that huge space down there.

[Arrakis]

The owners of the Village really screwed up big time with the flow of the mall once sears and Walmart left. Instead of Creating more retail space, they closed off most the space upstairs to the public by renting out their retail space to offices like the telegram and call centres and leaving only the short mall concourse to walk around in. Makes for a very boring visit. Also, having boarded up doorways like they have on the back of the former sears store looks horrible and unprofessional. No one wants to park over there as it's further away from an entrance to the mall.

QUOTE=Chew;6439883]It isn't supposed to have already happened, nor is it supposed to replace Rossy. It is in the other part of the former Sears space, with what appears to be access only from outside the mall, much like Bed Bath & Beyond.

Here's the relevant part from the layout plan:

[/QUOTE]

[Horsell]

Originally Posted by Arrakis

The owners of the Village really screwed up big time with the flow of the mall once sears and Walmart left. Instead of Creating more retail space, they closed off most the space upstairs to the public by renting out their retail space to offices like the telegram and call centres and leaving only the short mall concourse to walk around in.....

I could not agree more. Blocking off those two anchor tenant spaces has adversely affected the flow at the Village. In fact, there used to be the Dominion supermarket as well which was in reality a third anchor.

Would Bed Bath and Beyond be better served with an entrance to the Mall where it could capture casual walk in traffic.

And what's up with Tip Top...I wonder if their business has suffered since moving across the parking lot.

This will probably make a great case study in a Business course in how to screw up a significant retail mall.

[SignalHillHiker]

I can't even remember the last time I was at the Village Mall.

[Marty_Mcfly]

Originally Posted by SignalHillHiker

I can't even remember the last time I was at the Village Mall.

The only reason I was there was to go out to supper with my parents at Klondyke Jakes, which admittedly is pretty good

[Chew]

Originally Posted by Horsell

I could not agree more. Blocking off those two anchor tenant spaces has adversely affected the flow at the Village. In fact, there used to be the Dominion supermarket as well which was in reality a third anchor.

Would Bed Bath and Beyond be better served with an entrance to the Mall where it could capture casual walk in traffic.

And what's up with Tip Top...I wonder if their business has suffered since moving across the parking lot.

This will probably make a great case study in a Business course in how to screw up a significant retail mall.

I actually asked the clerk about how business has been since moving last time I was at Tip Top, several months back. He indicated it is slightly better sales-wise with less overall foot traffic, meaning a higher conversion rate (which retailers love). He said that the mall browsers who end up buying are more than made up for by customers who hate the mall but don't mind dropping in now that it's stand alone. I wouldn't take that as gospel, but it seems logical and explains the trend toward stand alone stores even on mall property.

I worked at a store in the Village from 2001-07 and can actually somewhat defend some of the decisions made over the years. That mall was desperate for tenants after Wal-Mart left, the place had more and more unleased space as the years went on, and this seemed to peak when Sears left. There has been a North American trend away from malls and into those ridiculous box monstrosities for several years now, and the economy wasn't booming the way it is now just a few years back. All that made for the kind of trends of non-retail space moving into former malls - just look at Sobeys Square (or whatever it's called) down the road, a call centre for Bell Aliant on one end and Eastern Health offices on the other. It's only really because of our red hot economy with new stores wanting space in the city that the mall has been somewhat rejuvenated lately - who really saw that coming?

The mall lost Dominion, Walmart, Winners, Shoppers, and Sears all in a fairly short period and was really in survival mode. It changed hands from Plaza to another company and then maybe a third time as well in recent years.

[Arrakis]

Yeah it's puzzling to see Bed Bath and Beyond in the mall yet if you are in the main mall and want to go there you have to go outside again. They forget how crappy our weather can be at times especially in the winter. I can sorta half understand the Tip Top location though...at least its in a stand-alone building but as you mentioned, it will no longer get that casual walk by traffic in the mall and only those who are looking for a suit will go there thus eliminating a larger chunk of potential customers.

Originally Posted by Horsell

I could not agree more. Blocking off those two anchor tenant spaces has adversely affected the flow at the Village. In fact, there used to be the Dominion supermarket as well which was in reality a third anchor.

Would Bed Bath and Beyond be better served with an entrance to the Mall where it could capture casual walk in traffic.

And what's up with Tip Top...I wonder if their business has suffered since moving across the parking lot.

This will probably make a great case study in a Business course in how to screw up a significant retail mall.

[Arrakis]

Plaza is still the current owner of the Village though.
I agree what you said about the trend leading away from enclosed malls but this is Newfoundland where it's cold dreary weather for a good portion of the year so sometimes the old trends still work despite the national trend. Avalon Mall continues to succeed in many ways that the big box parks can't. Plaza and Village could have easily adapted when Walmart and Sears left but they didn't. They rented out the valuable retail space to offices upstairs and put in huge useless stores like Labels. Every time i walk by Labels i can count the customers on one hand. They surely cannot be making any revenue at the Village? Can only imagine what they are paying for rent per sq ft? The Village should have gotten an Old Navy in there or something that will bring in customers. Labels certainly don't. Urban Planet is not much better. And Rossey is pretty sad too. It's no better than when Hart was there. All the cloths they sell there are just substandard crap.

Originally Posted by Chew

I actually asked the clerk about how business has been since moving last time I was at Tip Top, several months back. He indicated it is slightly better sales-wise with less overall foot traffic, meaning a higher conversion rate (which retailers love). He said that the mall browsers who end up buying are more than made up for by customers who hate the mall but don't mind dropping in now that it's stand alone. I wouldn't take that as gospel, but it seems logical and explains the trend toward stand alone stores even on mall property.

I worked at a store in the Village from 2001-07 and can actually somewhat defend some of the decisions made over the years. That mall was desperate for tenants after Wal-Mart left, the place had more and more unleased space as the years went on, and this seemed to peak when Sears left. There has been a North American trend away from malls and into those ridiculous box monstrosities for several years now, and the economy wasn't booming the way it is now just a few years back. All that made for the kind of trends of non-retail space moving into former malls - just look at Sobeys Square (or whatever it's called) down the road, a call centre for Bell Aliant on one end and Eastern Health offices on the other. It's only really because of our red hot economy with new stores wanting space in the city that the mall has been somewhat rejuvenated lately - who really saw that coming?

The mall lost Dominion, Walmart, Winners, Shoppers, and Sears all in a fairly short period and was really in survival mode. It changed hands from Plaza to another company and then maybe a third time as well in recent years.

[Arrakis]

I was out driving around and yes indeed, Loblaws have flipped the stylized "D" for Dominion to a stylized "L" for Loblaws on their buildings at Pearlgate and at Stavanger. As of yesterday the Blackmarsh Rd store still has it is a stylized "D". Not sure about the Memorial Stadium store. Also noticed via google that stores featuring the stylized "L" are called Loblaws and not Atlantic Superstore. The Atlantic Superstores do not use the stylized "L" on the building at all. I wonder if they are gonna do that here or leave the Dominion name on it with the stylized "L". Which would be kinda odd to do I think.

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)