Winnipeg Retail

[Authentic_City]

Originally Posted by drew

They are ironic beards.

lol!

[Cyro]

Originally Posted by bomberjet

I know this is a retail page, not fashion. But one thing I can't stand is someone wearing a collared shirt, buttoned to the top, and they're not wearing a tie.... Who do you think you are, Kanye West??!

Ahhh retail/fashion, this is the perfect place to talk about what stores are selling,

That's all my father did for 35 years, in buisness, 3 factories, all jeans,embroidery, silk screening, on and on, if clothes/jerseys,jackets..etc had any design on them he probably had a hand in it.

The buttoned up collared look is only cool if your famous,famous means you set the trends that everyone else drools over and will pay big $$$$$ to wear.. On me for example, I'd be un-cool, and get wierd looks.

.. on your early soon to be 1000th post..

[bomberjet]

Originally Posted by Cyrodill

Ahhh retail/fashion, this is the perfect place to talk about what stores are selling,

That's all my father did for 35 years, in buisness, 3 factories, all jeans,embroidery, silk screening, on and on, if clothes/jerseys,jackets..etc had any design on them he probably had a hand in it.

The buttoned up collared look is only cool if your famous,famous means you set the trends that everyone else drools over and will pay big $$$$$ to wear.. On me for example, I'd be un-cool, and get wierd looks.

.. on your early soon to be 1000th post..

Lol ya i don't know. I just think it looks odd. To each their own I guess. Thanks for the wishes!

[esquire]

There is an interesting new store in the Portage Place east skywalk that specializes in Asian appliances, including highly advanced rice cookers and... washlets!

Unfortunately it's closed right now due to water damage that affected it and the insurance agency next door.

[Cyro]

From Construction Thread:

Originally Posted by esquire

I could see HR opening up a full-sized shop in a place with demographics a bit better suited to them... perhaps a part of the Sears space at Polo Park, or maybe St. Vital. I don't see that happening downtown, though.

This sounds like the most likely scenario if HR returns to Winnipeg in a large scale format. I don't see the downtown core as a likely location any time soon or in the near future. Maybe even the Seasons of Tuxedo at some point? The area does hold the right demographics.

[CoryB]

The current retail landscape in Canada seems to suggest the next luxury department retail Winnipeg will see is Simons. They were leaked as the lead tenant for The Elms development and have continued to express interest in the Winnipeg market. The former Zeller's space in Polo Park could have been made to work for them however that plan seems to have fallen away as they are confirmed to still be looking even though renovations of that space are underway. It is interesting to note though that Cadillac Fairview is the property manager for both Polo Park and Seasons of Tuxedo and that Simons would be an excellent fit as a lead anchor on the north side of the Seasons development.

Saks also has extremely aggressive plans for Canada as a whole suggesting that no large city is going to be left untouched in the long term. As Saks is essentially an extension of HBC and their luxury efforts in Canada continue to overlook Winnipeg it would seem that Saks in Winnipeg will most likely be their discount brand, Off 5th.

Nordstorms too has aggressive plans for the Canadian market. So far they have been working fairly closely with Cadillac Fairview in securing properties. Their exact intentions for Winnipeg are a little harder to read at this point as we are unsurprisingly not a high priority for their initial rollout. If I had to make a guess, I think the city's past history with Holt's and the lack of existing competition would tip the scale towards the discount brand as well so look for a Nordstorms Rack store. This one I think will either take over some of the Sears space in Polo Park or open a new build on the stadium site.

That said, this paints a pretty clear picture that there is a lot of competition for the type of space that Holt Renfrew would want to land in Winnipeg. Considering their past performance here I think it is highly likely they will be the first to take a step back and let one of the other three brands prove there is a market before coming here. With Lowes, AMC, and Great Wolfe Lodge backing out of Seasons, the build out of the stadium site taking several years and the still planned but location not announced outlet mall there is definitely going to be opportunities for all these brands to come to Winnipeg if they want to when the timing is right for them.

[Cyro]

^ Great breakdown on the high end retail market in Winnipeg and what is potentially coming down the pipe in the near future.. Would love to see a Simons or even an Off 5th in the near future.

The old WBB site and Seasons intrigue me the most. Looks positive for some of the retailers you mentioned expanding into the Winnipeg market. The next few years will be interesting.

[CoryB]

If I had the place bets on how things will go down on the high end retail front in Winnipeg it would be (roughly):

1. Simons is announced as an anchor for Seasons opening mid 2016.
2. Nordstorms secures the Sears lease in Polo Park also with a spring 2016 opening, could be full line or Rack.
3. The outlet mall finally gets off the ground with Off 5th as an anchor, likely 2017.
4. Something in 2017+ Holts comes back to the market with HR2, likely in Seasons area.

That said this really hinges on Sears staying viable until the middle of 2014, Seasons north proceeding sometime soon and the outlet mall actually launching. I am also basing the outlet assumption on HBC Outlet that has launched a couple stores doing a full on conversion to Off 5th, if Hudson's keeps HBC Outlet as a separate brand all bets are off there.

My bigger question is if anyone else has heard rumors on where Winnipeg's outlet mall will build. I have heard a couple different rumors with varying levels of creditability. With the Vancouver, Toronto, Calgary and Edmonton locations open or announced Winnipeg must be getting close to the top of the list now.

Also rumor on the internet has a Canadian retailer in talks to buy Sears. Interestingly three of the four high end department stores all have outlet brands. Could the fourth be looking at Sears as a potential real estate deal to launch an outlet/mid priced brand?

My other big looming question is when will the next three Target stores be formally announced. I keep hearing the locations but nothing "official" and that includes the St James St store (wink, wink, nudge, nudge).

[cheswick]

Signage for a new Bomber Store is up on the southwest corner of the MB Hydro Building. That space was previously occupied by I think a coffee shop (or maybe a small convenience store? can't remember)

[esquire]

Originally Posted by cheswick

Signage for a new Bomber Store is up on the southwest corner of the MB Hydro Building. That space was previously occupied by I think a coffee shop (or maybe a small convenience store? can't remember)

It was just a temporary Christmas season store.

[wags_in_the_peg]

Originally Posted by cheswick

Signage for a new Bomber Store is up on the southwest corner of the MB Hydro Building. That space was previously occupied by I think a coffee shop (or maybe a small convenience store? can't remember)

it's closed was only for December

[CoryB]

I was in the Seasons of Tuxedo development this week and noticed the next multi-tenant building is looking close to ready. From the exterior it is cleared signed for 14 units. This is the building that would hold Rogers, Nutrition House, Thai Express and Booster Juice according to the proposed plans that leaked in 2012. Does anyone have any information on if those establishments are still moving in and what else might be in there?

One other oddity about the development is it looked like they were using wood framing for the interior walls. Aren't commercial retail interiors in Winnipeg almost always metal now?

[SpongeG]

Originally Posted by bomberjet

Lol ya i don't know. I just think it looks odd. To each their own I guess. Thanks for the wishes!

the buttonned up look was all the rage in the mid-late 80's i used to wear my shirts that way all the time, most of the shirts were designed to be buttoned that way

[esquire]

I just heard that Hull's Bookstore at Graham and Carlton (across from the Hydro Tower) is closing up shop. That is a pretty prime SHED location, so I'm sure it will be snapped up in a hurry. I just hope whatever ends up there is a little more original and adds more variety to the area than another sports bar or Earls/Moxie's/Joey's clone.

[Chrisforpm]

Worst kept secret in Winnipeg but it's now official. Target opening their Polo Park location in the fall of this year.

http://pressroom.target.ca/news/targ...ansion-in-2014

[CoryB]

Originally Posted by esquire

I just heard that Hull's Bookstore at Graham and Carlton (across from the Hydro Tower) is closing up shop. That is a pretty prime SHED location, so I'm sure it will be snapped up in a hurry. I just hope whatever ends up there is a little more original and adds more variety to the area than another sports bar or Earls/Moxie's/Joey's clone.

One of the challenges with the SHED is if you aren't doing pub food you will have an up hill battle gaining market share. It is far easier to grab the space, slap in another clone and cash the cheques. Having heard the Elephant and Castle location is closing and the same group busy opening Original Joe's and State & Main locations it seems to be a matter of time to they secure a prime SHED location. It will also be interesting to see if Longboat manages to secure the build before it is leased so they can further tighten their SHED death grip.

[Cyro]

Well the Key Word here was " Book Store". No surprise on it's closing...and I still like the "Hard Copy", even tho I'm so plugged into the web I sometimes have to impose a self restricted "unplug period".

Hoping that this prime location will be snapped up soon.

Whatever it is, bring people downtown.

[cheswick]

Originally Posted by Cyro

Well the Key Word here was " Book Store". No surprise on it's closing...and I still like the "Hard Copy", even tho I'm so plugged into the web I sometimes have to impose a self restricted "unplug period".

Hoping that this prime location will be snapped up soon.

Whatever it is, bring people downtown.

I'm surprised th HMV in Portage Place has lasted this long. It can't be far behind along with Coles in cityplace

[cllew]

Hull's is a faith based book store chain. With the decline in mainstream church goers I can see them reducing their physical stores. They may be able to stay afloat by going to an online sales format out of their store in Steinbach.

[JDSunny]

Originally Posted by CoryB

One of the challenges with the SHED is if you aren't doing pub food you will have an up hill battle gaining market share. It is far easier to grab the space, slap in another clone and cash the cheques. Having heard the Elephant and Castle location is closing and the same group busy opening Original Joe's and State & Main locations it seems to be a matter of time to they secure a prime SHED location. It will also be interesting to see if Longboat manages to secure the build before it is leased so they can further tighten their SHED death grip.

You sound very bitter and resentful towards anything SHED related. You also sound very negative with regards to our airport, and many other topics that I've read you post on. All in all, you come off as very negative with your posts. Just an observation.