The CEO of
Sears was apparently in town doing a tour of the store at Champlain Place the other day. He was interviewed by the T&T and apparently confirmed that the Sears store at the mall is safe and will not be sold.
This is in a sense good news, but the question now remains about where the
Bay might set up if they choose to re-enter the Moncton market. The Bay did not want to close their Moncton store, but their hand was forced by Crombie REIT's decision to close Highfield Square. Apparently, store employees were told by managers at the time that the company would like to return to the Moncton market at some point in the future…….
Champlain Place would now appear to be out. The Walmart store has been renovated to a supercentre. The Sears store has been declared safe. The Sobeys apparently isn't moving, and one forumer has stated that the store will in fact be renovated and expanded. Since Champlain Place is the only true mall in the entire city, this could mean that
if the Bay were
really serious about coming back to the city that then they might look at the only other real option for them - a
"high street" location.
If this were the case, I wonder about the Bay building a store as part of the events centre. It would appear to be the only logical option for them, and would constitute a return of the Bay to a downtown location where they formerly had hung their shingle in the first place.
This is of course all purely speculative, but it is logical and would help to make the events centre a venue that would be busy at all times of the day and evening. I firmly believe that a retail component at the front of the events centre facing Main Street would help to give the complex an important street presence and would make the complex seem much more alive. By making the events centre a focal point throughout the day (daytime shopping, evening events), it would also help to build a business case for a nearby parking garage. A garage couldn't survive just on evening sporting and entertainment events - a daytime revenue stream would be necessary as well………...
I have always admired this proposal for the events centre. If you study the image, there is a strong street presence on Main Street, and the northwest corner of the development fronting on Main (and the extended Weldon) streets would appear to contain a space that could easily accomodate a department store.
If the events centre is to be truly transformative for the west end of the downtown core, integrated retail, restaurants, pubs and services are a must. Otherwise, we will be stuck with another blank concrete wall in the downtown……..
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