Canadian Retail Thread - Page 168

Nouvellecosse · #**3341** Posted **Feb 17, 2014, 5:46 AM**

I understand the argument of competing with other places, but honestly, there will always be stores in Moncton and Halifax that Amherst will not be big enough to support so people will make their monthly or semi-monthly trip there anyway. We have no Best Buy/Future Shop, Chapters, Sears or Bay, Staples, Bulk Barn, Costco, and many others. So most people in Amherst make trips to Moncton at least several times per year, with some every month or more (partly for the shopping, but also because it's boring to be stuck in s small town full time and never leave). And that was true even back when not only walmart was here, but both malls were open, and Zellers was still around. But there's no way people are going to drive all that way on a weekly basis for very basic things that you can get anywhere and I have no doubt that without Walmart there would still be smaller stores selling most common products.

I remember when Walmart first opened in Moncton and this was about 10 years before it opened in Amherst. It was one of the places we decided to go on one of our trips as we had never been to one before. It didn't seem much different than a slightly larger version of Zellers or Kmart, and we didn't really understand all the fuss that was being made over it. At that time, our retail sector was MUCH healthier before Walmart got established here as there were multiple stores sharing the market instead of just one huge one.

Personally I despise walmart and have been boycotting it for over a decade now. The last time I had to buy something there was when I needed a computer monitor for work correspondence and no place else was open. But I made sure I took it back as soon as I managed to get one somewhere else as I refuse to do anything that could aid the company's profitability.

But honestly, my perspective is not that I want to eliminate chains (other than walmart) it's that I want the chains to be better integrated into the urban environment. If they cannot build urban format stores downtown, then at the very least, arrange the stores in a more pedestrian friendly set up. Instead of having them what seems like a half km from the street behind an expanse of asphalt, how about putting at least some of the parking behind?

SignalHillHiker · #**3342** Posted **Feb 17, 2014, 10:38 AM**

I try to boycott Walmart too but they're hard to avoid with four large stores in St. John's. One of them is smaller and more centrally located in the West End, but the others are all enormous and on the edges of the urban area.

The only saving grace here is that St. John's is still a city where local rules. It's hard to even find chain restaurants in the Downtown, and there are lots of large, popular, local alternatives to chains in just about every retail category.

For the Walmart crowd, our local equivalent is Pipers. They have a smaller selection, and slightly higher prices, but it's a much more enjoyable shopping experience in much more central locations.

The only comparable competitors are Target (which is also out in the middle of nowhere) and Pipers (which has a smaller section, but has centrally-located stores peppered throughout St. John's).

Pipers is the one I choose if at all possible.

SignalHillHiker · #**3343** Posted **Feb 17, 2014, 11:38 AM**

Whoa... Avalon Mall tenants are being hit with significant increases in rent.

Owner of Mom’s Place closes doors after rent goes up nearly 100 per cent

Quote:

Shirley Hong, owner of The Rice Bowl and Mom’s Place in the Avalon Mall food court, said she closed the latter restaurant at the end of January because she couldn’t afford to keep both places open after the mall almost doubled her rent, from $130 a square foot per month to $250.

“I couldn’t believe it,” she said.

Hong said she was told that the increase better reflected market rates.

Hong decided she would keep The Rice Bowl open because it has more customers, but regrets closing the door on more than three decades of Mom’s Place, which opened in 1980 and specialized in Newfoundland-style cooking.

“I wanted to stay for another five years, and then I would wind it down.” Hong said she’d cherish the loyalty of customers who helped keep her going as long as she did.

But even with the higher sales at The Rice Bowl, said Hong, paying the rent will be a struggle. She needs to renovate The Rice Bowl and install a new electrical system, because its power comes through the system at Mom’s Place.

Rising rents at the mall reflect rising rents across St. John’s, said mall manager Sue Freake, who said it’s up to business owners such as Hong to decide on renewal.

“The negotiation was no different than any other renewal, in that we sat with her to negotiate a renewal of lease and she made that decision to not renew in one location and keep the other open,” she said.

“I’m not able to speak specifically to any tenant or their lease or rent or all. … Market rents do not remain the same.”

Other local business owners at the mall are warily expecting to see similar price hikes, and worry that too much of an increase will force them to close, too.

Paul Thomey, who owns sporting equipment and apparel shop That Pro Look, hasn’t heard yet from mall management about his lease, which is up at the end of August. “I’ve indicated I’m interested in renewing, but it comes down to how much,” said Thomey. “I am concerned that a significant increase would force us to look at other alternatives.”

Upstairs at A Special Touch, owner Sandra Avery has just begun negotiations for a new lease. She says she’s “definitely concerned” about rent increases. “Fifty per cent sounds like what it’s going to be. I’ve been in the mall 23 years, and I’ve never had an increase that high ever.”

Guy Randell, owner of The Art and Frame Shoppe in the mall parking lot, is in the middle of his five-year lease, and said he’s heard that rents are going up substantially.

“My last lease, it went up 50 per cent,” he said. With another increase like that, he said, he wouldn’t renew his lease."

http://www.thetelegram.com/Business/...rising-rents/1

MonctonRad · #**3344** Posted **Feb 17, 2014, 2:53 PM**

Rents have gone up substantially at Champlain Place in Moncton too, although this was part of a campaign by Cadillac Fairview to drive the remaining local merchants out of the mall to make room for national high end retailers like Coach, Sephora, Swarovski, Fossil, Victoria's Secret etc.

I guess it's all about maximizing revenue per square foot.......

SignalHillHiker · #**3345** Posted **Feb 17, 2014, 3:01 PM**

Well, that makes more sense to me. Champlain Place is, at least according to Google Maps (and in my recollection), WAY bigger that the Avalon Mall. And it also has less competition. It's more of a destination than ours.

Champlain Place:

Avalon Mall:

Only caveat: is Champlain Place all one level? I forget. The Avalon Mall is two levels for the most part, excluding the anchor tenant branches. Either way, Moncton's is still bigger.

SignalHillHiker · #**3346** Posted **Feb 17, 2014, 3:09 PM**

Found it. Yours is way bigger.

Acajack · #**3347** Posted **Feb 17, 2014, 3:20 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by MonctonRad

Rents have gone up substantially at Champlain Place in Moncton too, although this was part of a campaign by Cadillac Fairview to drive the remaining local merchants out of the mall to make room for national high end retailers like Coach, Sephora, Swarovski, Fossil, Victoria's Secret etc.

I guess it's all about maximizing revenue per square foot.......

Seems to be a trend all over the place. Here in Gatineau, Oxford has bought our largest mall (Les Promenades) and has forced out numerous local retailers for this same reason, and has undertaken a huge reno as well.

These smaller retailers have complained in the media, but I wonder if this might not be an opportunity for our main streets - if local retailers (who initially flocked to the mall because that's where the people were) are forced out of the big malls, will they return to main streets, which could become THE place for specialized, unique local retail again?

And the malls will then be home to the exact same retail that you can find in any city anywhere in the world.

SignalHillHiker · #**3348** Posted **Feb 17, 2014, 3:30 PM**

That would be so awesome.

I'm trying to think of stores on Water Street of which there is more than one in the world, and the list is short. Second Cup, Subway, Tim Horton's, Cora's...

Freak Lunchbox is a chain, but barely - started in Halifax and they only have a handful of stores.

Smoke's Poutinerie is another chain.

Beyond that, I think the rest are all fully local?

MonctonRad · #**3349** Posted **Feb 17, 2014, 3:58 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Acajack

I wonder if this might not be an opportunity for our main streets - if local retailers (who initially flocked to the mall because that's where the people were) are forced out of the big malls, will they return to main streets, which could become THE place for specialized, unique local retail again?

The poster child for this trend here in Moncton is Colpitt's Mens Wear. They were originally on Main Street, but opened a store in Champlain Place about 20 years ago. After they were given the heave ho by CF, they returned to Main Street (in a prominent location), and their sales have actually gone up since the move. The store is convenient for the downtown lawyers and accountants etc to pop into over lunch time and has benefitted from this demographic.

Hopefully this trend will continue. Downtown in Moncton has been coming back recently due to new unique restaurants as well........

vid · #**3350** Posted **Feb 18, 2014, 1:23 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by SignalHillHiker

Rue Paul!

Nouvellecosse · #**3351** Posted **Feb 18, 2014, 1:39 AM**

LOL. I drove down that street on Saturday night and didn't even think of that.

SpongeG · #**3352** Posted **Feb 18, 2014, 5:48 PM**

did you drag race?

Acajack · #**3353** Posted **Feb 19, 2014, 12:02 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by MonctonRad

The poster child for this trend here in Moncton is Colpitt's Mens Wear. They were originally on Main Street, but opened a store in Champlain Place about 20 years ago. After they were given the heave ho by CF, they returned to Main Street (in a prominent location), and their sales have actually gone up since the move. The store is convenient for the downtown lawyers and accountants etc to pop into over lunch time and has benefitted from this demographic.

Hopefully this trend will continue. Downtown in Moncton has been coming back recently due to new unique restaurants as well........

Downtown Gatineau (Vieux-Hull) is looking a lot better and approaching respectability when it comes to restaurants, bars, hotels and offices, but the pickings are still relatively slim when it comes to shopping.

Unfortunately I suspect that we are still one stage away from seeing what it happening in the mall(s) having a positive spinoff downtown, and that any refugees from Les Promenades will end up in smaller strip malls and other retail spaces in the immediate vicinity of Les Promenades, which is still a pretty sprawly suburban area a few km away from the true downtown.

caltrane74 · #**3354** Posted **Mar 4, 2014, 5:26 PM**

Wow! Two Serious Assholes Right Here!!

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=613711478707259

http://www.thestar.com/business/2014..._customer.html

As far as I'm concerned they're both ASSHOLES!!

Sears worker fired after racial exchange with customer

WINNIPEG—A Sears store employee has been fired after what appeared to be a racially charged exchange with a customer that was recorded by a witness and uploaded to social media.
The Saturday incident at a mall outlet was allegedly sparked by the employee telling the customer to get his child off a lawn mower that was on display.
The video shows the worker respond with “You just came off the boat?” when the customer, who appears to be Asian, refers to the staff member coming from a job at a local gas bar after being told security had been notified.
The video also shows the customer swearing at the employee and demanding he be fired.
Vincent Power, a Toronto-based spokesman for Sears Canada, says the worker was immediately suspended and a decision was later made to fire him and issue an apology

esquire · #**3355** Posted **Mar 4, 2014, 5:51 PM**

^ That customer was spoiling for a fight. Even though the clerk was an idiot to say what he said, the other guy was no angel here.

Rusty van Reddick · #**3356** Posted **Mar 4, 2014, 6:01 PM**

I think that customer should have been arrested - he's incredibly aggressive and "cocksucker" is hate speech.

Martin Mtl · #**3357** Posted **Mar 5, 2014, 7:27 PM**

Montreal Mayor Denis Coderre Wants To See Bars Opened Until 6am

Montreal mayor Denis Coderre is pushing for bars staying open til’ 6am. I guess Coderre like to late night party like we do.

At a municipal executive meeting, Coderre pitched the idea of allowing certain bars in certain areas to stay open three hours later than the standard last call of 3am.

After a taste of all-night action of Nuit Blance, maybe the city’s mayor saw the awesome benefits of bars staying open until the wee hours of the morn.

No specifics on exactly where the pilot project would be installed, or when, but we can hopefully assume more that a few bars on the main St. Laurent strip will be included and that the 6am last call will be in place in time for the summer.

Fingers crossed this goes through. Who doesn’t want to get wasted til 6am?

For more on all things news worthy in Montreal, follow Michael on Twitter @MDAlimonte
Source

SHOFEAR · #**3358** Posted **Mar 7, 2014, 2:18 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by SpongeG

did you drag race?

wow.

SpongeG · #**3359** Posted **Mar 26, 2014, 4:20 PM**

rupauls drag race badum bum on rue paul...

Uniqlo in talks to open stores in Canada in 2016, sources say

BY HOLLIE SHAW, FINANCIAL POST MARCH 26, 2014

Japanese fashion giant Uniqlo, a popular destination for Canadian shoppers travelling abroad, is in negotiations to open stores here in 2016, according to sources.

With more than 1,300 stores in 14 countries, Uniqlo is the world’s fourth-biggest fashion retailer, behind Zara, H&M and Gap.

Its arrival in Canada has been anticipated by retail watchers and fans alike since stepping up its U.S. expansion in 2011 and a bold vow from founder Tadashi Yanai to make Uniqlo the biggest specialty clothing chain in the world by the end of this decade.

“Uniqlo is one of the finest fashion retailers on the planet and it has refined and fine-tuned its offering to an unprecedented level within the fast-fashion community,” said Anthony Stokan, partner at Toronto-based shopping centre consultancy Anthony Russell and Associates.

http://www.theprovince.com/business/...400/story.html

icetea93 · #**3360** Posted **Mar 26, 2014, 5:46 PM**

J. Crew will be opening 4 new Canadian stores in 2014, no word on locations yet