The Metro Vancouver Retail Thread

[daveraver]

Originally Posted by Conrad Yablonski

Ah well.....


I've said it before-they're drawing from the same labour pool and paying the same shitty wages-what do you think they'll end up with?

A few bright well performing people who will move on first chance they get and a bunch of uncaring impoverished clones who shuffle through life waiting for the axe to fall.

Actually, some of their management team will be American and they will be here for at least a year. And I supect that having been around since 1901, Nordstrom is able to weed out the ones who will follow the 'Nordstrom Way' versus others who don't/won't. I'll be very surprised if I walk in there when they open and NOT experience the same level of customer service that I've experienced in the US.

[Conrad Yablonski]

Originally Posted by daveraver

Actually, some of their management team will be American and they will be here for at least a year.

Yes that's SOP for US companies coming here-Cabelas & Bass Pro do that as well-but after a year those managers go right back to where they come from patting each other on the back never to be heard from again.

Originally Posted by daveraver

And I supect that having been around since 1901, Nordstrom is able to weed out the ones who will follow the 'Nordstrom Way' versus others who don't/won't.

Oh you suspect do you?

Unlike me you must have little retail management experience-I can say with confidence Canadian workers don't drink foreign Kool Aid-they'll nod and appear to agree all the while laughing up their sleeves/rolling their eyes/plotting their escape.

Originally Posted by daveraver

I'll be very surprised if I walk in there when they open and NOT experience the same level of customer service that I've experienced in the US.

You might actually see that for a short while but after those paragons of management you so admire head back to the USA it'll be the same drudges kicked up the ladder doing the same mediocre job they're doing today @ the Bay or any other mainstream organisation.

Does anyone remember when Wal Mart came to Canada-the 'Five Metre Rule'?

How they were going to adapt to Canada and that was their way of reminding us of how every customer coming through the door was going to be greeted and any customer who was within 5 meters was going to be helped.

In all the time I've been going to Wally Werld @ Cap Mall I've been addressed by a Greeter once-I guess I reminded here of her Dad- and once I had someone on the floor ask if they could help me.

Nordstrom might sell a richer more flavourful brand of Kool Aid but Kool Aid it is-I've shopped @ the Seattle store and couldn't see what the Big Deal was-the goods were nothing exceptional and Staff ignored me-surprise surprise I expect nothing more here it's the Retail Way.

[memememe76]

Gawd, I hate greeters. And I am so glad some random worker 5-metres from me doesn't talk to me. I honestly don't understand why people get so upset with customer service in Canada. Do customers get assaulted by the staff or something?

[Pinion]

Greeters are especially annoying when you know they're only used because it's been proven that people are less likely to shoplift if someone talks to them. So if employees keep talking to you it's probably because they think you're gonna steal something.

[daveraver]

Originally Posted by Conrad Yablonski

Yes that's SOP for US companies coming here-Cabelas & Bass Pro do that as well-but after a year those managers go right back to where they come from patting each other on the back never to be heard from again.


Oh you suspect do you?

Unlike me you must have little retail management experience-I can say with confidence Canadian workers don't drink foreign Kool Aid-they'll nod and appear to agree all the while laughing up their sleeves/rolling their eyes/plotting their escape.

You might actually see that for a short while but after those paragons of management you so admire head back to the USA it'll be the same drudges kicked up the ladder doing the same mediocre job they're doing today @ the Bay or any other mainstream organisation.

Does anyone remember when Wal Mart came to Canada-the 'Five Metre Rule'?

How they were going to adapt to Canada and that was their way of reminding us of how every customer coming through the door was going to be greeted and any customer who was within 5 meters was going to be helped.

In all the time I've been going to Wally Werld @ Cap Mall I've been addressed by a Greeter once-I guess I reminded here of her Dad- and once I had someone on the floor ask if they could help me.

Nordstrom might sell a richer more flavourful brand of Kool Aid but Kool Aid it is-I've shopped @ the Seattle store and couldn't see what the Big Deal was-the goods were nothing exceptional and Staff ignored me-surprise surprise I expect nothing more here it's the Retail Way.

I have worked in retail until recently for 15 years and I do agree with SOME of your points. Nordstrom will excel here because of practices they have in place that don't exist consistently with any other Canadian retailer (i.e. there is no formal return policy at Nordstrom. Each case is handled independently of any other and in all cases, the customer is taken care of) and not just due to the type of salespeople they hire (it's a part of it but not the entire reason why Nordstrom is successful). They also carry lines that no store in Canada sell and that will also set them apart. Whether you want them here or not, Nordstrom in Canada will provide exactly what Target Canada is trying to do: Provide the Canadian customer with an alternative choice (or an extension of existing choice) and some competition, which everyone benefits from.

[officedweller]

Of interest:

Ikea to open string of smaller stores across Canada
By Glen Korstrom, BIV
Dec 15, 2014

...

The locations would be similar in size to a standard London Drugs, at about 37,000 square feet, or a tenth the size of a full-size Ikea, but most of that space will be for storage.

Unlike a full-size Ikea, the new so-called “pickup” stores will have counters at which Ikea workers will retrieve items for customers who ordered online. Some of the company’s future pickup stores are likely to include small retail areas.

Ikea hasn’t released exact locations, but “the pickup stores will be on the West Coast and all over the country,” Sjöstrand said. “I hope that a year from now we will have five to 10 pickup points.”
...

http://www.biv.com/article/2014/12/ikea-open-string-smaller-stores-across-canada/

[GeeCee]

Huh, very interesting. I can see at least one opening downtown. I hope that they reduce their shipping costs, however, as their current fee structure is fairly absurd. $99 is a lot to charge to ship a loveseat.

[connect2source]

Simons Park Royal progressing nicely! Exciting times for Vancouver retail, the addition of two exciting major department stores chains in 2015!

Photo By : connect2source

[osirisboy]

Wtf west van?? Huge walls of drab concrete. Great job!

[s211]

Originally Posted by osirisboy

Wtf west van?? Huge walls of drab concrete. Great job!

I wonder if this even went to the city for approvals, given that the project is on land leased from the Indian band. What's the protocol in West Van?

[Pinion]

The reserve can do whatever it wants, and that drab wall is on a road to nowhere (basically a swamp in the reserve). Most people will never see it.

[connect2source]

The wall it faces immediately to the west is a blank wall for the Home Depot so not a huge deal given how pedestrianized Park Royal has now made much of the complex ...which is a huge improvement over it's previous state of vast parking lots.

[officedweller]

Thanks for the pic!

It sure reduces the scale of that Shoppers Drug Mart - which used to look crazy tall (and if you've ever walked to the 2nd floor, IS crazy tall)

[osirisboy]

It's hardly on a road no one will see. You can painfully see it from where the pic was taken which is from one of the main intersections of the mall. Its not out of sight whatsoever. There's also concrete panels facing shoppers

Home Depot did a good job across the street. So no excuse Simons couldn't.

[Pinion]

No one walks in that direction. The intersection pictured is the end of the pedestrian part of the mall and Simons has a huge window feature facing it. It's like complaining about no windows in a downtown alley. Department stores need blank walls somewhere and that's a totally ok place to put them.

Here's the "good job" on the Home Depot side (green area). Looks like they spruced up the corner of the intersection and that's it, just like Simons.



The real problem around there is the Shoppers that has its entrance inexplicably on the north side and completely cuts up the pedestrian and car flow.

For those not familiar

[connect2source]

Originally Posted by officedweller

Thanks for the pic!

It sure reduces the scale of that Shoppers Drug Mart - which used to look crazy tall (and if you've ever walked to the 2nd floor, IS crazy tall)

I don't think the Shoppers would have been designed like that under the current improvements. I sure Park Royal would have preferred a more upscale banner on that hugely visible spot.

I would have preferred to have seen the Shoppers spot left open so that Simons was visible from Marine Drive and the Village and the new extension of Main Street would have been better connected. The whole area is now a cluttered maze of streets and sidewalks.

[Pinion]

Is there any development plan for McDonald's? Doing something brilliant there might be the only way to salvage Shoppers.

[osirisboy]

Well I was expecting more. And as I also mentioned it isn't just opposite Home Depot. it also looks like crap on the other side as well, opposite shoppers. In my opinion It looks like a concrete bunker. Something Sears would have built.

Wow I can't believe you guys like this

[CBeats]

It's not concrete! It's textured aluminum panels (or something). It could be worse, but it totally clashes with the 'Village' feel. Definitely a poor choice for a transition building. However, judging by renderings of other Simonses, it would appear that they all look like that. So perhaps Simons had more sway over the exterior than your average mall store.

[osirisboy]

Oh!! It's aluminum?? Lol well maybe it'll be better in person.