Winnipeg Retail

[horrorbro123]

Give Renovation Update On Champs at Polo Park Location hopefully Will Open Next Month

[bomberjet]

This morning there was a crane unloading mechanical units onto the roof of the old Future Shop on Regent. There was approx 7-8 units of varying sizes on the truck. Not sure if they're all going up. But they had one rather large unit unloaded onto the roof while I was getting some coffee.

[vjose32]

I believe what ultimately did Consumers Distributing in was all the money they spent on their Superstores which didn't end up doing well.

[CoryB]

The irony is Consumers and Target closed for similar reasons a perception that items were always out of stock and competition in the market, most especially from Walmart.

[bomberjet]

I don't think it was perception, it's fact.

[SpongeG]

i just think canadians are cheap asses. judging by comments on facebook. there are loads of people who think walmart is too expensive and shop only at dollarama and giant tiger. Target was like neiman marcus to them.

[bomberjet]

I think the main let down with Target is that it was nowhere near what Target in the US is.

[esquire]

Originally Posted by bomberjet

I think the main let down with Target is that it was nowhere near what Target in the US is.

I hear a lot of people say this, but what was really missing? The Winnipeg location looked pretty much the same as the one in Fargo, or at least no more different than Wal-Mart in Winnipeg vs. the one in Fargo.

[bomberjet]

From my limited experience at a Target in Minneapolis, it seemed that store was over flowing with stock, atmosphere was different, grocery was better, just had more selection in general.

Obviously there's the whole issue of US vs. Canadian items for various reasons. But I don't think they lived up to the expectations of the public. Plain and simple. And since they've pulled out of Canada, that speaks volumes. How many billions will they lose on this?

Maybe Target should've come and said right form the start this will not be the same as US target. But that seems pretty risky. Either way, they've failed. Maybe we'll see them try again if they're still around in 50 years.

[esquire]

Originally Posted by bomberjet

From my limited experience at a Target in Minneapolis, it seemed that store was over flowing with stock, atmosphere was different, grocery was better, just had more selection in general.

Obviously there's the whole issue of US vs. Canadian items for various reasons. But I don't think they lived up to the expectations of the public. Plain and simple. And since they've pulled out of Canada, that speaks volumes. How many billions will they lose on this?

Maybe Target should've come and said right form the start this will not be the same as US target. But that seems pretty risky. Either way, they've failed. Maybe we'll see them try again if they're still around in 50 years.

I like Target and I've been to a lot of them in the US so I'm a bit of an armchair expert when it comes their stores. Hands down the biggest difference that I could see in the Canadian stores were the empty shelves and the supply chain problems they had here. Right up until the end they were having problems with keeping certain items in stock.

But beyond that, the differences were very minor... or at least no more than you would expect for a company basically starting up in Canada. The stores looked more or less the same as their US counterparts... the design and atmosphere (particularly in the new purpose-built store at Polo Park) were hardly any different. The prices were a bit higher, but you can say the same for any chain that operates in Canada and the US. Wal-Mart is the exact same... a basket of items will cost more at our Wal-Marts than the ones in North Dakota.

You're dead right, at the end of the day the customer is always right. But in this case I wonder if the customer really knew what it even wanted from Target... did it just come down to the fact that Target generally costs a couple bucks more than Wal-Mart and that was enough to do them in?

[bomberjet]

Yeah, I'm not sure if we'll ever know exactly why people didn't shop there or why they failed. But like you said, the customer didn't like what they were offering and they ended up a complete failure.

[Danny D Oh]

I think Target's big niche in comparison to a Wal-Mart or Superstore is women's clothing, quality and selection. I know everytime I've been to Fargo or Minneapolis the women in my life have loaded up on clothes. The same women found that quality and selection lacking at Canadian Target.

Another real good point I read on Target is that they lost all the loyal Zellers shoppers too by shutting down rather than gradually transitioning but staying open like Wal-Mart did when they took over Woolco. Those people who shopped at Zellers changed their habits in those intervening months and didn't come back.

[armorand93]

Originally Posted by Danny D Oh

I think Target's big niche in comparison to a Wal-Mart or Superstore is women's clothing, quality and selection. I know everytime I've been to Fargo or Minneapolis the women in my life have loaded up on clothes. The same women found that quality and selection lacking at Canadian Target.

Another real good point I read on Target is that they lost all the loyal Zellers shoppers too by shutting down rather than gradually transitioning but staying open like Wal-Mart did when they took over Woolco. Those people who shopped at Zellers changed their habits in those intervening months and didn't come back.

And by taking away thousands of jobs, unionized, ruining thousands of families, hundreds of students, entire stores, reputations, even restaurants... all to screw us over even *more* at the end.

[CoryB]

Target made many layers of issues in Canada far too long to get into on this forum. It seems pretty obvious the biggest is they failed to connect with consumers. In the same quarter Target reported somewhere around a $4 billion last in Canada we had Loblaws, Walmart and Canadian Tire reporting record high profit levels. Clearly the money was out there and just went elsewhere.

[horrorbro123]

Construction Begins On Rockport at Polo Park Will Open In April

[1ajs]

location location location

[bomberjet]

I also heard from the lack of quality in the women's clothes. Cheap.

[CoryB]

Interesting article on US retail, malls there are starting to realize finding anchor tenants to fill 100,000+ sq ft locations is not only increasingly difficult but that they are also increasingly less likely to bring in consumers. Those malls are increasingly looking towards stores in the 30,000 to 60,000 range as anchors.
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While the brands in the article were heavily US focused this would fit with what might happen at Kildonan Place after Target leaves.

[horrorbro123]

FYI: Chapters Bookstores Will re-branded as Indigo This Summer Which Means Two Winnipeg Locations Will Become as Indigo

[CoryB]

As Chip Wilson was leaving Lululemon his son and wife were founding a new clothing chain called Kit and Ace. In their first year (2014) they already opened a number of locations including a store in Saskatoon. For 2015 they have their eye on opening another 50 stores in North America. As a Canadian based chain with aggressive expansion plans and established stores in similar sized markets this is one to watch, likely as a Polo Park store in the second half of the year.