[Saint John] Retail Thread

[Taeolas]

And another place closing shop.

Birks jewellers shutters its Saint John store

Birks, a jewellery store that has been a fixture on Saint John's King Street for decades, has announced it is closing its doors.

​The store originally opened in the Admiral Beatty Hotel and at one time had four locations in the province.

The Saint John outlet is the last in Atlantic Canada.

Customers received letters on Thursday saying the store would be closing on Aug. 22.

[UptownJeff]

Originally Posted by Taeolas

And another place closing shop.

Birks jewellers shutters its Saint John store

Yes sad but no big surprise as I mentioned in my last post, Birk's especially in this region has been the "walking dead" for a long time now. Retail must remain relevant to survive - whether you're The Source or Birks.

[JHikka]

Originally Posted by Taeolas

And another place closing shop.

Birks jewellers shutters its Saint John store

See:

Originally Posted by JHikka

This is the sort of sentiment we need to start moving away from. Why did Hatfield shut down? Probably had something to do with the brand new Kent store across the street. Folks in SJ and NB seem to pretend as though nothing new ever opens and stores only close. These sorts of things happen everywhere and it's just a natural progression of the market and the times. A lot of the time it's just stores that are unable to move forward with the times and have difficulties coping with competition. It's no real great loss.

These places aren't closing because they're in Saint John; they're closing because they're becoming increasingly irrelevant in the 21st century.

[JHikka]

Originally Posted by CBC News

New plaza proposed for contentious Millidgeville corner
Plaza Retail REIT buys property at corner of Millidge and University avenues
Posted: Aug 10, 2015 6:37 AM AT

The City of Saint John has approved the sale of a contentious development property in Millidgeville.

Until recently the site at the corner of Millidge and University avenues was home to the fire department's training centre.

A shopping centre proposal advanced last year by Cobalt Properties — an Irving Oil affiliate — was dropped after strong objections were raised by neighbours, particularly people in the nearby Candlewood Lane subdivision.

This new development has been advanced by Fredericton-based Plaza Retail REIT. Company vice-president Jamie Petrie said the project has a smaller footprint than the Cobalt proposal and there will be a much larger buffer between it and Candlewood Lane.

The development will not include an exit onto Candlewood Lane and the company will not be including the St. John Ambulance property immediately adjacent to the subdivision, said Petrie.

"We certainly want to respect the wishes of those residents while still being able to create a viable commercial shopping centre area here," said Petrie, "It's more than reasonable actually in terms of providing continued privacy for the Candlewood Lane residents."

Petrie says the centre will be built in phases beginning with a 12,000 square foot retail outlet. The project could stop there or "if all goes well" be expanded to include two other buildings encompassing about 15,000 square feet between them.

Under the terms of the purchase agreement, Fredericton-based Plaza Retail will buy the land for $750,000. A small part of the land — about a half acre — is covered by a covenant that restricts it to park or recreation uses.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunsw...ntentious-millidgeville-corner-1.3185149

"Contentious"?

[Ire Narissis]

Where does the fire department conduct training now, if no longer at that site?

[RaginRonic]

Courtesy Country 94...

http://www.country94.ca/news/1322636987/breaking-bustins-fine-furniture-closing-september

Bustin's Fine Furniture on Germain Street announcing that it will be closing its doors in September after 110 years of service. The store will be holding an inventory clear out sale starting next week.

[MonctonRad]

Originally Posted by RaginRonic

Courtesy Country 94...

http://www.country94.ca/news/1322636987/breaking-bustins-fine-furniture-closing-september

Well, that's very bad news. We bought some furniture there ourselves a long time ago and had it delivered to Moncton. They had a nice selection.

[RaginRonic]

The complete story....

http://www.country94.ca/news/1322636987/breaking-bustins-fine-furniture-closing-september

An uptown fixture that has operated for more than a century will be shutting its doors for good come next month.

Bustin's Fine Furniture on Germain Street is closing in September and President of the company Bob Bustin explains that last year their building was sold to Historica Developments and he says their plans for the redevelopment of the area and building don't include Bustin's. Bustin says that they thought about moving to another location but that their roots are in the uptown area.

He says they're grateful to the customers who have been with them generation after generation.

There will be an inventory clear out sale starting next week. All customers who have outstanding special orders wil lbe contacted and their orders fulfilled.

[MonctonRad]

Well that puts a more positive spin to it then. I wonder what Historica has planned??

Still, I'm sorry to see Bustin's close though. It was a very interesting store.....

[UptownJeff]

Originally Posted by MonctonRad

Well that puts a more positive spin to it then. I wonder what Historica has planned??

Still, I'm sorry to see Bustin's close though. It was a very interesting store.....

Will be interesting - I had heard a rumour that they wanted to split it into a few retail spots but that was pure rumour.

[NBNYer]

Originally Posted by UptownJeff

Will be interesting - I had heard a rumour that they wanted to split it into a few retail spots but that was pure rumour.

It's still odd that Historica would get rid of an existing tenant in the building. I'm sure the upper 2 floors could have been revamped for residential and the first floor kept undisturbed for Bustin's... too bad

[JHikka]

Originally Posted by UptownJeff

Will be interesting - I had heard a rumour that they wanted to split it into a few retail spots but that was pure rumour.

Can only assume that they have similar plans for the Bustin's location as what they're currently working on at the Canterbury Garage location.

[UptownJeff]

I saw on Facebook that someone posted a photo of the Home Hardware on the west side is reopening in the Fall.

[Whaler]

Bustin's was closing as the owner was close to retirement. The new owners are building condos and retail in this building.
In 12 to 18 months you all will be very pleased with what you see. Great things are coming.

[uptownres]

Was chatting with the manager at the Millidgeville NB Liquor, and she told me that they won't be receiving a growler filling station, as the store is too small. Seems a little short-sighted for them to have built a brand new store with no room to add additional product...

She also told me that the outlet in East SJ will be moving to a new location next to the Costco, where it will have a growler filling station. The uptown location won't be moving to a more desirable location, apparently, but rather expanding into the now vacant YMCA space. No growler filling station there, either, because "there is no demand for craft beer uptown." She told me that NB Liquor will most likely open a small boutique close to the cruise ship terminals to sell local products, but that it would likely be seasonal.

There is a sizeable population of young professionals living uptown who would drive a market for craft beer and more upscale liquor - one only needs to look at the success some of the newer restaurants/bars are enjoying uptown (Port City Royal comes to mind). One wonders why NB Liquor wouldn't consider moving the liquor store uptown to an area more central to where many of those young professionals are living? Canterbury or Germain or King St, for instance?

[Ire Narissis]

Originally Posted by uptownres

There is a sizeable population of young professionals living uptown who would drive a market for craft beer and more upscale liquor - one only needs to look at the success some of the newer restaurants/bars are enjoying uptown (Port City Royal comes to mind).

I think you may have actually answered your own question there. Too much competition from the pubs and bars to make a strong case for selling that kind of product from an NB Liquor outlet.

[UptownJeff]

Originally Posted by uptownres

Was chatting with the manager at the Millidgeville NB Liquor, and she told me that they won't be receiving a growler filling station, as the store is too small. Seems a little short-sighted for them to have built a brand new store with no room to add additional product...

She also told me that the outlet in East SJ will be moving to a new location next to the Costco, where it will have a growler filling station. The uptown location won't be moving to a more desirable location, apparently, but rather expanding into the now vacant YMCA space. No growler filling station there, either, because "there is no demand for craft beer uptown." She told me that NB Liquor will most likely open a small boutique close to the cruise ship terminals to sell local products, but that it would likely be seasonal.

There is a sizeable population of young professionals living uptown who would drive a market for craft beer and more upscale liquor - one only needs to look at the success some of the newer restaurants/bars are enjoying uptown (Port City Royal comes to mind). One wonders why NB Liquor wouldn't consider moving the liquor store uptown to an area more central to where many of those young professionals are living? Canterbury or Germain or King St, for instance?

I've spoken to some senior folks at NBLC over the past few years and their reasoning for not having a location "uptown" is that the trucks can't get access for delivery. I would love to see the Prince Edward Sq locale move to the old Bargain Shop at the top of King. While I agree that the logistics of moving transports around uptown may be challenging I think it's a bit short sighted. I think of many European cities with very old "cores" and narrow winding streets and they seem to manage! Come on NBLC try to be a bit creative!

[kwajo]

Originally Posted by UptownJeff

I've spoken to some senior folks at NBLC over the past few years and their reasoning for not having a location "uptown" is that the trucks can't get access for delivery. I would love to see the Prince Edward Sq locale move to the old Bargain Shop at the top of King. While I agree that the logistics of moving transports around uptown may be challenging I think it's a bit short sighted. I think of many European cities with very old "cores" and narrow winding streets and they seem to manage! Come on NBLC try to be a bit creative!

Typical of the NB government, which has never demonstrated any knowledge of how to handle urban areas. From education spending, to transportation to even something as simple as liquor sales, the province tried to use a one-size-fits-all approach that does a disservice to rural areas and urban ones, while benefitting neither.

[MonctonRad]

Originally Posted by kwajo

Typical of the NB government, which has never demonstrated any knowledge of how to handle urban areas. From education spending, to transportation to even something as simple as liquor sales, the province tried to use a one-size-fits-all approach that does a disservice to rural areas and urban ones, while benefitting neither.

Indeed. If the problem is that delivery trucks would have difficulty navigating the streets of uptown, you would think some braniac would realize that if you used smaller delivery vans for that particular store that the problem would be solved!

I wonder how Bustin's survived in uptown for over a century if the streets are that narrow. Seems to me that some of the furniture they used to stock was pretty bulky. I'm pretty sure they didn't ferry the furniture out to a wider street on mules before loading in on trucks........

[Echo64]

Just a few picture updates:

Aeropostale Closure



The Source Closure



Future Shop to Best Buy