Quote:
Originally Posted by stephan.richard
That's what I have been saying for the past few months on this board. I am concerned on the amount of empty storefronts in the mall. The part that puzzles me with that I was under the impression that Cadillac Fairview had a waiting list of retailers that wanted to set up shop here in the Greater Moncton area. Could one thing that are scaring potential tenants could it be the amount that they charge for the lease itself.
I hope that this is not a sign that CF Fairview could be in trouble. But you guys know my wishlist when it comes to retailers in Moncton but i don't think that they are interested in setting up shop here.
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Whatever problems Champlain Place is having now has little to do with the mall itself, and is more related to the general decline of the enclosed shopping centre concept in North America. Most garden variety shopping malls are in serious trouble, with the only survivors being those malls which have moved upscale. This is something that Champlain Place has done with reasonably good success (Coach being the only exception).
In terms of it's competitor shopping centres, Champlain Place is actually quite healthy. Both MicMac and HSC in Halifax have considerably more vacancies than Champlain Place (MicMac in general seems somewhat stressed).
even with the impending demise of International Clothiers and ecko unlimited, there will still only be about a half dozen vacancies at Champlain Place. That's only a 3-4% vacancy rate, and as such should not imply any form of impending catastrophe.
I do get the impression that the "good old days" of having a line-up of retailers waiting for space at the mall has disappeared. I think that most retailers interested in a mall like Champlain are probably looking for a larger footprint (like Forever 21), and as such, existing vacancies would not suit their needs. Smaller boutique type stores now typically are very high end, and generally only interested in the top 10-12 markets in the country. Champlain Place therefore might have to do some tweaking to further reinvent itself.
I still think there is a value in Cadillac Fairview thinking about further expanding Champlain Place. If Sobeys does move out, then a major expansion on the west end of the mall would allow for some larger format retailers (like Forever 21) to move in. Some of the smaller format boutique retailers elsewhere in the mall might relocate to this new section which in turn would allow for consolidation of retail space elsewhere in the mall. This could "right size" the retail spaces in the mall to make them more attractive to interested retailers out there.
In short, I am not concerned about the future of Champlain Place. Cadillac Fairview just has to come up with a plan in order to maximize the potential of the mall.