The Metro Vancouver Retail Thread

[Klazu]

Originally Posted by officedweller

The Yaletown Keg isn't even open during the day on weekends.

Every single The Keg in existence opens after 5pm. It's their concept and Yaletown is no special in that regard. They are purely a dinner restaurant which is pretty interesting.

[Locked In]

^ Keg on Dunsmuir opens at 4pm on weekends (and is open for lunch during the week). Alberni opens before 5 too...

https://www.kegsteakhouse.com/locations/dunsmuir-keg/

https://www.kegsteakhouse.com/locations/dunsmuir-keg/#!/locations/alberni-street-keg/#siteContent

[Klazu]

Now I know. I have few times tried to visit few Kegs just to find that they open for dinner. Good to know that some open earlier.

[whatnext]

Structube is opening up another location at Granville and W.8th, the old Tilley store. they seem to be on a big expansion.

[Sheba]

Originally Posted by whatnext

Structube is opening up another location at Granville and W.8th, the old Tilley store. they seem to be on a big expansion.

Only if you count three stores in the region as a big expansion. I posted about it on the Station Square thread a few months ago.

[Vin]

Originally Posted by jollyburger

And why would any big box retailer want to open in Yaletown when the majority of them are already opened a stop/bridge crossing away in Cambie?

Because there is demand. Residents in Yaletown shop externally, as most are forced to.

[officedweller]

But rents are lower and prices are cheaper on the other side of the bridge too.
That's one thing that planners don't seem to account for - market segmentation.
There may be planned grocery store(s) in a neighbourhood, but is it your preferred store (price/brand/selection/quality)?

[connect2source]

Park Royal Updates :

Loblaws City Market is now open in PR North. Very similar to the Lonsdale location but an even more extensive Canteen, Bakery and Dessert area. VERY impressive and should give Whole Foods across the street some serious competition.

Photos by : connect2source

[Vin]

Originally Posted by officedweller

But rents are lower and prices are cheaper on the other side of the bridge too.
That's one thing that planners don't seem to account for - market segmentation.
There may be planned grocery store(s) in a neighbourhood, but is it your preferred store (price/brand/selection/quality)?

True that.

However, too few were included during planning stage. Should have been a splatter of choices like Cambie/Broadway area, considering the population density of the area.

[204]

Originally Posted by officedweller

There are salons and spas - but the majority of retail tenants are restaurants who only cater to the evening dinner crowd.
i.e. The Yaletown Keg isn't even open during the day on weekends.

Have you been in Yaletown during lunch hour on weekdays? The restaurants are quite busy, on top of that most restaurants have a meal plan (called "Lunch on Us") with SAP (1500 employees).

[officedweller]

Good to hear more Yaletown restaurants are open at lunchtime.

The gist of the post was that merchandise retailers seem to have a hard time succeeding in Yaletown - service providers and restaurants seem to do better.

[jozero]

Originally Posted by connect2source

Park Royal Updates :

Loblaws City Market is now open in PR North. Very similar to the Lonsdale location but an even more extensive Canteen, Bakery and Dessert area. VERY impressive and should give Whole Foods across the street some serious competition.

Sure it looks nice but have you tried the food ? At the Lonsdale location, I had sushi there once and my friend had pizza, and they tasted *the same*. I don't even know how you accomplish that. The pastries are not good. The packaged goods are fine, no name yellow mayo tasty as ever, but they have jacked the prices to go along with the new fancy look as well.

[Pinion]

Originally Posted by connect2source

Park Royal Updates :

Loblaws City Market is now open in PR North. Very similar to the Lonsdale location but an even more extensive Canteen, Bakery and Dessert area. VERY impressive and should give Whole Foods across the street some serious competition.

Photos by : connect2source

Thanks for the pics. I wonder how Whole Foods will do when the Lonsdale one opens soon. I'm sure they have people from Deep Cove etc driving all the way over.

[connect2source]

I'm actually surprised Whole Foods is proceeding with the Lonsdale location, seems the North Shore is getting pretty saturated with premium grocery outlets. West Van now has Whole Foods, Fresh St., and CityMarket and Lonsdale already has a huge CityMarket just 4 blocks from the new Whole Foods.

CityMarket offers a very premium experience and a lot of overlap with the Whole Foods experience..plus lower prices on much of the premium offerings like fresh meals, desserts, deli and bakery, add to that President's Choice products and the PC Plus program. CityMarket also offers an outstanding shopping experience with great design, layout, graphics and lighting, miles ahead of Whole Foods IMO.

The Whole Foods Lonsdale will no longer benefit from it's proximity to North Burnaby either now that they have their own Whole Foods at SOLO District.

[officedweller]

B.C.'s busy retail scene soaked up most spaces vacated by Target

Evan Duggan
Published on: October 18, 2016 | Last Updated: October 18, 2016 12:10 PM PDT

...

In B.C., four of those vacated were taken up by Lowe’s; four by Canadian Tire; and four by Walmart, according to numbers provided by Jason Schouten, a principal with Avison Young in Vancouver.

He said the remaining seven locations in B.C. are either sitting unused or being renovated to make them suitable for other big-box retailers like Winners, Sport Chek and Marshalls.

“There are some (Target locations) that, in my opinion, are going to struggle to be filled with traditional retail because of the tertiary or secondary nature of some of these markets,” Schouten said in an interview last week, pointing to the empty Target site in Campbell River as an example.

He said urban locations with strong overall retail markets have proven to be more desirable for other replacement retailers. “Those (properties) were back-filled quickly either by other large format retailers or by multiple mid-size retailers.”

At marquee locations still left vacant by Target, such as Metropolis at Metrotown in Burnaby and Lansdowne Centre in Richmond, the landlords are comfortable taking their time to find the right full-time tenant, Schouten said.

...

http://vancouversun.com/business/commerc...spaces-vacated-by-target?__lsa=e96a-285c

[LowerLonsdaleMike]

Originally Posted by connect2source

I'm actually surprised Whole Foods is proceeding with the Lonsdale location, seems the North Shore is getting pretty saturated with premium grocery outlets. West Van now has Whole Foods, Fresh St., and CityMarket and Lonsdale already has a huge CityMarket just 4 blocks from the new Whole Foods.

CityMarket offers a very premium experience and a lot of overlap with the Whole Foods experience..plus lower prices on much of the premium offerings like fresh meals, desserts, deli and bakery, add to that President's Choice products and the PC Plus program. CityMarket also offers an outstanding shopping experience with great design, layout, graphics and lighting, miles ahead of Whole Foods IMO.

The Whole Foods Lonsdale will no longer benefit from it's proximity to North Burnaby either now that they have their own Whole Foods at SOLO District.

Comparing CityMarket to Whole Foods is like comparing Superstore to Whole Foods. CityMarket is nothing but a glitzed up, overpriced Superstore, similar to Urban Fare and Save on Foods. Say all you want about "whole paycheck", but it's definitely a higher calibre store and as a regular shopper there, it has pretty decent sales. Whole Foods on Lonsdale will be a huge hit, as there isn't a grocery store anywhere between the IGA on Esplanade, and the CityMarket way up in Central Lonsdale.

[Pinion]

North/south might not have many grocery stores but the number of them on Marine/Esplanade/Main corridor always amazes me, like how can they posssibly all get enough business? e.g. IGA on Esplanade is a few blocks from a Thrifty Foods which is literally right next to Save On which is across the street from a Walmart Supercentre which is blocks away from another Save On, which is pretty close to Osaka, Whole Foods, Fresh St and now City Market.

And that's not even counting the very popular Iranian ones.

edit: forgot Osaka!

[SpongeG]

speaking of whole foods, i checked out the one in burnaby, it was after 8 pm on a saturday and was not busy but had a number of people shopping.

But the prices of the items i was looking for were ridiculous. I like to buy the dr brommers liquid soap, the reguar price at whole foods was $26.99 on sale for $23.99, i saw it at london drugs where its normal price was $19.99 on sale for $15.99 ended up getting it at superstore where it was $14.99 on sale, reg price was $18.99

Another brand i can only find at whole foods and london drugs is the Every Man Jack line, the deodorant at whole foods was regular price of $12.99 and the body wash regular price was $16.99 neither were on sale, the london drugs regular price was $7.99 and $10.99, one was on sale for $6.99 and the other on sale for $8.99

Food was pretty good i guess but a 4 pack of organic chicken breast was $28 at whole foods a "club pack" was $58, yikes. the grapes were organic and 3.99/lb on sale not too bad cause they were 2.99 at RCSS for non-organic

[officedweller]

The Marshalls at Richmond Central opens this Thursday, October 27th (preview on Oct 26th).
Could be a big store based on the floorplan (compare to Wal-Mart).
Note there's multi-storey parkade near DSW, parking on the ground floor under Wal-Mart and parking under a parkette in the NE corner.

WalMart opens October 27th as well.
http://www.walmart.ca/en/richmond-north-supercentre/3652


http://www.smartreit.com/property/richmond-n-bc/

Article from August:

Richmond's Walmart-anchored mall nearing completion
Late October pencilled as possible opening date for 'Central at Garden City' complexPhilip Raphael / Richmond News
August 18, 2016 03:28 PM
...
The Central at Garden City complex, which stretches eastward from the north east corner of Alderbridge Way and Garden City Road, is planned to open this fall ­— believed to be at the end of October ­— and so far has about 90 per cent of its spaces leased.

The anchor tenant in the complex — whose development meant clearing a small, urban forested area that created controversy at city hall before council finally green lit it more than two years ago — is a Walmart Supercentre. It will cover just under half of the total 372,000-square-feet in retail offerings. Other large chain stores in the complex will be Marshalls and Bed Bath & Beyond.

...
Another feature of the mall is a large green space that covers the roof of the parkade structure directly east of the Walmart Supercentre. Kaiser said the topography of the area, which situates the parkade partly at grade level, lent itself to being home to a passive open green space and small, children’s playground area for visitors to use.

“We are providing a generous green space at the corner of Alexandra and May Drive which is approximately two-thirds the size of a soccer field or about 20 per cent bigger than the plaza outside of Richmond City Hall,” Kaiser said. “This green space will be attractive to our neighbours on the north and east and, while being maintained by SmartCentres, will be programmed by the city’s parks department. It will also serve as a buffer between the residential and the commercial developments.”

Other environmentally friendly aspects include the fact 70 per cent of the energy the site consumes for heating and cooling will come from “green” sources by tapping into the Alexandra Neighbourhood District Energy Utility (DEU).

In the lead up to the mall’s opening, the intersection of Alderbridge Way and Garden City Road has been upgraded to include larger, designated left-turn lanes to help move traffic in and around the new mall more efficiently.

http://www.richmond-news.com/business/richmond-s-walmart-anchored-mall-nearing-completion-1.2326231

[Vin]

Originally Posted by officedweller

http://vancouversun.com/business/commerc...spaces-vacated-by-target?__lsa=e96a-285c

Re: B.C.'s busy retail scene soaked up most spaces vacated by Target

Well, other retail "experts" have spoken yet again. Large format mall space/urban retail is indeed a hot commodity. Now why is Vancouver paddling backwards?

Vancouver's reluctance to rezone more large scale retail centres is essentially contributing a lot to urban sprawl in the suburbs.