The Metro Vancouver Retail Thread

[officedweller]

Originally Posted by zahav

The old Tom Lee sign is not travelling to the new location, they are getting new signs. It will be a surprise for everyone here what they get, but sadly it's not as nice as the old location

From BIV -

This rendering was provided by Tom Lee Music - looks a bit gaudy.


https://www.biv.com/article/2017/1/tom-lee-music-move-new-granville-street-location/

[jollyburger]

Originally Posted by Conrad Yablonski

Abject ignorance noted-what he said was “Tom Lee Music is a major retail, tourism and employment destination as well as an anchor tenant on the iconic Granville Street.” anyone who know the music scene in Vancouver would agree his comment is both factual and knowledgeable.

Venture into Tom Lee any time of day/day of the week and there'll be local people and music fans from all over trying new instruments/taking classes/buying sheet music/looking for information and being helped by the staff.

If you know nothing about music fine but Please don't slag a thriving local business you have no knowledge of.

And how does that make it into a tourist destination. Note, I specifically mentioned that excluding the retail and employment designations. I've bought lots of gear from Tom Lee, that doesn't make it Disney World.

[jollyburger]

Originally Posted by officedweller

From BIV -

This rendering was provided by Tom Lee Music - looks a bit gaudy.


https://www.biv.com/article/2017/1/tom-lee-music-move-new-granville-street-location/

Okay, I withdraw my comment about Tom Lee not being a tourist destination.

[officedweller]

Originally Posted by jollyburger

And how does that make it into a tourist destination. Note, I specifically mentioned that excluding the retail and employment designations. I've bought lots of gear from Tom Lee, that doesn't make it Disney World.

I think the term is "destination retail".
That used to be more common when there were fewer outlets for various stores, so you'd have to travel a great distance to visit a particular store.
It still applies to some speciality stores that have a wide or unique selection of merchandise (online shopping has eaten into that a lot).

i.e. like the former Virgin Megastore or the fixation of some with Trader Joe's

[connect2source]

A good read on some ideas for revitalizing Robson Street including some ideas to fully pedestrianize it.

http://dailyhive.com/vancouver/robson-street-revival

[connect2source]

Originally Posted by officedweller

From BIV -

This rendering was provided by Tom Lee Music - looks a bit gaudy.


https://www.biv.com/article/2017/1/tom-lee-music-move-new-granville-street-location/

Oh dear, that corner just keeps getting visually more horrible, makes the loss of the Birk's Building even more of a tragedy.

[osirisboy]

Originally Posted by connect2source

A good read on some ideas for revitalizing Robson Street including some ideas to fully pedestrianize it.

http://dailyhive.com/vancouver/robson-street-revival

Closing robson to traffic is the stupidest idea ever.

[connect2source]

Originally Posted by osirisboy

Closing robson to traffic is the stupidest idea ever.

Agreed, didn't endorse all parts of this piece, I do agree with wider sidewalks, mid-block crosswalks, better street furniture and lighting.

[LowerLonsdaleMike]

Totally disagree with you that it's a stupid idea! Ive been to many European cities and the promenade streets closed to cars and with a monorail down them are the coolest, busiest streets in the city that become destinations within themselves. Robson would be perfect for that. If Vancouver were to reallign the arterial streets so that traffic flows better (one way streets, remove shoulder parking to enable more lanes of traffic, etc) than this would definitely work.

[whatnext]

Originally Posted by osirisboy

Closing robson to traffic is the stupidest idea ever.

+1000

You think they would have learned from the way they killed Granville Street.

[SpongeG]

now though more people use transit when they want to go downtown. Driving down Robson Street isn't what it used to be like back in the day showing off your ride.

Anyway I wonder if they eliminated parking along Robson from burrard to bute, how that would have any impact and just keep two lanes for traffic and wider sidewalks for pedestrian action.

The locals who live downtown always say they avoid the street, its mainly tourists who probably don't have a car with them anyway

so whats the big international retailer that is demolishing all those stores from geox to tna?

However, there is at least one known retail redevelopment going ahead. Smith says all of the one-storey retail buildings on the 1000 block’s north side from TNA to Geox will be demolished and replaced with a new major international flagship retailer.

[SpongeG]

Telus should add a charging cafe or lounge to their store on robson or their building if they don't already have one.

When i was in NY a couple years ago almost all the bars had charging boxes where you could rent a spot and charge your phone securely. The telus store in woodgrove in nanaimo has one of those charging station boxes with some couches and lounge seating next to it and its always busy, I haven't seen anything like that in the Vancouver area, not that I have looked.

I know at Lougheed mall they took an empty storefront and turned it into a customer lounge with charging stations and seating and tables and it's always being used.

[LowerLonsdaleMike]

Originally Posted by whatnext

+1000

You think they would have learned from the way they killed Granville Street.

You think restricting traffic killed Granville? Since at least the 80&90's, Granville has always been a seedy, nasty, dirty street with — shops and homeless transients strewn along it. It's a little better now, but you can't blame it on the traffic realignment.

[osirisboy]

the city needs to stop meddling. Leave the streets alone! And especially leave curb side parking in place. I've been on robson tons of times during extremely busy times, and the sidewalks are fine, crowded but manageable and thats part of what makes it fun. No cars and no parking would make it feel less energetic and less animated.

So tired of anti car policies

[jollyburger]

Originally Posted by whatnext

+1000

You think they would have learned from the way they killed Granville Street.

What killed Granville Mall? Pacific Centre or the various pedestrian only/transit experiments on Granville?

[Metro-One]

Originally Posted by jollyburger

What killed Granville Mall? Pacific Centre or the various pedestrian only/transit experiments on Granville?

Lack of garbage pick up, street cleaning, shelter, and all the homeless sleeping in the door jams has not helped either. Not to mention there are is increasingly less variety of entertainment venues and store layouts, making it less exciting.

[Vin]

http://dailyhive.com/vancouver/robson-street-revival

Almost seems like Daily Hive had been plagiarizing from this thread. Even Singapore's Orchard Road and lack of high density allowance on Robson street, ie 'Village street' were mentioned.

Regarding Granville street, I think it's high time the City drafts up a bylaw not to allow people to sleep on the streets. Imagine how much nicer our streets will become.

As for Robson street's closure to vehicular traffic, I don't think the retail destiny there is ready for that. Pedestrian malls that work usually have high density retail on either sides, and are on pretty flat areas. They are also very well served by transit. Our 'village' Robson street is just too backward to mature to this stage.

[Metro-One]

Originally Posted by Vin

http://dailyhive.com/vancouver/robson-street-revival

Almost seems like Daily Hive had been plagiarizing from this thread. Even Singapore's Orchard Road and lack of high density allowance on Robson street, ie 'Village street' were mentioned.

Regarding Granville street, I think it's high time the City drafts up a bylaw not to allow people to sleep on the streets. Imagine how much nicer our streets will become.

As for Robson street's closure to vehicular traffic, I don't think the retail destiny there is ready for that. Pedestrian malls that work usually have high density retail on either sides, and are on pretty flat areas. They are also very well served by transit. Our 'village' Robson street is just too backward to mature to this stage.

About Daily Hive I actually know the writer and he has been a member of this forum for years (won't say who out of privacy). Also, this is a public forum about sharing ideas and information so anything taken from this site is not plagiarism IMO.

As for your other comments I agree. There are homeless people here in Japan, especially in Osaka and Tokyo, but you rarely see them sleeping in doorways, and if they do they almost never make a mess. This is the big difference for, our culture needs to realize that being homeless does not give you free license to be a pig. In Japan they actually are allowed to tent in parks and other public lands because come sunrise they are almost always out and up for the day, not dealing drugs and creating a ghetto shanty town. (I do realize that we need to spend more money on rehab programs and shelters, but we also need to get a little more hard handed on the issue. Letting them rot in the streets doing whatever they want may be the bleeding heart solution these days, but it hurts them far more than it helps them).

As for Robson also agree. It is far too diluted and sparse to work as a pedestrian only shopping street. Sorry to use the Japanese example again but it has shopping plazas and pedestrian only streets down to a science. Even in my local city the main pedestrian shopping street is about 3km long. Nearly the entire stretch has a vast variety of entertainment and shopping venues. Most are 2 to 5 stories in layering. Often a trendy subterranean bar, club, or restaurant, with street level high retail, second floor high retail or restaurant, and third floor and beyond clubs and cafes. There are also many rooftop patios. Robson street is far too boring in its approach. Almost no rooftop patios, almost no subterranean spaces. Just generic street level spaces ready for a Starbucks or shoe store. Also, the entire street is covered with an arcade. That will never happen in Vancouver.

PS Tom Lee could have tried a little harder... Esprcially considering nearly every final product in Van regarding lighting features and signs are highly watered down from their initial renderings (remember the ticker near Stadium Skytrain Station? The raindrop lighting on Hotel Georgia Tower?)

[Rocketeer]

Originally Posted by Metro-One

PS Tom Lee could have tried a little harder... Esprcially considering nearly every final product in Van regarding lighting features and signs are highly watered down from their initial renderings (remember the ticker near Stadium Skytrain Station? The raindrop lighting on Hotel Georgia Tower?)

I don't think it's a matter of Tom Lee not trying harder, from what I've been hearing, it's a matter of them trying to get the signs approved by city hall and the landlord. I believe that they had tried to get a much more creative sign designed, but it wasn't allowed due to restrictive landlord and city hall bylaws.

[Pinion]

Originally Posted by Metro-One

About Daily Hive I actually know the writer and he has been a member of this forum for years (won't say who out of privacy). Also, this is a public forum about sharing ideas and information so anything taken from this site is not plagiarism IMO.

As for your other comments I agree. There are homeless people here in Japan, especially in Osaka and Tokyo, but you rarely see them sleeping in doorways, and if they do they almost never make a mess. This is the big difference for, our culture needs to realize that being homeless does not give you free license to be a pig. In Japan they actually are allowed to tent in parks and other public lands because come sunrise they are almost always out and up for the day, not dealing drugs and creating a ghetto shanty town. (I do realize that we need to spend more money on rehab programs and shelters, but we also need to get a little more hard handed on the issue. Letting them rot in the streets doing whatever they want may be the bleeding heart solution these days, but it hurts them far more than it helps them).

As for Robson also agree. It is far too diluted and sparse to work as a pedestrian only shopping street. Sorry to use the Japanese example again but it has shopping plazas and pedestrian only streets down to a science. Even in my local city the main pedestrian shopping street is about 3km long. Nearly the entire stretch has a vast variety of entertainment and shopping venues. Most are 2 to 5 stories in layering. Often a trendy subterranean bar, club, or restaurant, with street level high retail, second floor high retail or restaurant, and third floor and beyond clubs and cafes. There are also many rooftop patios. Robson street is far too boring in its approach. Almost no rooftop patios, almost no subterranean spaces. Just generic street level spaces ready for a Starbucks or shoe store. Also, the entire street is covered with an arcade. That will never happen in Vancouver.

PS Tom Lee could have tried a little harder... Esprcially considering nearly every final product in Van regarding lighting features and signs are highly watered down from their initial renderings (remember the ticker near Stadium Skytrain Station? The raindrop lighting on Hotel Georgia Tower?)

What do the Japanese do with mentally ill people? Mental illness is why some homeless are filthy, not because they're "allowed" to be.