The Metro Vancouver Retail Thread

[bluefox]

Originally Posted by SpongeG

i've never encountered a muji with a line before. weird. are vancouverites that desperate. lol.

A lot of it seems to be manufactured hype IMO. I was there yesterday, was going to check out Muji and then saw they had people lining up so I said to myself forget it.

The line was long but for every person in that line I'd say there were another 3 that just looked into the store from the hallway to see what it was but didn't seem interested.

As has been said a couple of times in this thread, there will be a dedicated cult-like following of Muji in town from people who already know the brand and that should be enough to support one or two stores.

[csbvan]

Originally Posted by SpongeG

i've never encountered a muji with a line before. weird. are vancouverites that desperate. lol.

Yeah, that's incredibly stupid.

[SpongeG]

my friend just texted me he was telling me last night he was going to muji today, so he gets there just now and he said there is a long line and he's not going to wait and won't go now. Line up wraps around the corner.

[HelloKitty]

Originally Posted by SpongeG

i've never encountered a muji with a line before. weird. are vancouverites that desperate. lol.

Me neither. Just don't have time to go back soon just to check the place. I was in the mall getting things done and decided to drop by about 30mins before closing time and heading home. I don't always go to that side of the mall either. Line was short enough so I stuck with it. The interior feels dark..dark ceiling. The last Muji I was in was bright and airy.

[jollyburger]

Originally Posted by Sheba

I'm sure the Metrotown location will calm down once the Robson location opens later this year.

Lines will probably clear up during the week once school starts and people who are just looking get their look inside the store.

[SpongeG]

I heard a rumour that Muji Robson may also take over the space above the gap space on robson if it does well. Is that space empty? It's a restaurant? I don't think I know anyone who has ever been up there.

[connect2source]

Originally Posted by SpongeG

I heard a rumour that Muji Robson may also take over the space above the gap space on robson if it does well. Is that space empty? It's a restaurant? I don't think I know anyone who has ever been up there.

There was a karaoke place called Fantacity that's closed I believe. Maybe if Muji takes the upstairs space they're re-do the entire pink 80's facade of the building, needs it badly.

[Vin]

Originally Posted by osirisboy

Wait is that a successful retail street with tall towers on it?? I thought for a retail street to be a success it only have max 4 story village type buildings on it?? Lmao

You mean 1 or 2 stories like Robson, Denman, Davie, 4th Avenue, Main street, etc., dont you? 4 floors would have been way too, whats the word, oppressive for many here.

[Vin]

delete

[Vin]

Originally Posted by dreambrother808

I prefer shopping on sunny streets to darkened corridors but maybe that’s just me. If you want to live in a city like Toronto, why don’t you? Vancouver has its own identity, fostered by these policies.

*facepalm*

Tall building retail streets don't necessarily create darkened corridors. Besides, if you want sunshine, you don't go shopping, you go to the beach or sit on a patio.

[Vin]

Originally Posted by SpongeG

i've never encountered a muji with a line before. weird. are vancouverites that desperate. lol.

Short answer: YES.

We are pretty backward in many regards. That's why people always flock to what they perceive as the "next good thing or deal". Problem is we lack choice in this city.

[officedweller]

Originally Posted by Vin

You mean 1 or 2 stories like Robson, Denman, Davie, 4th Avenue, Main street, etc., dont you? 4 floors would have been way too, whats the word, oppressive for many here.

I think he means the "major arterials" policy - one floor of retail and 3 floors of condos - 4 floor total.

[officedweller]

From Retail Insider:

Swiss luxury conglomerate Richemont Group is building three luxury boutiques on Vancouver’s Alberni Street, all of which are expected to open in the fall. A flagship two-level Van Cleef & Arpels will be joined by an adjacent location for IWC Schaffhausen, and Officine Panerai is confirmed to be opening nearby.

https://www.retail-insider.com/retail-in...nerai-van-cleef-and-arpels-iwc-vancouver


(Panerai will be located next to hermes, which currently occupies the corner space at 755 Burrard Street. Photo: Lee Rivett)
https://www.retail-insider.com/retail-in...nerai-van-cleef-and-arpels-iwc-vancouver


(Construction signage for IWC and Van Cleef & Arpels. Photo: Lee Rivett)
https://www.retail-insider.com/retail-in...nerai-van-cleef-and-arpels-iwc-vancouver

[dreambrother808]

Is there really no other way to deal with the obvious trolls who post the same garbage over and over again? This forum has such potential if only editorial discretion were applied. If you are the kind of loser posting over and over again about how much Vancouver sucks, I can only conclude that this is a direct projection about your own life.

[GeeCee]

Originally Posted by dreambrother808

Is there really no other way to deal with the obvious trolls who post the same garbage over and over again? This forum has such potential if only editorial discretion were applied. If you are the kind of loser posting over and over again about how much Vancouver sucks, I can only conclude that this is a direct projection about your own life.

Sadly, a stubborn fool who disagrees with you does not constitute a troll. The easiest way to deal with him is to simply put him on your ignore list so that you don't have to read his drivel anymore.

I think pretty much everyone realizes at this point that mass market retail is dying and all the new malls and retail buildings in the world won't bring it back, short of the internet dying overnight.

[Vin]

Calling someone disagreeing with you a troll and a fool: that's fresh. Ah well, some people only have ego that has to be stroked constantly.


Leah McLaren: As malls die, so too does a way of life

https://beta.theglobeandmail.com/life/le...405/?ref=http://www.theglobeandmail.com&

Canadians love malls. Of course we do. We've got a stable economy, a mostly miserable climate, an aversion to walking anywhere we could drive and an insatiable appetite for Cinnabon. It's a match made in an April blizzard.

But the sad reality is, these are hard times for the gallerias and indoor fountains of our youth. Once seen as the insidious consumer scourge of the suburbs, the soulless retail equivalent of urban sprawl, the mall as we know it is now deeply under threat.

In the United States, the situation is truly dire. As Americans abandon indoor retail meccas in droves for the irresistible allure of online shopping (one click, baby!), malls are keeling over like the hypothermic dinosaurs lumbering into the ice age.

Instead of neat skeletons, what they are leaving behind is millions of square feet of hollowed-out retail space – a mass epidemic of spooky "zombie malls" that will indelibly change the landscape of suburban America forever.

If you want sickening proof, check out the blog deadmalls.com in which self-described "retail historians" Peter Blackbird and Brian Florence provide a comprehensive state-by-state breakdown of all the mighty-but-fallen retail monoliths now littering the American landscape.

It's as fascinating as it is depressing. For example: "The Omni International Mall of Miami was perhaps one of the most unique megastructures in the U.S. completed in the late 1970s … today the mall space is still empty, all gutted out to make way for failed business-space ideas that never got off the ground." And so on.

And yet, I remember when malls had a bad reputation, and were touted as the end of civilization. Growing up in small-town Ontario in the 1980s, we blamed the new suburban shopping centre for killing our quaint Victorian main street (not that it stopped us from going there – they had a Gap!).

But as today's malls close, they take millions of jobs with them, as well as vital community meeting spaces. Over all, U.S. department stores alone employ a third less people than they did at the beginning of the century. With big box "anchor stores," such as Macy's and Sears closing, the writing is on the wall.

Soon enough, the great American mall will be entirely extinct – replaced by vast private warehouses and delivery depots for online retailers like Amazon. Or maybe only Amazon.

Malls in Canada do seem much better off – especially the fancy upscale ones in big cities. An analysis earlier this year from the Retail Council of Canada showed that Canadian malls were reporting significantly higher sales per square foot annually than malls in the US over all.

[s211]

Originally Posted by GeeCee

Sadly, a stubborn fool who disagrees with you does not constitute a troll. The easiest way to deal with him is to simply put him on your ignore list so that you don't have to read his drivel anymore.

This bears repeating, and the only reason I can think of why more people don't take advantage of the ignore list is their inalienable right to get the last righteous word in.

I love the ignore list! So much easier on the blood pressure.

[WarrenC12]

I had the pleasure of visiting International Village this past weekend. Truly a pleasure visiting the crowning jewel of Vancouver retail, in the heart of the city, and in close proximity to Rogers Arena, BC Place, Skytrain, False Creek seawall, and the downtown core.

If anybody would love to enjoy the modern urban mall, I highly recommend it.

[Sheba]

Malls in Canada do seem much better off – especially the fancy upscale ones in big cities. An analysis earlier this year from the Retail Council of Canada showed that Canadian malls were reporting significantly higher sales per square foot annually than malls in the US over all.

...and I've read countless articles that say the US retail market is overbuilt, so it's no surprise that Canadian malls are doing better.

[Sheba]

Hudson's Bay To Open First International Store In The Netherlands

Hudson's Bay Co. chief executive Jerry Storch says bringing the iconic department store brand to the Netherlands wasn't his original plan, but feedback from local shoppers suggested the country could use more Canadiana — and a few of those Bay blankets.

When the retailer opens its doors on Tuesday in Amsterdam it marks the first time in its history that Hudson's Bay stepped outside Canada's borders with its flagship name. Nine more locations will canvass the region before the end of the month, with five more set to open next year.

It's an aggressive push into new territory, Storch acknowledges, but the opportunity to pick up attractive local space from bankrupt Dutch chain V&D was too good to ignore.

"There was a big gap in the Dutch market between a very high-end luxury player and the discount chains," he said.

"We looked at all the markets in the country."

Putting up signs in the Netherlands for a 347-year old Canadian business that started as a fur trading company wasn't quite as obvious at first, he said.

Originally executives felt it made sense to simply migrate Inno, a Belgium chain they acquired two years ago, across the border assuming that consumers shared some familiarity with the brand.

However, they quickly learned that not everyone in the Netherlands favoured the idea of a neighbouring country setting up shop on its home turf.

"The Dutch people kept telling us, 'We don't want the Inno brand,'" Storch said.

"We couldn't believe it. Even the guys at the hotel restaurant would tell us, 'No, bring Hudson's Bay here.'"

So HBC, which owns a number of other banners including Saks and Lord & Taylor, chose to make Hudson's Bay its top priority in the region. Another two discount stores under the Saks Off 5th name will open before the end of the year.

Storch is confident that a dose of Canadian spirit to the Netherlands will be greeted with open arms.

The two countries have a number of historic connections, most notably near the end of the Second World War as the Canadian Armed Forces liberated the Dutch people.

Ottawa also sheltered the country's Princess Juliana during the Nazi occupation, which later inspired the Netherlands to gift thousands of tulips to the nation's capital. The tradition continues each year with the Canadian Tulip Festival.

Storch said department stores that were cherry picked from the 60 closed V&D locations will open fully renovated and stocked with items familiar to Canadians, like the famous wool blanket. More than 100 Dutch brands and a variety of national and global labels will also fill the shelves.

But Storch said the retailer won't spend much time reflecting on the history of the Hudson's Bay brand in Canada.

"We're focused on how exciting and forward looking the brand is," he said.