The Metro Vancouver Retail Thread

[mcminsen]

The former 7-11 on Robson just east of Granville will become a cannabis store.




Feb.5 '19, my pics

[Doodler]

Originally Posted by Changing City

There's been speculation that the Four Seasons will move to the Fairmont Pacific Rim, including here, but I don't think anybody here has posted anything other than conjecture. Quite a few hotels have sold in the city recently, including the Rosewood Hotel Georgia and the Coast Coal Harbour, but I don't recall any suggestion that Westbank have sold the Pacific Rim (or are thinking of doing so). Anbang bought the Fairmont Vancouver Airport hotel through InnVest in 2016.

The main item to note, is that hotels generally do not own their real estate - its usually as management contract. So if FS does move into the Pac Rim, Westbank does not need to sell the hotel in order to change their flag. February of next year will be 10 years since the Pac Rim opened, but a 10 year contract seems short for a major hotel brand. Sometimes it makes sense for the long gain to change flags, even with potential penalty clauses.

On the thought of FS moving into Trump, this would be highly unlikely. One of the reasons the Ritz Carlton was not the hotel flag when this project came back on board is that the physical spaces did not meet their brand requirements. In the new revised scheme, Holborn altered the floor heights to allow for more floors to be added, thus diminishing the overall clear space. The shorter ceiling heights would be the same reason the Four Seasons would not to take over the Trump

[SpongeG]

Originally Posted by connect2source

Yeah but I feel the Rim is up to Four Seasons spec, the Waterfront would need a major overhaul.

yes and having two Fairmonts so close together seems it would be easy to give the newer one over to Four Seasons

[SpongeG]

JJ Wilson launches first fashion label without family

The Ride clothing brand also adds marketing heft to Wilson’s spin-club business

By Glen Korstrom | February 5, 2019


Serial entrepreneur and fashion industry scion JJ Wilson (centre) showing some of his clothing line along with staffer Diana Claxton (left) and assistant store manager Stephanie Stipancik. Wilson has launched his first clothing line independently of his family | Chung Chow

Serial entrepreneur JJ Wilson has launched his first fashion brand that does not involve anyone else from his family.

Wilson’s previous fashion venture was Kit and Ace, which he launched with stepmother Shannon Wilson in July 2014 and expanded to 61 stores around the world by early 2016. Family patriarch Chip Wilson, who became a billionaire by founding Lululemon Athletica Inc. (Nasdaq:LULU), helped finance Kit and Ace’s rapid rise, and then was key in deciding to rapidly retrench. There are now nine Kit and Ace locations.

...

https://biv.com/article/2019/02/jj-wilso...i_HBJuyaqOQMk11_-ulHPeLUefVqIBlWlXNDEgRw

[jollyburger]

Isn't there some shared ownership holdings between Four Seasons and Fairmont Raffles? That might make the more sense to trade a hotel and give Four Seasons a new home in the city.

[officedweller]

The Vitasave at the Avigilon Building is now open
- and offering free smoothies tomorrow (Friady) and all weekend.

[SpongeG]

Chilliwack’s Cottonwood Mall has new owners, big changes in the works

Save-On-Foods officially announced as anchor tenants with $30 million in other investments

PAUL HENDERSONFeb. 7, 2019

More changes are coming to the retail landscape in Chilliwack as the Cottonwood Mall has changed hands purchased by B.C.-based PCI Developments from Ontario-based Morguard.

“PCI Developments is excited about the opportunity to invest in Chilliwack, one of B.C.’s fastest growing cities and economies,” said Jarvis Rouillard, PCI’s Vice President Acquisitions and Leasing in a press release issued Feb. 7. “We are a Vancouver-based company with strong roots in retail, and with our purchase, we look forward to offering Cottonwood Mall local ownership and management, as well as building relationships with current tenants, attracting new tenants, and enriching the retail experience for the community.”

The news comes a little over a week after it was revealed to Save-On-Foods staff that the grocery store chain would be opening up its fourth local location in the vacant anchor tenant spot at the east end of the mall.

...

https://www.theprogress.com/news/chilliw...has-new-owners-big-changes-in-the-works/

[officedweller]

Demolition underway of Vancouver’s iconic 3 Vets
https://www.vancourier.com/news/demolition-underway-of-vancouver-s-iconic-3-vets-1.23627150

[bluefox]

Originally Posted by whatnext

I see the decommissioned Esso site at Burrard and W.4th has Dilawri Auto Group hoarding around it now. Anyone know what dealership they're planning?

I work nearby, I was told by an employee of one of Dilawri's other dealerships along Burrard that it's going to be a mixed-use development with the new Land Rover/Jaguar dealership on the ground floor and either office or residential above. My wager would be that they want to free up the existing dealership's lot for condos, most likely given what's going on a block north with Molson.

[Conrad Yablonski]

Originally Posted by bluefox

.... I was told by an employee of one of Dilawri's other dealerships along Burrard that it's going to be a mixed-use development with the new Land Rover/Jaguar dealership on the ground floor and either office or residential above.....

I wonder how that works with the soil remediation we've all seen gas station lots sit empty for years & years before they're judged to be safe-anyone here know?

[jollyburger]

Originally Posted by Conrad Yablonski

I wonder how that works with the soil remediation we've all seen gas station lots sit empty for years & years before they're judged to be safe-anyone here know?

There seem to be some methods that take years, but this article mentions that it might not always have to be done that way.

"In downtown Vancouver, it would cost too much money to leave the site for 10 years to remediate it with in situ techniques, so usually it fits right in with the development schedule," he said.

"When you dig out your soil for your underground parkade, then you start getting your reports ready."

Reid said he'd worked on gas stations with remediation costs ranging from $20,000 to several hundred thousand dollars, and it all depends on factors like the gas station's age and what sort of soil, clay, sand and rock lies beneath it.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-c...uver-last-gas-station-for-sale-1.4066658

[osirisboy]

Originally Posted by Conrad Yablonski

I wonder how that works with the soil remediation we've all seen gas station lots sit empty for years & years before they're judged to be safe-anyone here know?

They don't have to sit dormant. They can remove the soil and ship it to Alberta, it doesn't even cost that much.

Frankly I'm surprised owners even choose to let land just sit there when it only would cost a couple of 100,000 (on the high side) to just remove the earth instead

[Jougho]

Originally Posted by SpongeG

yes and having two Fairmonts so close together seems it would be easy to give the newer one over to Four Seasons

My money is on the Fairmont Hotel Vancouver being rebranded as a Four Seasons.

[SpongeG]

Pulp Fiction bucks the bookselling trend and is expanding in Vancouver

Nineteen-year-old indie doubling the size of its Commercial Drive store even as chains struggle to stay open

GORDON MCINTYRE Updated: February 12, 2019

Pulp Fiction Books is a Vancouver bibliophile’s happy hunting ground, but the independent bookseller’s story began in a North Vancouver hardware store almost a half-century ago.

“I’m a North Shore kid,” said Chris Rayshaw, owner and founder of Pulp Fiction. “Down at the foot of Lonsdale there’s an old heritage building which in the ’70s was a place called Paine Hardware.”

...

And this spring, the 19-year-old Pulp Fiction will move its Commercial Drive store into a heritage building down the Drive and double its floor space.

...

https://vancouversun.com/business/commer...ling-trend-and-is-expanding-in-vancouver

[osirisboy]

Actually chains aren't struggling to stay open. Indigo is doing really well and have expanded

[GeeCee]

Apparently Coquitlam was crying out for another Cactus Club which was just approved for Coquitlam Centre's parking lot (near Hudson's Bay, I believe, but I haven't looked at the actual development permit to confirm) https://www.tricitynews.com/news/cactus-club-coming-to-coquitlam-centre-1.23633429

[jollyburger]

Originally Posted by GeeCee

Apparently Coquitlam was crying out for another Cactus Club which was just approved for Coquitlam Centre's parking lot (near Hudson's Bay, I believe, but I haven't looked at the actual development permit to confirm) https://www.tricitynews.com/news/cactus-club-coming-to-coquitlam-centre-1.23633429

By the London Drugs

https://www.coquitlam.ca/docs/default-so...council_2019_02_11_-_item_7.pdf?sfvrsn=2

[GeeCee]

Originally Posted by jollyburger

By the London Drugs

https://www.coquitlam.ca/docs/default-so...council_2019_02_11_-_item_7.pdf?sfvrsn=2

Thanks.

I'd call that more 'the middle' than anything else, really. Closer to Best Buy than London Drugs in terms of the actual storefronts. I'm glad that they didn't put in in the southeast corner of the lot as the traffic patterns around there are a mess due to the reconfigured intersection at Anson.

[SpongeG]

the other cactus club on Lougheed is always packed. sometimes they have long waits like 30 minutes.

[GeeCee]

Originally Posted by SpongeG

the other cactus club on Lougheed is always packed. sometimes they have long waits like 30 minutes.

I think that's more due to the lack of other chain sit down options on the south side. There's what, Boston Pizza there? A sushi place, a greek place? Coquitlam Centre is a totally different situation.