General Retail News

[kevinbottawa]

Originally Posted by J.OT13

I also find this to be a strange move. Downtown lacks full-service grocery stores (as mentioned by others, hygiene products, cleaning products, soft drinks and other) more than food selection offered by Farm Boy. I'm hoping Claridge Moon includes a Sobeys since that corner of Downtown doesn't even have a Shoppers to serve local residents.

Isn't there a Rexall and Circle K at 160 Elgin? People can get those other products there.

[MichelKazan]

Originally Posted by danishh

Rexall at Minto Place is closest i think. Minto place also has the local Canada Post office.

There's also a Rexall downstairs at 240 Sparks. It's even open Saturday daytime but not open evenings or Sundays.

[eltodesukane]

Originally Posted by acottawa

Little video on the Target fiasco.

https://youtu.be/k4hDGJ2FwDI

How many years since the Zellers on St Laurent/Donald was closed?
Then how many years building the new Target, which stayed open like just one month?
And how many years closed since then?

[acottawa]

Originally Posted by eltodesukane

How many years since the Zellers on St Laurent/Donald was closed?
Then how many years building the new Target, which stayed open like just one month?
And how many years closed since then?

Not sure of the timeline, the site is currently under construction, being turned into a sports store and specialty super market.

[Uhuniau]

Originally Posted by JHikka

They might be near to each other but it's a separate customer market - Rideau/Market v Centretown.

A good part of the Metcalfe Sobey's market is actually office workers from a couple blocks away.

[Uhuniau]

Originally Posted by rocketphish

Farm Boy to move into old Sobeys space on Metcalfe

Vito Pilieci, Ottawa Citizen
Updated: June 5, 2019

Popular grocery chain Farm Boy is set to expand downtown by taking over a location on Metcalfe Street that was previously occupied by Sobeys.

Previously?

[Uhuniau]

Originally Posted by danishh

Rexall at Minto Place is closest i think. Minto place also has the local Canada Post office.

Cathedral Hill 2 is going to be a retirement home now instead of office condos, so I wouldnt be surprised to see a pharmacy there. Really hoping for a post office there too

Rexall in Whatever Place Bell Is Called This Month; Shoppers in World Exchange; post office outlets also in both buildings.

[J.OT13]

Originally Posted by kevinbottawa

Isn't there a Rexall and Circle K at 160 Elgin? People can get those other products there.

Originally Posted by Uhuniau

Rexall in Whatever Place Bell Is Called This Month; Shoppers in World Exchange; post office outlets also in both buildings.

I don't know how wide of a selection those relatively small stores have , but it can't be much compared to the vast suburban big box stores. Why should suburbanites have dozens of option where they can conveniently drive and find everything they need in single locations while urbanites have to walk blocks between stores to get different products?

[J.OT13]

Quebec restaurant chain Foodtastic acquires Ottawa’s Big Rig Brewery

David Sali
June 10
OBJ

A Quebec-based restaurant chain has bought the Ottawa region’s second-largest craft brewery in a bid to tap into the Ontario food and beer market.

Foodtastic, which operates 55 restaurants under seven different banners, mostly in Quebec, announced Monday it has acquired Big Rig Kitchen & Brewery. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed, but Big Rig brewmaster and co-founder Lon Ladell is boosting his equity stake in the brewery and will continue to oversee its brewing operations.

“We’ve gotten the business to a point where it was time to look at what the next steps are, the next level,” he told OBJ Monday afternoon. “We thought the best thing to do would be to bring in a new partner who could help us get there.”

Launched in 2012 by a group of backers that included former Senators defenceman Chris Phillips ​– whose nickname inspired the brewery’s moniker ​– Big Rig quickly gained a devoted local following, opening restaurants in Gloucester and west-end Ottawa in addition to a 16,000-square-foot production facility in Kanata.

Big Rig is now the region’s No. 2 craft brewer, employing 160 people and churning out four million litres of beer annually. Its products are sold in more than 1,000 locations across Ontario, including LCBO outlets, the Beer Store and grocery stores, and it serves more than 5,000 customers a week at its eateries.

The craft brewer’s signature Big Rig Gold brand and other varieties can also be found on shelves in Alberta, Newfoundland and New Brunswick. Ladell says joining forces with Foodtastic will give it more marketing clout in those provinces and open doors to distribution opportunities at restaurants and other locations in Quebec.

“Having these guys as partners with their contacts will definitely help get us into those markets in a stronger footing,” he said.

Founded in 2016, Foodtastic operates restaurants under the Au Coq, Bacaro, Carlos & Pepe’s, La Belle et La Boeuf, Monza, Nickels and Souvlaki Bar brands. The chain has more than 2,500 employees and annual sales of $125 million, but currently owns just one restaurant outside of its home province.

Foodtastic CEO Peter Mammas said Monday the chain plans to open at least five restaurants in Ottawa and Toronto over the next 12 months under the La Belle et La Boeuf, Monza and Souvlaki Bar banners.

The company also hopes to double the number of Big Rig restaurants by next year, he said, with the goal of tripling the brand’s sales over the next 18 months. Mammas wouldn't get into specifics, but he said in a news release on Monday that Foodtastic is "already looking at locations in Toronto."

Mammas said bringing Big Rig into the fold gives the Quebec-based operation instant credibility as it prepares to make a splash in the country’s most populous province.

“They’re really well-known because they have great beer,” he said. “I think it helps us with landlords also because they know the brand in Ontario. Sometimes when you tell them ‘La Belle et La Boeuf,’ they go, ‘What?’”

Mammas said the Ontario government’s plan to allow convenience stores to sell beer could be the springboard to massive growth for small brewers, and he believes Foodtastic’s connections to alcohol distributors will give Big Rig a leg up in the competition for shelf space.

“We’re pretty confident that once the law goes into effect that you’re allowed to sell at convenience stores that we’re going to secure quite a few of them,” he said, adding he expects Big Rig’s beer output to increase by 25 per cent annually over the next few years.

https://obj.ca/article/quebec-restaurant-chain-foodtastic-acquires-ottawas-big-rig-brewery

[J.OT13]

I'm a little confused. So Foodtastic bought Big Rig, yet the Brew Master has increased his share. So is Phillips out?

And Foodtastic owns Au Coq. I thought that franchise changed it's name to Benny & Co years ago.

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by J.OT13

And Foodtastic owns Au Coq. I thought that franchise changed it's name to Benny & Co years ago.

There were both Au Coq and Benny & Co. rôtisseries in many regions of Quebec for many decades.

A couple of years ago the Benny family which owned most of them put them all under the Benny & Co. banner, except for a few in the Montreal area which I guess were not owned by the Bennys.

I know this because last year I was in the Montreal area (South Shore) and saw an Au Coq restaurant that looked slightly different from the Benny/Au Coq chain. So I did a bit of research.

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by J.OT13

A bit of good news now. Looks like the strip mall on St-Laurent that briefly housed Target has scored a major new tenant in Décathlon, a French sporting goods store. This would be there 5th store in Canada, and the first outside Québec. I believe the strip mall would now be fully leased with this addition, if I'm not mistaken. The mall also hosts (or will be hosting) Giant Tigre, Food Basics, Adonis and Winners.




https://www.ledroit.com/affaires/decathlon-debarque-a-ottawa-32af5d7caba5586566cb3eea160ca5ac

Décathlon are advertising like crazy on STO buses these days. Both "opening soon" ads and "we're hiring" ads. All of which I assume is for the Ottawa store because the article says it has no plans for Gatineau for the time being.

In terms of hiring, I am not sure that many people will want to hike out to St. Laurent/Donald in Ottawa for minimum wage jobs when there are currently a ton of them right around the corner here in Gatineau.

As for customers I guess we will see if Décathlon will become a destination people from this side of the river think it's worth crossing the bridge for.
Similar to IKEA, and also outdoorsy stores like Mountain Equipment Coop and Bushtukah. I hear people talking about those stores all the time.

But I rarely hear people talk about SAIL, which is a Quebec-based chain that has one location at Trainyards.



As for drawing

[rocketphish]

Originally Posted by acottawa

Not sure of the timeline, the site is currently under construction, being turned into a sports store and specialty super market.

Here's how it looked today:


Photo by me
June 12, 2019

[kevinbottawa]

Can't wait for the Adonis grocery store to open. I've been to the one in Scarborough.

[J.OT13]

Originally Posted by kevinbottawa

Can't wait for the Adonis grocery store to open. I've been to the one in Scarborough.

There's one in Gatineau if you're interested. I believe it occupies the former Zellers/Target (just like the one planned in Ottawa) just past Les Promenades on Maloney.

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by J.OT13

There's one in Gatineau if you're interested. I believe it occupies the former Zellers/Target (just like the one planned in Ottawa) just past Les Promenades on Maloney.

Exactement.

[trhgr]

Originally Posted by rocketphish

Farm Boy to move into old Sobeys space on Metcalfe

Vito Pilieci, Ottawa Citizen
Updated: June 5, 2019

Popular grocery chain Farm Boy is set to expand downtown by taking over a location on Metcalfe Street that was previously occupied by Sobeys.

Farm Boy was acquired by Empire Co. Ltd. in September as part of an $800-million deal. Empire also owns Sobeys.

The location, at 193 Metcalfe St., will give Farm Boy 28,000 square feet in Ottawa’s downtown area. The store will be based on the grocer’s popular “fresh urban” concept, which offers prepared foods, as well as fresh produce, so working people can take home a full meal at the end of the work day.

“Busy commuters and shoppers working in the downtown Ottawa area will be thrilled with our healthy, fresh, wholesome foods and friendly service,” said Farm Boy co-chief executive officer Jeff York in a release.

“We launched our first fresh urban concept store in Ottawa’s Westboro neighbourhood in 2017, then added another at CF Rideau Centre. We can’t wait to expand our proven fresh urban concept further in Ottawa’s downtown core.”

The store was previously a Sobeys Urban Fresh location. The Sobeys location will close to undergo renovations on Aug. 6 before being rebranded as Farm Boy.

https://ottawacitizen.com/news/local-news/farm-boy-to-move-into-old-sobeys-space-on-metcalfe

I read somewhere that the Farm Boy wouldn't open before spring 2020. It is a lack of consideration for east centretown / Triangle residents - especially those with limited mobility - to close the store during winter and force them to go to Massine's. Closing in spring/summer would have made more sense as it is easier to walk the extra 2-3 blocks.

[kevinbottawa]

Originally Posted by J.OT13

There's one in Gatineau if you're interested. I believe it occupies the former Zellers/Target (just like the one planned in Ottawa) just past Les Promenades on Maloney.

I know they built one over in Gatineau but it's far. I don't drive. Not willing to bus just to go to a grocery store.

[J.OT13]

Originally Posted by kevinbottawa

I know they built one over in Gatineau but it's far. I don't drive. Not willing to bus just to go to a grocery store.

Fair enough. It would take around an hour one way just to get there from Downtown by STO.

[YOWflier]

Shark Tank fans should be familiar with UNTUCKit. They've got 50+ stores in the US and are expanding in Canada. Apparently there's already a store at Rideau.

https://www.retail-insider.com/retail-in...r-1st-location-becomes-its-top-performer