General Retail News

[jchamoun79]

Originally Posted by OTSkyline

Is Burger Priest any good?

I tried it the last time I was in Toronto. It's awesome, and a welcome addition to Ottawa's food scene!

[Harley613]

The lovely cafe at the Rideau Centre Simon's is permanently closed unfortunately. That was one of my favourite places in Ottawa to grab a cup and hang out. There is still seating there and it's become a sort of break room for the employees although it is still open to the public. The view of the market from there is epic.

[J.OT13]

Originally Posted by Harley613

The lovely cafe at the Rideau Centre Simon's is permanently closed unfortunately. That was one of my favourite places in Ottawa to grab a cup and hang out. There is still seating there and it's become a sort of break room for the employees although it is still open to the public. The view of the market from there is epic.

I was in that part of the Simons a few times over the last few weeks. It's a pretty great spot. I wondered what happened to Eve's, or if it was ever even in that spot to begin with (never been when it was opened). Any idea why it was closed?

I'm a fan of restaurants or cafés in department stores. It gives a little more incentive to go there. As a kid, we always shopped at Zellers to eat lunch at the dinner after.

Nordstrom's café and restaurant are still open. Not that great of a view though compared to Eve's.

[phil235]

Originally Posted by J.OT13

I was in that part of the Simons a few times over the last few weeks. It's a pretty great spot. I wondered what happened to Eve's, or if it was ever even in that spot to begin with (never been when it was opened). Any idea why it was closed?

I'm a fan of restaurants or cafés in department stores. It gives a little more incentive to go there. As a kid, we always shopped at Zellers to eat lunch at the dinner after.

Nordstrom's café and restaurant are still open. Not that great of a view though compared to Eve's.

Nordstrom's restaurant is great, view notwithstanding. Whenever my wife and I sneak out for a day downtown without the kids, we end up there for lunch.

Too bad about Simons. I thought the store itself was very busy before Christmas. I did almost all of my (admittedly limited) shopping there.

[kwoldtimer]

Originally Posted by Harley613

The lovely cafe at the Rideau Centre Simon's is permanently closed unfortunately. That was one of my favourite places in Ottawa to grab a cup and hang out. There is still seating there and it's become a sort of break room for the employees although it is still open to the public. The view of the market from there is epic.

Nice spot, but too small to be functional. They were running it at a loss.

[kwoldtimer]

Originally Posted by phil235

Nordstrom's restaurant is great, view notwithstanding. Whenever my wife and I sneak out for a day downtown without the kids, we end up there for lunch.

Too bad about Simons. I thought the store itself was very busy before Christmas. I did almost all of my (admittedly limited) shopping there.

Simons has seemed busier in recent months. I thought it seemed rather quiet when it first opened, but it seems to have caught on. Nordstrom’s on the other hand ...

[MichelKazan]

Originally Posted by J.OT13

I was in that part of the Simons a few times over the last few weeks. It's a pretty great spot. I wondered what happened to Eve's, or if it was ever even in that spot to begin with (never been when it was opened). Any idea why it was closed.

To be fair, the same (but larger) Eve cafe also closed at the Les Promenades location right around the same time so maybe it’s the company going in a different direction.

[J.OT13]

Originally Posted by MichelKazan

To be fair, the same (but larger) Eve cafe also closed at the Les Promenades location right around the same time so maybe it’s the company going in a different direction.

That's too bad...

[Harley613]

Originally Posted by J.OT13

I was in that part of the Simons a few times over the last few weeks. It's a pretty great spot. I wondered what happened to Eve's, or if it was ever even in that spot to begin with (never been when it was opened). Any idea why it was closed?

I'm a fan of restaurants or cafés in department stores. It gives a little more incentive to go there. As a kid, we always shopped at Zellers to eat lunch at the dinner after.

Nordstrom's café and restaurant are still open. Not that great of a view though compared to Eve's.

I asked customer service and they said the all of the cafe's except for two closed chain-wide. Definitely sounds like a corporate directive, not a local failure.

[MichelKazan]

Originally Posted by Harley613

I asked customer service and they said the all of the cafe's except for two closed chain-wide. Definitely sounds like a corporate directive, not a local failure.

If I had to guess, one of them being the downtown Montreal store. That location is huge.

[J.OT13]

Originally Posted by MichelKazan

If I had to guess, one of them being the downtown Montreal store. That location is huge.

According to their website, they never had one, which is surprising.

https://www.simons.ca/en/stores/quebec/downtown-montreal--a13199

The Ottawa and Gatineau websites still show Café Ève.

https://www.simons.ca/en/stores/ontario/ottawa--a24199
https://www.simons.ca/en/stores/quebec/promenades-gatineau--a20480

[Harley613]

Originally Posted by MichelKazan

If I had to guess, one of them being the downtown Montreal store. That location is huge.

I seem to recall them saying that one of the Edmonton stores kept theirs and another that I can't recall.

[kevinbottawa]

Originally Posted by Harley613

The lovely cafe at the Rideau Centre Simon's is permanently closed unfortunately. That was one of my favourite places in Ottawa to grab a cup and hang out. There is still seating there and it's become a sort of break room for the employees although it is still open to the public. The view of the market from there is epic.

That sucks. My wife and I used to go there a lot. Amazing view.

[Harley613]

Things Engraved is no more.

https://www.ctvnews.ca/business/things-e...loyees-at-stores-across-canada-1.4762355

[Catenary]

Originally Posted by Harley613

Things Engraved is no more.

https://www.ctvnews.ca/business/things-e...loyees-at-stores-across-canada-1.4762355

I was in St. Laurent the other day and noticed that they were now in a kiosk rather than a full on storefront. With the nature of their business, this seemed like a more reasonable size than they had before. I would guess that the ease of having personalized items created online and shipped has hit their business. With that said, it seems like there would still be room for local services like this, though perhaps integrated into an existing store or business rather than standalone.

[Harley613]

Rideau Centre is about to lose one of its tenants. Bose is closing all of it's North American stores.
https://www.theverge.com/2020/1/15/21067...ffs-north-america-europe-japan-australia

[cycleguy2000]

Originally Posted by Harley613

Rideau Centre is about to lose one of its tenants. Bose is closing all of it's North American stores.
https://www.theverge.com/2020/1/15/21067...ffs-north-america-europe-japan-australia

They have lost a few recently, along with Forever 21, Mrs TiddlyWinks, Jack and Jones and Things Engraved have all closed.
i

[Harley613]

Originally Posted by cycleguy2000

They have lost a few recently, along with Forever 21, Mrs TiddlyWinks, Jack and Jones and Things Engraved have all closed.
i

Wow I had no idea about the others. I wonder what they will do with the Forever 21 space, it's a pretty unique layout to lease as is without reconfiguration.

[alamgirkhan]

Originally Posted by Harley613

Wow I had no idea about the others. I wonder what they will do with the Forever 21 space, it's a pretty unique layout to lease as is without reconfiguration.

Already filled by Urban Planet

[SkeggsEggs]

Originally Posted by cycleguy2000

They have lost a few recently, along with Forever 21, Mrs TiddlyWinks, Jack and Jones and Things Engraved have all closed.
i

I think the Jack and Jones space is filled by Datmat Tween.