The Metro Vancouver Retail Thread

[casper]

Originally Posted by officedweller

And there are articles about the "just in time" nature of the grocery supply chain.

It is. The two big majors, Loblaws and Sobeys run on SAP. So it is a complex chain of automatics re-orders from the store to their warehouse and then back to the suppliers. The software does a remarkable job of ensuring product new runs out while minimizing spoilage and excess inventory. However it is extremely hard to get the software configured correctly.

Part of the reasons Target went out of business is they could not get the SAP software working correctly and ended up with stock in the wrong place. For the first year Sobeys owned Safeway it was the same thing.

What is interesting about this industry is how much of it is based in Canada .......

The company that is making a lot of the face shield is this one: https://www.weareivc.com/

The software company that supplies the platform for a number of the independents grocery retailers is: https://www.mightyoak.com/

And the company that is supplying a lot of automated pickup lockers is this one: https://www.omnioninc.com/

[officedweller]

Another article on Steve Nash:

...sources tell Global News the company has started the bankruptcy process, while the former employees say they are getting mixed messages over their final pay....

https://globalnews.ca/news/6747869/coronavirus-steve-nash-employees-pay/

[bc2mb]

Went on a big walk today to photograph the boarded up stores on Robson, Alberni and Gastown

https://youtu.be/LYi3jzryUmU

[SpongeG]

This doesn't affect us since they aren't here, there is one in Bellingham though. But up until a few days they wouldn't close their stores as they deemed themselves essential, been following the drama a bit and now this

Hobby Lobby Closes Stores, Begins Layoffs Following 'God Is in Control' Remarks Amid Coronavirus Pandemic

Despite previous claims from Hobby Lobby owner David Green that a "vision from God" told him and his wife to keep the chain open, stores are closing and the company might be making it worse.

https://popculture.com/trending/2020/03/...-god-is-in-control-coronavirus-pandemic/

[Conrad Yablonski]

FWIW-Starbucks sure looks smart now having closed all those stores just before it all hit the fan; I can see many of those locations staying empty for years to come unless the economy explodes with activity shortly.

[casper]

Originally Posted by Conrad Yablonski

FWIW-Starbucks sure looks smart now having closed all those stores just before it all hit the fan; I can see many of those locations staying empty for years to come unless the economy explodes with activity shortly.

I used Starbucks all the time as a place to have a meeting with someone. I just can't see it coming back. Video conferance has now become much more acceptable.

[whatnext]

How many could have been infected while crossborder shopping?

He is case number 231.

Ladner resident Jerry Glubisz is on the road to recovery after being diagnosed with COVID-19 in mid-March....

..Glubisz said he went to Delta Hospital late in the day on Thursday, March 12 just before things started to get crazy.

“They put me into a negative pressure room and asked me where I had been and I did say I was at Costco in Burlington, just below Bellingham, earlier in the month and that is considered a hot zone,” he recalled...

https://www.vancourier.com/ladner-man-sh...of-b-c-s-early-covid-19-cases-1.24109054

[WarrenC12]

Originally Posted by casper

I used Starbucks all the time as a place to have a meeting with someone. I just can't see it coming back. Video conferance has now become much more acceptable.

Well... not sure you're the ideal Starbucks customer . They'll be back with more mobile orders than ever.

[SpongeG]

the Starbucks drive thrus in Coquitlam and Surrey are a constant line of traffic.

[dreambrother808]

Originally Posted by WarrenC12

Well... not sure you're the ideal Starbucks customer . They'll be back with more mobile orders than ever.

Yeah some people have a pretty grim perception of the future, as if this had a mortality rate of 25%. The pandemic will end at some point and the economy will grow back either slowly or quickly.

For example, over 90% of Starbucks locations in China have reopened.

[svlt]

Originally Posted by Conrad Yablonski

FWIW-Starbucks sure looks smart now having closed all those stores just before it all hit the fan; I can see many of those locations staying empty for years to come unless the economy explodes with activity shortly.

That's ridiculous. It's not like all of society and culture just ended overnight and we are hit with the greatest plague of all time that will wipe out half of the world population. The minute everyone returns to work we will be back to sipping lattes staring at our monitors. There will be shifts in behavior and human hygiene but for the most part all will return to as it was.

If anything these places will explode as people, hungry for a sit down cafe or meal after weeks upon weeks of sitting at home. No one I know is expressing that they don't want to grab a coffee, dine in at a restaurant, go to a movie or catch a game the minute they can. Not a single one. Clearly the reason people are staying home and not going out to these establishments is because they are told to, not because they want to.

Zoom and slack will not replace face to face interactions anytime soon, though there will be more acceptance of remote work in teams as these IT infrastructures are being set up and people are hopefully proving their reliability off-site.

[Conrad Yablonski]

Originally Posted by svlt

That's ridiculous.

So you would like to believe-but once you wipe the spittle off your screen think about the actual locations they vacated-for the most part overpriced awkward places with marginal parking.

The two I can think of that aren't that way are Yew & Cornwall (although that is overpriced) and some hovel in a dead end at Willowbrook Mall in Langley.

[casper]

Originally Posted by WarrenC12

Well... not sure you're the ideal Starbucks customer . They'll be back with more mobile orders than ever.

Well I don't go there for the pastries or coffee. There are better options for both.

[officedweller]

One positive aspect of the quarantining is that people are learning to cook.

[zahav]

Delivery apps are also more popular than ever because of this. I still go in person to pick up some things takeway, and there's wayyyyyy more delivery couriers picking up now than ever before. As much as people say they are introverts and using this cocooning time to watch Tiger King and eat, it will get old. It already has for a lot of people. I don't think this is the death of socialization or offices or meetings. The calls and Zoom meetings are working to get by, but I don't think the world will give up interaction (as long as there isn't a killer virus always in the news). Once the paranoia dies down, people will be back to meetings and being out. I have obeyed social distancing but I certainly haven't been a shut in. My work is open, and I have my boyfriend, and my brother and mom over. It's basically one household anyways.

I should add, most working people in Metro Van live in smaller places, this isn't America where everyone is in a big house with space. Houses here for average people don't have huge home offices and family rooms. People are OK working from home because people are barely working, things have slwoed to a trickle so it's easy to "work from home" as in check emails and watch Netflix, and have a video-in every so often. But that's because it's an apocolypse outside and the economy is at a halt. Once things start up to normal speed, working from home won't be practical for many

[officedweller]

Nordstrom Launches Canadian E-Commerce Site After Shutting All Stores Amid Coronavirus

After temporarily closing its stores in Canada and the US earlier this month, Seattle-based Nordstrom has quietly launched its Canadian Nordstrom.ca ecommerce website as part of an effort to grow its sales amid the COVID-19 pandemic. The new website features a vast assortment of product that includes notable luxury brands also carried at retailers in Canada that include Holt Renfrew, Harry Rosen, and Saks Fifth Avenue, which will lead to increased competition for online sales.
...
Nordstrom’s new Canadian ecommerce website features free standard shipping and returns, as well as duty-free purchases in Canadian currency. The website says that due to the increased order volumes and the impact of COVID-19, it may take longer than usual for orders to arrive. The website also states that store and curb-side pickup has been halted temporarily amid the pandemic.

Standard shipping on Nordstrom.ca is free for Canadians. For deliveries within two business days, a $20 charge is implemented and for next day deliveries, the cost is $28.
...

https://www.retail-insider.com/retail-in...ing-all-stores-amid-coronavirus-analysis

[SFUVancouver]

Originally Posted by officedweller

One positive aspect of the quarantining is that people are learning to cook.

We're calling it "quarantine kitchen" in my household. Made a great pot roast (my first) last week, too.

[red-paladin]

Let's please keep this thread on topic.

[flipper316]

Can someone please chime in here for this? I'm wondering who are the dumbasses at Loblaws that thought of this cuz it makes absolutely no sense.

Why are we now forced to sometimes stand there in the cold and rain for 10 mins or more to get in now to Superstore. It makes absolutely no sense to stand there and then have some kid in a crappy security guard uniform graciously let you in the store. And of course, as soon as you step in the store its business as usual with the same amount of customers all spread out as always cuz its a giant big box store. Is Superstore trying to model itself after Vancouver nightclubs now with their manufactured lines to make it seem like the place is busy?

I wonder if the managers and executives who made this decision don't realize that it's agitating some customers. I see some other people waiting in that line with annoyed looks and their negative body language. Don't get me wrong I get it and if it was a Kins Farm Market or other smaller spaces then yes limit the number of people going in but not a giant warehouse-type store. People just want to get in and get out with their shopping. This legit has to be one of the dumbest nonsensical overreactions to the pandemic.

[jlousa]

I agree it's having a negative effect. They probably were given a max capacity number by the city based on sqaure footage and told to stick to it or be limited by the 50 person limit. The problem is its creating an unpleasant and timeconsuming experience so what happens is once inside customers are buying more then they intended to avoid having to return anytime soon and in turn aiding to the hoarding we've been told not to do.