Canadian Retail Thread

[Djeffery]

Originally Posted by manny_santos

There is one just north of Oxford, on Wonderland. For all intents and purposes I considered it to be on Oxford, albeit set back behind the Esso and whatever the former Burger King now is.

The one area of London that is completely devoid of Tim Hortons is Oakridge. I was surprised one didn’t go in when that whole area was redeveloped in 2004-06.

I used to go to the Byron one a lot in high school. That was back when they had chili in a bread bowl.

It has no access at all from Oxford and the left into there from Wonderland is a nightmare. Plus it always has a huge line at the drive thru. And the way the 2 lane drive thru is built, the outer lane can block off the inner lane and you always get some asshole in the outer lane that jumps ahead.

I was always amazed that Timmy's didn't go in at Oxford and Hyde Park. The Starbucks there has some of the largest lines I ever see.

[manny_santos]

Originally Posted by SpongeG

did the Harveys on Granville street close down?

As far as I knew last summer the only remaining Harvey's in BC was in Port Coquitlam. When I went there they had a notice on the door saying they were closing for good on (I think) November 9, 2020. I haven't been back to that area since so I don't know if they actually closed.

That PoCo Harvey's served me a cold hamburger. It also tasted nothing like what Harvey's tastes like in Ontario.

[manny_santos]

Originally Posted by Djeffery

I was always amazed that Timmy's didn't go in at Oxford and Hyde Park. The Starbucks there has some of the largest lines I ever see.

12 years ago that Starbucks had the highest sales in London. I'd heard that from a reliable source.

[JHikka]

IKEA to open first store in downtown Toronto

Swedish meatballs and reasonably priced furniture is coming to Toronto.

IKEA will open its first downtown Toronto store at 382 Yonge Street, on the northwest corner of Yonge and Gerrard, located in the AURA building.

The Swedish furniture retailer tells 680 NEWS that the 132,070 square foot store will span two floors and will be a “smaller format urban store – emblematic of our commitment to becoming an increasingly people and planet positive retail concept.”

https://www.680news.com/2021/03/25/i...ada-locations/

[Kilgore Trout]

I would be really happy if IKEA opened urban format stores all across Canada. They often have the best price/quality ratio for basic household things like kitchenware, picture frames, doormats, lightbulbs, etc. and yet their business model forces you to make a special trip just to buy something simple.

[Loco101]

Originally Posted by manny_santos

As far as I knew last summer the only remaining Harvey's in BC was in Port Coquitlam. When I went there they had a notice on the door saying they were closing for good on (I think) November 9, 2020. I haven't been back to that area since so I don't know if they actually closed.

That PoCo Harvey's served me a cold hamburger. It also tasted nothing like what Harvey's tastes like in Ontario.

I've had both Harvey's and Swiss Chalet in the western provinces and they never tasted as good as in Ontario including our location in Timmins which serves both restaurants' food.

In 2019 I ate at a Swiss Chalet in Victoria BC. The taste seemed off. Either the food supplier was different or they were cooking it a bit differently.

The last Harvey's I ate at out West was in Rocky Mountain House AB. It was okay but not as good as what I'm used to.

We have in Timmins, the only Toujours Mikes (used to just be known as Mikes) restaurant outside Quebec. I don't find the food to be even close to as good as what I've had at their Quebec locations but in Timmins people seem to like it a lot, especially their breakfast dishes. We once had a St-Hubert here but it was so badly run and the food quality was nothing like in Quebec so it didn't last very long.

[zoomer]

/\ that Victoria Swiss Chalet closed in 2020 - none left now thank goodness.

LL Bean is opening up in Mayfair Mall in Victoria - they have five locations in Canada, all in Ontario so looks like they’ll be expanding with more stores across the country. Good thing as I won’t ever order clothes online, too much hassle with returns, etc.

[Loco101]

Originally Posted by zoomer

/\ that Victoria Swiss Chalet closed in 2020 - none left now thank goodness.

LL Bean is opening up in Mayfair Mall in Victoria - they have five locations in Canada, all in Ontario so looks like they’ll be expanding with more stores across the country. Good thing as I won’t ever order clothes online, too much hassle with returns, etc.

I'm not at all surprised that the restaurant closed if others experienced what I did. Most of the people there seemed to be seniors who were originally from Ontario as I could tell from their conversations.

Haven't heard LL Bean in awhile. It's a brand that isn't big where I live in Northern Ontario but I think is more in tune with BC even though it's from Maine. It's very overpriced in my opinion. I always think of someone I know in Southern Ontario who used to buy so much from that store for the outdoors and camping and drove around in her Subaru as if she was always on some big adventure.

[zoomer]

Originally Posted by Loco101

I'm not at all surprised that the restaurant closed if others experienced what I did. Most of the people there seemed to be seniors who were originally from Ontario as I could tell from their conversations.

Haven't heard LL Bean in awhile. It's a brand that isn't big where I live in Northern Ontario but I think is more in tune with BC even though it's from Maine. It's very overpriced in my opinion. I always think of someone I know in Southern Ontario who used to buy so much from that store for the outdoors and camping and drove around in her Subaru as if she was always on some big adventure.

Haha, yes, that’s a pretty good synopsis of the place, seniors originally from Ontario or the Prairies looking for affordable chicken dinners. Everyone needs a place they get value for money, but clearly it wasn’t even providing that.

Curious to see how LL Bean will do as its image, at least in my mind is linked to those Subaru weekend trips to the cottage in Maine where we’ll discuss Joe Biden’s first 100 days over a couple of craft beers and turn in before 10 pm. So.. not a rugged Canadian outdoor or rainy west coast gear type of place. That being said I’m sure it’ll do well as their clothes look nice enough and outdoor sporting/clothes stores are very popular here.

[MonctonRad]

Originally Posted by zoomer

LL Bean is opening up in Mayfair Mall in Victoria - they have five locations in Canada, all in Ontario so looks like they’ll be expanding with more stores across the country. Good thing as I won’t ever order clothes online, too much hassle with returns, etc.

LL Bean is also opening a store in Halifax this year.

[casper]

Originally Posted by Loco101

I've had both Harvey's and Swiss Chalet in the western provinces and they never tasted as good as in Ontario including our location in Timmins which serves both restaurants' food.

In 2019 I ate at a Swiss Chalet in Victoria BC. The taste seemed off. Either the food supplier was different or they were cooking it a bit differently.

The last Harvey's I ate at out West was in Rocky Mountain House AB. It was okay but not as good as what I'm used to.

We have in Timmins, the only Toujours Mikes (used to just be known as Mikes) restaurant outside Quebec. I don't find the food to be even close to as good as what I've had at their Quebec locations but in Timmins people seem to like it a lot, especially their breakfast dishes. We once had a St-Hubert here but it was so badly run and the food quality was nothing like in Quebec so it didn't last very long.

Only Harvey's I know of in Western Canada is in the underground food court at the University of Saskatchewan. I found their product (both in Western Canada and Ontario) to have a weird texture. Do they even use 100%?

[SpongeG]

Edmonton had loads of Harveys, Grand Prairie has two of them. I passed the Swiss Chalet in Burnaby today and it's still open and going.

The pattys they use seem like those ones you get out of a box in the freezer section.


loblaws.ca

[Denscity]

Originally Posted by SpongeG

Edmonton had loads of Harveys, Grand Prairie has two of them. I passed the Swiss Chalet in Burnaby today and it's still open and going.

The pattys they use seem like those ones you get out of a box in the freezer section.


loblaws.ca

Totally what I thought!

[JHikka]

Originally Posted by Kilgore Trout

I would be really happy if IKEA opened urban format stores all across Canada. They often have the best price/quality ratio for basic household things like kitchenware, picture frames, doormats, lightbulbs, etc. and yet their business model forces you to make a special trip just to buy something simple.

Yeah, i'm interested to see how this location fares. It'll definitely be a boost to AURA which has been a nightmare for retail since it opened. Much easier than trekking out to Vaughan or elsewhere to visit a fully-fledged location.

[YYCguys]

Originally Posted by JHikka

IKEA to open first store in downtown Toronto

Swedish meatballs and reasonably priced furniture is coming to Toronto.

IKEA will open its first downtown Toronto store at 382 Yonge Street, on the northwest corner of Yonge and Gerrard, located in the AURA building.

The Swedish furniture retailer tells 680 NEWS that the 132,070 square foot store will span two floors and will be a “smaller format urban store – emblematic of our commitment to becoming an increasingly people and planet positive retail concept.”

https://www.680news.com/2021/03/25/i...ada-locations/

I heard that the current retail selection at Aura was/is weak. Is IKEA taking up all of the retail space there? Who’s the leasing agent for the retail portion there?

[casper]

Originally Posted by SpongeG

Edmonton had loads of Harveys, Grand Prairie has two of them. I passed the Swiss Chalet in Burnaby today and it's still open and going.

The pattys they use seem like those ones you get out of a box in the freezer section.


loblaws.ca

Yes, that brand of meat matching my impression of Harvey's.

The burger chain that was originally founded by the company that at the time was doing airline catering for Air Canada. Odd, I found airline food better than Harvey's.

I find it odd they are successful in Alberta. There are two thinks Albertans know, petroleum and their beef.

[MonctonRad]

My opinion of Harveys was formed by eating at the one in Fredericton once in the early 1970s

I have never eaten at Harveys again - it has been nearly 50 years.

[Djeffery]

In my middle age I've really turned away from fast food burgers, but as a teen in the 80's, I preferred Harvey's to any of their FF competition. Of course, back then you asked for a burger and you watched them throw your fresh patty on the grill and you waited a couple minutes for it. Now they just use frozen patties and the comparison above to no name burgers is probably not far off reality. Harvey's used to have the best fries, but they are just ordinary now too.

[ToxiK]

Originally Posted by Djeffery

In my middle age I've really turned away from fast food burgers, but as a teen in the 80's, I preferred Harvey's to any of their FF competition. Of course, back then you asked for a burger and you watched them throw your fresh patty on the grill and you waited a couple minutes for it. Now they just use frozen patties and the comparison above to no name burgers is probably not far off reality. Harvey's used to have the best fries, but they are just ordinary now too.

I know. In the 80's, they were my favorite fries but they "improved" them to make them more crispy and since then, they suck. I still like their burgers though.

[north 42]

Construction is starting in Windsor on the 3rd Chick-Fil-A location in Canada, the first outside of the GTA.

Hopefully they keep their bible thumping beliefs on the American side of the border! That usually doesn’t go over well here.

https://windsorite.ca/2021/03/constr...il-a-location/