[Saint John] Retail Thread

[DyAm00394]

Rothesay's Candy World is coming soon next to the Michaels craft store, (inside the former Easyhome spot). Plaza REIT. has recently updated the site plan which confirms this.

[DyAm00394]

Some McAllister Place updates:

Pop-up shops

• Calendar Club is now open as a kiosk again this year, however they are in a new spot this year. They are set up in the main hallway in front of Mountain Warehouse and Reitmans.
  
  
• Hickory Farms is opening on October 29th, near Calendar Club.
  
  
• Just Cozy is now open in the same spot as last year, (next to Suzy Shier).
  
  
• Santa'Ville is coming soon and will apparently be located next to Stuffy Riders, (across from Charmed Aroma).
  
  
• The Vintage Patch is also opening a pop-up at the mall this year. Will apparently be located in the gutted unit between The Children's Place and Footlocker.

Also, apparently the store manager of GameStop has mentioned that there is work going on inside the former Regis Salon/D&S Hair spot next to them. They are renovating the unit. So maybe a new tenant? maybe Kurves Brow Bar is moving from their kiosk to here? Or perhaps the unit is being renovated for PYT Hair that usual opens at the mall every holiday season? We shall soon see.

[DyAm00394]

Vagabond Studios is opening a permanent location this November at 241 Union Street, after a successful run at the Container Village.

And Forty Luxe The Label is also opening a permanent location in the city after having a successful run at the Container Village.

This so far makes 3 tenants of the Container Village to open permanent locations in the city, (the 3rd one being Candy World). Hope to see more decide to stay in the city permanently.

[DyAm00394]

Originally Posted by DyAm00394

Ren's Pets Depot is coming soon!
Smartcentres has updated their site plan and lists Ren's Pets in the former Pier 1 Imports spot next to Old Navy (unit #14). The address is 90 Consumers Drive for anyone wondering.

Source: https://smartcentres.com/property/1305/

Their website: https://www.renspets.com

Ren's Pets has announced they will be opening April 2023, according to Retail Insider. https://retail-insider.com/retail-inside...-2023-in-new-canadian-markets-interview/

[DyAm00394]

The Children's Place at McAllister Place is closing down. Liquidation sales have already begun starting at 60% off the entire store. Closing date is January 2023, unless they run out of inventory before then. Hopefully something will be leasing their spot and it not sit empty for long.

[DyAm00394]

The new Pizza Hut location at 358 Rothesay Avenue, (next to Candy Depot), is now open! as of today Nov.3rd, 2022.

[adamuptownsj]

The old and long-empty Hong Kong Restaurant building at 199 Loch Lomond is under renos, and is somewhat sadly no longer pink.

[bridgeoftea]

Any update to the PopEyes that was being built? I saw a few weekends ago some metal being pounded into the concrete but nothing since.

[DyAm00394]

Originally Posted by bridgeoftea

Any update to the PopEyes that was being built? I saw a few weekends ago some metal being pounded into the concrete but nothing since.

An owner of an interior construction company has said recently over on Facebook that construction won't begin until at least Spring 2023. Apparently they were over budget.

[darkharbour]

Originally Posted by adamuptownsj

The old and long-empty Hong Kong Restaurant building at 199 Loch Lomond is under renos, and is somewhat sadly no longer pink.

This is worse to me than losing the jelly bean houses uptown.

[DyAm00394]

A source has posted online that the Boston Pizza located on McAllister Drive will be undergoing a major interior renovation.

I also heard from a source that says renovations should be happening soon for the Montana's BBQ & Bar located at 51 Depot Court. Apparently a renovation team was at the restaurant a week or so ago going over what changes they will be making. Apparently the restaurant will be open to takeout and delivery during the renos. They will be creating a temporary wall from the side door of the restaurant to a counter for the takeout.

[Freddypop]

Originally Posted by DyAm00394

A source has posted online that the Boston Pizza located on McAllister Drive will be undergoing a major interior renovation.

I also heard from a source that says renovations should be happening soon for the Montana's BBQ & Bar located at 51 Depot Court. Apparently a renovation team was at the restaurant a week or so ago going over what changes they will be making. Apparently the restaurant will be open to takeout and delivery during the renos. They will be creating a temporary wall from the side door of the restaurant to a counter for the takeout.

The Freddy Montana's underwent a full interior reno earlier this year so suspect similar will be in store for the Saint John property

[Helladog]

Originally Posted by DyAm00394

The new Pizza Hut location at 358 Rothesay Avenue, (next to Candy Depot), is now open! as of today Nov.3rd, 2022.

Looks like a take out now. I used to like the restaurant vibe at their Brunswick²︎ location.

[Helladog]

Originally Posted by darkharbour

This is worse to me than losing the jelly bean houses uptown.

One of them has an owner who wants to keep their building in good shape.

[RaginRonic]

I've been going through the Telegraph Journal digital archive lately, and been doing some research on parts of Saint John's retail history, and have been a bit surprised at some of my findings.

The 1st part of that discovery is that McAllister Place did NOT open on Wed., Nov. 1, 1978, as I always believed. That date marked the starting point of the history of the mall that WE know today.

But I found out that it really opened on Wed., Oct. 30, 1975, and in a stunner to me, because I never saw it....there was an EATON'S store in that mall!

Though not as large as other Eaton's stores were across Canada, it did have proper sales departments inside of that store. That's a bit of a shock for me to know that that store once graced MP with it's presence there.

I have taken to call that 3-year era of MP's history 'McAllister Place 1.0', or 'OG MP', while the mall we know now is 'McAllister Place 2.0'.

It's interesting what can be found with a bit if information fishing.

=)

[bridgeoftea]

Originally Posted by RaginRonic

I've been going through the Telegraph Journal digital archive lately, and been doing some research on parts of Saint John's retail history, and have been a bit surprised at some of my findings.

The 1st part of that discovery is that McAllister Place did NOT open on Wed., Nov. 1, 1978, as I always believed. That date marked the starting point of the history of the mall that WE know today.

But I found out that it really opened on Wed., Oct. 30, 1975, and in a stunner to me, because I never saw it....there was an EATON'S store in that mall!

Though not as large as other Eaton's stores were across Canada, it did have proper sales departments inside of that store. That's a bit of a shock for me to know that that store once graced MP with it's presence there.

I have taken to call that 3-year era of MP's history 'McAllister Place 1.0', or 'OG MP', while the mall we know now is 'McAllister Place 2.0'.

It's interesting what can be found with a bit if information fishing.

=)

I'd be curious to see some old photos of the mall in it's first few years!

[Pugsley]

Originally Posted by Helladog

Looks like a take out now. I used to like the restaurant vibe at their Brunswick²︎ location.

Sadly, or perhaps a good thing considering, this change likely isn't due to the location being at Brunswick Square. Pizza Hut is on a mission to shut down all of its sit-down restaurants and franchises. Have been since they lost the number one spot to Domino's many years ago - who focused on delivery only. So, this is probably a result of that strategy and not anything to do with slow sales at Brunswick Square or the state of the mall. But doesn't look great for the mall either.

[RaginRonic]

Originally Posted by bridgeoftea

I'd be curious to see some old photos of the mall in it's first few years!

Well, here's 3 of them.







X-)

November 11, 2022 edit: We can't forget about this one. I think using the store directory OG MP had, we can determine how the stores were split up.



X-)

[DyAm00394]

Pizza Pizza is coming soon to Saint John and Quispamsis according to their website's list of locations here in New Brunswick.

• The Saint John location will be at 70 Lansdowne Avenue in the north end.
  
• The Quispamsis location is at 176 Hampton Road, (beside the Shell gas station).

[RaginRonic]

Originally Posted by DyAm00394

Pizza Pizza is coming soon to Saint John and Quispamsis according to their website's list of locations here in New Brunswick.

• The Saint John location will be at 70 Lansdowne Avenue in the north end.
  
• The Quispamsis location is at 176 Hampton Road, (beside the Shell gas station).

Here is a funny fact about Pizza Pizza for all of you here.

In the U.S., the pizza chain known as Little Caesars uses, in their radio, TV, and streaming advertising 'Pizza Pizza' as a tagline.

Here in Canada, due to Pizza Pizza's simple existence, the tagline LC has to use is 'Hot & Ready'.

But yeah, that's going to be an interesting competitive situation with pizza restaurants in Saint John. The following will all be going head to head.

-Pizza Pizza
-Vito's
-Big Daddy's (right across the street, in what will be THE biggest challenge Big Daddy's will EVER face)
-Greco Pizza
-Pizza Hut
-Pizza Delight (also, North location directly across the street from Pizza Pizza)
-Domino's
-Little Caesars
-Pizza Shack
-East Side Mario's
-Boston Pizza
-Papa John's (East & West)
-Pizzano's Pizza & Donairs
-Pizza Studio
-Top's Pizza
-Julius Pizza
-Freddie's Pizza
-Pomodori Pizzeria
-Tipsy Tomato

Needless to say, that will be a battle for the pizza dollar in the Port City.

Grazie!

=)