The Metro Vancouver Retail Thread

[PeterAKer]

There is lots of Office Space vacant in Downtown. The SRO's on Granville Street should be converted into office, retail and hospitality (bars/restaurants) before there is even more appetite to expand.

Office Space in general is not well used and people are working from home now.

I can see even HBC close more stores including the Downtown store in the next 5-10 Years.

[whatnext]

Originally Posted by teriyaki

In the midst of talk about Simons trying to look for expansion, news just broke that Nordstrom is pulling out of Canada completely.
https://vancouver.citynews.ca/2023/03/02/nordstrom-closing-all-canadian-stores-2500-jobs-affected/

There's some retail space for ya.

Wow, that's a shock! Weren't we told how well the Vancouver store was doing vs others in the chain?

Now to be totally Canadian: when's the sale?

[bluefox]

Originally Posted by whatnext

Wow, that's a shock! Weren't we told how well the Vancouver store was doing vs others in the chain?

Now to be totally Canadian: when's the sale?

I agree — I heard a million times that the Vancouver store was either the top-performing location or at least one of the top 3. That it consistently outperformed a lot of the “usual suspects” in bigger markets. I’m surprised they wouldn’t try to keep at least 1-2 stores open, even with the border, we’re close enough to head office that it could make sense to keep the profitable store(s).

Unless Vancouver wasn’t profitable.

[urbanight93]

Will someone check in on @Vin ?

If Nordstrom couldn't make it in Canada, this does not bode well for retail or the health of malls in this climate.

[jollyburger]

Retail Insider was provided sales numbers for Nordstrom’s Canadian stores in 2019 and it was becoming apparent that there were challenges. While the Vancouver store’s sales were strong in the $300 million range annually, the other five stores failed to meet targets — although the CF Toronto Eaton Centre locations was said to be selling in excess of $100 million annually, which wasn’t bad. Still, things didn’t look good when most of the luxury brands exited Nordstrom’s Toronto stores — at CF Toronto Eaton Centre, almost all of the luxury brand bag/accessory shop-in-stores on the main floor shuttered during the pandemic, as did almost all of the luxury women’s boutiques on the third floor. At Toronto’s Yorkdale, Nordstrom has maintained most of the luxury brand shops for bags on its main floor, though almost all of the luxury shops for women’s ready-to-wear had shut before the end of 2022. Brokers in the know had commented on how the neighbouring Canada Goose store at Yorkdale was doing higher sales than the much larger Nordstrom location in the mall.

At the same time, sources told Retail Insider that some high-spending Chinese shoppers had moved on to other places, impacting luxury sales at Nordstrom in downtown Vancouver as well as other retailers in the area.

https://retail-insider.com/retail-inside...rack-to-exit-canada-and-shut-all-stores/

[trofirhen]

Ever since the gungy old Sears store at PC was revamped, I had hoped for something really upscale: Nieman Marcus, or even Harrod's. Given the Covid-weakened economy, that is of course a pipe dream now. It would be so nice to have something super-classy right downtown, but this isn't London, Dallas, or anywhere like that, and could probably never support such high-end retail.

[Denscity]

I just read somewhere that Vancouver's office market both opened up the most new space in the country in 2022 And have the lowest vacancy rate in Canada.

[SpongeG]

I was just listening to Nordstrom closing being discussed on the radio, one of the things the guest brought up is that Nordstrom in the states is having a tough time right now and one of the obvious things to do was just shut down their Canadian operations. The e-commerce site for Canada will be closed today apparently.

I wonder how the sale will be done. so much space to fill, how many sq ft is it? what is the largest Simons store size? It seems like it would be a bit too big for them no?

[mcj]

Originally Posted by phesto

These are both projects that could still move forward with securing rezoning but realistically will only be viable in the next upswing of the office cycle...say 7-10 years.

With the pace they're moving forward at and the likelihood they'll have comparable construction timelines to The Post (~4 years), they'll probably only be ready in 7 years if everything goes swimmingly.

[Spr0ckets]

Originally Posted by SpongeG

I was just listening to Nordstrom closing being discussed on the radio, one of the things the guest brought up is that Nordstrom in the states is having a tough time right now and one of the obvious things to do was just shut down their Canadian operations. The e-commerce site for Canada will be closed today apparently.

I wonder how the sale will be done. so much space to fill, how many sq ft is it? what is the largest Simons store size? It seems like it would be a bit too big for them no?

It was the same case for Bed, Bath and Beyond.
In fact, for them shutting down the Canadian stores won't be enough to save them, and they likely still have to file for Bankruptcy protection, along with closing even more stores in the US.

A lot of these big name brands are having a rough time right now and it goes beyond just supply chain issues or an inflation crisis.

[connect2source]

I'd been following the loss of brands from the Eaton's Centre location and it concerned me. Having just 8 full-line stores spread across a country the size of Canada is challenging even in the best of conditions. Was recently in the CF Rideau Centre Nordstrom and it seemed very understocked with very few shoppers.

Would hope that Simon's might take at least some of the space. Sad to lose this important anchor in Vancouver, Nordstrom did a great job with this location and I enjoyed shopping there. Will be missed.

[teriyaki]

Pipe dream, but maybe it's time for Uniqlo to enter with a mega flagship store downtown. They can bring along GU to split the space.



The fact that Nordstrom says they are immediately ceasing online operations is pretty concerning. Means they are looking to liquidate staff payrolls to support that as soon as possible...

[officedweller]

Originally Posted by SpongeG

I wonder how the sale will be done. so much space to fill, how many sq ft is it? what is the largest Simons store size? It seems like it would be a bit too big for them no?

I think the largest Simons store is about 120,000 sq ft.
The Pacific Centre Nordstrom is 230,000 sq ft.
https://omicronaec.com/project/nordstrom-pacific-centre-2/

So I would expect the store to be divided up somehow.
Half the space would be good for Simons - and this is a once in a [generation / 10 year?] cycle.
Or if Uniqlo comes in with a big space, all three floors could be divided vertically.
They could share a common escalator atrium, but that would be tricky wrt shoplifting.

That'll be tough with both BBB, Nordstrom Rack and Nordstrom all entering the leasing market.

[s211]

I'll miss the Nordstrom restaurant and wine bar.

[officedweller]

CBC says that the Nordstrom liquidation will start around March 20th.

[Klazu]

American retailers just seem to be unable to get Canada right. Some executive heads should roll at the headquarters of these companies for these expensive miscalculations.

[jollyburger]

Lots of Canadian grown chains suffered the same fate. Eaton's, Woodward's, Zellars... I mean Walmart, Costco, Ikea seem to have no problem setting up there.

[SpongeG]

Originally Posted by officedweller

I think the largest Simons store is about 120,000 sq ft.
The Pacific Centre Nordstrom is 230,000 sq ft.
https://omicronaec.com/project/nordstrom-pacific-centre-2/

So I would expect the store to be divided up somehow.
Half the space would be good for Simons - and this is a once in a [generation / 10 year?] cycle.
Or if Uniqlo comes in with a big space, all three floors could be divided vertically.
They could share a common escalator atrium, but that would be tricky wrt shoplifting.

That'll be tough with both BBB, Nordstrom Rack and Nordstrom all entering the leasing market.

I was thinking the same thing, they could split the space into two and have Simons and Uniqlo. Vertical split. Saks doesn't seem like a candidate at all seeing how poorly they are doing.

Another option could be downtown IKEA.

Nordstrom Rack in Willowbrook will leave another big space to fill.

CF will be hit seeing as the Nordstroms were in their properties.

Canada really needs a larger population for these kind of things to work. This failure doesn't instill confidence in foreign companies wanting to invest into Canada.

[officedweller]

Originally Posted by SpongeG

Another option could be downtown IKEA.

Originally Posted by jollyburger

Lots of Canadian grown chains suffered the same fate. Eaton's, Woodward's, Zellars... I mean Walmart, Costco, Ikea seem to have no problem setting up there.

Downtown IKEA would be nice!
Would that put the Richmond expansion on hold?

Originally Posted by SpongeG

CF will be hit seeing as the Nordstroms were in their properties.

They reap what they sow.
They basically forced out/bought out Sears for Nordstrom at Pacific Centre, Chinook Centre, Sherway Gardens, Toronto Eaton Centre and Rideau Centre.
The move to the upscale market has failed every time for Canadian department stores:

• Woodwards
• Eatons
• Sears (downtown stores)
• Nordstrom

[jollyburger]

If Holts didn't exist I wonder if that would change their dynamics.. at least in the larger markets