General Retail News

[JHikka]

Uniqlo entered the Canadian market in September of 2016 when it opened a flagship store at CF Toronto Eaton Centre in Toronto. A second Toronto flagship opened a month later at the Yorkdale Shopping Centre. Uniqlo now has seven stores in the Greater Toronto Area with other locations being at Square One in Mississauga, Vaughan Mills north of Toronto, CF Markvile in Markham, Upper Canada Mall in Newmarket, and at Oshawa Centre in Oshawa.

...

Uniqlo’s first store in Montreal opened in October of 2020 in the city’s downtown core at the Montreal Eaton Centre. It remains the largest Uniqlo location in Canada with over 40,000 square feet of leased space facing Ste-Catherine Street. In 2021, a store opened at CF Carrefour Laval near Montreal and in 2022, two other units opened at CF Fairview Pointe Claire and CF Promenades St. Bruno.

I think it's wild that the GTA has seven and Montreal has four locations before Ottawa gets its first. Don't know if anyone has been to the Oshawa Centre but it has to be the oddest mall i've ever been to. Run-down like every other small town mall but then will randomly have a Uniqlo or other decently-high-end retailer.

[Kelnoz]

Originally Posted by JHikka

I think it's wild that the GTA has seven and Montreal has four locations before Ottawa gets its first. Don't know if anyone has been to the Oshawa Centre but it has to be the oddest mall i've ever been to. Run-down like every other small town mall but then will randomly have a Uniqlo or other decently-high-end retailer.

It looks like they've been expanding by metropolitan area, you can see the GTA's borders by where their stores are located. Even Hamilton and Kitchener don't have any.

[JHikka]

Originally Posted by Kelnoz

It looks like they've been expanding by metropolitan area, you can see the GTA's borders by where their stores are located. Even Hamilton and Kitchener don't have any.

Both should be obvious locations for stores given the student populations of each alone.

[rocketphish]

Shoppers will flock to the familiarity of Zellers when it reopens next week, one local analyst says

Sarah MacFarlane, OBJ
March 17, 2023 | 1:43 PM ET

Stressed shoppers looking for a comforting reminder of days gone by will welcome the return of Zellers when the discount store reopens its doors in Ottawa next week, one retail analyst argues.

Barry Nabatian, director of market research at Shore-Tanner & Associates, said issues like inflation, the war in Ukraine, and a host of economic, political and environmental worries are “pushing people to familiar, well-known stores of which they have good memories.”

“People’s values and tastes and desires have changed a lot in the past 15 years or so. During this time period, high-end as well as discount stores have done quite well, and now people are slowly going back to mid-quality/discount and familiar products,” he said. “Zellers fits these desires perfectly.”

Earlier this week, the Hudson’s Bay Company announced that Zellers stores within the Hudson’s Bay locations at St. Laurent Shopping Centre and across Rideau Street from the Rideau Centre will open Thursday, March 23. The Zellers.ca e-commerce platform will launch the same day. There is also a Zellers planned for Les Promenades Gatineau on Maloney Boulevard in Gatineau. The date for that has yet to be announced.

Nabatian says people are shopping more locally since the pandemic and are looking for increased connection with others – they want “more interaction with other people, with known people, products and services,” he said.

Adding to the nostalgia will be the Zellers Diner on Wheels, a revamp of the Zellers Family Restaurant. The food truck will visit various store locations over the opening days as part of a “throwback event” before making a tour across Canada, according to a press release from HBC. “Canadians are craving a taste of nostalgia and Zellers is dishing it out,” the company wrote.

While in-store diners won’t be possible with the new setup inside Hudson’s Bay stores, the truck is polling customers via Instagram to narrow down the familiar menu favourites, with options like the “Big Z Burger” to satisfy sentimental shoppers.

Ian Lee, an associate professor at Carleton University’s Sprott School of Business, told OBJ in January that “nostalgia marketing” has its merits but he’s not convinced such an approach will have mass appeal, especially to younger shoppers who aren’t old enough to remember when the brand was a dominant force.

He said the discount retail space is “significantly more competitive” today than it was 10 years ago, with players such as Dollarama and Giant Tiger. Also in the discount space, Amazon and Walmart have developed sophisticated infrastructure that uses big-data analytics to track consumer spending and target merchandise at specific customer groups – tactics that Zellers will be hard-pressed to duplicate, Lee explained.

“I think (Zellers) is going to have a tough, tough time,” he said. “The Bay does not have the resources of Amazon or of Walmart, which are both gigantic companies.”

In a news release issued earlier this week, HBC said Zellers will serve customers across “key lifestyle categories,” including kitchen and bath, accent furniture and home decor, organization and storage, baby and kids toys and apparel, pets, and apparel basics for men and women.

“We know Canadian shoppers are smart and savvy and will be looking for both value and an elevated aesthetic in the products they shop us for. Instead of limited time sales or discounts, Zellers shoppers will know they are getting the best price, every day, no matter when they shop,” said HBC in a news release, adding that the Zellers experience will feature “a hint of the nostalgia that Canadians know and love.”

The Zellers stores within the Hudson’s Bay locations will be between 8,000 and 10,000 square feet, depending on the location.

Zellers was founded in 1931 and acquired by HBC in 1978. It operated as the discount division of its flagship Hudson’s Bay department stores, with the slogan “Where the lowest price is the law.” The store hit its peak of about 350 locations in the late 1990s before losing ground to big box competitors such as Walmart. In 2011, HBC announced plans to sell the majority of its remaining Zellers leases to Target Corp., closing most stores by 2013.

The retailer kept a handful of Zellers locations open as liquidation outlets, including a store at 2065 Robertson Rd. in Nepean, until 2020.

https://obj.ca/shoppers-will-flock-t...-analyst-says/

[rocketphish]

And speaking of doughnuts...

More dollars for doughnuts: Be prepared to pay a higher price for your sweet fix

Sophia Adams, OBJ
March 16, 2023 | 1:49 PM ET

If money makes the world go ’round, then it’s also true that more money is needed to make Canadians’ favourite round pastry — the doughnut.

Two popular Ottawa doughnut shops have had to raise prices on the sweet treats to keep up with the increased costs of everything from basic ingredients to wages.

According to Statistics Canada, grocery prices in January were up 11.4 per cent compared to a year ago. That’s nearly double the overall rate of inflation, which was 5.9 per cent that month.

Maverick’s Donuts managing partner Jon Martin says he’s been keeping a close eye on inflation for a while. He’s increased prices, albeit reluctantly, twice in the past two years.

“We try to increase our prices as little as we can, but we do enough that is needed,” Martin says.

In order to keep making high-quality doughnuts, Martin says he has raised prices on his company’s classics — such as powdered sugar and honey-glazed — from $2.25 to $2.75 each over the past two years. Signature doughnuts like cherry blossom and maple bacon sell for $3.75 each.

Martin says most of his cost increases come from the higher price of oil needed to make the doughnuts. Food Business News reported in 2021 that the prices for oils — from soybean to canola to palm — had doubled and in some cases tripled over the previous year. Wages and other ingredients were also part of the cause, Martin says.

The result has been that, instead of purchasing four or five doughnuts, customers now purchase three or four of the treats, Martin says. Still, sales remain fairly steady, he adds.

SuzyQ Doughnuts, another well-known shop in the city, has also felt the pinch. Late last year, the owners took to their Instagram page to explain their increased prices.

“Raising the price of SuzyQ Doughnuts gets less fun every time we do it,” the post reads. “This time, the inevitable came sooner than usual.”

SuzyQ cited supply challenges and increased wages and benefits as reasons behind the price changes.

“Those are people’s livelihoods, many of them are supporting families; their own costs of living are rising sharply the same way yours are,” SuzyQ explained.

SuzyQ is known for its innovative flavours such as wundercrunch and salty caramel.

“We’re in a tough position — we need our high-quality ingredients, or we won’t be SuzyQ. We need our staff to survive in a spiraling economy — maybe spending their wages at your place of business, where prices aren’t the same this year as last, either. And we need our community to be able to budget for nice things, because we make nice things, and if we can’t keep selling you our nice things, everyone’s things will be a lot less nice.”

SuzyQ says they’re trying to cut costs, but ultimately were forced to raise prices. Single doughnuts range in price from $4 to $4.42.

Sophia Adams is a journalism student at Algonquin College and joins OBJ on an internship.

https://obj.ca/more-dollars-for-doug...our-sweet-fix/

[rocketphish]

Street groups hold march to commemorate Rideau Street McDonald's

Staff Reporter, Ottawa Citizen
Published Mar 19, 2023 • Last updated 11 hours ago • 1 minute read



To many people in Ottawa, the Rideau Street McDonald’s restaurant is best known for it’s often-rowdy clientele, and particularly, for a rowdy dustup between groups a few years ago when one man inexplicably pulled a baby raccoon from inside his jacket and waved it around.
Article content

While there has been no specific date for the closing, the realty company that owns the building has confirmed the restaurant franchisee has chosen not to renew the lease that expires this summer.

For many young street people, for all of its problems, the troubled restaurant provided cheap eats and brief shelter.

“I read (about the closing) and I thought somebody ought to make a thing out of this,” said Keith De Silva-Legault, who helped organize a downtown march Sunday to commemorate the closing.

“So I brought it up to some friends at a bar and we decided we were gonna do it.”

The group has organized a non-perishable food drive to benefit the Shepherds of Good Hope, as well as a fundraiser for groups that assists young people in the streets, such as Operation Go Home.

Organizers had provided a number of fundraising incentives. For example, organizer De Silva-Legault agreed to dress as Ronald McDonald if $1,500 was raised.

“I also have to jump into the Ottawa River (but) not today,” he said in the deep cold.

Organizers has intended to leave plush raccoon dolls to commemorate the restaurant’s unofficial mascot.

That plan was inexplicably dropped.



https://ottawacitizen.com/news/local...reet-mcdonalds

[J.OT13]

The restaurant did provide an important service, at least before the pandemic, to give temporary relief to the homeless population as a warm place to sit and access to bathrooms.

Sutcliffe's police station should do the same, with tables, maybe free or cheap coffee and snacks, and of course, accessible washrooms. Where better to provide some services to the homeless than a police station, where the chances of criminal activity are lower.

[le calmar]

I bought a box of 6 donuts at Suzy Q not long ago, and that costed me $30. Sorry but that’s insane. It was $20 last fall. I used to tip, but no more. And I’ll only get them for special occasions from now on.

[kwoldtimer]

Originally Posted by le calmar

I bought a box of 6 donuts at Suzy Q not long ago, and that costed me $30. Sorry but that’s insane. It was $20 last fall. I used to tip, but no more. And I’ll only get them for special occasions from now on.

Why would one tip to purchase donuts?

[rocketphish]

Nordstrom Canada gets court permission to launch sales at its closing stores
Retailer to close six department store locations, seven Nordstrom Rack shops

The Canadian Press
Posted: Mar 20, 2023 12:18 PM EDT | Last Updated: 2 hours ago

Bargain hunters are one step closer to seeing sales at Nordstrom's closing Canadian locations.

At a hearing at Osgoode Hall in Toronto on Monday, the Ontario Superior Court of Justice gave the U.S. retailer's Canadian branch permission to start liquidating its merchandise.

Nordstrom required court approval because it is winding down its Canadian operations under the Companies' Creditors Arrangement Act, which helps insolvent businesses restructure or end operations in an orderly fashion.

Nordstrom will close its six Canadian department store locations and seven Nordstrom Rack shops, which sell designer goods at discount prices, as part of the wind down.

When Nordstrom announced the move in early March, it said it expected Canadian stores to close by late June and 2,500 workers to lose their jobs.

The company initiated the exit from the market because chief executive Erik Nordstrom said, "despite our best efforts, we do not see a realistic path to profitability for the Canadian business."

Nordstrom, an upscale department store chain that primarily sells designer apparel, shoes and accessories, first set its sights on Canada in 2012, opening its first store in Calgary at CF Chinook Centre in September 2014.

Its Canadian presence grew in the years since with massive stores that took up hundreds of thousands of square feet at CF Rideau Centre in Ottawa, CF Pacific Centre in Vancouver, Yorkdale Shopping Centre and CF Sherway Gardens in Toronto.

Then came Nordstrom Rack, which made its Canadian debut in 2018 at Vaughan Mills, a mall north of Toronto. At the time, Nordstrom said as many as 15 more Rack locations could follow.

Nordstrom promised each Rack would deliver savings of up to 70 per cent on apparel, accessories, home, beauty and travel items from 38 of the top 50 brands sold in its Canadian department stores.

Nordstrom had trouble with profitability because of its selection of products and the COVID-19 pandemic, said Tamara Szames, executive director and industry adviser of Canadian retail at the NPD Group research firm, a day after Nordstrom announced its exit.

"You would hear a lot of Canadians saying that the assortment wasn't the same in Canada that it was in the U.S.," she said.

She noticed Nordstrom started to shift its product mix away from some luxury brands around 2018 and saw it as a sign that the retailer was struggling to maintain its original vision and integrity.

The pandemic made matters worse because many stores were forced to temporarily close their doors to quell the virus and shoppers were less likely to need some of the items Nordstrom sells like dressy apparel because events had been cancelled.

Despite stores reopening and many sectors rebounding, Szames said the apparel business is the only industry NPD Group tracks that has yet to recover from the health crisis.

"The consumer has really been holding back in terms of spending within that industry."

https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/nor...ores-1.6784540

[Harley613]

I don't tip for ANY food and drink that doesn't come with full table service.

[acottawa]

Originally Posted by Harley613

I don't tip for ANY food and drink that doesn't come with full table service.

I usually tip a little if there is partial table service (i.e. at Pili Pili where you order at the counter, but then you sit down and they bring the food).

[acottawa]

The whole "logic" of tipping is nonsensical.

Person that prepares your food - no tip (or possibly access to a pooled tip)
Person that washes the dishes - no tip (or possibly access to a pooled tip)
Person who welcomes you to the restaurant and seats you - no tip (or possibly access to a pooled tip)
Person who brings you your food - no tip (or possibly access to a pooled tip)
Person who brings you your food to your front door - possibly a nominal tip
Person who takes your order anywhere but the table - possibly a nominal tip
Person who writes down your order - 15+% of the entire bill (possibly minus a pooled tip).

[Harley613]

Originally Posted by acottawa

The whole "logic" of tipping is nonsensical.

Person that prepares your food - no tip (or possibly access to a pooled tip)
Person that washes the dishes - no tip (or possibly access to a pooled tip)
Person who welcomes you to the restaurant and seats you - no tip (or possibly access to a pooled tip)
Person who brings you your food - no tip (or possibly access to a pooled tip)
Person who brings you your food to your front door - possibly a nominal tip
Person who takes your order anywhere but the table - possibly a nominal tip
Person who writes down your order - 15+% of the entire bill (possibly minus a pooled tip).

I was a server for 18 years as a side job until my daughter was born. Every restaurant I know in the industry shares tips with hosts/kitchen/bussers. If you think all a server does is write down your order, you are very very mistaken. It's an extremely demanding job (if done right) and has taught me many of the skills that have made me successful in my day job. I wouldn't do it for less than what I made with hourly+tips, so until they pay that amount hourly without tips, I support to tipping servers, and appropriately tipping the ones that work their ass off to make your evening a wonderful experience.

[le calmar]

Originally Posted by kwoldtimer

Why would one tip to purchase donuts?

In all fairness I never should have tipped them, but I used to give them a small tip before this price increase. And I noticed you’re now being asked to give a tip when you buy beer cans to take out in some breweries. Eh no thanks.

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by Harley613

I was a server for 18 years as a side job until my daughter was born. Every restaurant I know in the industry shares tips with hosts/kitchen/bussers. If you think all a server does is write down your order, you are very very mistaken. It's an extremely demanding job (if done right) and has taught me many of the skills that have made me successful in my day job. I wouldn't do it for less than what I made with hourly+tips, so until they pay that amount hourly without tips, I support to tipping servers, and appropriately tipping the ones that work their ass off to make your evening a wonderful experience.

Most of the world seems to manage just fine without a coerced tipping culture.

And none of us here are suggesting eliminating tipping and keeping server wages where they are now. Salaries should be increased to similar levels to what they are for example in Australia.

[J.OT13]

What's everybody's take on tipping barbers and hairdressers, moving people, trades, pet groomers, I don't know, just so much these days.

[rocketphish]

Originally Posted by J.OT13

What's everybody's take on tipping barbers and hairdressers, moving people, trades, pet groomers, I don't know, just so much these days.

Same as for everything... Did they go above and beyond the basic service you're already paying for? or, Would you just prefer not to piss them off.

[acottawa]

Originally Posted by Harley613

I was a server for 18 years as a side job until my daughter was born. Every restaurant I know in the industry shares tips with hosts/kitchen/bussers. If you think all a server does is write down your order, you are very very mistaken. It's an extremely demanding job (if done right) and has taught me many of the skills that have made me successful in my day job. I wouldn't do it for less than what I made with hourly+tips, so until they pay that amount hourly without tips, I support to tipping servers, and appropriately tipping the ones that work their ass off to make your evening a wonderful experience.

Lots of jobs are demanding but there is no expectation that the person doing the demanding job gets 15-20% of gross revenue. This isn't a reward for exceptional service, it is expected no matter what the level of service.

[J.OT13]

Originally Posted by rocketphish

Same as for everything... Did they go above and beyond the basic service you're already paying for? or, Would you just prefer not to piss them off.

Don't want to piss them off. I feel obligated.