General Retail News

[MountainView]

Originally Posted by acottawa

In other news, Lowes is re-branding its large-format Rona stores outside of Quebec.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/business/rona-lowes-overhaul-1.3892764

I wonder if this will affect the former Target on St Laurent, which has had a "Lowes coming soon" sign for over a year.

I'm guessing the one on Hunt Club will be continued to be called Rona. The article says the mid-size stores will continue to bear the Rona name. There is also a Lowe's almost a stones throw from this Rona.

[rocketphish]

This can't be very good news for Sears Canada either:

With Craftsman sale, Sears takes another step toward the grave

By Brigid Sweeney, Crain’s Chicago Business
January 05, 2017

Is the end finally nigh for Sears?

The 130-year-old retailer, which has watched sales fall by half since 2007, announced today it is unloading its prized Craftsman tool brand to Stanley Black & Decker for about $900 million. Despite tapping more than $5 billion from capital raising and asset sales in 2015 and 2016, Sears is still in desperate need of more cash as its sales continue to vanish.

The Craftsman sale follows two other cash-raising efforts in the past week as the retailer hints that its holiday season was calamitous. Yesterday, Sears said it will borrow $500 million from CEO Edward Lampert's ESL Investments hedge fund. The week before, ESL offered Sears a separate $200 million line of credit that can be expanded to $500 million. The company also announced it would close more unprofitable Sears and Kmart stores early this year, bringing the total to 150. Two Illinois Kmarts, in Alton and Granite City, are among those slated to shutter.

In a statement announcing the Craftsman sale and the loans, the retailer said same-store sales at Sears and Kmart have plummeted between 12 and 13 percent for the first two months of the all-important fourth quarter, which extends through January. Last year, Sears posted a $580 million fourth-quarter loss on same-store sales declines of about 7 percent.

Sears stock, which closed at an all-time low of $8.18 on Dec. 28, earlier today traded around $10.44. At that price, its market capitalization stands at $1.12 billion—not much more than the value of the Craftsman deal. Only a decade ago, Sears was valued at $25 billion. Today the stock closed flat, up 3 cents.

The moves provide a much-needed influx of cash, though the Craftsman sale is smaller than previously expected. Stanley will pay $525 million upfront, along with another $250 million in three years and annual payments between 2.5 percent and 3.5 percent of Stanley's Craftsman sales for 15 years. The deal is expected to close this year. As recently as October, reports circulated that potential Craftsman buyers were bidding as high as $2 billion.

"We weren't looking to make a large payout upfront for a business that we were going to have to build over a 10-year period," Stanley President and CEO Jim Loree said on an analyst call this morning.

Noel Hebert, an analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence, called the price "disappointing."

Despite being battered by its parent's travails and sold almost entirely through Sears, Sears.com, Sears Hometown and Outlet and Kmart stores, Craftsman remains a strong brand. The tools generate about $1.9 billion in annual retail sales, Loree said. He expects Craftsman sales to grow by $100 million each year for the next decade.

The label still holds the largest dollar share of the hand tools market among do-it-yourselfers and individual consumers, with about 27.6 percent for the year ended September 2016, says Tom Coffield, senior director of research at Stevenson Company, a Louisville, Ky.-based market researcher. But its dominance has dipped by 15 percent, from 32.5 percent, from the same period four years ago, he says. On a unit sale basis, Craftsman owns 19 percent of the market, down from more than 21 percent in 2012. Sears itself wrote down the balance-sheet value of the Craftsman, Kenmore and Diehard trade names earlier this year.

The overall tool market is, in Loree's words, "incredibly fragmented" with "brutal competition." He plans to bring some Craftsman tool production back to America, improve product innovation, appeal to younger customers and broaden distribution to big-box stores and e-commerce channels.

It's unclear whether Stanley's purchase will benefit Sears beyond the proceeds of the sale. Sears will continue to sell Craftsman products in its stores under a licensing agreement that is free for the first 15 years. After that, it will pay Stanley a 3 percent fee. As the Craftsman brand begins to sell in more stores, competition could cannibalize Sears' own tool sales. The two companies did not reach any minimum pricing or other anticompetitive agreement, Stanley said.

In a letter to store associates, Lampert emphasized that Sears will continue selling Craftsman products, though it will no longer sell them to third parties including Ace Hardware and Meijer. "This transaction is in the best interest of Sears Holdings as we work to transform our company to a membership-focused business model, improve our financial performance and provide the liquidity we need to improve the confidence of our various constituents," Lampert wrote.

On the other hand, Stanley does incur some risk given Sears' uncertain future. "There cannot be complete certainty about the future of Sears and what direction it might take," Loree acknowledged on the call. He said that if Sears declares bankruptcy, it would have the right to reject the Craftsman deal.

Ratings agencies Moody's and Fitch both put the retailer at high risk of failure. In October, Fitch wrote that Sears may be forced to liquidate or reorganize within the next 12 to 24 months.

Moody's reached a similar conclusion in September, further downgrading Sears' speculative-debt rating while noting that "it remains uncertain if the company's operating strategies will stem its continued losses and be sufficient for its cash burn to approach breakeven."

Easily monetized assets are dwindling. Sears has already sold or spun off its Lands' End clothing line, Orchard Supply Hardware stores, Hometown and Outlet stores, its stake in Sears Canada and hundreds of its best-performing stores to Seritage Growth Properties, a REIT it created. Sears has also said it is exploring suitors for its Kenmore and DieHard brands, as well as Kmart's pharmacy business.

The company may need $2.5 billion in cash to get through 2017 amid sales declines and store closures, including almost $600 million in minimum pension contributions.

The Craftsman sale is “another piece of the puzzle of trying to cobble together enough liquidity to navigate '17,” says Herbert, the Bloomberg analyst. “But the more you sell to fund losses, the less there is to sell.”

Bloomberg News contributed to this report.

http://www.chicagobusiness.com/article/2...ears-takes-another-step-toward-the-grave

[Norman Bates]

Selling craftsman is like selling the silverware. The end is nigh.

[waterloowarrior]

created a new thread with all the Elgin Street makeover posts
http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/showthread.php?t=226547

[rocketphish]

Box store in Orléans to close Jan. 14

By Brier Dodge, Orleans News
Jan 10, 2017

The Box store in Orléans will close this month to the disappointment of bargain-hunting shoppers.

Box was designed to offer a basic shopping experience, with no weekly flyers, signage or fixtures to offer “box bottom” prices, according to Loblaws, which owned the Box stores. They also offer unadvertised deals and a weekly “Boxing Day” deal.

“Our decision to close the store was not an easy one and we are sorry to disappoint enthusiastic local customers,” said Kevin Groh, vice president of corporate affairs and communication with Loblaws, in a written statement.

He said the store is scheduled to close on Jan. 21, but the date was moved to Jan. 14 after the store sold out its remaining inventory quicker than expected.

Local shoppers were disappointed to hear the Tenth Line Road store would close, and started a petition to encourage the company to keep it open at the end of December.

“This comes as a huge surprise for residents. Box provides the lowest prices for diapers, tissue, baking goods and much more. The customer service is amazing; the best in our community,” reads the petition.

Christine Charbonneau, who started the Orléans Savers Facebook group, started the petition after many of the group members heard about the future store closure.

“They brought in these super savings, and it was a draw for people to go to the store,” Charbonneau said. “It was a big hit in our community, so almost on a daily basis someone would post a bargain they saw.”

People in the group share any extremely good deals they find in Orléans stores with the rest of the shoppers in the group.

Examples of deals posted on the Box Orléans Facebook page include peanut butter for $2.50, a dozen No Name yogurts for $2.50, and 50 cents for a 500 mL tub of ice cream.

Charbonneau said 285 people signed the petition to encourage Loblaws to keep the store open, but it stuck with its decision to close the store. She said the parents in the Orléans Savers group are especially disappointed because there were some significantly discounted baby items, such as diapers, at the store.

Groh said Loblaws is encouraging shoppers to visit their No Frills store near Place d’Orléans shopping centre, instead.

Brier Dodge is a reporter-photographer with the Orléans News and Ottawa Metroland Media publications. She can be reached at [email protected].

http://www.ottawacommunitynews.com/news-story/7058733-box-store-in-orl-ans-to-close-jan-14/

[kwoldtimer]

Never heard of it.

[TheGoods]

Ottawa retail resurgence in store for 2017

http://www.obj.ca/Local/Retail/2017-01-1...wa-retail-resurgence-in-store-for-2017/1

[rocketphish]

Don Cherry's Nepean restaurant closes

Vito Pilieci, Ottawa Citizen
Published on: January 11, 2017 | Last Updated: January 11, 2017 1:40 PM EST

The Don Cherry’s restaurant at 540 Hunt Club Rd. in Nepean has closed its doors and turned off its taps due to increased costs and waning foot traffic from customers.

The restaurant, which had been struggling to attract clientele in recent months, simply couldn’t continue to operate with the foot traffic it was getting, according to the manager of the Kanata Don Cherry’s, the only remaining location in the national capital. Two other Cherry’s franchises have closed over the years.

Around 25 people were laid off as a result of the closure.

The restaurant is the latest franchise eatery to close its doors in Ottawa.

In November, Real Sports Bar & Grill closed down in the ByWard Market after customer traffic dropped.

http://ottawacitizen.com/news/local-news/don-cherrys-nepean-restaurant-closes-in-nepean

[kwoldtimer]

Originally Posted by TheGoods

Ottawa retail resurgence in store for 2017

http://www.obj.ca/Local/Retail/2017-01-1...wa-retail-resurgence-in-store-for-2017/1

Interesting rumour in that piece about Simons doing better than Nordstorms. I've been wondering whether either has been living up to expectations?

[phil235]

Originally Posted by kwoldtimer

Interesting rumour in that piece about Simons doing better than Nordstorms. I've been wondering whether either has been living up to expectations?

The article says that Simons is doing better than expected. I'm thinking that their price points may be more palatable to Ottawa tastes.

Simons was really busy over the Christmas shopping season. Good to see.

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by rocketphish

Don Cherry's Nepean restaurant closes

Vito Pilieci, Ottawa Citizen
Published on: January 11, 2017 | Last Updated: January 11, 2017 1:40 PM EST

The Don Cherry’s restaurant at 540 Hunt Club Rd. in Nepean has closed its doors and turned off its taps due to increased costs and waning foot traffic from customers.

The restaurant, which had been struggling to attract clientele in recent months, simply couldn’t continue to operate with the foot traffic it was getting, according to the manager of the Kanata Don Cherry’s, the only remaining location in the national capital. Two other Cherry’s franchises have closed over the years.

Around 25 people were laid off as a result of the closure.

The restaurant is the latest franchise eatery to close its doors in Ottawa.

In November, Real Sports Bar & Grill closed down in the ByWard Market after customer traffic dropped.

http://ottawacitizen.com/news/local-news/don-cherrys-nepean-restaurant-closes-in-nepean

"Lack of foot traffic" at Hunt Club and Merivale. Whoda thunk it?

I actually didn't know the Don Cherry's (Grapevine) chain of sports bars was still in existence.

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by phil235

The article says that Simons is doing better than expected. I'm thinking that their price points may be more palatable to Ottawa tastes.
.

I was thinking the same thing. Simons is more affordable than Nordstrom. My kids and their friends shop at Simons but they don't go to Nordstrom when they go to Rideau. These are not "prime" shopper dollars but they are still dollars that add up.

Would people also say Simons had better name recognition before entering the Ottawa market? Personally, I'd *heard* of Nordstrom, but I'd never heard anyone say that Ottawa needed a Nordstrom.

While I've been hearing for years that this area needed a Simons. (Though mostly from Gatineau people it's true.)

[phil235]

Originally Posted by Acajack

I was thinking the same thing. Simons is more affordable than Nordstrom. My kids and their friends shop at Simons but they don't go to Nordstrom when they go to Rideau. These are not "prime" shopper dollars but they are still dollars that add up.

Would people also say Simons had better name recognition before entering the Ottawa market? Personally, I'd *heard* of Nordstrom, but I'd never heard anyone say that Ottawa needed a Nordstrom.

While I've been hearing for years that this area needed a Simons. (Though mostly from Gatineau people it's true.)

I'm not exactly tuned in to the cutting edge of the retail scene, but I had heard of/shopped at Simons long before it came here. On the other hand, I really had no idea of what kind of store Nordstrom was before it arrived.

[vanatox]

I am very disapointed by Nordstrom. I have never bought anything there. Too expensive, minimal selection for men, nothing special about it. You can find what they sell at many places. I'v been 2-3 times but I don't go anymore.

Simons, on the other end, is my favorite store. But I prefer the one in Gatineau. More convenient for me and I prefer the layout. And the men section is nicer.

I've been to the new Saks Off 5th a few weeks ago... yikes. I will never go back. It seems I might not be the only one, the place was empty when I went there.

[YOWflier]

People who shop or have shopped regularly in the USA will be aware of Nordstrom and what they offer. It's not a pure department store like Simon's or The Bay; it's a collection of mini-boutiques. Potayto/Potahto? Maybe. Either way, I don't put Simon's in the same category as Nordstrom. I lump it in with "The Bay"s of the world. In this region, it's not surprising that a place like Simon's has greater name recognition. Proximity to Quebec and Montreal diaspora alone assures that.

With regards to Ottawa "needing" a Nordstrom. I don't think the "need" is tied to the name of the store in this case, but to the calibre of store itself. And yes, I do believe we "need" this store to fill the generally upper-scale shopping gap it does. This is both for the local market as much as it is for the tourism market.

With that said, I think Nordstrom has a reputation among some/many of being unattainable that is not totally accurate. Sure, you can drop $1500 on a pair of women's shoes there if that's your thing, but they really do have something for all price points, and they have a knack in offering brands that aren't typically available elsewhere. They also put on frequent and excellent sales. Follow them on Twitter/Instagram and you'll be aware of everything going on there.

I'm interested and not totally surprised by the comment that Rideau is expecting several new "first to market" stores in 2017. Guesses?

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by ac888yow

People who shop or have shopped regularly in the USA will be aware of Nordstrom and what they offer. It's not a pure department store like Simon's or The Bay; it's a collection of mini-boutiques. Potayto/Potahto? Maybe.

I actually think you're right. Nordstrom is in a different class of store like Saks, Bloomingdales, etc. that Canada is too small or not rich enough (maybe both) to not have on its own. The U.S. obviously does have the market scale to have chains of large high-end department stores like this, and this sometimes spills over with locations in Canada.

[TheGoods]

Originally Posted by ac888yow

With regards to Ottawa "needing" a Nordstrom. I don't think the "need" is tied to the name of the store in this case, but to the calibre of store itself. And yes, I do believe we "need" this store to fill the generally upper-scale shopping gap it does. This is both for the local market as much as it is for the tourism market.

With that said, I think Nordstrom has a reputation among some/many of being unattainable that is not totally accurate. Sure, you can drop $1500 on a pair of women's shoes there if that's your thing, but they really do have something for all price points, and they have a knack in offering brands that aren't typically available elsewhere. They also put on frequent and excellent sales. Follow them on Twitter/Instagram and you'll be aware of everything going on there.

I'm interested and not totally surprised by the comment that Rideau is expecting several new "first to market" stores in 2017. Guesses?

I agree, there is still a need for a Nordstrom and that is based (my opinion) on having Holt and Renfrew presence in Ottawa for decades. The only reason Holt’s left Ottawa was due to Nordstrom and having such as small and outdated store.

I also agree that not everything is expensive at Nordstrom, they actually sell a lot of the same clothing lines (only basing this on the men section) as Simons and the Hudson’s Bay at Rideau such as G-Star Raw, Diesel, Scotch and Soda to name a few.

As for new to market, I cannot see too many more upscale shops but here’s a list of stores that are popular and have noticed in most of the larger malls in the US, Toronto, Vancouver and Montreal:
• A/X Armani Exchange
• True Religion
• Quicksilver
• Terra Nostra (popular in Quebec and there is one at the Promenade)
• Johnston and Murphy
• Diesel
• Bebe
• Brooks Brothers (have a factory store but they sell very different lignes)
• All Saints
• Mackage (A Canadian outerwear company and I noticed that they have opened stores at Carefour Laval and Yorkdale)

Uniqlo is also expanding but there is not more room left (I think) in the Rideau Centre to accommodate them and they stated that their next market is Vancouver.

[Acajack]

Hollister?

[TheGoods]

Originally Posted by Acajack

Hollister?

Maybe but I think a slim chance since Hollister and its parent company, Abercrombie have been struggling the last few years and have been closing stores instead of expanding, but since they do not have a store in Ottawa, they might consider it. In addition, Montreal doesn’t yet have a Hollister, I would see them getting one before us. In addition, it seems that Hollister and Abercrombie are no longer seen as cool among teams based on what I have been reading, I wouldn’t now since I never been in the store, walked by them but never had the urge to look in.

[rocketphish]

Elgin Sports to close after 70 years of selling sporting goods

Vito Pilieci, Ottawa Citizen
Published on: January 24, 2017 | Last Updated: January 24, 2017 8:40 AM EST

An economic malaise running through the nation’s capital may have claimed another victim.

Elgin Sports, which is located on the corner of Bank and Albert street, has announced plans to close its doors in the coming weeks.

The store, which was founded on Elgin Street in 1946, is holding a liquidation sale to get rid of remaining stock before its lease expires.

It sells everything from sportswear to shoes and equipment for a number of sports.

The store is the latest in a string of Ottawa businesses to announce its closure.

Recent economic data from Statistics Canada and card payment processing giant Moneris Solutions Corp. suggests that, while consumers are spending slightly more than they were a year ago, the increase is largely going towards the higher prices for food, insurance, taxes and other essentials, leaving less to spread around on luxury items.

http://ottawacitizen.com/business/local-...after-70-years-of-selling-sporting-goods