Canadian Retail Thread

[caltrane74]

Oops, gotta into a mall posting frenzy there for a second!

lol!

[freeweed]

Originally Posted by manny_santos

Yeah...I shop where I can get the best price. I'm thinking of going to Michigan to do some shopping this summer, where prices are more reasonable for clothing than in Southern Ontario. Last summer I went and, among other things, bought a nice pair of running shoes for $45. Same shoes in London, three times the price. Even at the price of gas on the American side, there are still massive savings.

I'm with you on almost every single consumer product.. except groceries. Grocery shopping to me is all about service (well, the lack of long lines and at least semi-friendly staff), cleanliness, and quality. I can't even set foot in a Stupidstore. I don't care if it was 50% cheaper, I just can't do it.

But for everything else - yeah. The US rocks.

[miketoronto]

I have mixed feelings about the Yorkdale expansion.
Yorkdale is starting to get new stores to the region, when before that would only have happened downtown.
This is now putting downtown Toronto at a loss, as Yorkdale snags the new regional stores, and people just go to Yorkdale instead of coming into the city.
The expansion of the Holt Renfrew is also concerning for this same reason.
If Yorkdale keeps expanding like this and the stores inside them start approaching the size of the downtown stores, than it really is going to make lots of people stop going into the city.
The Holt Renfrew downtown will still be double the size of the new store at Yorkdale.
But still, is this a signal of a shift where downtown is losing it's edge? Why have these new stores not located downtown first, instead of Yorkdale?

Yorkdale is really giving the Eaton Centre a run for it's money now, which is concerning.

[caltrane74]

Originally Posted by miketoronto

I have mixed feelings about the Yorkdale expansion.
Yorkdale is starting to get new stores to the region, when before that would only have happened downtown.
This is now putting downtown Toronto at a loss, as Yorkdale snags the new regional stores, and people just go to Yorkdale instead of coming into the city.
The expansion of the Holt Renfrew is also concerning for this same reason.
If Yorkdale keeps expanding like this and the stores inside them start approaching the size of the downtown stores, than it really is going to make lots of people stop going into the city.
The Holt Renfrew downtown will still be double the size of the new store at Yorkdale.
But still, is this a signal of a shift where downtown is losing it's edge? Why have these new stores not located downtown first, instead of Yorkdale?

Yorkdale is really giving the Eaton Centre a run for it's money now, which is concerning.

Tell that to all the people that you've got to bodycheck to cross the street at Yonge and Dundas or Bloor and Yonge.


EDIT: mike, Yorkdale passed Eaton Centre as the top mall in Toronto like 10 or 15 years ago.

[yaletown_fella]

Originally Posted by manny_santos

I usually shop at No Frills these days. Same products as Loblaws, lower prices. Only thing I don't like buying at No Frills is fresh produce, but I do out of convenience.

I've heard that since the newest No Frills opened on Southdale Road West, the Metro in Byron has had a big drop in traffic. I find Metro generally more expensive, in fact they sometimes charge more for their store brand cola than Coca-Cola or Pepsi.

Metro is rediculously overpriced. I'm proud to use my pass to take the subway from Spadina to Dufferin and walk to the No Frills to save 50 cents on bananas

[yaletown_fella]

Originally Posted by miketoronto

I have mixed feelings about the Yorkdale expansion.
Yorkdale is starting to get new stores to the region, when before that would only have happened downtown.
This is now putting downtown Toronto at a loss, as Yorkdale snags the new regional stores, and people just go to Yorkdale instead of coming into the city.
The expansion of the Holt Renfrew is also concerning for this same reason.
If Yorkdale keeps expanding like this and the stores inside them start approaching the size of the downtown stores, than it really is going to make lots of people stop going into the city.
The Holt Renfrew downtown will still be double the size of the new store at Yorkdale.
But still, is this a signal of a shift where downtown is losing it's edge? Why have these new stores not located downtown first, instead of Yorkdale?

Yorkdale is really giving the Eaton Centre a run for it's money now, which is concerning.

I think the expansion should have been 5x the size. I'd like to see Yorkdale surpass Metrotown. I also hope the flooring in the expansion matches the rest of the mall.
Btw word on the street is Yorkdale has agreed to fund the restoration of the 1960's rainbow colored lights installation in Yorkdale subway station.

[mersar]

Spotted a story tonight that Walmart is going to try a new urban format store in Canada, first in the Toronto area but going to be expanded across Canada including many of the 39 stores they've agreed to buy the leases for from Target. These new 'Urban 90' stores will be about 1/2 the size of the current stores according to the article in the Toronto Star.

[Rusty van Reddick]

That pic of the "yorkdale expansion" from the lifepulse blog (1) isn't at the Yorkdale site and (2) is clearly an early rendering of The Core glass roof in Calgary. Which is gorgeous beyond description, incidentally.

[caltrane74]

That is NOT The Core in Calgary.

That IS YORKDALE. I was just by the TOUS store when I was in Yorkdale last week, does that look like the TOUS Store in Calgary?

[SpongeG]

Walmart Canada signs deal with Target Canada for 39 Zellers locations

MISSISSAUGA, Ont. - Walmart has signed a deal with Target Canada to take over leases at up to 39 stores currently operated by Zellers Inc., the discount retailer Target is acquiring in in its expansion into Canada.

Terms of the transaction, announced Friday, were not disclosed.

Target signed a deal earlier this year to take over up to 220 Zellers locations from Hudson's Bay Co. for more than $1.8 billion.

Target announced the first 105 Zellers locations that it plans to convert to Target stores last month in conjunction with an initial payment.

The U.S.-based retailer is expected to continue to select additional locations before it makes a second payment in the fall.

Zellers locations that Target acquires, but does not convert to its banner, are expected to be leased back to Zellers or potentially other retailers.

For Walmart, Friday's deal could lead to a major expansion of the company in Canada, where it is already the biggest retailer in revenues and this country's third-largest employer, with 85,000 workers.

The Canadian division of Arkansas-based Walmart Stores (NYSE:WMT), the world's biggest retailer, operates 325 stores and has more than one million customers each day.

The Toronto-area company did not identify the Zellers stores it is acquiring from Target but noted that "specific locations will be identified later this fall."

It also did not say whether it plans to convert all 39 stores to Walmart outlets. If it does, such a move would expand the discount chain's Canadian network to 364 stores.

...

http://ca.news.yahoo.com/walmart-can...192858861.html

[SpongeG]

Originally Posted by mersar

Spotted a story tonight that Walmart is going to try a new urban format store in Canada, first in the Toronto area but going to be expanded across Canada including many of the 39 stores they've agreed to buy the leases for from Target. These new 'Urban 90' stores will be about 1/2 the size of the current stores according to the article in the Toronto Star.

we have an urban format walmart in vancouver the only store in the city of vancouver - city wouldn't let em open for years they took over an old costco space and made it a walmart to get past city hall - its not too small but a little smaller than a typical RCSS or even some of the new Canadian Tires but the small format has evferything you need from full groceries to clothes etc. no inside mcdonalds or automative dept.

[whiteford]

sure looks like the core in Calgary to me. what are they going to make an exact copy of the core or what? i sure look like an early core render' as was stated.

[caltrane74]

One of you Calgary boys post a side by side picture of the The Core next to the picture above of YORKDALE.

Btw guys that is not a rendering, that is an actual photo.

[MolsonExport]

I heard that Walmart is going to convert all the non-target Zellers into Woolco's and Miracle Mart.

[artvandelay]

Originally Posted by Rusty van Reddick

That pic of the "yorkdale expansion" from the lifepulse blog (1) isn't at the Yorkdale site and (2) is clearly an early rendering of The Core glass roof in Calgary. Which is gorgeous beyond description, incidentally.

Did you even look at the picture? There's no Home Outfitters or Old Navy at the Core. The design of the skylight at the Core is based off of Yorkdale so that's why it looks similar.

[Rusty van Reddick]

Okay, whatever, not The Core. Sure looks like it is all. And when they did early renders they weren't sure what stores would be in there.

[Wooster]

I believe it was the architect that did the recent Yorkdale expansion that brought the same skylight design to the Core in Calgary. Calgary's is roughly twice the width and about 3 times the length as Yorkdale's section though.

[MolsonExport]

Canadian, eh? Always?

Tim Hortons’ extra-large trouble trouble

Mclean's

On a recent Thursday morning, as thousands of Canadian coffee lovers waited in line for their daily fix of Tim Hortons, the company’s head office unveiled its latest quarterly earnings report. The figures confirmed—yet again—that when your brand is the closest thing to a national religion, filling the collection plate is never a problem.

Total revenue: $639.9 million. Total profit: $94.1 million.

That same morning, Aug. 12, Hortons executives made another lucrative announcement: the company had just sold its 50 per cent stake in Maidstone, the Brantford, Ont., bakery that mass-produces donuts and muffins for every “Tim’s” in the country. Originally launched as a joint venture in 2001, Maidstone now belongs to the Swiss food giant Aryzta AG, which paid a whopping $475 million for Hortons’ half of the operation (and has agreed to continue supplying the chain with fritters and biscuits until at least 2016).

For Tim’s shareholders, the deal is sweeter than a honey dip, as the company promised to pour every penny back into their pockets. For the rest of Hortons’ “shareholders”—those countless loyal customers whose ownership is strictly sentimental—the bottom line is this: your chocolate Timbit, a scrumptious ball of Canadiana, is now produced by a company from Switzerland. And it is still “Always Fresh” (i.e., frozen and reheated).

Tim’s regulars may have a hard time swallowing the news that their maple dip is no longer produced under the Maple Leaf. As national symbols go, a Hortons donut is second only to a Hortons coffee. But Timmy’s selling baked goods from a freezer? That’s standard operating procedure, and has been for quite some time.

Yes, it was certainly a scandal back in 2003, when Hortons co-founder Ron Joyce confirmed the truth: that the company he built (and had recently left) replaced its in-store deep fryers with frozen globs of dough trucked in from a factory. “This is not a philosophy that I would have embraced if I still owned the company,” he famously boasted. One Hortons spokeswoman, convinced that she could stop the unflattering headlines, famously told a reporter that “until I confirm or deny anything, it simply doesn’t exist.”

It did exist, of course. And the backlash was swift. (Joyce’s words were especially damaging. “I’ve tried them,” he said of the new donuts. “And they’re certainly not the same.”) In time, though, most people eventually forgot—or simply stopped caring—where their honey crullers came from. Truth be told, many customers still have no idea that the donuts on display have to be defrosted.

...
read more here: http://www2.macleans.ca/2010/09/07/e...ouble-trouble/

Man, I surely miss the old Tim Horton's with the lunchcounter and the matronly ladies, and the napkin dispensers on each table, and an actual variety of fresh-baked donuts (as opposed to 6 or 7 +whatever is "new" gimmick).

[SpongeG]

haven't enjoyed a tim's donuts in decades - if i am forced to go there i get a boston cream and a diet coke, the rest of the food/beverages are awful

[Coldrsx]

^concur in full. The only thing with taste is a multi-grain with buddah.