Winnipeg Retail

[biguc]

Would it behove Grant Park to sell off or develop some of the land around the edges of their property? With Mcnally Robinson, the fancy LC, and Landmark making the GP theatre artier in lieu of running Globe, GP seems positioned to redefine itself as a more cultured, urban mall. It's extremely convenient to Osborne and Corydon, and pretty convenient to downtown. It even has a pseudo rapid transit connection in the 66. Their parking lot is under-used and it's a proven popular residential area. More residents would help prop the place up too.

[esquire]

^ Not a bad idea. Demolish Target and put up a few residential towers on the site. Having another thousand people living a few metres away would probably strengthen the rest of the mall.

[Authentic_City]

It's amazing to me that Grant Park has lasted this long as a mall. It's had to reinvent itself several times to stay alive, but it's somehow managed to avoid complete conversion to a small collection of box stores. This could be the death knell though A total reinvention to something more urban or cultured (if that's possible for a mall) might be a way to keep it alive. McNally continues to be a significant cultural hub in this city, so who knows?

[esquire]

Don't forget the cinema too... it's the only mainstream theatre in town (now that the Globe is gone) that consistently shows more high-brow movies.

[rypinion]

Originally Posted by biguc

Their parking lot is under-used and it's a proven popular residential area. More residents would help prop the place up too.

This is exactly what I was thinking - we need more of this.

[Simplicity]

Originally Posted by horrorbro123

Maybe Value Village Will Replace Target In Grant Park

If this is true, please let me know now. I like the idea of Value Village because they serve a real need, but they are best tucked away at the back of a parking lot like the one on Pembina. If a quasi-major-mall in Winnipeg is ever anchored by a Value Village, that'll say more about our city than we need to hear...

[horrorbro123]

Also News Bath & Body Works Is Coming To Kildonan Place

[CoryB]

In terms of retailer sizes here are some approximate numbers I have found:

Target at Kildonan Place is 125,000 sq ft
Marshall's at Polo North is 18,000 sf ft (HomeSense is likely similar)
Forever 21, the largest in Canada at the time, 34,000 sq ft
Cineplex at Kildonan Place is 36,000 sf ft
SilverCity at St Vital is 67,000 sq ft
London Drugs is 32,000 sq ft
Old Navy at St Vital is 19,000 sq ft
Sports Check is 15,000 sq ft
H&M is 25,000 sq ft
Indigo 22,000 sq ft

It is unlikely that Kildonan Place lands someone to take the whole space Target is in. Shuffle the cards above and put a guess forward on what, if anything, moves into the space. Also keep in mind the Future Shop and Value Village across the street are currently vacant which will likely put downward pressure on any lease rates. Also keep in mind a split of the space may lose some of the square footage to common areas. That said, bumping out the Target to the north could be done for the right tenant.

Other fast fashion chains like Zara and Unilqo are likely to enter through Polo Park or St Vital as a second choice.

Southdale could draw a Walmart but I think it is a long shot, splitting that space seems most likely based on their current make-up. Grant Park, who knows for sure but it wouldn't be surprising to see some odd split happen there.

Polo Park is obviously the most marketable and at the same time the most challenging being a purpose built anchor with no direct ground level access. Odds are this one will need to be a new to market entry.

PS: If you think of other stores that are here or say Calgary, that might make sense at Kildonan Place make a post and we can find what the sizing is.

[esquire]

Originally Posted by horrorbro123

Also News Bath & Body Works Is Coming To Kildonan Place

horrorbro has all the inside dirt on the malls... thanks for the scoop!

[Biff]

Originally Posted by CoryB

Also keep in mind the Future Shop and Value Village across the street are currently vacant which will likely put downward pressure on any lease rates.

The former Future Shop space on Regent is currently under construction to become a Michaels.

[CoryB]

Thanks Biff, I did not know that Michaels was moving into the KP area. I almost updated my short list to include them.

That said, Sony announced today it is closing all Canadian stores (none in Winnipeg) and Staples is experiencing declining revenues. Through in the Mexx bankruptcy and the rocky status of Sears and we have one very bleak retail picture. In some ways we are just catching up on what happened in the US about 5-10 years ago where many big box chains (Circuit City, Borders, Linen n Things) that left many big box properties completely abandoned.

[cllew]

Originally Posted by CoryB

Southdale could draw a Walmart but I think it is a long shot, splitting that space seems most likely based on their current make-up. Grant Park, who knows for sure but it wouldn't be surprising to see some odd split happen there.


.

Wasn't Wal-mart suppose to be going in the new development to the east of Southdale on Fermor @ Plessis Rd.

[Riverman]

Originally Posted by CoryB

and the rocky status of Sears

I did a lot of shopping at KP Sears this past season and found it unusually well stocked.

[Simplicity]

Originally Posted by CoryB

Thanks Biff, I did not know that Michaels was moving into the KP area. I almost updated my short list to include them.

That said, Sony announced today it is closing all Canadian stores (none in Winnipeg) and Staples is experiencing declining revenues. Through in the Mexx bankruptcy and the rocky status of Sears and we have one very bleak retail picture. In some ways we are just catching up on what happened in the US about 5-10 years ago where many big box chains (Circuit City, Borders, Linen n Things) that left many big box properties completely abandoned.

I hate to even bring it up, but I'm hoping the Office Depot situation in Madison Square isn't instructive in some capacity. There's really nothing that would have stopped a one-off retailer looking for ~20K sq ft from re-purposing that spot, and yet...

Same goes for the one of Pembina. I can't help but think these examples are a harbinger of where retail is moving. And what do you even do with these spaces? They're best suited to manufacturing if they're not warehousing retail goods but the zoning is out of line.

And just think of companies like Best Buy and Future Shop. They've both been on the ropes only to keep trimming costs to stay relatively profitable. But there are only so many costs you can cut. It's only a matter of time for them too.

[Simplicity]

Originally Posted by Riverman

I did a lot of shopping at KP Sears this past season and found it unusually well stocked.

Especially unusual given the rumors that most of their suppliers had cut thier credit and were making them pay upfront.

I actually think Sears is a decent store, it's just a dying model. Sears is comparatively well-run within the industry, but that's not Stopping JC Penney and others from deep cuts and hundreds of store closings...

Everybody said the same thing this year during their Christmas shopping: the malls were dead, the big boxes were dead. Comparatively, of course. And yet the couriers are handling more packages than ever.

[cllew]

Originally Posted by Simplicity

I hate to even bring it up, but I'm hoping the Office Depot situation in Madison Square isn't instructive in some capacity. There's really nothing that would have stopped a one-off retailer looking for ~20K sq ft from re-purposing that spot, and yet...

Same goes for the one of Pembina. I can't help but think these examples are a harbinger of where retail is moving. And what do you even do with these spaces? They're best suited to manufacturing if they're not warehousing retail goods but the zoning is out of line.

And just think of companies like Best Buy and Future Shop. They've both been on the ropes only to keep trimming costs to stay relatively profitable. But there are only so many costs you can cut. It's only a matter of time for them too.

Office Depot on Pembina is the new new home of Value Lots. Not sure if that is a long term tenant as everything just seems to be dumped all over the place in there

[cllew]

How big would a Lowe's be and would they fit the "Style" of malls that Target is departing in Winnipeg?

[drew]

Originally Posted by cllew

How big would a Lowe's be and would they fit the "Style" of malls that Target is departing in Winnipeg?

If Lowes's comes in, I am sure it won't be long till Rona is finished - leaving us with another run of large, empty big box formats.

Lowes would be better to just wait out Rona, and take over their space.

EDIT: this is just me spit balling, I have no insider knowledge...

[SpongeG]

IKEA announced it will open 10 or more smaller concept stores starting on the west coast by the end of 2015 they plan to have all stores in place...

they say the stores will be in the 37,000 sq ft range and will serve mainly as a place for consumers to pick up items ordered online, does anyone remember the small stores they had in the 80's? they were the same idea, the stores had lots of the smaller home everyday kinda goods and you could order furniture...

put your thinking caps on and see where one could go in winnpeg

as for build a bear workshop - they just closed a bunch of stores (50-60) in the past year, I don't see them opening more stores

[Riverman]

Originally Posted by drew

If Lowes's comes in, I am sure it won't be long till Rona is finished - leaving us with another run of large, empty big box formats.

Lowes would be better to just wait out Rona, and take over their space.

EDIT: this is just me spit balling, I have no insider knowledge...

Lowes is terrible compared to Rona. If they did arrive here the same thing would happen to them as happened to Target.