Winnipeg Retail

[cllew]

I was out with friends last night and we were saying that the Henderson / Bronx might make a good location for a Home Hardware in Winnipeg.

The closest Home Hardware building center is in Selkirk and there are hardware only stores in Stonewall and Lorette.

[cllew]

Madison Square Safeway is 52,000 Sq ft, so its close enough to the 53,000 the other Sobey Extra's come in at if they want to give up some back room space and / or shrink the isle space.

River East Safeway is reported to be just shy of 49,000 sq feet so with some tinkering it may be doable if Sobey's wants to convert it

[buzzg]

Originally Posted by vjose32

I'm fairly certain they lost Mexx, did they not? I did work on the expansion and yes there was a few vacancies when it opened, a couple were filled with holiday shops.

Yeah Mexx and Mexx Kids relocated to the new part and were open about a month before the company went bankrupt.

Originally Posted by dennis

Though, it would be disappointing to see the McDermot Ave. location close. I would love to know if they are succeeding in Winnipeg. I strolled by the one at Polo Park recently and it was empty in an otherwise crowded mall. I also walked by the McDermot store. It was also empty, but there was a huge snow storm at the time.

I'm friends with one of the managers there and she actually says they're far exceeding expectations at the Exchange District location. Their items are so expensive that the sales are very very good. She said the company, unsurprisingly, is also very committed to its image and are willing to give up sales in order to be in cool/trendy areas. They think they're so cool that their employee handbook says "our brand is fucking everything" in it.

So all positives, which to be honest is surprising to me.

Originally Posted by BigG

I need some enlightenment. Maybe someone can help me out? Why does Home Hardware not have a store in the city?

HH only locates in rural/small town areas. Why has always baffled me since they have some really cool exclusive tools and gadgets. Can't even shop online as the shop online feature still requires you to pick up at a store.

[cllew]

Home Hardware is smart by staying away from the larger areas whey they would compete with Home Depot, Rona and Lowes.

[LilZebra]

Originally Posted by buzzg

HH only locates in rural/small town areas. Why has always baffled me since they have some really cool exclusive tools and gadgets. Can't even shop online as the shop online feature still requires you to pick up at a store.

HH has/had some of the BEST tv ads, back 20+ yrs. ago.

I wish they did have urban stores, because I would have shopped there once in a while.

[DavefromSt.Vital]

Actually, Home Hardware has a bunch of stores in the City of Toronto, albeit mostly in areas away from big box stores.

[drew]

I have purchased a few things from HH in Selkirk. They sell things you can't find in other stores. A but if a drive, but not too bad.

[BigG]

Originally Posted by buzzg

HH only locates in rural/small town areas. Why has always baffled me since they have some really cool exclusive tools and gadgets. Can't even shop online as the shop online feature still requires you to pick up at a store.

Yes, I went to their website looking to buy an item but unfortunately, I would have had to pick it up in Lorette. Quite disappointed. I just wish that, maybe they could expand on their online business, i.e. delivery. They have some pretty good stuff that you can't get elsewhere.

[Charleswood]

It will be interesting what role Polo Park will have left 10+ years from now. It is surrounded by or located within 10 minutes of the poorest neighbourhoods in Winnipeg and the richest ones that bring in the majority of their wealthier shoppers will soon have a luxury mall right in their neighbourhood with luxury outlets throughout the mall.

Judging by the lack of interest of the former stadium site, within the Polo Park expansion, and the slow relocation of stores one by one from Polo Park to the Kenaston area; Polo Park and the surrounding area is in decline. Polo Park slowly hollowed out the downtown and store by store relocated to Polo Park or closed downtown altogether and now the new trend is all about Kenaston.

I think Polo Park might hold its own for a while still but it's future depends on how big Seasons of Tuxedo eventually becomes, if it ever turns into a regular mall from an outlet mall; and if St. Vital Centre ever expands to compete as the main mall in Winnipeg. St. Vital has the demographics surrounding it (middle class, upper middle class) and the same demographics 10 minutes away as well. It could easily overtake Polo Park if they built a second floor from Sears to Hudson's Bay. Would make Sears easier to sub divide once they go bankrupt.

[Chad Weswick]

Kit and Ace is here to stay. 96 months from now.

[esquire]

Originally Posted by Charleswood

It will be interesting what role Polo Park will have left 10+ years from now. It is surrounded by or located within 10 minutes of the poorest neighbourhoods in Winnipeg and the richest ones that bring in the majority of their wealthier shoppers will soon have a luxury mall right in their neighbourhood with luxury outlets throughout the mall.

Judging by the lack of interest of the former stadium site, within the Polo Park expansion, and the slow relocation of stores one by one from Polo Park to the Kenaston area; Polo Park and the surrounding area is in decline. Polo Park slowly hollowed out the downtown and store by store relocated to Polo Park or closed downtown altogether and now the new trend is all about Kenaston.

I think Polo Park might hold its own for a while still but it's future depends on how big Seasons of Tuxedo eventually becomes, if it ever turns into a regular mall from an outlet mall; and if St. Vital Centre ever expands to compete as the main mall in Winnipeg. St. Vital has the demographics surrounding it (middle class, upper middle class) and the same demographics 10 minutes away as well. It could easily overtake Polo Park if they built a second floor from Sears to Hudson's Bay. Would make Sears easier to sub divide once they go bankrupt.

Polo Park mall expanded drastically in the 1980s and the surrounding shopping area expanded drastically over the 10 year period beginning around 1998. It can't keep up that pace forever... even though the boom times may be over in terms of rapid growth, I think Polo Park is by virtue of having the biggest mall in town and one of the biggest big-box shopping districts surrounding it, going to remain the dominant shopping node in the city for some time to come.

Even though Polo Park has working class neighbourhoods in three directions, let's not forget that there is a large upper middle class area to the south. And Polo Park is a destination for nearly all of west Winnipeg including some large areas with fairly high disposable income.

To some extent St. Vital is hemmed in too tightly to ever become the number one mall in the city. Even if they added a second floor, it would at best be more or less even with Polo Park. As for Seasons, it will definitely eat some of Polo Park's lunch but it's going after a different customer... Banana Republic outlet customers will go to Seasons, but anyone who wants actual Banana Republic (to name one example) will still have to go to Polo Park.

Bottom line, I think Polo Park will still be king of the shopping heap in Winnipeg for a long time yet. There just hasn't been enough suburban growth to really pose a threat to its top-dog status.

[Urban recluse]

I suspect Polo Park will remain the champion in Winnipeg retail, just as Chinook Centre in Calgary has.

[Urban recluse]

Originally Posted by Charleswood

It will be interesting what role Polo Park will have left 10+ years from now. It is surrounded by or located within 10 minutes of the poorest neighbourhoods in Winnipeg and the richest ones that bring in the majority of their wealthier shoppers will soon have a luxury mall right in their neighbourhood with luxury outlets throughout the mall.

Judging by the lack of interest of the former stadium site, within the Polo Park expansion, and the slow relocation of stores one by one from Polo Park to the Kenaston area; Polo Park and the surrounding area is in decline. Polo Park slowly hollowed out the downtown and store by store relocated to Polo Park or closed downtown altogether and now the new trend is all about Kenaston.

I think Polo Park might hold its own for a while still but it's future depends on how big Seasons of Tuxedo eventually becomes, if it ever turns into a regular mall from an outlet mall; and if St. Vital Centre ever expands to compete as the main mall in Winnipeg. St. Vital has the demographics surrounding it (middle class, upper middle class) and the same demographics 10 minutes away as well. It could easily overtake Polo Park if they built a second floor from Sears to Hudson's Bay. Would make Sears easier to sub divide once they go bankrupt.

Has there been a "lack of interest", or is the public simply not privy to Cadillac Fairview's plans?

[drew]

Originally Posted by esquire

Polo Park mall expanded drastically in the 1980s and the surrounding shopping area expanded drastically over the 10 year period beginning around 1998. It can't keep up that pace forever... even though the boom times may be over in terms of rapid growth, I think Polo Park is by virtue of having the biggest mall in town and one of the biggest big-box shopping districts surrounding it, going to remain the dominant shopping node in the city for some time to come.

Even though Polo Park has working class neighbourhoods in three directions, let's not forget that there is a large upper middle class area to the south. And Polo Park is a destination for nearly all of west Winnipeg including some large areas with fairly high disposable income.

To some extent St. Vital is hemmed in too tightly to ever become the number one mall in the city. Even if they added a second floor, it would at best be more or less even with Polo Park. As for Seasons, it will definitely eat some of Polo Park's lunch but it's going after a different customer... Banana Republic outlet customers will go to Seasons, but anyone who wants actual Banana Republic (to name one example) will still have to go to Polo Park.

Bottom line, I think Polo Park will still be king of the shopping heap in Winnipeg for a long time yet. There just hasn't been enough suburban growth to really pose a threat to its top-dog status.

Any expansion to St. Vital has to come with more parking, so it gets pretty pricey. Either a multi level parkade or underground parking.

Either way, that stipulation may damper any possible expansion to that particular mall, notwithstanding the saturation of retail ongoing in other areas of the city.

[DancingDuck]

Any further expansion to St Vital center will need to come in the form of a second level, it will become too sprawling otherwise... And even then it would have to be done in phases. Or they could just wait and see if Sears folds, and then divide that space

St Vital also lacks the big name stores that Polo Park has (Forever 21, H&M, Apple, Lego, etc). Having a few of those would probably keep a lot of people from making the trip across town to Polo.

In terms of increased parking, I can think of a few locations were a parkade would work: south of Walmart, the corner formed by The Bay and Silver City, or the corner formed by Sears and Walmart

Also (and this is wishful thinking on my part) I'd like to see the transit station moved east in front of Chapters from its current location, and then redevelop that site and the parking lot immediately to the west with 5-6 story condos/apartments

[Wpg transit 163-1]

Originally Posted by DancingDuck

Any further expansion to St Vital center will need to come in the form of a second level, it will become too sprawling otherwise... And even then it would have to be done in phases. Or they could just wait and see if Sears folds, and then divide that space

St Vital also lacks the big name stores that Polo Park has (Forever 21, H&M, Apple, Lego, etc). Having a few of those would probably keep a lot of people from making the trip across town to Polo.

In terms of increased parking, I can think of a few locations were a parkade would work: south of Walmart, the corner formed by The Bay and Silver City, or the corner formed by Sears and Walmart

Also (and this is wishful thinking on my part) I'd like to see the transit station moved east in front of Chapters from its current location, and then redevelop that site and the parking lot immediately to the west with 5-6 story condos/apartments

The problem with moving the bus loop is that transit likes to keep terminals that are in major malls close to the street system to ease the transition on to the street from the bus loops. so if st vital did move the loop they would have to make a new entrance for the buses off meadowood and my buddy at transit has told me they like to have for st vital 2 to 3 entrances to move buses thru the loop.

[Biff]

Originally Posted by drew

Any expansion to St. Vital has to come with more parking, so it gets pretty pricey. Either a multi level parkade or underground parking.

Either way, that stipulation may damper any possible expansion to that particular mall, notwithstanding the saturation of retail ongoing in other areas of the city.

If St Vital has any plans at all for expansion upward, it likely won't be for a while. They just spent millions on new skylights, HVAC and roofing. Drew is correct in that any expansion has to include a parkade structure. I believe they will simply keep refining their space for the next decade.

[Charleswood]

I guess it will be a wait and see approach to how the retail market adjusts to all of the new residential subdivisions currently planned or currently developing. The lions share in the south/south east/south west areas of the city. In Calgary Cadillac Fairview is at war with Ivanhoe Cambridge over their malls. Hence why I said things could get interesting in Winnipeg.

In Calgary the big player in town (or on the edge of town) is Crossiron Mills. They have taken away enough business from The Chinook Centre that the Chinook Centre has to keep expanding and renovating to keep up to it. And to make matters worse a lot of the former outlets stores at Crossiron Mills are now regular locations and the mall has a high end clientele and high end stores to match. That's why I say don't be surprised if the Seasons of Tuxedo converts some of its stores to regular locations in the future.

That is where their target market lives and therefore where they shop. It's like how the cheap seats (Cinema City 8) turned into a first run Odeon movie theatre. The market dictates where the businesses should locate. The owners of these business eventually make the necessary relocations once the targeted demographic reaches a critical mass within the new area.

[Urban recluse]

Calgary retail vs Winnipeg retail = apples and oranges.

[Pinus]

Originally Posted by Urban recluse

Calgary retail vs Winnipeg retail = apples and oranges.

It's funny how you are so gung-ho on comparing developments to Alberta cities yet somehow in this circumstance, magically, we can't compare retail locations. Winnipeg is a large, growing metropolitan area, and there is clearly a demand for more affluent retail in the city, including myself. So I see no reason why, in this situation, we can't use Chinook Centre as an example for how retail locations can formulate here. You have done it yourself in several other posts.