Canadian Retail Thread

[WhipperSnapper]

Originally Posted by manny_santos

Interesting how common A&W seems to be in smaller communities. For the longest time I remember A&W was very hard to find in some larger cities. In the late 90s in London, there was a standalone location downtown, but other than that it was only found in mall food courts. The downtown location closed in maybe 2001, and for several years it was exclusively a food court restaurant in London. It was maybe around 2005 that standalone A&W restaurants slowly started to appear there.

Could say the same with Tim Hortons 10 plus years ago. Every town had one but, you had to search for it in inner city Toronto. Maybe costs are at play or competition.

[SpongeG]

KFC is usually in small towns, most of them are franchised, i know in high level alberta the one guy owns subway, KFC and A&W

in the vancouver area a lot of KFC locations shut down at the same time as they were one franchise i guess, a couple of them were replaced by KFC with Taco Bell locations in the same area they shut down in different buildings

[Trevor3]

Our first corporate fast food place was Dairy Queen in the late 70s, then KFC in the early 80s, A&W and Mary Browns came in around the same time but DQ closed up shortly after. McDonalds, Subway, Tim Hortons, an Pizza Delight all came in around the same time in 1995 at the expense of A&W, which closed out almost immediately after McD's opened. A&W then opened a new outlet here in 2014.

Newfoundland's KFC outlets were controlled by a single franchisee who let the contracts run out in 2012. She said she wanted to serve families healthier options and opened a chain on "Opey's Diners" in the old KFCs. Each one lasted less than a month and the buildings were sold to a New Brunswick company that bought up the franchise rights to KFC and went right back into the old outlets. That missus made the worst business decision ever.

[manny_santos]

Originally Posted by WhipperSnapper

Could say the same with Tim Hortons 10 plus years ago. Every town had one but, you had to search for it in inner city Toronto. Maybe costs are at play or competition.

I think that was typical of a lot of fast food restaurants historically. The first McDonald's restaurants, in both the U.S. and Canada, were not in downtown areas, but in suburban areas. The first one in London was in what was, at the time, basically the western outskirts of the city.

Tim Hortons to this day has almost no presence in downtown London. When I still lived there, there were two locations, one of which closed daily at 6 pm and the other of which closed at 10 or 11 pm.

[TownGuy]

Hell that's even true in small towns. There are 4 Tim Hortons in Cobourg but none anywhere near downtown. 4 Tims is proportionate to one for every 5000 people in Cobourg, btw, lol.

[srperrycgy]

The fast food "development pattern" where I grew up in SE BC is similar. Fernie didn't have a national chain restaurant until Subway opened in the early 1990s. A&W followed and then Tim's and McDonald's in the 2000s. As a kid, heading to Cranbrook, Lethbridge or Calgary always meant a visit to McDonald's. Tim Horton's had very few restaurants in the west in the 90s. Hell, my hometown of Sparwood just opened a Tim Hortons last year. If it wasn't for highway traffic, it wouldn't have happened. Indeed, I had never had a double double until I went to University in Lethbridge and one of the food outlets carried them.

[MTLskyline]

Ikea: Quebec City getting upgraded from pick-up and order point to a full store.

IKEA Canada Announces Full Size Store in Quebec City
08-09-2016 02:00

[National] Scheduled to open in summer 2018, IKEA Quebec City to be located at intersection of Highway 40 and Highway 540.

BURLINGTON, ON – IKEA Canada is thrilled to make the next stop on its coast-to-coast expansion journey, with the announcement of a full-size store for Quebec City.

Scheduled to open in summer 2018, the IKEA Quebec City store will be the 14th IKEA store in Canada. It will be located at the intersection of rue Mendel and avenue Blaise-Pascal in the Sainte-Foy borough, just south of the intersection of Highway 40 and Highway 540. The store will take roughly 14-16 months to build once the ground has been broken in spring 2017 and will be approximately 340,000 square feet (31,500 metres squared) in size. The store will include a restaurant, Market Hall, Showroom and SMALAND playroom and offer customers a complete range of convenient services including home delivery, assembly, planning and exchanges.

“It was clear from the first day we opened the Pick-up and order point that Quebec City residents are passionate supporters of the IKEA brand,” said IKEA Canada Acting President David McCabe. “We look forward to welcoming many more customers to the new IKEA store when it opens in summer 2018.”

With the opening of the new store, IKEA Canada will contribute approximately 400 direct and indirect jobs in the local community. Each IKEA store typically employs approximately 300 co-workers and the retailer will be looking to hire people who are curious about life at home and have a passion for home furnishings and customer service.

“Thousands of families were dreaming and waiting for this moment. Today, we are all proud to welcome the company to our city, with a full size store. This announcement confirms again the strength of Quebec City’s retail market and our vigorous economy, which has an unemployment rate near 4% -- still the lowest in the country,” said Régis Labeaume, Mayor of Quebec City. “Québec is in competition with the world and again today, a major international company chooses to do business here, in Québec, l'accent D'Amérique.”

The IKEA Quebec City store will be LEED certified when it opens. With a particular focus on energy and waste avoidance, there will be waste management equipment installed to maximize material recycling and diversion from landfill. Additionally, IKEA is pleased to share that every single light source throughout the store will use LED lighting. While the store will operate in a sustainable manner, it will also provide inspiration and solutions that will enable customers to live a more sustainable life at home. For example, visitors will find solutions that will help them reduce and sort waste, save water and energy and encourage healthier living.

IKEA aims to be the leader in life at home and offer its customers inspiring home furnishing solutions. Each new store is designed in a way that will present local home solutions that customers can relate to, are inspirational and are possible to implement in an affordable way. In order to best represent Quebec City customers in the new store, home visits will be conducted during the planning and design process. Home visits allow IKEA to interview people in their homes to get a deep understanding of their needs, dreams and frustrations in and around the home. It is IKEA’s intention with this research not to mirror what people have in their homes today, but to help people live a better everyday life at home and give them new ideas to solve their needs.

In November 2015, IKEA Canada announced a coast-to-coast expansion plan to double its store count from 12 to 24 stores in the next 10 years. The Quebec City store is the second stop on this journey. The retailer announced a new store for Halifax earlier this year.

ABOUT IKEA CANADA
IKEA is a leading home furnishing retailer with 375 stores in more than 50 countries worldwide, which are visited by 884 million people every year. IKEA Canada has 12 stores, an eCommerce virtual store, 6 Pick-up and order points in Quebec City and southern Ontario and two Collection Points in Halifax and Saskatoon. The company also recently announced plans to open stores in Halifax and Quebec City. Last year, IKEA Canada welcomed 25 million visitors to its stores and 75 million visitors to the IKEA.ca website. Founded in 1943, IKEA’s business philosophy is to offer a wide range of products of good design and function at prices so low, the majority of people can afford them. For more information on IKEA, please visit:www.IKEA.ca.

For more information:
Stephanie Kerr
Corporate Press Officer
IKEA Canada
Tel: 905.637.9440 ext. 6378
[email protected]

http://www.ikea.com/ca/en/about_ikea...e_announcement

[MolsonExport]

Originally Posted by manny_santos

I think that was typical of a lot of fast food restaurants historically. The first McDonald's restaurants, in both the U.S. and Canada, were not in downtown areas, but in suburban areas. The first one in London was in what was, at the time, basically the western outskirts of the city.

Tim Hortons to this day has almost no presence in downtown London. When I still lived there, there were two locations, one of which closed daily at 6 pm and the other of which closed at 10 or 11 pm.

by my reckoning there are four Tim Hortons in Downtown London (plus another 4-5 just outside of downtown). DT TH:

• Richmond at Mill St.
• York at Talbot St.
• Dundas at Wellington
• Dundas, quarter block past Richmond

[flipv]

Dior will be replacing the Chanel on Bloor (moving to Yorkville Ave.) and taking up additional space in the back and second floor (previous Japan Foundation space).

New flagship will be over 14,000 sqf.

[Loco101]

Originally Posted by MolsonExport

by my reckoning there are four Tim Hortons in Downtown London (plus another 4-5 just outside of downtown). DT TH:

• Richmond at Mill St.
• York at Talbot St.
• Dundas at Wellington
• Dundas, quarter block past Richmond

Sounds about right. There is one on Horton St. as well just across the train tracks which is pretty much still in downtown.

On the subject of London, ON and retail:

I may be wrong but I think London once had an LCBO outlet with a drive-thru. I'm thinking it was the location on York Street. This would have been about 20-25 years ago. Many things are tested in London and I think the drive-thru existed may have existed for a year or two. Can anybody confirm it?

I know that the Beer Store has proposed drive-thru locations recently but did the LCBO ever have one?

[MolsonExport]

There is still a drive-thru beer store on Wharncliffe near commissioners but the LCBO on York is (now?) a walk-in only.

[casper]

Interesting article on how residents in Northern Ontario are spending more than half their household income on food due to transport costs. Always associated this problem with the territories but it appears to be also an issue in Ontario.


http://www.canadiangrocer.com/top-st...ign=Newsletter

[Loco101]

Originally Posted by casper

Interesting article on how residents in Northern Ontario are spending more than half their household income on food due to transport costs. Always associated this problem with the territories but it appears to be also an issue in Ontario.


http://www.canadiangrocer.com/top-st...ign=Newsletter

Old news to me but I live in Northern Ontario. The Northern Stores (owned by the North West Company) are notorious for taking advantage of being a monopoly in many First Nations. Some high prices are understandable while others are simply gouging. Flying in items always costs A LOT more than having them trucked but the food programs should look at ideas that don't involve Northern.

Another reason why people in the coastal First Nations spend most of their money on food is because many are not working and receiving government assistance. They have their housing and other services paid for by the band which receives funding from INAC. So obviously a high percentage of their money will go to food. Personally, I would never want to live in any of those places. Way too depressing.

[1overcosc]

In many remote Aboriginal communities, especially in the Arctic, a large proportion of the population still hunts and fishes for much of their food, reducing the relative impact of high food prices in these communities.

[caltrane74]

Nordstrom event at Dundas Square last night...

Fashion show and Restaurant.. Might have to flex the Amex there one of these days.

[manny_santos]

Originally Posted by MolsonExport

by my reckoning there are four Tim Hortons in Downtown London (plus another 4-5 just outside of downtown). DT TH:

• Richmond at Mill St.
• York at Talbot St.
• Dundas at Wellington
• Dundas, quarter block past Richmond

Forgot about the one on York. That one at Dundas and Wellington must be new since I left the city.

[yaletown_fella]

Nordstrom looks nice overall but those flourescent tube lights tacked onto the atrium entranceway look so shabby.

[caltrane74]

I think its just my crumby cellphone camera that makes it look like that..

It looks ok in real.

[caltrane74]

Looks like they are installing an LED wall on the Atrium...

Maybe a new retailer coming...

[Acajack]

Maybe I am just getting older, but the Blade Runner look of modern retail areas is getting less and less appealing to me.

There is something about this that I still like a lot: