Canadian Retail Thread

[Martin Mtl]

That is a stunning success. Cormier has many other such projects in the pipeline for Toronto, including a "cat square" in the west.

Originally Posted by TownGuy

Toronto really does suck at building great public spaces





Source

[WhipperSnapper]

Originally Posted by Martin Mtl

Everyone hates True North's Jardin Windsor. Over at MtlUrb, it is the most hated urban intervention in Montreal for the last few decades. A huge missed opportunity, but back then nothing else was being build in this city. It's actually became a running gag. Hopefully, it will be completely surrounded by better and larger towers (CF's quad Windsor project) and be forgotten.

Thank you. You missed the point but, by the missing the point confirmed that the city is as big a "sellout" to developers as Toronto.

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by WhipperSnapper

That's simply not true as much as you may or may not wish it to be. Can't be certain. You are reasonable but, you do get wrapped up in your agenda.

It's not that revolutionary or scandalous to observe that Toronto and Ontario are more corporatist and Montréal and Québec are more statist, for lack of better terms.

[Martin Mtl]

Originally Posted by WhipperSnapper

Thank you. You missed the point but, by the missing the point confirmed that the city is as big a "sellout" to developers as Toronto.

That's okay dear. I often miss the point of your posts.

[Rico Rommheim]

I must be one of the few people on these boards that can appreciate the objective value of jardins Windsor. It brought thousands of residents (including families) to a former urban rail yard, the architecture is boring but not offensive, and was always understood to eventually be surrounded by other developments, and not to be a beacon.

Anyways the overwhelming feel of ranting and raving and bitching on mtlurb is nauseating. I stopped even visiting that place a while ago. Some of the members there are even worst then the ones here.

[WhipperSnapper]

Originally Posted by Acajack

It's not that revolutionary or scandalous to observe that Toronto and Ontario are more corporatist and Montréal and Québec are more statist, for lack of better terms.

Yeah, it fits the Bay Street stereotype. It's inconsequential should there be any truth to it. There's certainly far more corruption in Montreal and a lot more shaky private/public partnerships. Dundas Square as a microcosm of how the city of Toronto operates is plain nuts.

[kwoldtimer]

One could suffer whiplash just reading that segue.

[WhipperSnapper]

Originally Posted by Rico Rommheim

I must be one of the few people on these boards that can appreciate the objective value of jardins Windsor. It brought thousands of residents (including families) to a former urban rail yard, the architecture is boring but not offensive, and was always understood to eventually be surrounded by other developments, and not to be a beacon.

Anyways the overwhelming feel of ranting and raving and bitching on mtlurb is nauseating. I stopped even visiting that place a while ago. Some of the members there are even worst then the ones here.

The same at UrbanToronto . Cityplace is not deserving of the vile and contempt it receives.

[casper]

Originally Posted by osmo

Amazon wants to replace the postal service and be able to deliver everything to your door. What other reason for Whole Foods aside from they belive they can use WF distribution channels and piggy back to deliver groceries to consumers.

Absolutely, Amazon is a logistics and distribution company. They are not a retailer in the traditional sense.

Whole Foods does not do home delivery today, but I suspect that is what Amazon will want in short order. If they have a reason to deliver to your home every day or two that drives down their costs and makes them more profitable.

Amazon is profitable in the sense that any point in time they could constrain product development and expansion to turn a profit. They just chose to reinvest and grow.

I am surprised more small and independent grocery stores don't adopt platforms such as MightyPlus (www.mightyplus.com) to try and compete with Amazon and Walmart.

[WhipperSnapper]

Technology has certainly changed. That said, Grocery Gateway has to be on the backs of anyone's mind when considering an e commerce grocery store. People want to pick and choose their fresh produce.

In this area, I have notice a huge difference between the average Canadian and average American shoppers. I wonder if there are any stats that compare the percentage of fresh produce that fill Canadian grocery bags to American.

[casper]

Originally Posted by WhipperSnapper

Technology has certainly changed. That said, Grocery Gateway has to be on the backs of anyone's mind when considering an e commerce grocery store. People want to pick and choose their fresh produce.

In this area, I have notice a huge difference between the average Canadian and average American shoppers. I wonder if there are any stats that compare the percentage of fresh produce that fill Canadian grocery bags to American.

Grocery Gateway is basically Longos. They appear to be the only real player in Toronto.

You get over to the West Coast there is far more options and it is a much more competitive market for online groceries. In Vancouver or Victoria you have Fresh St Markets, Stong's, SPUD, Thrifty Foods (Sobeys), Choices Market, Save-On-Foods all doing online ordering and delivery. That is in addition to a host of start-ups.

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by WhipperSnapper

Yeah, it fits the Bay Street stereotype. It's inconsequential should there be any truth to it. There's certainly far more corruption in Montreal and a lot more shaky private/public partnerships. Dundas Square as a microcosm of how the city of Toronto operates is plain nuts.

To invoke a common SSP narrative - this cannot be stated so conclusively.

It may very well be that the simple fact that Quebec has way better investigative journalists than the rest of the country means that more corruption cases are brought to light.

[Loco101]

Originally Posted by Acajack

It's not that revolutionary or scandalous to observe that Toronto and Ontario are more corporatist and Montréal and Québec are more statist, for lack of better terms.

I agree with that. Those differences even exist between Northeastern Ontario and Northwestern Quebec. We really see them in the relationships between governments (provincial and municipal) and mining and forestry companies.

[JHikka]

Originally Posted by Acajack

It may very well be that the simple fact that Quebec has way better investigative journalists than the rest of the country means that more corruption cases are brought to light.

You mean the province where the police will lie to obtain warrants to track these journalists' phones?

Originally Posted by G&M

Ms. Denis was angry during her testimony as she described her discovery in recent weeks that provincial police Lieutenant Patrick Duclos swore in an affidavit in 2014 that he believed she was having an affair with the then-head of an anti-corruption squad, Inspector Denis Morin, to justify a warrant to obtain her private telephone information.

Or the Charbonneau Commission, or other construction related incidents. Either the investigative journalists are really good or there's simply more corruption.

[WhipperSnapper]

Originally Posted by Acajack

To invoke a common SSP narrative - this cannot be stated so conclusively.

It may very well be that the simple fact that Quebec has way better investigative journalists than the rest of the country means that more corruption cases are brought to light.

It would be the case through my business dealings and not the media. True. It's a small world though.

[WhipperSnapper]

Originally Posted by casper

Grocery Gateway is basically Longos. They appear to be the only real player in Toronto.

You get over to the West Coast there is far more options and it is a much more competitive market for online groceries. In Vancouver or Victoria you have Fresh St Markets, Stong's, SPUD, Thrifty Foods (Sobeys), Choices Market, Save-On-Foods all doing online ordering and delivery. That is in addition to a host of start-ups.

Grocery Gateway was purchased by Longos at a severely discount rate. It started out as one of the first virtual grocery websites and attracted millions in investment all across North America to never make a cent. Groceries stores having a delivery service has been around long before the internet.

[Acajack]

Well the Charbonneau commission is the direct result of the work of reporters Alain Gravel and Marie-Maude Denis. So this does not disprove what I said.

Speaking of small words, I know Ms. Denis' father personally. He is a Radio-Canada producer in Ottawa.

[JHikka]

Originally Posted by Acajack

Well the Charbonneau commission is the direct result of the work of reporters Alain Gravel and Marie-Maude Denis. So this does not disprove what I said.

Your argument is literally "If Toronto had better investigative journalists they would have just as much corruption as Montreal". I don't buy it.

[hipster duck]

Originally Posted by WhipperSnapper

Grocery Gateway was purchased by Longos at a severely discount rate. It started out as one of the first virtual grocery websites and attracted millions in investment all across North America to never make a cent. Groceries stores having a delivery service has been around long before the internet.

I do/buy a lot of things online, but I draw the line at food shopping. Food shopping is an experience for me - often the highlight of my Saturday mornings. I don't feel burdened by the need to leave my house - indeed, I live in a tiny condo and I look for every excuse to leave my condo on weekends - and I like the sights and smells of food shopping. It's an experience for me.

Plus, as a Chinese person, I'm adamant about personally selecting the fruits and vegetables that go in my cart, and I'll jostle with the lao tais to pick the right mango, the ripest tomato, the parsley that's browning the least. Nothing is less appealing to me than getting my groceries delivered by a stranger, opening the box, and finding tomatoes that are off white and hard as a tennis ball.

Inconvenience is the new convenience, especially when it comes to food. Perhaps if cooking brings you no joy, and your objective is to just stuff your stomach full of calories you would be a good candidate for online food shopping.

[kwoldtimer]

My corruption is way more corrupt than your corruption, by a corrupt country mile! Although Montreal does seem somehow more ... European in its corruption.