Canadian Retail Thread

[niwell]

Originally Posted by SpongeG

I wonder how the hudsons bay stores will do in Europe. The renovated stores in the Vancouver area are really nice the non-renovated ones are pretty bad. It kinda sends a mixed signal. The one closest to me is really bad but is closing soon as the whole mall gets a complete redo and expansion so I can forgive that one, but some of them really need some work done to them, there is no consistency or uniform feel to their stores.

I have a feeling HBC will do just fine, but they really do need to renovate some of their locations, particularly suburban ones. Or maybe in some cases straight up get rid of them. I normally shop at the flagship HBC at Yonge and Queen in Toronto which is a gorgeous store with a huge amount of selection. Always seems busy too. At Xmas I went to the Market Mall location in Calgary (an increasingly upscale mall) and it was like night and day. Not only did it look dingy and outdated, but the selection was quite poor in comparison. I have a feeling the Chinook Centre location is quite nice though, probably similar to Yorkdale in Toronto.

[Boris2k7]

Originally Posted by niwell

I have a feeling HBC will do just fine, but they really do need to renovate some of their locations, particularly suburban ones. Or maybe in some cases straight up get rid of them. I normally shop at the flagship HBC at Yonge and Queen in Toronto which is a gorgeous store with a huge amount of selection. Always seems busy too. At Xmas I went to the Market Mall location in Calgary (an increasingly upscale mall) and it was like night and day. Not only did it look dingy and outdated, but the selection was quite poor in comparison. I have a feeling the Chinook Centre location is quite nice though, probably similar to Yorkdale in Toronto.

They've done some work on modernizing the font and unifying some design elements (white font on black banners to indicate brands), but there's still a lot of work to do to compete with other retail outlets. The downtown HBC looks particularly bad when you compare it to La Maison Simons which opened up a block away on Stephen Ave.

[balletomane]

Well I really hope HBC does continue to reinvent itself with the times and doesn't become dated like Eaton's of Sears, HBC is practically inseparable from the "Canadian identity".
I've probably assumed that it was struggling more than it was since I see the downtown Winnipeg location every day (which has closed over half of its floors).

On another note, what will come of all those malls that have Sears as one of their main tenants? Practically every major Canadian mall has a Sears and HBC as their flagship stores. Are there other retailers out there that would be willing to take over a space that size? Sears has about 15 million sq ft of space across Canada, a lot of space to fill.

[MolsonExport]

Originally Posted by eternallyme

Sears is in bankruptcy protection now. Closing 59 stores and 2,500 jobs lost. No real surprise here.

yup. They are on the second word of the sequence: Going, going....gone

http://www.cbc.ca/beta/news/business/sears-canada-ccaa-1.4172736

London first lost the Sears in Masonville Mall,
Then the Sears Outlet in London Mall,
Now the Sears Home Box in South London.

Unce. Tice, Fee times a mady.

pbs

[Marty_Mcfly]

So what you're saying is that now is the time to invest all my earnings into Sears? You know...once they start trading again.....

[Boris2k7]

Originally Posted by balletomane

Well I really hope HBC does continue to reinvent itself with the times and doesn't become dated like Eaton's of Sears, HBC is practically inseparable from the "Canadian identity".
I've probably assumed that it was struggling more than it was since I see the downtown Winnipeg location every day (which has closed over half of its floors).

On another note, what will come of all those malls that have Sears as one of their main tenants? Practically every major Canadian mall has a Sears and HBC as their flagship stores. Are there other retailers out there that would be willing to take over a space that size? Sears has about 15 million sq ft of space across Canada, a lot of space to fill.

Well the one at Chinook Centre was replaced by Nordstrom. Also used to be an old Zellers which was replaced by Target which is supposedly being replaced by Saks Fifth Avenue. Our downtown Sears was replaced by Holt Renfrew. Still a few other Sears locations around town, but I'm sure they can be replaced too.

[balletomane]

Originally Posted by Boris2k7

Well the one at Chinook Centre was replaced by Nordstrom. Also used to be an old Zellers which was replaced by Target which is supposedly being replaced by Saks Fifth Avenue. Our downtown Sears was replaced by Holt Renfrew. Still a few other Sears locations around town, but I'm sure they can be replaced too.

Its probably a lot easier to attract another big retailer to come fill a vacant space in one of those primary malls as opposed to a secondary one. I'm sure Nordstrom, Saks Fifth Avenue or even Simons would contemplate expansion into a former Sears location at a major mall.
Its the secondary malls that could be the issue, they are practically all anchored by a Sears at one end and HBC at the other, and those higher-end retailers likely wouldn't be interested.

[TownGuy]

Originally Posted by balletomane

Its the secondary malls that could be the issue, they are practically all anchored by a Sears at one end and HBC at the other, and those higher-end retailers likely wouldn't be interested.

The Sears at Cobourg's mall closed a couple months ago and is being replaced by a store called Hart. Never heard of them but apparently a Quebec based retailer.

http://www.hartstores.com

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by TownGuy

The Sears at Cobourg's mall closed a couple months ago and is being replaced by a store called Hart. Never heard of them but apparently a Quebec based retailer.

http://www.hartstores.com

Kinda like Giant Tiger. Or Biway back in the day.

[kwoldtimer]

Hart is a new one to me, although I see they have a number of stores in Ontario. From the website, it looks like they might be a half-step "up" from Giant Tiger, and without the grocery offerings. Perhaps the Sears closings will offer additional opportunities for expansion.

[kwoldtimer]

duplicate post.

[Acajack]

Based only on what their stores look like, not sure Hart is a step up from GT.

[kwoldtimer]

I'll take your word for it, as the chances of my schlepping to Arnprior or Buckingham to have a look are at the lower end of slim to nil.

[casper]

Originally Posted by Acajack

Based only on what their stores look like, not sure Hart is a step up from GT.

I don't know. From the website they to look to be a step up from Field's and Giant Tiger but it is hard to say without going into one.

In big cities Giant Tiger comes across as a deep discount clearance type store. However in many small towns stores like Giant Tiger, Field's, Northern are main stream department stores. Not certain why they even try to set up shop in the big cities.

[Taeolas]

Yeah, Hart seems to be filling the Giant Tiger/Biway/Met/Saan/similar low-middle range department store niche, especially in the smaller markets. They set up shop in Woodstock, NB in the old Saan location (even though Woodstock does have a Walmart) and seem to be doing ok.

As mentioned, they probably won't be moving into actual cities much; that seems to be Giant Tiger's focus more than anything.

[SpongeG]

They have been in Vancouver for decades and are very popular, most of them are open 24 hours, I went last sunday at 12:30 am and every table was full and there was a lineup of about a dozen people

Church’s Chicken Embarks on Canada Expansion with Toronto Opening

Scarborough Restaurant Marks First of 25-Location Deal with Franchisee

Atlanta, GA (RestaurantNews.com) Church’s Chicken® has announced the opening of its newest restaurant in Toronto, Canada on June 19. The restaurant is the first in an eight-year deal that will eventually include 25 total restaurants in the Greater Toronto area under the same franchisee, Brothers Social Eatery, Inc. Church’s® is world-renowned for their freshly-prepared original and spicy fried chicken, made-from-scratch honey-butter biscuits, and classic home-style sides.

The first restaurant to open under the agreement is located at 3563 Lawrence Avenue East in Scarborough, Ontario, a suburb of Toronto. The restaurant will feature the company’s new STAR Initiative Design, which includes new interior seating options, new exterior design and color palettes, and contemporary lighting inside and out.

...

http://www.restaurantnews.com/churchs-chicken-embarks-on-canada-expansion-with-toronto-opening/

[MonctonRad]

Originally Posted by balletomane

Its probably a lot easier to attract another big retailer to come fill a vacant space in one of those primary malls as opposed to a secondary one. I'm sure Nordstrom, Saks Fifth Avenue or even Simons would contemplate expansion into a former Sears location at a major mall.
Its the secondary malls that could be the issue, they are practically all anchored by a Sears at one end and HBC at the other, and those higher-end retailers likely wouldn't be interested.

Attracting high end department stores to replace Sears in Atlantic Canada would be next to impossible. The only real exception will be Halifax.

Following this latest set of closures, Sears full line department stores in the Maritimes will be down to Halifax, Moncton, Fredericton, Charlottetown & Sydney.
Full line stores in Bathurst, Saint John, Dartmouth are to close.

The HSC location in Halifax should be able to attract Nordstroms or Simons to replace Sears.
The CF Champlain location in Moncton will likely get HBC (possibly Simon's)
The Regent Mall in Fredericton might get HBC.
The Charlottetown and Sydney locations will likely be out of luck.
I also have no idea what would happen to Saint John - if they're really lucky, they might get HBC, but I'm not holding my breath.

There are many, many secondary malls in smaller cities and towns in the region which have been severely kicked in the nuts by all the retail closures. For example the Amherst Mall in Amherst NS has lost Sears and Zellers with no replacements. Virtually all the other retailers in the mall have vacated as a result. It is truly now a "Dead Mall of Canada". There is a WalMart, a Kent (similar to Home Depot), Superstore and Canadian Tire in the neighbourhood, drawing away customers. Being only a 40 minute drive from Moncton also hasn't helped........

[someone123]

There's been a rumour for a while that Simons is going to open a store in Halifax soon. I think they'd do great there. Nordstrom doesn't seem like a good fit unless they plan to carry less expensive stuff than they do in Vancouver and Toronto.

I think a lot of the old department store places will be left empty or will be redeveloped into something else. There isn't as much demand for that type of space as there was 20 or 30 years ago.

[q12]

IKEA Halifax status via Twitter today (Opening in a few months):

Terry Tomlin‏ @t_tomlin
Happened upon the new #IKEA during today's ride but the meatballs weren't fully cooked yet.
@HalifaxReTales

https://twitter.com/t_tomlin/status/879041263777009664

[SpongeG]

Nordstrom in Vancouver is so unaffordable it's ridiculous, nice to look around but can never afford anything, perhaps the occasional $20 bar of soap.