Canadian Retail Thread

[YYCguys]

Originally Posted by JHikka

IKEA to open first store in downtown Toronto

Swedish meatballs and reasonably priced furniture is coming to Toronto.

IKEA will open its first downtown Toronto store at 382 Yonge Street, on the northwest corner of Yonge and Gerrard, located in the AURA building.

The Swedish furniture retailer tells 680 NEWS that the 132,070 square foot store will span two floors and will be a “smaller format urban store – emblematic of our commitment to becoming an increasingly people and planet positive retail concept.”

https://www.680news.com/2021/03/25/i...ada-locations/

I heard that the current retail selection at Aura was/is weak. Is IKEA taking up all of the retail space there? Who’s the leasing agent for the retail portion there?

[Kilgore Trout]

I would be really happy if IKEA opened urban format stores all across Canada. They often have the best price/quality ratio for basic household things like kitchenware, picture frames, doormats, lightbulbs, etc. and yet their business model forces you to make a special trip just to buy something simple.

[JHikka]

Originally Posted by Kilgore Trout

I would be really happy if IKEA opened urban format stores all across Canada. They often have the best price/quality ratio for basic household things like kitchenware, picture frames, doormats, lightbulbs, etc. and yet their business model forces you to make a special trip just to buy something simple.

Yeah, i'm interested to see how this location fares. It'll definitely be a boost to AURA which has been a nightmare for retail since it opened. Much easier than trekking out to Vaughan or elsewhere to visit a fully-fledged location.

[zoomer]

/\ that Victoria Swiss Chalet closed in 2020 - none left now thank goodness.

LL Bean is opening up in Mayfair Mall in Victoria - they have five locations in Canada, all in Ontario so looks like they’ll be expanding with more stores across the country. Good thing as I won’t ever order clothes online, too much hassle with returns, etc.

[Loco101]

Originally Posted by zoomer

/\ that Victoria Swiss Chalet closed in 2020 - none left now thank goodness.

LL Bean is opening up in Mayfair Mall in Victoria - they have five locations in Canada, all in Ontario so looks like they’ll be expanding with more stores across the country. Good thing as I won’t ever order clothes online, too much hassle with returns, etc.

I'm not at all surprised that the restaurant closed if others experienced what I did. Most of the people there seemed to be seniors who were originally from Ontario as I could tell from their conversations.

Haven't heard LL Bean in awhile. It's a brand that isn't big where I live in Northern Ontario but I think is more in tune with BC even though it's from Maine. It's very overpriced in my opinion. I always think of someone I know in Southern Ontario who used to buy so much from that store for the outdoors and camping and drove around in her Subaru as if she was always on some big adventure.

[zoomer]

Originally Posted by Loco101

I'm not at all surprised that the restaurant closed if others experienced what I did. Most of the people there seemed to be seniors who were originally from Ontario as I could tell from their conversations.

Haven't heard LL Bean in awhile. It's a brand that isn't big where I live in Northern Ontario but I think is more in tune with BC even though it's from Maine. It's very overpriced in my opinion. I always think of someone I know in Southern Ontario who used to buy so much from that store for the outdoors and camping and drove around in her Subaru as if she was always on some big adventure.

Haha, yes, that’s a pretty good synopsis of the place, seniors originally from Ontario or the Prairies looking for affordable chicken dinners. Everyone needs a place they get value for money, but clearly it wasn’t even providing that.

Curious to see how LL Bean will do as its image, at least in my mind is linked to those Subaru weekend trips to the cottage in Maine where we’ll discuss Joe Biden’s first 100 days over a couple of craft beers and turn in before 10 pm. So.. not a rugged Canadian outdoor or rainy west coast gear type of place. That being said I’m sure it’ll do well as their clothes look nice enough and outdoor sporting/clothes stores are very popular here.

[MonctonRad]

Originally Posted by zoomer

LL Bean is opening up in Mayfair Mall in Victoria - they have five locations in Canada, all in Ontario so looks like they’ll be expanding with more stores across the country. Good thing as I won’t ever order clothes online, too much hassle with returns, etc.

LL Bean is also opening a store in Halifax this year.

[SpongeG]

Edmonton had loads of Harveys, Grand Prairie has two of them. I passed the Swiss Chalet in Burnaby today and it's still open and going.

The pattys they use seem like those ones you get out of a box in the freezer section.


loblaws.ca

[Denscity]

Originally Posted by SpongeG

Edmonton had loads of Harveys, Grand Prairie has two of them. I passed the Swiss Chalet in Burnaby today and it's still open and going.

The pattys they use seem like those ones you get out of a box in the freezer section.


loblaws.ca

Totally what I thought!

[casper]

Originally Posted by SpongeG

Edmonton had loads of Harveys, Grand Prairie has two of them. I passed the Swiss Chalet in Burnaby today and it's still open and going.

The pattys they use seem like those ones you get out of a box in the freezer section.


loblaws.ca

Yes, that brand of meat matching my impression of Harvey's.

The burger chain that was originally founded by the company that at the time was doing airline catering for Air Canada. Odd, I found airline food better than Harvey's.

I find it odd they are successful in Alberta. There are two thinks Albertans know, petroleum and their beef.

[MonctonRad]

My opinion of Harveys was formed by eating at the one in Fredericton once in the early 1970s

I have never eaten at Harveys again - it has been nearly 50 years.

[Djeffery]

In my middle age I've really turned away from fast food burgers, but as a teen in the 80's, I preferred Harvey's to any of their FF competition. Of course, back then you asked for a burger and you watched them throw your fresh patty on the grill and you waited a couple minutes for it. Now they just use frozen patties and the comparison above to no name burgers is probably not far off reality. Harvey's used to have the best fries, but they are just ordinary now too.

[ToxiK]

Originally Posted by Djeffery

In my middle age I've really turned away from fast food burgers, but as a teen in the 80's, I preferred Harvey's to any of their FF competition. Of course, back then you asked for a burger and you watched them throw your fresh patty on the grill and you waited a couple minutes for it. Now they just use frozen patties and the comparison above to no name burgers is probably not far off reality. Harvey's used to have the best fries, but they are just ordinary now too.

I know. In the 80's, they were my favorite fries but they "improved" them to make them more crispy and since then, they suck. I still like their burgers though.

[north 42]

Construction is starting in Windsor on the 3rd Chick-Fil-A location in Canada, the first outside of the GTA.

Hopefully they keep their bible thumping beliefs on the American side of the border! That usually doesn’t go over well here.

https://windsorite.ca/2021/03/constr...il-a-location/

[jamincan]

Originally Posted by north 42

Construction is starting in Windsor on the 3rd Chick-Fil-A location in Canada, the first outside of the GTA.

Hopefully they keep their bible thumping beliefs on the American side of the border! That usually doesn’t go over well here.

https://windsorite.ca/2021/03/constr...il-a-location/

They seem to be opening quite a few new locations. They announced they would be opening one in Kitchener later this year last month, also claimed to be the third in the country.

[isaidso]

Originally Posted by north 42

Construction is starting in Windsor on the 3rd Chick-Fil-A location in Canada, the first outside of the GTA.

Hopefully they keep their bible thumping beliefs on the American side of the border! That usually doesn’t go over well here.

https://windsorite.ca/2021/03/constr...il-a-location/

Proceeds from the sale of their food goes to organizations that make life a living hell for millions of people right across Africa. Does it make it better that they're brutalizing LGBTQ people instead of Black people, Jews, or women? LGBTQ people in Africa are being found murdered, raped, or imprisoned due to the hate speech those organizations preach. Would you go there if they donated money to the KKK? There's no difference as far as I'm concerned.

People seem to care more about having another fried chicken sandwich option than the lives of these people. Being ignorant about where your money ends up is not a valid excuse. If you go to Chick-Fil-A you're financially supporting all of that. Most people know but just don't care. People really suck sometimes.

[casper]

Originally Posted by isaidso

Proceeds from the sale of their food goes to organizations that make life a living hell for millions of people right across Africa. Does it make it better that they're brutalizing LGBTQ people instead of Black people, Jews, or women? LGBTQ people in Africa are being found murdered, raped, or imprisoned due to the hate speech those organizations preach. Would you go there if they donated money to the KKK? There's no difference as far as I'm concerned.

People seem to care more about having another fried chicken sandwich option than the lives of these people. Being ignorant about where your money ends up is not a valid excuse. If you go to Chick-Fil-A you're financially supporting all of that. Most people know but just don't care. People really suck sometimes.

I had no idea they were funding political activities that are so orthogonal to Canadian values. I have only been to their outlets in Seattle and Atlanta. The chicken was ok. Sounds like their values are inconsistent with Canadian values and they deserve to be run out of town.

I suspect most people who buy their chicken have no idea.

[jamincan]

Originally Posted by isaidso

Proceeds from the sale of their food goes to organizations that make life a living hell for millions of people right across Africa. Does it make it better that they're brutalizing LGBTQ people instead of Black people, Jews, or women? LGBTQ people in Africa are being found murdered, raped, or imprisoned due to the hate speech those organizations preach. Would you go there if they donated money to the KKK? There's no difference as far as I'm concerned.

People seem to care more about having another fried chicken sandwich option than the lives of these people. Being ignorant about where your money ends up is not a valid excuse. If you go to Chick-Fil-A you're financially supporting all of that. Most people know but just don't care. People really suck sometimes.

Do you have more information about this? The latest I had heard was that they had stopped donating to anti-LGBTQ organization a while ago (actually leading to some right-wing wackos boycotting them). I know that they had been criticized for donating to groups like Salvation Army and so forth in the past, but I also don't think they should be punished for past actions if they've made changes, otherwise there really is no incentive for any target of criticism to reform.

[JHikka]

Originally Posted by jamincan

Do you have more information about this? The latest I had heard was that they had stopped donating to anti-LGBTQ organization a while ago (actually leading to some right-wing wackos boycotting them). I know that they had been criticized for donating to groups like Salvation Army and so forth in the past, but I also don't think they should be punished for past actions if they've made changes, otherwise there really is no incentive for any target of criticism to reform.

Last I read Chick-Fil-A was an incredibly religious organization that wouldn't, as one example, hire LGBTQ employees because they didn't align with their values. I know people protested in Toronto when they first opened.

They said they would stop donating to companies that held anti-LGBT positions in 2020.

Originally Posted by casper

I suspect most people who buy their chicken have no idea.

Before and during COVID the Yonge & Bloor location was always lined up out the door and I just assumed the people in line didn't realize they were supporting a company that held discriminatory views.

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by JHikka

Last I read Chick-Fil-A was an incredibly religious organization that wouldn't, as one example, hire LGBTQ employees because they didn't align with their values. I know people protested in Toronto when they first opened.

They said they would stop donating to companies that held anti-LGBT positions in 2020.


Before and during COVID the Yonge & Bloor location was always lined up out the door and I just assumed the people in line didn't realize they were supporting a company that held discriminatory views.

It's hard to keep track of the corporate values of the businesses one frequents for even the best of us (lots of camouflage going on), so most people are largely unaware until all of a sudden a media campaign against company X takes off.

I have a lot of teens and young adults around me and while they're fairly sensitive to such things (one of them even produced a "read the labels" guide on ethical clothes purchases as an international baccalaureate graduation project), I still find them quite unaware of the stuff I sometimes bring up.