Canadian Retail Thread

[goodgrowth]

Originally Posted by Taeolas

Well, our main cinema chain is no longer Canadian (was it ever?)

Cineworld To Acquire Canada’s Cineplex In $2.1B Deal, Making Regal North America’s Largest Exhibition Circuit

In the Maritimes, or at least in NB, our cinemas have been languishing forgotten since Empire was bought out. (Moncton's Crystal Palace just got their renovations started when the buy out happened). We've been hoping/expecting to finally get some attention soon; but with this buyout happening, I suspect we'll be even more forgotten now.

CBC Article on the deal

While the chain is UK based, they own the US based Regal Cinemas, and apparently the first priority is to combine Regal and Cineplex.

Of note:



Guess this will be Good-bye Scene. Wonder how Cora Foods will think of that? Maybe they'll buy out Scene and use it as the points cards for their restaurants instead?

Cineplex's name and branding is better than "Regal" imo...hope they keep it.

[SpongeG]

Fashion retailer COS opens largest Canadian store on Robson Street

by Janet Smith on December 17th, 2019




Fashion followers can now access COS's full collection of womenswear, menswear, and kidswear for the first time, as the store opened its largest Canadian store yet on Robson Street today.

Spread out along two sleek, brightly lit floors at 1070 Robson Street, the outlet covers more than 500 square metres. Its first shop here was the smaller outpost that opened in Gastown at 18 Water Street in March of 2017.

...

https://www.straight.com/life/133810...-robson-street

[SpongeG]

Apparel retailer Bench to shutter all Canadian stores

By Paige Ellis

Bench’s Canadian partner says it plans to close all of the clothing brand’s stores in this country, BNN Bloomberg has learned.

Freemark Apparel Brands Group, which has a “strategic partnership” with the streetwear brand, currently operates 24 Bench locations across Canada, according to Bench’s website.

“We are closing our bricks-and-mortar stores to focus more on our e-commerce business as well as our key wholesale customers,” wrote Lawrence Routtenberg, co-president of Freemark Apparel Brands, in an email to BNN Bloomberg Wednesday.

Routtenberg said further details, including when the stores will close and how many employees will be affected, have yet to be finalized.

Bench was founded in the United Kingdom in 1989 as a streetwear brand influenced by skateboarding culture.

...

https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/apparel-...gCySNT2iiixHcg

[zahav]

All Carlton Cards and Papyrus stores closing within weeks
Ryan Flanagan
CTVNews.ca
Published Wednesday, January 22, 2020 11:49AM EST
Last Updated Wednesday, January 22, 2020 2:19PM EST

There are 76 Carlton Cards and Papyrus stores in Canada, all of which are expected to close in the next four to six weeks.

TORONTO -- The owner of greeting card retailers including Carlton Cards and Papyrus is closing all of its stores in North America, including 76 Canadian locations.

Most of the closures will take place over the next four to six weeks, Schurman Retail Group CEO Dominique Schurman told CTVNews.ca in a statement.

Another 178 locations will close in the U.S., bringing the total to 254 stores employing approximately 1,400 people.

Schurman said the closures were a "difficult decision" necessitated by the company being unable to "realign our … stores to fit today's shopping environment."

'The closures will not affect the publishing of Carlton Cards or their sale in other stores. Those aspects of the business are handled by a separate company. The Carlton Cards and Papyrus online stores also remain open, although the Papyrus website has been modified to state that all sales are final.

Going-out-of-business sales are underway at physical stores in both Canada and the U.S. There are 59 Carlton Cards locations and 17 Papyrus outlets in Canada, encompassing all provinces except New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island.

Anyone wishing to continue purchasing Carlton Cards can use the chain's online store locator to find other retailers that sell them.

Carlton Cards and Papyrus are the latest in a seemingly never-ending series of Canadian retail closures. This week alone, fair-trade retailer Ten Thousand Villages announced plans to shutter many of its stores and the owner of apparel store Bench's Canadian operations confirmed to BNN that all 24 locations will be closed. Things Engraved announced earlier this month that it plans to shut all of its stores.

The message that typically accompanies these closures is that even long-tenured chains are having trouble coping with the growth in online shopping, as consumers increasingly opt for convenience over familiar retail brands.

Craig Patterson, founder of industry website Retail Insider, said Wednesday in a telephone interview that he believes the recent announcements from Carlton Cards and others are just the "tip of the iceberg" in what he expects to be a dreadful year for Canadian retail.

"We've seen a real shift about consumer behaviour, and I don't think a lot of retailers have been addressing that," he said.

Patterson said he had recently walked into Carlton Cards and Papyrus stores in downtown Toronto for the first time in many years and found that they were virtually the same as his memories of them.

"A lot of these retailers really haven't changed their retail concepts in the last 10 or 20 years – but society, if you think about it, we've changed a lot," he said.

The Carlton Cards closures will leave Hallmark as the sole remaining dominant player in Canadian greeting card retail. It has 96 stores across the country.

According to market research firm IBISWorld, the Canadian greeting card and other publishing industry, which also includes such items as calendars and postcards, shrank by 4.4 per cent per year between 2014 and 2019.

"Operators in [this] industry have grappled with the advent of paperless substitutes, which have rendered some industry products obsolete," reads an IBISWorld report. The report singles out electronic cards as a growing alternative to the traditional paper offerings; IBISWorld estimates that online greeting card sales in the U.S. rose by 9.3 per cent over the last five years and hit US$714 million in 2019.

The closures will also deal another blow to mid-range shopping malls across Canada. Many chains once ubiquitous in malls outside big cities have gone under in recent years, and replacing them has been a struggle for landlords.

With dozens of additional empty spots about to open up, Patterson said many will likely not be filled.

"New concepts will come in here and there, but there will be vacancies," he said, suggesting that some malls could end up redeveloped or demolished.

https://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/all-ca...eeks-1.4778542

I don't want to be a dinosaur, but I feel bad seeing all of these chains go under. I am not opposed to Amazon or anything but I wish there was a place for both online and in person, it seems bricks and mortar is just really going fast now

[SpongeG]

There are a lot of online companies trying to open Brick N Mortar stores to replace though.

Wayfair, for instance, has opened a store and plans to open more.

Similar to Food Trucks, at least in Vancouver, they open a food truck a few years and then open a permanent location.

[Djeffery]

Originally Posted by SpongeG

Similar to Food Trucks, at least in Vancouver, they open a food truck a few years and then open a permanent location.

One of the food trucks here in London, Shelby's, has spawned several storefronts in the last year. Been amazing to see their growth.

[EspionNoir]

It seems that these retailers are closing their stores because currently they can’t distinguish from online shopping with their uniqueness well and their advantage over buying online. I imagine that it’s now no longer useful for customers to go to a physical store for only gift cards and related stuff.

It’s very likely that for companies like Wayfair, opening physical stores are helpful and necessary. It’s beneficial to go a physical store and find out the actual look, size, materials and comfort of a piece of furniture.

[manny_santos]

Originally Posted by Djeffery

One of the food trucks here in London, Shelby's, has spawned several storefronts in the last year. Been amazing to see their growth.

Whatever happened to all those brick and mortar restaurants that lobbied against food trucks, like Stobie’s? Did any of them go out of business?

[zahav]

Restaurants aren't bricks and mortar retail, there will always be restaurants/cafes etc., I meant actual retail

[Djeffery]

Originally Posted by EspionNoir

It seems that these retailers are closing their stores because currently they can’t distinguish from online shopping with their uniqueness well and their advantage over buying online. I imagine that it’s now no longer useful for customers to go to a physical store for only gift cards and related stuff.

It’s very likely that for companies like Wayfair, opening physical stores are helpful and necessary. It’s beneficial to go a physical store and find out the actual look, size, materials and comfort of a piece of furniture.

In the case of Carlton, greeting cards aren't as popular anymore, and 8 dollar greeting cards are even less popular. There's a Dollarama or similar every other block now and the cards are a buck or so, if you want to buy one. The card stores have diversified into other overpriced gift stuff and it's just not sustainable.

[Djeffery]

Originally Posted by manny_santos

Whatever happened to all those brick and mortar restaurants that lobbied against food trucks, like Stobie’s? Did any of them go out of business?

Stobies is as busy as ever, especially after their Juno's shoutout. I don't remember who else was protesting them. There's been the usual comings and goings of restaurants but I don't think any, like Bull and Barrel or Shoeless Joes can blame food trucks.

[SaskScraper]

Originally Posted by Taeolas

Well, our main cinema chain is no longer Canadian (was it ever?)

Cineworld To Acquire Canada’s Cineplex In $2.1B Deal, Making Regal North America’s Largest Exhibition Circuit

In the Maritimes, or at least in NB, our cinemas have been languishing forgotten since Empire was bought out. (Moncton's Crystal Palace just got their renovations started when the buy out happened). We've been hoping/expecting to finally get some attention soon; but with this buyout happening, I suspect we'll be even more forgotten now.

CBC Article on the deal

While the chain is UK based, they own the US based Regal Cinemas, and apparently the first priority is to combine Regal and Cineplex.

Of note:
"Our immediate post-acquisition objectives will be to combine Cineplex with our U.S. business," Chairman Anthony Bloom said."

Guess this will be Good-bye Scene. Wonder how Cora Foods will think of that? Maybe they'll buy out Scene and use it as the points cards for their restaurants instead?

I wouldn't mind if CineWorld either keeps Cineplex name or switches to UK branding name.

Saskatoon has 5 movie complexes, The Roxy with two screens, Cineplex Odeon, Landmark and Rainbow each with eight screens each in their suburban theatres and the main Scotia Cineplex theatre downtown has 15 screens. They show a combined total of over 150 movie screenings each day, over 200 each on Saturdays and Sundays.
In the age of Netflix, Amazon Prime, Apple TV, Crave, FX, Disney Plus etc, I'm impressed that there is still such a demand for going to movies these days.

[JHikka]

Interesting to see Casper pushing so hard into brick and mortar when there's a definite trend away from it. In hindsight, Bench should have gone the Canada Goose route instead of the Lululemon route.

[isaidso]

Sad to see an industry pioneer like Cineplex getting taken out.

[canucklehead2]

Originally Posted by isaidso

Sad to see an industry pioneer like Cineplex getting taken out.

I'm not for several reasons. Under ONEX in the last few years the company was floundering and fast. Facilities that were once crown jewels were being neglected. How bad and how would I know? I got a severe cut on the bum from a broken seat that ripped through my pants, underwear and a quarter inch of skin. The manager was so inept she didn't even offer me a band-aid. I vowed never to return to that theatre and with the exception of once (my mom and I met for Mother's Day my treat) I never had. Other locations were never cleaned, etc.

Meanwhile at Landmark? VIP leather rocking seats from Palliser are being rolled out in almost every theatre at standard prices. Not even premium. Now like all lazy virtual monopolies threatened by eager rivals they are playing catch up...

Too little too late, unless that movie pass deal gets rolled out fast and cheap! Then? Maybe I'll reconsider...

BTW if you read the fascinating history of Cineplex it's actually the lovechild of every other failed chain in the nation from Canadian Theatres to Odeon to Cineplex to Famous Players to Galaxy, although under its 1980's owners it went into the USA hence why even Americans call them cineplexes... Cool fact!

[canucklehead2]

Originally Posted by zahav

All Carlton Cards and Papyrus stores closing within weeks
Ryan Flanagan
CTVNews.ca
Published Wednesday, January 22, 2020 11:49AM EST
Last Updated Wednesday, January 22, 2020 2:19PM EST

There are 76 Carlton Cards and Papyrus stores in Canada, all of which are expected to close in the next four to six weeks.

TORONTO -- The owner of greeting card retailers including Carlton Cards and Papyrus is closing all of its stores in North America, including 76 Canadian locations.

Most of the closures will take place over the next four to six weeks, Schurman Retail Group CEO Dominique Schurman told CTVNews.ca in a statement.

Another 178 locations will close in the U.S., bringing the total to 254 stores employing approximately 1,400 people.

Schurman said the closures were a "difficult decision" necessitated by the company being unable to "realign our … stores to fit today's shopping environment."

'The closures will not affect the publishing of Carlton Cards or their sale in other stores. Those aspects of the business are handled by a separate company. The Carlton Cards and Papyrus online stores also remain open, although the Papyrus website has been modified to state that all sales are final.

Going-out-of-business sales are underway at physical stores in both Canada and the U.S. There are 59 Carlton Cards locations and 17 Papyrus outlets in Canada, encompassing all provinces except New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island.

Anyone wishing to continue purchasing Carlton Cards can use the chain's online store locator to find other retailers that sell them.

Carlton Cards and Papyrus are the latest in a seemingly never-ending series of Canadian retail closures. This week alone, fair-trade retailer Ten Thousand Villages announced plans to shutter many of its stores and the owner of apparel store Bench's Canadian operations confirmed to BNN that all 24 locations will be closed. Things Engraved announced earlier this month that it plans to shut all of its stores.

The message that typically accompanies these closures is that even long-tenured chains are having trouble coping with the growth in online shopping, as consumers increasingly opt for convenience over familiar retail brands.

Craig Patterson, founder of industry website Retail Insider, said Wednesday in a telephone interview that he believes the recent announcements from Carlton Cards and others are just the "tip of the iceberg" in what he expects to be a dreadful year for Canadian retail.

"We've seen a real shift about consumer behaviour, and I don't think a lot of retailers have been addressing that," he said.

Patterson said he had recently walked into Carlton Cards and Papyrus stores in downtown Toronto for the first time in many years and found that they were virtually the same as his memories of them.

"A lot of these retailers really haven't changed their retail concepts in the last 10 or 20 years – but society, if you think about it, we've changed a lot," he said.

The Carlton Cards closures will leave Hallmark as the sole remaining dominant player in Canadian greeting card retail. It has 96 stores across the country.

According to market research firm IBISWorld, the Canadian greeting card and other publishing industry, which also includes such items as calendars and postcards, shrank by 4.4 per cent per year between 2014 and 2019.

"Operators in [this] industry have grappled with the advent of paperless substitutes, which have rendered some industry products obsolete," reads an IBISWorld report. The report singles out electronic cards as a growing alternative to the traditional paper offerings; IBISWorld estimates that online greeting card sales in the U.S. rose by 9.3 per cent over the last five years and hit US$714 million in 2019.

The closures will also deal another blow to mid-range shopping malls across Canada. Many chains once ubiquitous in malls outside big cities have gone under in recent years, and replacing them has been a struggle for landlords.

With dozens of additional empty spots about to open up, Patterson said many will likely not be filled.

"New concepts will come in here and there, but there will be vacancies," he said, suggesting that some malls could end up redeveloped or demolished.

https://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/all-ca...eeks-1.4778542

I don't want to be a dinosaur, but I feel bad seeing all of these chains go under. I am not opposed to Amazon or anything but I wish there was a place for both online and in person, it seems bricks and mortar is just really going fast now

Not shocked at all by this. Who the hell but a tiny few has the $ to spend $5 on a freakin' gift card never mind any of the thousands of mindless trinkets those stores were based upon...

[WarrenC12]

Originally Posted by canucklehead2

Not shocked at all by this. Who the hell but a tiny few has the $ to spend $5 on a freakin' gift card never mind any of the thousands of mindless trinkets those stores were based upon...

No kidding. The economy and society are more efficient without this crap.

[esquire]

Originally Posted by canucklehead2

Not shocked at all by this. Who the hell but a tiny few has the $ to spend $5 on a freakin' gift card never mind any of the thousands of mindless trinkets those stores were based upon...

The Papyrus cards were closer to a tenner which is koo koo bananas for a card in my books. They wouldn't have made much of a splash with men but a lot of the women I know love them.

I would imagine that a large portion of the greeting card market has been cornered by dollar stores... a place like Dollarama has a nice selection of cards you can buy for a buck or two. If Carlton had kept their prices in check instead of making a basic birthday card six or seven bucks they would probably still be in business.

[isaidso]

Originally Posted by canucklehead2

I'm not for several reasons. Under ONEX in the last few years the company was floundering and fast. Facilities that were once crown jewels were being neglected. How bad and how would I know? I got a severe cut on the bum from a broken seat that ripped through my pants, underwear and a quarter inch of skin. The manager was so inept she didn't even offer me a band-aid. I vowed never to return to that theatre and with the exception of once (my mom and I met for Mother's Day my treat) I never had. Other locations were never cleaned, etc.

Meanwhile at Landmark? VIP leather rocking seats from Palliser are being rolled out in almost every theatre at standard prices. Not even premium. Now like all lazy virtual monopolies threatened by eager rivals they are playing catch up...

Too little too late, unless that movie pass deal gets rolled out fast and cheap! Then? Maybe I'll reconsider...

BTW if you read the fascinating history of Cineplex it's actually the lovechild of every other failed chain in the nation from Canadian Theatres to Odeon to Cineplex to Famous Players to Galaxy, although under its 1980's owners it went into the USA hence why even Americans call them cineplexes... Cool fact!

My comment was more directed at watching a company that was once at the leading edge fall so far. In 1980 Cineplex changed the industry for the better. Now look at them.

[isaidso]

Originally Posted by canucklehead2

Who the hell but a tiny few has the $ to spend $5 on a freakin' gift card

Their main product is cards, not gift cards. Making someone feel wanted, loved, needed, appreciated is a way better use of $5 than a whole laundry list of crap people spend $5 on these days.

Originally Posted by WarrenC12

No kidding. The economy and society are more efficient without this crap.

An e-card might be more efficient but who the hell wants to get one of those when an actual card is 1000 times nicer? It's e-cards that are crap, not to mention a little lazy and thoughtless. The problem with Carlton Cards is the segment of the industry they operate in. Their cards are hideous. Why go to Burger King when you can go to Big Smoke Burger?