Canadian Retail Thread

[Djeffery]

Originally Posted by esquire

For instance, the Winnipeg Sea Bears basketball team sells out the lower bowl of the arena but doesn't open up the upper bowl. Why do they turn paying fans away? I can only imagine that it is because they can't find enough people on short notice to staff the upper bowl. I don't think that would have been the case 5 years ago.

Is that a staffing issue or a lease agreement to not open the upper bowl? They probably need a certain level of occupancy to justify the costs of opening the upper level and maybe they might rethink that for next season. The arena staffs the place, and they have no issue opening the upper level for concerts and I'm sure the people working Jets games wouldn't mind more hours in the hockey off season.

[esquire]

^ At one point it was common for entire arenas/stadiums in Canada to be open even if the crowd did not necessitate it. Now you often see entire seating levels tarped off, especially post-pandemic. Perhaps it is just the nature of the lease, but I have to think that staffing plays into it on some level. Sports teams/concert promoters don't typically like to turn paying customers away.

[WhipperSnapper]

Not opening up sections definitely saves money and should increase the value of tickets. The goal with everything is reducing costs to maximize profits than the number of paying customers. It makes total sense that a section will be more profitable the fuller it is. The advantage is it not only reduces unprifitable sections but, adds more people to the profitable sections.


Improved/ improving minimum wage standards may have something to do with the trend.

[cslusarc]

Retail-Insider reports that the Hudson's Bay store at Londonderry S.C. in Edmonton is downsizing and converting to a Clearance Outlet format.

Londonderry Shopping Centre In Edmonton Adding Tenants, Hudson’s Bay Store Downsizing And Remaining Open

And the biggest announcement as of late is the retention of the Hudson’s Bay department store at Londonderry, albeit in a smaller footprint than what has operated for decades in the mall. Hudson’s Bay is downsizing its store from about 118,000 square feet over two floors to about 60,000 square feet on one level, which will become a new outlet concept. The store downsizing will be completed by the beginning of September according to the landlord.

The Hudson’s Bay store will occupy then first level of the shopping centre, creating an opportunity upstairs for the landlord to re-set the mall’s tenant mix with multiple leasing opportunities. New tenants could include retail and services depending on what’s conceptualized and signed.

[SpongeG]

would a Zellers fit in the other floor or is it way too big for their new Zellers concept?

[esquire]

Londonderry always seemed like a somewhat marginal mall... I'm kind of surprised HBC lasted that long in there.

[Djeffery]

Originally Posted by SpongeG

would a Zellers fit in the other floor or is it way too big for their new Zellers concept?

The first group of Zellers I believe were 10k max sq ft, and the more recent ones are much smaller than that I believe. I don't think HBC is ready to go with something either stand alone or quite large at this point.

[cslusarc]

Originally Posted by esquire

Londonderry always seemed like a somewhat marginal mall...

I wonder how La Maison Simons is successful there?

[Wigs]

Originally Posted by Djeffery

The first group of Zellers I believe were 10k max sq ft, and the more recent ones are much smaller than that I believe. I don't think HBC is ready to go with something either stand alone or quite large at this point.

Sounds like they should just build stores that are Giant Tiger sized.

Much easier to expand across Canada without investing in 65,000-100,000 sq ft stores and trying to directly compete with Walmart again.

[Wigs]

Originally Posted by cslusarc

I wonder how La Maison Simons is successful there?

Once a major anchor leaves a shopping mall that's typically the early death knell, unless they find another anchor replacement or subdivide the store into multiple stores that the mall doesn't have.

[cslusarc]

Originally Posted by Wigs

Sounds like they should just build stores that are Giant Tiger sized.

I think HBC should open a fleet of Giant Tiger-sized stores too, including one on Henderson Hwy in Winnipeg – where two O.G. Zellers were located first at Northdale S.C and later in an ex-Kmart at River East Plaza.

[Loco101]

Talking about Giant Tiger, one thing many people where I live have noticed is that their prices for food items are lower than the major grocery chains including the discount ones.

It seems GT hasn't been on the bandwagon of price gouging/fixing. Their food selection is limited compared to a big supermarket but it's worth checking them out for deals and overall better prices.

[esquire]

Originally Posted by cslusarc

I think HBC should open a fleet of Giant Tiger-sized stores too, including one on Henderson Hwy in Winnipeg – where two O.G. Zellers were located first at Northdale S.C and later in an ex-Kmart at River East Plaza.

Do you mean Giant Tiger-sized stores but with HBC-type merchandise? Or a Giant Tiger-sized discount chain like Zellers?

I get the impression that HBC is seriously whittling down the number of Hudson's Bay locations per city. One or two stores for most places, maybe a few for the largest cities, but definitely fewer than there used to be 25 years ago.

For example, between Eaton's, The Bay and Sears, Winnipeg used to have 12 full-line department stores scattered around town by my count. Now it's down to 2.

[cslusarc]

Originally Posted by esquire

Do you mean Giant Tiger-sized stores but with HBC-type merchandise? Or a Giant Tiger-sized discount chain like Zellers?

I mean a Giant Tiger-sized store selling the Anko brand and other Zellers price point merchandise, including Hanes brand underwear/hosiery, Salton brand small appliances, Gerber and Munchkin brand stuff little kids and toys.

[esquire]

Man. I live a stone's throw from St. Vital Centre but I always forget there's a Zellers in there. I should go poke around there sometime.

[Wigs]

Originally Posted by Loco101

Talking about Giant Tiger, one thing many people where I live have noticed is that their prices for food items are lower than the major grocery chains including the discount ones.

It seems GT hasn't been on the bandwagon of price gouging/fixing. Their food selection is limited compared to a big supermarket but it's worth checking them out for deals and overall better prices.

yup. I used to live right near a GT so would check the weekly flyer and occasionally buy some small groceries from there, say tomatoes or mushrooms, a cucumber, celery, or oatmeal/cereal, junk food like chips if it was cheaper. Now I live far enough away that it's not worth using the gasoline to get there.

Food Basics is less than 2km away so that's my main grocery store.
I buy meat from a local butcher, and bread from local bakery. The quality of both is noticeably higher than grocery stores. Bread is slightly pricier, but many people don't realize but you can freeze bread and take out what you need.

[esquire]

When I lived downtown Giant Tiger was my place for "in between" grocery shops when I'd need some milk, bread, fruit, etc. to tide me over. Good selection and reasonably priced. But whenever I bring it up as a counterpoint in the "downtown Winnipeg has no grocery stores" conversations that occasionally pop up, some people act like I'm advocating for grocery shopping at Petro-Canada.

[Wigs]

Originally Posted by esquire

Do you mean Giant Tiger-sized stores but with HBC-type merchandise? Or a Giant Tiger-sized discount chain like Zellers?

I get the impression that HBC is seriously whittling down the number of Hudson's Bay locations per city. One or two stores for most places, maybe a few for the largest cities, but definitely fewer than there used to be 25 years ago.

For example, between Eaton's, The Bay and Sears, Winnipeg used to have 12 full-line department stores scattered around town by my count. Now it's down to 2.

Originally Posted by cslusarc

I mean a Giant Tiger-sized store selling the Anko brand and other Zellers price point merchandise, including Hanes brand underwear/hosiery, Salton brand small appliances, Gerber and Munchkin brand stuff little kids and toys.

It was upsetting when Sears shut down the 2 storey 1960s era store at Pen Centre in St. Catharines (Niagara is a peninsula). Even though I only go once a year, it'll be a sad day if they close the 2 storey Hudson's Bay store. Like Polo Park in Winnipeg, The Pen is one of the oldest large shopping malls in Canada and the largest between Buffalo and Toronto.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_o...alls_in_Canada

cslusarc, we're on the same page. Zellers has the opportunity to fill a niche with some different in-house or contracted brands, and cause GT and Walmart to compete on pricing of certain widely available items. Hopefully it will go better than Target's failed expansion

[Ozabald]

Originally Posted by esquire

When I lived downtown Giant Tiger was my place for "in between" grocery shops when I'd need some milk, bread, fruit, etc. to tide me over. Good selection and reasonably priced. But whenever I bring it up as a counterpoint in the "downtown Winnipeg has no grocery stores" conversations that occasionally pop up, some people act like I'm advocating for grocery shopping at Petro-Canada.

It is quite amusing how people in Winnipeg settle for the lowest common denominator. Every city in Canada promoting D/T living include full-service grocery stores as a key amenity. Except for Winnipeg; where Giant Tiger is considered to be a grocery store.

[le calmar]

Originally Posted by esquire

But whenever I bring it up as a counterpoint in the "downtown Winnipeg has no grocery stores" conversations that occasionally pop up, some people act like I'm advocating for grocery shopping at Petro-Canada.

I used to tell that to the people who would say “Île de Hull” (which includes downtown Gatineau) is a food desert. It was true to some extent, but most of them had no idea GT had a sizeable grocery section with fresh produce and all. They ended up closing that location though.