Winnipeg Retail

[esquire]

Originally Posted by Riverman

Home Outfitters was a terrific store and Hudson's Bay Home was not.

Was there an actual difference? I thought they just slapped up a different name on the front and carried on with business as usual. (I never went to one after they converted to Hudson's Bay Home)

[Riverman]

Their product line changed and there was far less selection.

[cheswick]

I`m not convinced these closures involve Hudson`s Bay Home. Using the store locator online, Home is considered a Bay store, not a Home Outfitters store. Press release refers to Home Outfitters business.

[CoryB]

Originally Posted by esquire

Was there an actual difference? I thought they just slapped up a different name on the front and carried on with business as usual. (I never went to one after they converted to Hudson's Bay Home)

They definitely added new lines. I think it was things like appliances and BBQs but not totally sure.

[Curmudgeon]

Originally Posted by Riverman

Their product line changed and there was far less selection.

I don't find much of a difference at all, though it does seem that HB Home carries more furniture.

The Bay has to be more competitive with its pricing. Yes, they have really nice clothing and home and bath items but for most items unless you're getting at least 40 or 50% off the prices are too high. Very few people will spend $50 on a designer bath towel even if it is a very good one when you can get quality towels at Costco for $10. As for clothing, similar styles can be found elsewhere or in the U.S. for much, much less. People are price savvy nowadays, in the 80s people used to boast about how much they paid for an item, now everyone is looking for a deal.

As per HBC's own press release it would appear that Winnipeg's three HB Home stores will be unaffected by the closure of Home Outfitters. The company is hemorrhaging money however and may go the way of Eaton's and Sears if things don't change fairly soon.

[michelleb]

Agree about The Bay's home and bath prices being unrealistic.

Still hoping Simons moves into the old Sears location in Polo Park. Wonder how that would impact The Bay, positively or negatively.

[Riverman]

Originally Posted by michelleb

Agree about The Bay's home and bath prices being unrealistic.

Haha been to Bed Bath and Beyond?

[SpongeG]

Retailer to bring Japanese style to St. Vital Centre
By: Bill Redekop


Is Winnipeg ready for a store that offers 50 different designs of chopsticks and other Asian-style products?

Japanese variety chain store Oomomo (pronounced oo-MO-mo) thinks so and is preparing to open in St. Vital Centre later this year.

Oomomo stores are described as high-end "dollar stores" with a Japanese sensibility. They are spotless and beautifully laid out with products typically priced in the $3 range. It promises regular updates with new and trending product from Japan.

St. Vital Centre posted the impending arrival of Oomomo on Facebook on Friday.

"When there’s a first-to-market store, we’re going to go there and plead our case for St. Vital, and we had a space that met the size parameters they were looking for," said St. Vital Shopping Centre manager Kyle Waterman.

It’s a good-sized retail space of about 7,000 square feet. Oomomo means "big peach" in Japanese, a symbol of good blessing.

"Most of our items are imported from Japan. Most are $3, a little expensive compared to (dollar stores) but better quality," said Aoi Doi, supervisor of the Oomomo store in West Edmonton Mall, who is helping launch other stores across the country.

...

https://www.winnipegfreepress.com/bu...503929782.html

[esquire]

Originally Posted by SpongeG

"Most of our items are imported from Japan. Most are $3, a little expensive compared to (dollar stores) but better quality," said Aoi Doi, supervisor of the Oomomo store in West Edmonton Mall, who is helping launch other stores across the country.

Ha... has that person been to Dollarama lately? There isn't much left in there that you can get for a dollar. Anyway, it's interesting to see this trend finally reaching Winnipeg.

Going back to Hudson Bay Home, I was thinking that part of the reason HB Home would remain is because Hudson Bay would otherwise have a very small presence here. Consider that Winnipeg has 3 Bay locations, only 1 of which can be said to be a truly full line, full service location with a full range of home + bath products (Polo Park). By contrast, the Edmonton area has 6 stores.

[CoryB]

Originally Posted by Curmudgeon

As per HBC's own press release it would appear that Winnipeg's three HB Home stores will be unaffected by the closure of Home Outfitters.

I think you are reading too much into things. The name change was only done in Winnipeg and they are very much still part of the Home Outfitters store portfolio.

[rkspec]

Originally Posted by SpongeG

Retailer to bring Japanese style to St. Vital Centre
By: Bill Redekop


Is Winnipeg ready for a store that offers 50 different designs of chopsticks and other Asian-style products?


...

https://www.winnipegfreepress.com/bu...503929782.html

polo was supposed to be the first location, i think it'll do ok. Its like that Asian boutique in the portage place skywalk on steroids.

[michelleb]

Do you mean Oriental Gifts, of anime bootlegging infamy? They moved to the main floor across from Shoppers a few months ago.

From what I've found from researching Oomomo online, they actually import their goods from Japan, which is unusual for Chinese low-cost variety/dollar stores. I certainly hope that's the case and they're not just another Chinese bootleg store like Miniso (knockoff "Japanese" brands) or Mumuso (knockoff "Korean" brands).

[SpongeG]

Its basically Daiso, all the products are from Daiso. Reminds of the smaller Daiso stores they have in Australia. The only "daiso" in Canada is in Richmond and its just way too big. The Oomomo they opened near me is just perfect, great edited selection of goods. Very popular. Everything is $2 unless it has a price tag.

I got a staple-less stapler there for $2. They have them at Muji for like $20. A lot of the stuff is comparable to Muji at a fraction of the price.

The stationary and dishware is very popular.





these are cool


vs Muji

[DavefromSt.Vital]

The Don Mills Oomomo was a huge hit with long lines weeks after it opened. Further information here:

https://torontolife.com/style/shoppi...re-north-york/

[AccordTR]

Originally Posted by SpongeG

Its basically Daiso, all the products are from Daiso. Reminds of the smaller Daiso stores they have in Australia. The only "daiso" in Canada is in Richmond and its just way too big. The Oomomo they opened near me is just perfect, great edited selection of goods. Very popular. Everything is $2 unless it has a price tag.

I got a staple-less stapler there for $2. They have them at Muji for like $20. A lot of the stuff is comparable to Muji at a fraction of the price.

The stationary and dishware is very popular.





these are cool


vs Muji

I was at the one in West Ed Mall right after it opened. It was a pretty cool store. Not huge but had a decent selection of niche stuff.

[SpongeG]

It should be popular. They also carry a lot of Japanese snacks and drinks.


ctvnews.ca

[esquire]

I'm surprised Daiso just opened that one big store in Richmond and that's it.

[CoryB]

Lowes just announced they missed their quarterly financial target citing slower than expected sales in Canada. Wouldn't be surprised is the "store closing" signs are already in the backroom of the Kennaston Rona.

[horrorbro123]

Originally Posted by CoryB

Lowes just announced they missed their quarterly financial target citing slower than expected sales in Canada. Wouldn't be surprised is the "store closing" signs are already in the backroom of the Kennaston Rona.

Looks Like Rona is Leaving Kenaston For Good

[bomberjet]

The Lowes on Reenders seemed to be higher priced than Rona was. I was in there last weekend and some guys were laughing at how overpriced everything was. They said go to Star and pay a fraction of the price. We'll see how things go for them.

They also didn't have some basic items in stock, like 1/2" plywood. Hopefully they don't run into similar issues as Target.