Winnipeg Retail

[buzzg]

Originally Posted by cllew

Unless you have a monthly parking pass you have to pay an attendant at the gate in two of the 3 City Place lots (the one in the 3 & 4th floorks of City Place and the old multi level Eaton's one on Hargrave)

I said parkade, but you can pay online or via the HangTag app at all of those.

[buzzg]

Originally Posted by esquire

It's funny that The Bay's awning is a protected heritage element... the entrances looked far better before they butchered them with the awning in the 50s.

Yeah it's so stupid. It's in bad shape and looks bad and isn't historic. It also shades pretty much the entire sidewalk on the north side all day.

[rrskylar]

Another Ted's No Frills, this one to the former Marketplace location at McIvor Mall!

[cllew]

Originally Posted by buzzg

I said parkade, but you can pay online or via the HangTag app at all of those.

Interesting as I park everyday at City Place and have never seen any signage for those options.

If I see the evening parking manager in the elevator I will have to ask him about those as they may be of interest to the service techs we call in after hours.

[CoryB]

The talk of the heritage status for the Hudson Bay building and the attached parkade has me thinking (and worrying) that their could be a case made that that parkade has its own heritage status. The central ramp that services all floors instead of the cork screw design of most lots is truly unique in Winnipeg. I think the pay booth near the second level is gone but that would be another unique aspect that comes to mind. Also I think if research was done it was one of the first multi level parking structures in Winnipeg. Further I think the local term "parkade" traces it routes back to that very location.

[vjose32]

Was around Polo yesterday and noticed more development going on. What is the pad site they are currently building in front of the former Target?

Also what is going on next to Hockey Life?

[cheswick]

Originally Posted by vjose32

Was around Polo yesterday and noticed more development going on. What is the pad site they are currently building in front of the former Target?

Also what is going on next to Hockey Life?

AS mentioned in the construction thread, pad site near Target could be PF Changs; someone mentioned a while back them building in that area.

Next to Hockey Life is buy buy baby.

[bomberjet]

The baby market is quite underserved. Even more so the maternity selection. Surprisingly to me.

There's some stores around, but not really that much. We have a little one on the way and have been doing some shopping. Limited selection for sure.

[esquire]

^ Department stores used to cover that market well... Zellers/Target, Sears, Eaton's, Woolco were all pretty big players for that sort of thing... Sears in particular was huge. Now it's basically Walmart, Ikea and Babies R Us among mass merchants, and then smaller specialty stores. It does seem like there is room for a little more selection.

And congratulations on the bundle(s) of joy you have en route

[bomberjet]

Thank Esquire!

And yes, that's basically it. Sears is gone. Trying to avoid Walmart like the plague. Also trying to avoid Ikea on that front.

Will need to check into all the regular furniture outlets for a furniture set. We've found literally nothing, nothing, at the places we've been to.

[esquire]

Originally Posted by bomberjet

Thank Esquire!

And yes, that's basically it. Sears is gone. Trying to avoid Walmart like the plague. Also trying to avoid Ikea on that front.

Will need to check into all the regular furniture outlets for a furniture set. We've found literally nothing, nothing, at the places we've been to.

I feel you. I ended up ordering our baby furniture online, I think it was albeebaby.com or some such? and having it all shipped to Pembina, ND. We picked it up on the way home from a road trip to the US so we didn't get hit with any additional costs at the border.

That said, Babies R Us had a pretty decent selection of things. That's probably where we would have gone if we hadn't given up and opted for the online route. I liked Ikea's stuff but my wife did not for some reason!

[vjose32]

Oh yes I remember now hearing about those, thanks.

Would be nice if they could find a use for the vacant land at St James and St Matthews now.

[bomberjet]

I find it odd why the City bought the entire property and demolished it. When they only needed one end of the strip mall. Now they're trying to find people to redevelop. I'm guessing it has to do with some regulations. They could've demo'd only the one end and kept everyone else there.

[CoryB]

Originally Posted by bomberjet

Even more so the maternity selection.

Not an expect on maternity clothing but I know there are for sure two three chains with locations locally and maybe even a third one. Challenge there is the market is far more limited than extended size clothing for either gender. Good luck finding larger sizes or tall sizes for either gender locally. To further compound it even when you get into maternity clothing the customer acquisition costs is crazy v a less specialized clothing retailer as you have a very limited window to find your customer and sell them your product.

I think locally you can find maternity clothing at (edit got some help from Google):

Destination Maternity
Thyme
Motherhood (aka the three chains)
Bump Maternity (on Academy)
BumbleWee (nursing clothing)
Old Navy
Walmart
Marshalls
Winners
Giant Tiger.

[CoryB]

Originally Posted by bomberjet

I find it odd why the City bought the entire property and demolished it. When they only needed one end of the strip mall. Now they're trying to find people to redevelop. I'm guessing it has to do with some regulations. They could've demo'd only the one end and kept everyone else there.

It is likely the same as the rapid transit corridor and Midtown Car Wash. In that case the car wash said the lose of land made their entire business unsustainable so the City ended up buying the entire business. It then sold the business as a going concern to a new owner less the land it needed.

In the case of the former strip mall at St James and St Matthews it likely would have needed an undesirable curb cut too close to the new intersection. Further, it was developed when the rail tracks still existed next to St James so it was pulled fairly far forward. There was also not much worth preserving in the building. There is likely more to be gained when the larger parcel gets redeveloped. Also wasn't there a two story building to the south of the strip mall that was also demolished?

[OTA in Winnipeg]

Originally Posted by CoryB

Not an expect on maternity clothing but I know there are for sure two three chains with locations locally and maybe even a third one. Challenge there is the market is far more limited than extended size clothing for either gender. Good luck finding larger sizes or tall sizes for either gender locally. To further compound it even when you get into maternity clothing the customer acquisition costs is crazy v a less specialized clothing retailer as you have a very limited window to find your customer and sell them your product.

I think locally you can find maternity clothing at (edit got some help from Google):

Destination Maternity
Thyme
Motherhood (aka the three chains)
Bump Maternity (on Academy)
BumbleWee (nursing clothing)
Old Navy
Walmart
Marshalls
Winners
Giant Tiger.

West Coast Kids
https://www.google.ca/maps/place/Kin...!4d-97.1416825

[cheswick]

Originally Posted by CoryB

It is likely the same as the rapid transit corridor and Midtown Car Wash. In that case the car wash said the lose of land made their entire business unsustainable so the City ended up buying the entire business. It then sold the business as a going concern to a new owner less the land it needed.

In the case of the former strip mall at St James and St Matthews it likely would have needed an undesirable curb cut too close to the new intersection. Further, it was developed when the rail tracks still existed next to St James so it was pulled fairly far forward. There was also not much worth preserving in the building. There is likely more to be gained when the larger parcel gets redeveloped. Also wasn't there a two story building to the south of the strip mall that was also demolished?

There were two strip malls there. St Matthews runs roughly in between where the two of them stood. There used to be a third further south that was demolished when they build hockey life.

[bomberjet]

Thanks for the info.

Thyme maternity seems to have shut down some locations. We went to 2 malls and they were non existent. Otherwise we've been to 2/3 of those places. Thing is you go there and they have 1 rack of maternity stuff. And it's all the same stuff.

We've been to destination maternity and it was good. That was my point I guess. There's only a few stores. Otherwise it's shopping whatever they have at Wally world, which I hate. I guess it's a bit of a niche market (maternity mostly) that people only use for a short time in their life.

[bomberjet]

Originally Posted by CoryB

It is likely the same as the rapid transit corridor and Midtown Car Wash. In that case the car wash said the lose of land made their entire business unsustainable so the City ended up buying the entire business. It then sold the business as a going concern to a new owner less the land it needed.

In the case of the former strip mall at St James and St Matthews it likely would have needed an undesirable curb cut too close to the new intersection. Further, it was developed when the rail tracks still existed next to St James so it was pulled fairly far forward. There was also not much worth preserving in the building. There is likely more to be gained when the larger parcel gets redeveloped. Also wasn't there a two story building to the south of the strip mall that was also demolished?

Didn't they sell the car wash back to the same owner, and they profited by like $2 million? I was involved with that project and that was what everyone knew.

I guess it kind of makes sense at St. Matthews. It's just like "we had this business, demo'd it, and now want someone to put up a business."

[borkborkbork]

Originally Posted by bomberjet

Didn't they sell the car wash back to the same owner, and they profited by like $2 million? I was involved with that project and that was what everyone knew.

Who is the 'they' in that sentence? The city came out $2M ahead, or the car wash owner came out $2M ahead?