Winnipeg Retail

[buzzg]

Originally Posted by wardlow

Yes there was one in the U of W's "Anx" building that closed down maybe a year or so ago. (The Garbonzo's in the Anx also closed and it's all going to be converted to classrooms and offices.... the absolute failure of the "Anx" by its very design is another discussion for another thread, but anyway.)

Yeah, the main purpose of the AnX should have been place in a new building on the surface lot fronting the Rice Parkade on Colony. Not really awkwardly shoehorned in to the confines of the old bus station.

Originally Posted by Laramie45

Two of those Safeways have a Starbucks, so there are two that will likely close and depending on the customer restrictions in Chapters and other grocery stores (Safeway/Sobeys/Save on Foods) over the next year with COVID-19, maybe more of those Starbucks close as well.

Most of those kiosks within other stores are run by the store (Safeway, Chapters) – the 200 closures is only affecting corporate-owned stores.

[Authentic_City]

Originally Posted by buzzg

U of W needed more space in the AnX so the Starbucks and Garbonzos are gone.

The Starbucks and Garbanzo's were not closed because the UW needed space. CanadInns wanted out, and UW practically begged them to stay. They even offered space elsewhere on campus, but they said no. They cited security concerns for their departure from the AnX.

[Jeff]

I guess it's not a bad thing this store never opened here now..

https://www.nj.com/business/2020/06/...worldwide.html

[CoryB]

Still surprised Zara hasn't opened anything in Winnipeg. The fast fashion segment which they belong to is heavily driven on impulse purchases, the kind that are still harder to drive online.

That said a quick search turns on a nearly year old article that both them and H&M were actively looking to trim their brick and mortar networks.

https://fortune.com/2019/08/11/hm-zara-store-closing/

[buzzg]

The thing with Zara and others is that I could still see them opening a location here while closing many others. Most of the closures are going to be where there are multiple locations, with others somewhat nearby that could service the customer base. Winnipeg CMA is like 850,000, would still make sense for them to have 1 store here.

ie: there are 10 Zaras in Manhattan, 3 in downtown Toronto with 2 only a few blocks away.

[CoryB]

Closing stores costs money. You often take write downs on inventory rather than ship it out and might need to pay staff severance and lease buyouts. Opening new stores also costs money as you need to hire for the store and build out a new location.

This means if you are winding down a large number of stores your ability to finance startup of new locations might be heavily constrained.

[buzzg]

Snap Osborne closed too, same ownership group with downtown and north St. Mary's. They had those 3, not sure the status of any other ownership groups here.

[Jeff]

Moore's (owned by Tailored Brands) in going bankrupt next.. four locations in Winnipeg.

https://www.cnn.com/2020/06/14/inves...eat/index.html

[esquire]

^ If they close up shop, there will be very few places left to buy a men's suit in Winnipeg. The Bay, Harry Rosen, Saks Off 5th and then just a bunch of small tailor shops and outsourcing operators like Eph. Are there any mall specialty stores that still sell suits?

[plrh]

Suits are on their way out. The vast majority of men only wear them for weddings and funerals. Many of the people who wear suits daily get them bespoke anyway. I can see a future wear the middle is split. High-end suit shops will continue, but rentals will take over the bottom end; possibly from bridal boutiques. Go to any formal event and see how many poorly fitting jackets are out there. I'm guilty of this too.

[drew]

It's not just the suits though. Moores still supplies for the business casual side of things too.

I use them quite frequently for that.

[CoryB]

Moores Garden City Square (Lelia), Madison Square (Ness near Polo Park), Regent (across from KP), Dakota (across from St Vital Center), Brandon (18th Street).

They could likely drop three of those stores and still be able to cover the local market.

[wags_in_the_peg]

going bankrupt does not always equal closing stores. it protects them from having to pay creditors while they re-structure. in saying that, i wouldnt be surprised. i agree with others that very few a re wearing suits these days. Moore's carries jeans and casual clothes but i dont find it to be great stuff.

[esquire]

Originally Posted by wags_in_the_peg

going bankrupt does not always equal closing stores. it protects them from having to pay creditors while they re-structure.

True, but let's face it... in the retail world, bankruptcy is usually a sign of underlying problems and when there is a bankruptcy, store closures are typically not far behind. The retailers who come out of bankruptcy stronger than before are pretty rare relative to the ones who either shrink or end up going under altogether.

[cheswick]

Originally Posted by esquire

^ If they close up shop, there will be very few places left to buy a men's suit in Winnipeg. The Bay, Harry Rosen, Saks Off 5th and then just a bunch of small tailor shops and outsourcing operators like Eph. Are there any mall specialty stores that still sell suits?

Tip Top Tailors comes to mind

[Curmudgeon]

Originally Posted by plrh

Suits are on their way out. The vast majority of men only wear them for weddings and funerals. Many of the people who wear suits daily get them bespoke anyway. I can see a future wear the middle is split. High-end suit shops will continue, but rentals will take over the bottom end; possibly from bridal boutiques. Go to any formal event and see how many poorly fitting jackets are out there. I'm guilty of this too.

Prior to the 20s every man wore a hat and after a couple decades of slow decline starting after WWII men rapidly ditched their hats, so by the 60s almost none were wearing one. Many believe it was the rapid rise of car ownership that was the reason for that. I see the same occurring for ties and jackets. Business attire today is with a few exceptions in some professions pants and a dress shirt only.

[buzzg]

Didn't Tip Top go through protection and restructuring a few years ago too?

[CoryB]

Originally Posted by wags_in_the_peg

Did I just read someone hoping for Panera Bread at the corner of Higgins & Main? If that is not sarcastic that is the most ridiculous thing i've ever read on this forum.

For those not in the know Starbucks and Panera Bread are widely known for their somewhat relaxed attitudes on how long you stay in their dining rooms as long you are are a "paying" customer. To the extent that Starbucks started the trend of coffee shops putting in accessible plugs and even hard wired USB ports for guests to use. Panera Bread even has large conference style tables in some of the locations I visited.

The result of these customer friendly policies is that people often heavily abuse them with reports that some people show up early in the day and work remotely from the location for four hours or more buying only the smallest amount of items from the retailer, for example a single drip coffee.

This time of voluntarily homelessness would be similar to the shelters around Higgins and Main if that population were mostly younger adults with MacBooks.

[CoryB]

Originally Posted by Biff

"Parent Companies for Jack & Jones, Bootlegger, Cleo, and Ricki's File for Bankruptcy Protection in Canada"

https://www.retail-insider.com/retai...Retailinsider=

It has been brought to my attention that Cormark, the company running Jack&Jones, Bootlegger, Cleo and Ricki's, is actually an operation group of Stern Partners which further owns Warehouse One and Urban Barn.

Warehouse One operates 11 locations in Manitoba and Urban Barn currently has two. It is possible the changes within Cormark could also impact these brands, especially Warehouse One which may do some relocations to vacated mall smalls from Cormark.

[cllew]

Originally Posted by Curmudgeon

Prior to the 20s every man wore a hat and after a couple decades of slow decline starting after WWII men rapidly ditched their hats, so by the 60s almost none were wearing one. Many believe it was the rapid rise of car ownership that was the reason for that. I see the same occurring for ties and jackets. Business attire today is with a few exceptions in some professions pants and a dress shirt only.

I read a while back that the decline in wearing a hat was tied to US President Kennedy. He did not wear one as president and men started to follow his fashion lead. Having to take one off to get in your car also sounds good too as a reason.