Winnipeg Retail

[SpongeG]

Originally Posted by Wpg_Guy

Uniqlo is going in the Bay wing they have combined 7 units for them, some stores closed indefinitely and other were relocated.

That sounds pretty big, maybe a flagship status? Vancouver has a few Uniqlo stores but none of them are flagships, the Coquitlam store went into a former Old Navy store, it's pretty packed and offers a lot of clothes but doesn't get the fancy collaborations like the bigger stores do. The Richmond store is really small and can be hard to navigate because the aisles are so tight; it's maybe the size of a Gap store or slightly smaller. The biggest store is in Burnaby and it's two levels but not considered a flagship, City of Vancouver doesn't have a store.

Flagship stores will have a red ticker thing in them and carry the full collections.




I had a question, when Holt Renfrew had a store in Winnipeg where was it located?

[trueviking]

It was on Portage Avenue for 105 years. From 1910 in the three storey white Terra cotta building on the south side. Warehouse One moved in later. Now empty. When Portage Place was built they moved in there and took the big space north of the fountain on the second floor. Eventually became a Holt outlet that closed in 2015.

[SpongeG]

ok thanks.

[CoryB]

Originally Posted by trueviking

It was on Portage Avenue for 105 years. From 1910 in the three storey white Terra cotta building on the south side. Warehouse One moved in later. Now empty. When Portage Place was built they moved in there and took the big space north of the fountain on the second floor. Eventually became a Holt outlet that closed in 2015.

In fairness to Holt and the Weston family, when the full line Holt store closed in Winnipeg they did continue to maintain a cosmetic counter and personal shopping service for some time. I believe the personal shopping service would meet with customers and then bring in items they may be interested in from other cities.

Based on the lack of support for both Holt and its outlet store in Winnipeg it is questionable if they will ever reopen here.

[trueviking]

^ oh for sure. Sadly. There is no market for Holts in Winnipeg anymore.

[cllew]

what retailer in Winnipeg has replaced Holt's as the high end quality retailer of women's clothing?

Or do the people that buy that level of clothing go to Toronto /Calgary /Vancouver to pick them out?

[Ozabald]

Originally Posted by cllew

what retailer in Winnipeg has replaced Holt's as the high end quality retailer of women's clothing?

Or do the people that buy that level of clothing go to Toronto /Calgary /Vancouver to pick them out?

Holt's has downsized their physical footprint to three stores in the Toronto market and one each in Montreal, Calgary and Vancouver. On-line shopping likely for folks who do not live close to a Holts store.

[trueviking]

Holts is men’s too. Replaced in Winnipeg by Mark’s Work Warehouse.

[cllew]

Is Handford Drewit still around? I think at one time they were a high end mens clothing store somewhere on Broadway.

Mark's sure changed their clothing lineup after they were acquired by Canadian Tire. They moved to more business casual and less work ware like heavy duty Parka's, gloves etc.

They were good for me though as I was in dress casual for years before I retired and I would damage some type of clothing at least once a month at work, and at Mark's prices I didn't mind as much if I had to replace a shirt or pants.

[cllew]

Originally Posted by trueviking

It was on Portage Avenue for 105 years. From 1910 in the three storey white Terra cotta building on the south side. Warehouse One moved in later. Now empty. When Portage Place was built they moved in there and took the big space north of the fountain on the second floor. Eventually became a Holt outlet that closed in 2015.

I have not been downtown in the skywalk system since I retired nearly two years ago but doesn't Crosier Kilgour have their offices in the Holt Renfrew building or were they the ones who moved into City Place when MPI downsized their office space after COVID?

[BAKGUY]

Originally Posted by trueviking

It was on Portage Avenue for 105 years. From 1910 in the three storey white Terra cotta building on the south side. Warehouse One moved in later. Now empty. When Portage Place was built they moved in there and took the big space north of the fountain on the second floor. Eventually became a Holt outlet that closed in 2015.

Before they were located on Portage Ave, I recently learned Holt-Renfrew was on Main STreet near Portage ave first for a few short Years. It might have been the Mcintyre block or very near there.

[cheswick]

Looks like Freshco is opening in the long vacant former Sobeys on Keewatin

[Wpg_Guy]

Originally Posted by cheswick

Looks like Freshco is opening in the long vacant former Sobeys on Keewatin

Yes a the FreshCo indeed.

Plan Approval & Submitted Plans – 1870 Burrows Avenue

[Mr Tall Forehead]

Originally Posted by cheswick

Looks like Freshco is opening in the long vacant former Sobeys on Keewatin

https://news.gov.mb.ca/news/?item=71917

I wonder if the province removing grocery store restrictive covenants last year finally made it possible for another grocer to move in?

[cheswick]

Originally Posted by Mr Tall Forehead

https://news.gov.mb.ca/news/?item=71917

I wonder if the province removing grocery store restrictive covenants last year finally made it possible for another grocer to move in?

Don’t think that’s the case here because Sobeys owns both Safeway and fresh o brands. I believe they own the building that’s been sitting vacant for almost a decade too.

[Sheepish]

Hanford Drewitt is still very much on Broadway, and is still an excellent men's store.

[Mr Tall Forehead]

Originally Posted by cheswick

Don’t think that’s the case here because Sobeys owns both Safeway and fresh o brands. I believe they own the building that’s been sitting vacant for almost a decade too.

Gotcha. Thanks.

[cllew]

Originally Posted by cheswick

Don’t think that’s the case here because Sobeys owns both Safeway and fresh o brands. I believe they own the building that’s been sitting vacant for almost a decade too.

Sobey's is leasing that location from a developer called Lanstar Development.
All the owned locations can be found on the Crombie Reit web site. Crombie is the REIT that Sobey's parent owns for the purpose of owning some of the store locations.

It's like the former Safeway on Henderson @ Bronx that became a FreshCo, Sobeys let the building go dark for a few years before rebranding.

But in that case it was a Sobey's owned location so it only cost them property taxes, heating costs, and a quick snow clearing on the lot as required to allow fire dept access to the front of the store.

The owner of Family Fare in Winnipeg was interested in buying/leasing that location but Sobey's did not want to sell as it would impact the their two stores (Sobey's Northdale and Safeway River East) to the north on Henderson Highway

There was probably a section in the lease allowing Sobey's to pay rent to Landstar Development under a "go dark" agreement. Bigger retailers try to insert go dark clauses in their rental contracts to keep competitors out if they close their stores.

Off the top of my head I can think of two other Winnipeg locations where Sobey's has two of their brands very close to each other:

1) McGillavery and RTE 90 (Safeway and Sobey's)
2 Panet Rd south of Nairn (FreshCo and Sobey's)

[cllew]

According to reports about today's state of the city speech, the Mayor is saying that 7/11 is looking at opening a few new locations in Winnipeg. I wonder what area's of Winnipeg they would be looking at?

[WinCitySparky]

After they closed down like 10 what a joke. Shop local owned convenience stores people!