The Metro Vancouver Retail Thread

[Galaxy]

Originally Posted by officedweller

Too bad land is so expensive around South Granville.

Along Fraser Street south of 41st Ave., the City has recently implemented pay parking.
There are linear [business association?] parking lots west of Fraser from 43rd Ave to 49th Ave.
Those are also now pay parking through EasyPark during the day,
BUT they are free after 6pm.


https://www.google.com/maps/place/E+41st...6dbcdf00!8m2!3d49.2329525!4d-123.0904673

John Oliver's Parking lot is also now pay parking also run by EasyPark as well.

[Changing City]

Lowe's have announced the closure of 34 stores early next year. One will be the Surrey (Newton) Rona store.

[cairnstone]

Originally Posted by Changing City

Lowe's have announced the closure of 34 stores early next year. One will be the Surrey (Newton) Rona store.

How many Rona's in the city are corporate owned?

[SpongeG]

The Miniso on Granville street between dunsmuir and pender will be having a grand opening on the weekend as a Marvel X Miniso store.

[officedweller]

Originally Posted by bluefox

If the source who spoke to Retail Insider is accurate, it appears WS is going to treat this as a relocation of sorts with the closure of South Granville and possible replacement with a new location elsewhere.

That makes sense.
That particular retail space on Granville was small and claustrophobic compared to their regular stores.
Agreed that Park Royal, Brentwood and the new Oakridge (esp. with the emphasis on food) make sense.

[SpongeG]

The space they are in, was it apartments before and was converted to retail? I seem to remember it as apartments at street level.

[daverraver]

Originally Posted by bluefox

If the source who spoke to Retail Insider is accurate, it appears WS is going to treat this as a relocation of sorts with the closure of South Granville and possible replacement with a new location elsewhere.

As much as the store was in decline and needs a rescue, the brand still arguably has a cachet. You will not find many people who have a lesser opinion of the brand itself, they just maybe would shop elsewhere now. That gives them an opportunity for a bit of redemption among consumers. I agree it would be a smart move to go to Park Royal, though they missed an opportunity to jump on the double vacancy next to Simons when it was available. That is now taken up by Nespresso and another retailer; however, they could always go in the old J. Crew space and that is prime real estate. I also see potential for a good fit at Brentwood, given the latter's attempt to lure mid-upscale to upscale retailers.

Above all, though, regardless of location, just like any other retailer, WS needs to take the lesson being taught here, which is that you cannot take your customer base for granted. Constantly invest in your stores, your product and your staff and it won't really matter where you're located. The only thing standing your way at that point is rent and that seems to have been the culprit here no matter how poorly the store might have been doing. And their strategy of clustering their brands together in one geographic vicinity is a double whammy when the rent is high.

I spoke with the manager of the Williams Sonoma store recently. Apparently, Williams Sonoma has no plans to exit Vancouver or Canada for that matter (store does well). In fact, they are currently looking for a replacement location.
The reason why they are leaving this location is due to a high increase in rent. Coupled with the fact that they've been wanting a larger space, it didn't make sense for them to renew their current lease at a higher rate. Because they don't have a replacement space at this time, they are closing this one.
I was told that they are eyeing Oakridge,Brentwood and some other spots in Vancouver. He also said that they like to locate in close proximity to other stores within the same company (i.e PB, PB Kids) to reduce shipping costs. It's therefore possible that the others eventually relocate...

[officedweller]

Thanks for the info.
That store did always strike me as sub-optimal.

[djh]

Originally Posted by daverraver

I was told that they are eyeing Oakridge,Brentwood and some other spots in Vancouver. He also said that they like to locate in close proximity to other stores within the same company (i.e PB, PB Kids) to reduce shipping costs. It's therefore possible that the others eventually relocate...

It's bizarre that a street like South Granville is losing major international chains to Oakridge because the rent is cheaper at Oakridge than South Granville. What's wrong with this picture?!

Also as to the comment about all of the holding firms brands wanting to locate in proximity: yes that makes total sense. I saw some comments on here lamenting this decision. No, it's smart. The tenant has much better lease negotiation leverage with the landlord if they can offer to take multiple CRUs for a long-term commitment and build a destination neighbourhood than just have one shop. Many brands do this (e.g., you'll usually see a block with Gap (RIP)/Old Navy/Banana Republic, or an Aritzia/Wilfred/TNA, or Zara/Zara Mens/Massimo Dutti, etc).

[officedweller]

Originally Posted by djh

It's bizarre that a street like South Granville is losing major international chains to Oakridge because the rent is cheaper at Oakridge than South Granville. What's wrong with this picture?!

Maybe not just cheaper, but cheaper for the quality/type of space that you get (high ceiling, open concept)
and the potential walk-by traffic and mall promotions, though aren't malls supposed to be in decline(?)

Relevant article:
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/business...e-mink-mile-hot-in-a-cooling-retail-era/

Originally Posted by Changing City

Lowe's have announced the closure of 34 stores early next year. One will be the Surrey (Newton) Rona store.

That's the only lower mainland location closing according to a list in the National Post:
https://business.financialpost.com/news/...sing-34-underperforming-stores-in-canada

But I guess they closed a bunch of smaller stores when Lowe's took over Rona.

[Tetsuo]

Originally Posted by SpongeG

The Miniso on Granville street between dunsmuir and pender will be having a grand opening on the weekend as a Marvel X Miniso store.

The Miniso on Granville between Robson and Smithe has closed.

RE: Rona/Lowes, I'm still surprised Edmonds/Kingsway is still open, there's the Lowe's SuperBox in Queensborough.

Ron,

[connect2source]

Originally Posted by SpongeG

The space they are in, was it apartments before and was converted to retail? I seem to remember it as apartments at street level.

It was always retail, before it was Williams Sonoma it was Kim John Gift China for decades, as far as I remember, I think they had a another location in Park Royal South too.

[cairnstone]

Originally Posted by Tetsuo

The Miniso on Granville between Robson and Smithe has closed.

RE: Rona/Lowes, I'm still surprised Edmonds/Kingsway is still open, there's the Lowe's SuperBox in Queensborough.

Ron,

And they have a small one in Columbia square

[whatnext]

Originally Posted by Vin

Planners don't have this type of foresight. People don't think. Vancouverites think that street-level retail can provide all our retail needs, but now we can see how terrible this model is, as is evident from what's happening on the ground in recent years.

Makes a lot of sense to have ample parking to allow bigger stuff to be transported away from the stores. I guess planners only expect a granny to carry an armchair to her house up on Strathcona.

This is a dumb comment. All the PB stores on South Granville have lane access right behind the store for pick-ups. Closer than you can get in most malls.

[CanSpice]

Originally Posted by cairnstone

And they have a small one in Columbia square

That one's been closed for a while now.

[cairnstone]

Originally Posted by CanSpice

That one's been closed for a while now.

I guess that was about the last time I was in it. Never could figure out why they built one there as there and it never really had anything in it besides flier stuff

[whatnext]

Originally Posted by djh

It's bizarre that a street like South Granville is losing major international chains to Oakridge because the rent is cheaper at Oakridge than South Granville. What's wrong with this picture?!

Also as to the comment about all of the holding firms brands wanting to locate in proximity: yes that makes total sense. I saw some comments on here lamenting this decision. No, it's smart. The tenant has much better lease negotiation leverage with the landlord if they can offer to take multiple CRUs for a long-term commitment and build a destination neighbourhood than just have one shop. Many brands do this (e.g., you'll usually see a block with Gap (RIP)/Old Navy/Banana Republic, or an Aritzia/Wilfred/TNA, or Zara/Zara Mens/Massimo Dutti, etc).

Accrding to the articles on South Granville, the problem is largely offshore owners with properties run by their spoiled children. Apparently they delusionally think they can get HK rents in Vancouver.

[bluefox]

Finally some activity in the old Lululemon/Maynards liquidation space on W 4th; it is getting some sort of renovation or tenant improvement. Windows are papered up with an asbestos removal warning. Lovely.

But it's a big space and with the empty retail next to it the whole block has needed some TLC for a while. Wasn't there supposed to be a redevelopment mid-block?

[cairnstone]

hope it gets demo and something else is built. That store is rough inside

[Vin]

Originally Posted by whatnext

This is a dumb comment. All the PB stores on South Granville have lane access right behind the store for pick-ups. Closer than you can get in most malls.

Yeah, if you decide to break City street bylaws and park in the laneways. Nice try. But I don't know, you could be an alley rat or something, but most shoppers don't want to go there. People want more pleasant shopping experiences.