General Retail News

[canabiz]

Costco going to Shoppers City East in 2017

http://www.obj.ca/Local/Retail/2015-...7%3A-sources/1



Warehouse retailer Costco will close its current Gloucester store and move to a much larger location at Shoppers City East on Ogilvie Road early in 2017, OBJ has learned.

© Google Street View

Costco will be moving its Gloucester location to Shoppers City East.

Costco’s 100,000-square-foot store near the corner of Cyrville and Innes roads is too small and lacks adequate parking, a real estate source said Monday after confirming the retail giant will become the lead tenant in the redevelopment of the aging strip mall just east of Blair Road.

With no room to expand at its current east-end location, Costco had no choice but to look for a new home, retail experts say.

“The major problem is they do not have enough parking,” said Barry Nabatian, director of market research at Shore Tanner & Associates. “No matter where you go there, parking is awful.”

The Gloucester location is the best sales performer of the chain’s four stores in the Ottawa-Gatineau region, Mr. Nabatian said.

“If they could expand where they are, it would be better for them,” he said. “There are many, many destination type of retailers like the Home Depot … and all kinds of other very large box type of stores. As a result, that area is extremely busy and any business that’s there has tremendous exposure – much more than Shoppers City East.”

But that shouldn’t be much of an issue for a retailer as popular as Costco, he added.

“You decide to go there,” he said. “Nine out of 10 people have made a list to specifically go to Costco.”

Officials at Costco and Trinity Development Group, which owns Shoppers City East, were unavailable for comment on Monday afternoon. But Trinity’s redevelopment plan for the mall lists a proposed “warehouse club” as a major tenant.

Costco is likely is going to want 140,000 to 150,000 square feet of space at the new location, Mr. Nabatian said, a significant chunk of the 209,000 square feet available at Shoppers City East. That means some current retailers will likely be forced out, but the remaining stores “will significantly benefit from Costco,” he said. “It will be a boon for them.”

Shoppers Drug Mart, the Beer Store and Panera Bread are the other major tenants listed in Trinity’s development plan.

While a big-box tenant such as Costco provides a stable anchor for a strip mall, such retailers generally pay far less rent than smaller stores, Mr. Nabatian added – often as little as $9 or $10 per square foot compared with $20 and up for smaller retailers.

“Having these huge stores is beneficial only if you have lots of other smaller stores that can benefit from the large store, and therefore you can charge them higher rent to compensate for (lower rent at) the large store,” he said.

Costco Canada operates 89 stores in nine provinces. The chain’s Ottawa-based Canadian operations generated more than $17 billion in revenue in 2014.

[phil235]

The old Tommy and Lefebvre on Bank Street seems to be in the process of being sub-divided into smaller storefronts. No indication of what is going in there yet, but it actually looks pretty good. Sadly, it means no Farm Boy downtown yet.

[rocketphish]

Groceries head to parking aisles
Loblaws Barrhaven offers online shopping, fast pick-up

Nepean Barrhaven News, Jun 15, 2015


Maddie Brooks, a Loblaws employee, picks vegetables for a Click-and-Collect order on June 12, the day the service launched at the Barrhaven Loblaws. The Greenbank Road location is the first in Ottawa, but the grocery retailer expects to expand it to four more stores in the city by the end of the summer.

Loblaws launched its first Click-and-Collect location in Ottawa at its store on Greenbank Road in Barrhaven on June 12.

The service allows an order to be placed online. The customer can then arrive at the store, park in a designated spot near the entrance and have the groceries placed in their car by store staff.

Loblaws has been offering Click-and-Collect in three Toronto-area stores since October. The Barrhaven location is the first in Ottawa, but the grocery retailer plans to expand the service to locations in Kanata, Vanier, College Square and Gloucester by the end of the summer.

“Ottawa as a whole is a very important market and opportunity,” said Jeremy Pee, senior vice president of e-commerce at Loblaws.

“What we’ve learned from our stores is our customers are ready for this. They’re very interested. They love the service. They keep coming back we’re getting a lot of interest from the Ottawa community in terms of customers asking for it.”

Customers will be able to log onto shop.loblaws.ca to place their orders. They can search for items by name, by grocery aisle, store flyer, food categories or event. A search for barbecue brings up selections for hamburgers, hotdogs and buns.

Products pictured online are accompanied by descriptions and nutritional information. The system also keeps track of previous orders.

Store employees put the order together, and customers can specify preferences – green bananas instead of riper ones, for example. The site has more than 20,000 items.

Fees for the service are $3 to $5, depending on what time the customer books their order for. The more popular pick-up times – evenings and weekends – cost $5; and there is a $10 charge for orders that aren’t picked up.

A minimum order for the service is $50-worth of groceries.

“The goal is to help our customers who have busy lives and make it easier in their day-to-day,” Pee said.

“We do all the work – the assembly, selection and make sure to even load your car – to save customer’s time in their busy lifestyles.”

Loblaws research found that it takes customers about 45 minutes to shop a store, but it can be done more quickly online, with pick-up taking about five minutes.

Britain’s largest grocer, Tesco, has expanded click-and-collect to more than 250 locations. But even in Europe, where the practice is more common, click-and-collect represents a fraction of total grocery sales.

With files from TorStar News Service

http://www.ottawacommunitynews.com/n...arking-aisles/

[HighwayStar]

Originally Posted by phil235

The old Tommy and Lefebvre on Bank Street seems to be in the process of being sub-divided into smaller storefronts. No indication of what is going in there yet, but it actually looks pretty good. Sadly, it means no Farm Boy downtown yet.

I walk by it weekly and the sub-division process has been grinding on at a snails pace.... the "for lease" signs are still up which just adds to the mystery.

[lrt's friend]

Originally Posted by phil235

The old Tommy and Lefebvre on Bank Street seems to be in the process of being sub-divided into smaller storefronts. No indication of what is going in there yet, but it actually looks pretty good. Sadly, it means no Farm Boy downtown yet.

I consider Whole Foods as being a higher end version of a Farm Boy Store.

Nevertheless, you would think that Farm Boy would work downtown since it is the kind of place you can quickly pick up a few items up for supper or for the weekend.

I love my local Farm Boy store, which is close enough that I can walk to it or quickly pop into on my way home from work.

[phil235]

Originally Posted by HighwayStar

I walk by it weekly and the sub-division process has been grinding on at a snails pace.... the "for lease" signs are still up which just adds to the mystery.

If I'm not mistaken, the sign that gave the total leasable space is now gone. Maybe I'm reading too much into that, but I assumed that they had leased part of the space, but not the part facing the corner.

[phil235]

Originally Posted by lrt's friend

I consider Whole Foods as being a higher end version of a Farm Boy Store.

Nevertheless, you would think that Farm Boy would work downtown since it is the kind of place you can quickly pick up a few items up for supper or for the weekend.

I love my local Farm Boy store, which is close enough that I can walk to it or quickly pop into on my way home from work.

I do think that is why Farm Boy hasn't come downtown. They are worried about competing with Whole Foods.

I still think they should, as they are generally lower priced, and a store in Centretown would have a somewhat different drawing area than Whole Foods. Plus, I think that Farm Boy is a perfect store for the crowd that is on foot and just wants to pop in to get a few things. I'd love to see them on Bank or Catherine.

[canabiz]

Gap will close 175 stores in North America, I wonder if that will affect any Ottawa location?

I have not been shopping at Gap stores as often as I used to. There are certainly more choices now and I wonder if their cheap chic brand (Old Navy) and more expensive option (Banana Republic) also take away customers from the generic, middle-of-the-ground Gap?

http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2015/06...n_7590246.html

On another note, I walked around Billings Bridge today for the 1st time in a couple of years and I noticed many new retailers. Treats Cafe is now closed, I have fond memories of that place when I worked in the mall about 8 years ago.

[Harley613]

Originally Posted by HighwayStar

I walk by it weekly and the sub-division process has been grinding on at a snails pace.... the "for lease" signs are still up which just adds to the mystery.

I stopped by the LCBO across the street today and figured the old T&L lot opposite the store across McLeod would be a safe place to park, but there were an awful lot of scary 'ticketed and towed' signs by the new developer. I can't remember the name of the developer, I'll check it out the next time I'm in the area.

[mykl]

Originally Posted by canabiz

There are certainly more choices now and I wonder if their cheap chic brand (Old Navy) and more expensive option (Banana Republic) also take away customers from the generic, middle-of-the-ground Gap?

I worked at Old Navy until 2011 and at that point and even more-so now, Old Navy was the brand keeping both Gap and Banana Republic afloat.

Also, if you ever go to these stores without an easily available coupon (especially if you're going to Banana Republic without a 40% off discount of some kind, especially on Wednesdays) you're a fool!

[canabiz]

Originally Posted by mykl

I worked at Old Navy until 2011 and at that point and even more-so now, Old Navy was the brand keeping both Gap and Banana Republic afloat.

Also, if you ever go to these stores without an easily available coupon (especially if you're going to Banana Republic without a 40% off discount of some kind, especially on Wednesdays) you're a fool!

Love those 40% coupon! I also like to visit the Banana Republic factory outlet stores (here and in the States)

I don't think too many people will miss GAP if they close shop. There are simply too many choices now, something for everyone...Even Amazon has gotten into the clothing business.

[1overcosc]

Generally, we're seeing a trend in retail where the mid-range retailers are suffering while both high-end and low-end grow and prosper. Look at the explosive growth of cheap stores like Joe Fresh, Walmart, Dollarama, etc., the growth of high end stores like Nordstrom, and the decline of mid-rangers like Hudson Bay, Sears, and Gap.

[HighwayStar]

Originally Posted by phil235

If I'm not mistaken, the sign that gave the total leasable space is now gone. Maybe I'm reading too much into that, but I assumed that they had leased part of the space, but not the part facing the corner.

Talked to a construction worker there yesterday... it is being subdivided into 2 spaces... the corner will be a Mexican Restaurant.. and the larger middle space is still for lease.

Originally Posted by Harley613

I stopped by the LCBO across the street today and figured the old T&L lot opposite the store across McLeod would be a safe place to park, but there were an awful lot of scary 'ticketed and towed' signs by the new developer. I can't remember the name of the developer, I'll check it out the next time I'm in the area.

And believe me... they ticket quickly

[eemy]

Originally Posted by 1overcosc

Generally, we're seeing a trend in retail where the mid-range retailers are suffering while both high-end and low-end grow and prosper. Look at the explosive growth of cheap stores like Joe Fresh, Walmart, Dollarama, etc., the growth of high end stores like Nordstrom, and the decline of mid-rangers like Hudson Bay, Sears, and Gap.

I don't think I'd call HBC mid-range and it seems it's actually been doing relatively well.

[SpongeG]

Depending on what city i guess, i felt that hudsons bay has done a great transformation upgrade, the vancouver flagship store is amazing, the suburban ones less so but much better than they were years ago.

as for the gap they are only going from 960 stores to 800 across north america, its not like they are closing up.

[canabiz]

Originally Posted by SpongeG

Depending on what city i guess, i felt that hudsons bay has done a great transformation upgrade, the vancouver flagship store is amazing, the suburban ones less so but much better than they were years ago.

as for the gap they are only going from 960 stores to 800 across north america, its not like they are closing up.

I know they are not closing but compared to their peak around 10 years ago, Gap now has almost 30% less stores

http://www.cbc.ca/news/business/gap-...lers-1.3115654

Were they too aggressive in their expansion? Did competitors catch up to them? Maybe they should become lean and mean? In any event, the store closures do not exactly inspire consumer confidence but I hope they continue to survive and thrive, for the employees, investors and consumers' sake.

[mykl]

The problem with The Gap is that they've sold the exact same clothing for 15 years. The same styles, the same colours. They haven't stayed relevant at all.

[Dundas]

The only people that still wear those GAP logo hoodies are 5year old kids.

[teej1984]

I actually love Gap. Their jeans and pants are perfect and there is almost always a t-shirt or shirt worth buying. Plus their stuff is generally good quality and lasts a while. Gap really isnt as outdated as you think it is.

[TheGoods]

Here are two interesting articles on the issue of middle class stores losing ground to either Luxury brands or Cheap Chic brands.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/business/gap-...lers-1.3115654

http://www.cbc.ca/news/business/midd...ttis-1.2535685

There are a lot of stores that are dying or leaving the market but other have been growing such as H&M, Zara, Joe Fresh, Top Shop, Uniqlo and higher end and luxury retailers such as Michael Kors.

As for Hudson Bay, they are doing fairly well especially since they bought Saks Fifth Avenue and have gone fairly upper end with their merchandising, I would not put them in the same bucket as Sears.