The Metro Vancouver Retail Thread

[SpongeG]

mentioned in another thread about Guildford hours, they this week have gone back to their pre-covid hours and are open until 9 pm again, except for Sunday.

I went to the Neiman Marcus in Las Vegas, it was much better than the Saks Fifth Avenue in the same mall, better more upscale brands, the Saks felt kinda Bay-like, both of the stores though were bland and basic looking. Would be interesting to see if they do come to Canada.

[connect2source]

Retail Insider has more details on the Neiman Marcus purchase this morning, it appears the future of the 3 remaining Saks stores in Canada is uncertain.

https://retail-insider.com/retail-in...s-with-amazon/

[theKB]

Originally Posted by SpongeG

mentioned in another thread about Guildford hours, they this week have gone back to their pre-covid hours and are open until 9 pm again, except for Sunday.

I went to the Neiman Marcus in Las Vegas, it was much better than the Saks Fifth Avenue in the same mall, better more upscale brands, the Saks felt kinda Bay-like, both of the stores though were bland and basic looking. Would be interesting to see if they do come to Canada.

I didn't have a chance to go into Saks (was also a little deterred knowing the plight of the stores in canada) when in NYC recently. Bergdorfs was very busy given their few exclusives for certain brands (namely Goyard). The saks in Canada have such minimal hours and few concessions left its not a great place to shop. I was also a bit surprised that the nordstrom stores in manhattan were nowhere near as high end as in Vancouver.

Interestingly enough, after coming out of bankruptcy, I found the neimans stores were packed full of product vs their very curated selection pre-covid, almost to a level of being chaotic now, with that said still a decent selection of product closer to what nordstrom had here. Printemps is also opening a store in NYC.

There are a lot of international department stores that could easily fill the Nordstrom space and probably be successful given the market here espeecially if high end, I would just think that as most foreign entry's into canada have failed that its not attractive for expansion given our weak currency and relatively high operating costs.

[CanSpice]

According to Reddit, most (if not all) of the Hudson's Bay stores in Metro Vancouver are closed, and the explanation seems to be they don't have HVAC systems that can deal with the heat.

[jollyburger]

Originally Posted by CanSpice

According to Reddit, most (if not all) of the Hudson's Bay stores in Metro Vancouver are closed, and the explanation seems to be they don't have HVAC systems that can deal with the heat.

Park Royal was closed too but they seem to have a giant BAC cooling tower at the back of the property.

[whatnext]

Originally Posted by CanSpice

According to Reddit, most (if not all) of the Hudson's Bay stores in Metro Vancouver are closed, and the explanation seems to be they don't have HVAC systems that can deal with the heat.

I don’t recall them closing during the last heatwave. For downtown, cruise business must be one of their few lifelines, this will hurt.

[SpongeG]

I was at Guildford on Sunday afternoon and the Bay was closed, it said that the store was closed due to a Systems issue kind of sign. A lot of people were standing outside looking in, not able to shop.

A lot of spaces in the mall have changed recently, Muji is gone, The Forever 21 space is all boarded up, there was a space next to the H&M lower level that had some Forever 21 posters in the window, so perhaps they are downsizing or the old space is being renovated? the Best Buy express seems a lot busier than the Source ever was even though it seems pretty much the same.

[teriyaki]

Originally Posted by whatnext

I don’t recall them closing during the last heatwave. For downtown, cruise business must be one of their few lifelines, this will hurt.

They certainly did not close.
Something must have happened between then and now for them to take this "pro-active" solution. Perhaps an employee or shoppers fell ill in their stores the last time and they don't want to be liable for any other potential issues due to their antique hvac systems.

[jollyburger]

Originally Posted by teriyaki

They certainly did not close.
Something must have happened between then and now for them to take this "pro-active" solution. Perhaps an employee or shoppers fell ill in their stores the last time and they don't want to be liable for any other potential issues due to their antique hvac systems.

West Vancouver, Surrey, Richmond, Coquitlam, Victoria, Prince George, Abbotsford, Nanaimo and Penticton as well.

Also shut down in Manitoba, Alberta and Ontario. Red Deer was closed yesterday because of HVAC issues.

https://www.instagram.com/p/C9K_wg-yz7a/

Downtown Vancouver had a sign on July 5th saying "OPENING LATE Due to System Issues"

https://x.com/ymmbruce/status/1809326551978373304

An article on the Windsor store closure.

In an email to the Star Thursday morning, Tiffany Bourré, vice-president of corporate communications for Hudson’s Bay Company, confirmed that the store’s HVAC system is being fixed.

“Our HVAC system has not been functioning properly. However, repairs are underway and we expect to be open next week,” Bourré said.

“Our priority is always the comfort and well-being of our customers and associates. We continue to pay all full-time associates during the closure.”

https://windsorstar.com/news/local-n...r-conditioning

Another article says Windsor has been closed since June 17

https://windsor.ctvnews.ca/windsor-h...osed-1.6957242

Bourre wasn’t able to provide a list of store closures, a timeline for when the HVAC issue might be resolved or answer why so many stores were being impacted at once. She said in an email that “as the situation is fluid, signage will be posted at the individual store level.”

https://vancouversun.com/news/hudson...osed-heat-wave

[SpongeG]

i took this pic today at guildford, no mention of HVAC or heat

PXL_20240710_020644113 by snub_you, on Flickr

[osirisboy]

Originally Posted by CanSpice

According to Reddit, most (if not all) of the Hudson's Bay stores in Metro Vancouver are closed, and the explanation seems to be they don't have HVAC systems that can deal with the heat.

But wouldn’t this in most cases be the malls issue

[WarrenC12]

Maybe somebody hacked a central control. This doesn't make a lot of sense from an HVAC/heat perspective.

Were they open during the heat dome in 2021(?)

[CanSpice]

Originally Posted by WarrenC12

Maybe somebody hacked a central control. This doesn't make a lot of sense from an HVAC/heat perspective.

Were they open during the heat dome in 2021(?)

I know a lot of big chains have their HVAC controlled centrally. My dad used to work at Home Depot and he always got wound up because their HVAC settings were set by someone in Toronto. Maybe HBC is the same and their central control is messed up?

[Changing City]

Originally Posted by WarrenC12

Maybe somebody hacked a central control. This doesn't make a lot of sense from an HVAC/heat perspective.

Were they open during the heat dome in 2021(?)

Maybe HVAC isn't really the "System Issues" they're experiencing. It's similar to the 'operation issue' that London Drugs experienced.

[LeftCoaster]

I'm hearing it's heat related. Apparently the same thing happened in Ontario a few weeks ago when they had their heat wave.

[jollyburger]

I wonder if they just want to save money spent on AC and just decided to shut the stores.

[jollyburger]

Originally Posted by osirisboy

But wouldn’t this in most cases be the malls issue

They setup little home fans in Penticton to try and cool the store

https://www.msn.com/en-ca/video/news...ns/vi-BB1pHSq7

[whatnext]

Originally Posted by LeftCoaster

I'm hearing it's heat related. Apparently the same thing happened in Ontario a few weeks ago when they had their heat wave.

It seems odd that every store would have such an antiquated HVAC system. I can see downtown having problems but all the rest?

Out of curiosity would the systems in the old Eatons in PAC Centre have been upgraded by Nordstrom when they moved in?

[NewfBC]

Originally Posted by whatnext

It seems odd that every store would have such an antiquated HVAC system. I can see downtown having problems but all the rest?

Out of curiosity would the systems in the old Eatons in PAC Centre have been upgraded by Nordstrom when they moved in?

I'm sure they were.. the building was basically rebuilt.

Ron.

[officedweller]

Originally Posted by osirisboy

But wouldn’t this in most cases be the malls issue

For big anchors, the lease terms often provide that they are responsible for their own HVAC and utilities metered/paid for separately so that they aren't dumped on the smaller tenants through a cost sharing formula.