Business in Winnipeg - Page 115

CoryB · #**2281** Posted **Oct 6, 2020, 3:39 PM**

^^^ The best part people aren't really seeing is that Amazon used the HQ2 proposal to basically get government leaders to voluntarily submit all the contacts needed to ask for hand outs when building things like they are here in Winnipeg. Amazon then turned that into a handy list for their internal use on where exactly to put leverage to get government funding for expanding its operations.

Edit: I said it when the HQ2 first came up and maintain it today -- when you hear there is a whale to be caught you don't head out with a two person crew in a canoe and hope to land it. You are going to have a lot better success going around and rounding up smaller fish and hoping one turns into a whale.

By that Winnipeg and Manitoba needs to build a culture and environment that is basically like a silicon valley. Populate it with a bunch of startups and work on feeding them and helping them grow. Skip didn't become a top local employer because of some cheesy, highly produced video we sent to them to get them to relocate here. It is very unusual for a company to grow in one city and move to another, well maybe Hudson's Bay aside. Since we are unlikely to get an established company to move here we need to start working hard at growing the next Skip.

EspionNoir · #**2282** Posted **Oct 6, 2020, 4:31 PM**

Canada Life and London Life officially became the subsidiaries of Great West Life in 2020. I think there’s a lot of potential here. SKIP basically became a very successful Canadian company with very powerful advertising force. Their advertisements often appear on YouTube. I personally think an Amazon distribution centre is a step towards future cooperation and it’s a natural utilization of Winnipeg’s supply chain advantage.

bomberjet · #**2283** Posted **Oct 6, 2020, 4:35 PM**

I'm not sure why anybody would be against having Amazon in town. That definitely wasn't the tone of my earlier comment.

It's the same thing as Uber or the Stella's union thing. If you don't like the work environment, don't work there. Very, very simple. Otherwise, it creates some jobs and yes there is potential for future expansion to their Winnipeg business.

EspionNoir · #**2284** Posted **Oct 6, 2020, 4:38 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by bomberjet

I'm not sure why anybody would be against having Amazon in town. That definitely wasn't the tone of my earlier comment.

It's the same thing as Uber or the Stella's union thing. If you don't like the work environment, don't work there. Very, very simple. Otherwise, it creates some jobs and yes there is potential for future expansion to their Winnipeg business.

Yeah I agree. That kind of downplaying attitude is not very pro-growth and pro-business.

wags_in_the_peg · #**2285** Posted **Oct 6, 2020, 5:17 PM**

has the province bent over & given millions to get Amazon here, none has been revealed so why all the assumptions that they did. am i fine that some incentives were perhaps given, 100% i'm fine with that!

the pay at walmart or mcd's is not great either, but some decide to work there. some want early AM or overnight shifts, some don't.

ywgwalk · #**2286** Posted **Oct 6, 2020, 6:23 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by EspionNoir

I personally think an Amazon distribution centre is a step towards future cooperation and it’s a natural utilization of Winnipeg’s supply chain advantage.

Not to negate the point entirely but isn't it a distribution centre specifically for the greater winnipeg market only?

esquire · #**2287** Posted **Oct 6, 2020, 6:34 PM**

I'm personally not opposed to Amazon opening up a warehouse, I just don't think it's a big deal. It's like if Shell opened up a new gas station somewhere and suddenly the newspaper headlines blared MAJOR OIL COMPANY EXPANDS PRESENCE IN WINNIPEG.

Biff · #**2288** Posted **Oct 6, 2020, 7:42 PM**

It is a Delivery Station not a warehouse. This just takes big truck shipments and breaks them into little truck shipments for delivery.

An Amazon Warehouse is where the big bucks come in regarding construction and number of jobs. These Delivery Stations are in the 100,000 sq ft range. A warehouse like in Calgary and the one under construction in Hamilton are in the 800,000 to 1,000,000 sq ft and have hundreds of jobs.

Baby steps for Winnipeg (I am happy about the announcement) just noting the differences in facilities.

Jeff · #**2289** Posted **Oct 6, 2020, 7:45 PM**

half the buildings just along inkster in the industrial park portion seem to be for lease as so much has pulled up and moved down the road to CentrePort, so anything that moves in and takes up a whole warehouse around there is refreshing just in that sense.

cheswick · #**2290** Posted **Oct 6, 2020, 8:35 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jeff

half the buildings just along inkster in the industrial park portion seem to be for lease as so much has pulled up and moved down the road to CentrePort, so anything that moves in and takes up a whole warehouse around there is refreshing just in that sense.

It's a new build.

pspeid · #**2291** Posted **Oct 6, 2020, 8:36 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Biff

It is a Delivery Station not a warehouse. This just takes big truck shipments and breaks them into little truck shipments for delivery.

An Amazon Warehouse is where the big bucks come in regarding construction and number of jobs. These Delivery Stations are in the 100,000 sq ft range. A warehouse like in Calgary and the one under construction in Hamilton are in the 800,000 to 1,000,000 sq ft and have hundreds of jobs.

Baby steps for Winnipeg (I am happy about the announcement) just noting the differences in facilities.

I wonder how many places that currently have an Amazon warehouse started with an Amazon distribution centre? Does Amazon usually "test" a market before putting a large investment there or am I just engaging in some wishful thinking?

esquire · #**2292** Posted **Oct 6, 2020, 8:42 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by cheswick

It's a new build.

The Freep article said it was going in the 46 year old former Rehau warehouse just off Burrows.

cheswick · #**2293** Posted **Oct 6, 2020, 9:01 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by esquire

The Freep article said it was going in the 46 year old former Rehau warehouse just off Burrows.

Haven't seen the WFP article but CBC, Global News and CTV says it'll be built. CTV specifically says the Amazon rep says it will be a new build.

Quote:

Amazon will be setting up shop in a 113,000 square foot facility. Kumar said this will be a brand new building, but he said there isn't an exact timeline yet in 2021 on when it will be open.

https://winnipeg.ctvnews.ca/amazon-s...ipeg-1.5133654

Jeff · #**2294** Posted **Oct 6, 2020, 9:02 PM**

11 Plymouth, either they keep the building or start fresh..

esquire · #**2295** Posted **Oct 6, 2020, 9:05 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by cheswick

Weird. A couple of news articles said a new delivery centre was to be built. Maybe I interpreted to be built wrong.

https://globalnews.ca/news/7379501/w...livery-centre/

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manit...toba-1.5751142

No idea...maybe Global and CBC made assumptions or otherwise jumped the gun. But the Free Press article is very specific in saying that they'll be renovating the existing building.

buzzg · #**2296** Posted **Oct 7, 2020, 12:18 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by pspeid

Hmmmm...interesting. I suppose a more accurate comment would have been having an Amazon branded presence in town.

It is, it was rebranded as AWS (Amazon Web Services) Thinkbox when they bought it.

Will also be interesting to see if an Amazon logo pops up on any of the film studios they're investing in.

Quote:

Originally Posted by CoryB

By that Winnipeg and Manitoba needs to build a culture and environment that is basically like a silicon valley. Populate it with a bunch of startups and work on feeding them and helping them grow. Skip didn't become a top local employer because of some cheesy, highly produced video we sent to them to get them to relocate here. It is very unusual for a company to grow in one city and move to another, well maybe Hudson's Bay aside. Since we are unlikely to get an established company to move here we need to start working hard at growing the next Skip.

Totally. If you talk to any business or tech leader, they'll tell you what we need more of is exits. We need to shed some of the "family business" mentality on the prairies and get founders to sell – because those founders go on to build more companies, generally in or around the same city.

The Skip founders have gone on to start Pivot Furniture (in Saskatoon, where they're from), Harvest Builders and Neo Financial (Calgary, looking to open offices here soon). The guys from Geofilter studio sold and have two new startups here. I think it's only a matter of time before Shopify (or some other merchant) buys Bold. And that's a good thing.

Biff · #**2297** Posted **Oct 7, 2020, 1:53 PM**

Amazon is planning two buildings on either end of town.

My sources say they are renovations of existing space.

wags_in_the_peg · #**2298** Posted **Oct 7, 2020, 5:54 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Biff

Amazon is planning two buildings on either end of town.

My sources say they are renovations of existing space.

interesting.....

esquire · #**2299** Posted **Nov 18, 2020, 3:27 PM**

Ominous news out in the Regina Construction thread about multiple permanent YMCA closures including the downtown location... apparently they were on shaky ground before covid but the last 8 months did them in. Any word on how the local YMCAs are doing?

drew · #**2300** Posted **Nov 18, 2020, 3:39 PM**

I think we are good in the sense that we are not "over built" with YMCA locations.

I have only recently dealt with the Y in Westwood, but it was always busy.

The downtown branch, I used to go to, but not for a decade or more now. But it always seemed busy as well.