Canadian Retail Thread

[manny_santos]

Originally Posted by ue

When was the last time the Bay actually opened a new store, though? Obviously not counting their recent foray into the Netherlands.

Most of the Bay stores I'm familiar with were former Simpson's stores, so they all date back to the 1980s or 1991 at the latest.

[manny_santos]

http://www.ctvnews.ca/mobile/busines...ores-1.3626217

[J.OT13]

That was a long and painful death. RIP Sears.

[ue]

Originally Posted by manny_santos

Most of the Bay stores I'm familiar with were former Simpson's stores, so they all date back to the 1980s or 1991 at the latest.

Yeah, I'm meaning this decade, or at the very least, this century. It seems like the last new Bay stores opened in the '90s, like the one that took over the old Eatons in Downtown Edmonton.

If they restructured and standardized their stores to the level of quality that the key stores in Toronto and Vancouver have, they'd be a lot more powerful as a national brand rather than the sorry ass state they're currently in for most of Canada. Even the updates they've done to some of the key Edmonton stores are pretty forgettable compared to the Yorkdale or Granville locations. I believe even Calgary's stores are on a better level. In this case, they would be in a much better position to actually open new stores.

I could see them operating as such:
Victoria, Bay Centre
Vancouver, Granville St
Burnaby, Metrotown
Richmond, CF Richmond Centre
West Vancouver, Park Royal
Kelowna, Orchard Park
Calgary, The Core
Calgary, Chinook
Edmonton, Southgate
Edmonton, West Edm Mall
Saskatoon, Midtown Plaza
Regina, Cornwall Centre
Winnipeg, Polo Park
Winnipeg, St Vital Centre
Toronto, Queen St
North York, Yorkdale
Scarborough, Scarborough Centre
Etobicoke, Sherway Gardens
Mississauga, Square One
Markham, CF Markville
Newmarket, Upper Canada Mall
Hamilton, CF Lime Ridge
Waterloo, Conestoga Mall
London, White Oaks Mall
Kingston, Cataraqui Centre
Ottawa, Rideau Centre
Ottawa, Bayshore
Gatineau, Promenades Gatineau
Montreal, Rue St-Catherine
Montreal, Galeries d'Anjou
Pointe Claire, Fairview Pointe Claire
Laval, Carrefour Laval
Longueil, Mail Champlain
Quebec, Sainte-Foy
Quebec, Galeries de la Capitale
Dieppe, CF Champlain
Halifax, Micmac Mall

Could also see the case for opening new downtown stores in Edmonton, Kitchener-Waterloo, Quebec, and Halifax. Or, in Edmonton's case, completely gutting the existing one and starting fresh. Either way, as it stands, the Bay is too broad nationally for today's market and could use a severe downsizing. Unfortunately, such a downsizing would look really bad.

[trebor204]

Many malls currently have both a Sears and Hudson's Bay. I wonder if Hudson's Bay might willing to move to the former Sears location. Some of the Sears are larger and have a more prominent location.

[canucklehead2]

That's what we're gonna see. The Bay cherry pick (yet again) the best retail locations off of Sears and the rest will be redeveloped into other smaller tenants... Just like what we saw with Woodwards, Eatons, now Sears...

[le calmar]

It was only a matter of time before they'd closed down every location. I wonder if the Bay could not take advantage of this situation now that Sears is gone. Both chains were more or less competing against each other (and both offer a very bland and forgettable shopping experience)

[SignalHillHiker]

I don't think we've ever had a Bay in Newfoundland, which is a bit strange. Many other Canadian banks and companies had a presence here prior to us joining. My fave odd one: at one point, Canada's federal government ran a civilian airport used primarily by American servicemen in St. John's, then capital of a foreign country lol. The media here called it "confusing", which is just perfect.

Anyhow, I think the huge general department stores can't compete against Wal-Mart. They're not different enough. Smaller, specialty stores can. I expect we will see the Sears space in the Avalon Mall broken up into a dozen or more little stores.

[WhipperSnapper]

Nordstrom has Nordstrom Rack. The Bay could expand on their current Zellers properties.

[someone123]

Originally Posted by SignalHillHiker

I don't think we've ever had a Bay in Newfoundland, which is a bit strange. Many other Canadian banks and companies had a presence here prior to us joining. My fave odd one: at one point, Canada's federal government ran a civilian airport used primarily by American servicemen in St. John's, then capital of a foreign country lol. The media here called it "confusing", which is just perfect.

I don't think they ever had much presence in Atlantic Canada. The ones in the Halifax area were in suburban malls (one was originally a standalone suburban Simpson's that was built around 1920). There never was an older downtown location. These were mostly or entirely a Western Canada phenomenon.

Quebec City may have been the same. There is a Hudson's Bay building in downtown Montreal but apparently it used to be Morgan's.

[J.OT13]

Yup, Downtown Montreal's HBC was Morgan's, and so was Ottawa's first HBC on Sparks, until they bought out Freiman's (local department store) on Rideau and relocated.

[Acajack]

Although I wouldn't say The Bay is just or even mostly a Western Canadian thing. They have a pretty large footprint in southern and eastern Ontario.

[GreatTallNorth2]

London is getting a full size IKEA.

http://www.lfpress.com/2017/10/11/in...london-in-2019

[north 42]

That's great news for London! I figured that the city would eventually get a full sized store after hearing they were opening up one in Halifax.

[MichelKazan]

Originally Posted by ue

When was the last time the Bay actually opened a new store, though? Obviously not counting their recent foray into the Netherlands.

Actually, they're supposed to open a new store at Carrefour Angrignon in Montréal in Fall 2018 in the former Target location.

http://www.newswire.ca/news-releases...637059193.html

[q12]

Rick Mercer: IKEA vs The Bay

• Video Link

[sunsetmountainland]

Vancouver retail boom

Retail investment in Vancouver surpassed $2.8 billion in the first half of 2017, eclipsing the previous record of $1.6 billion in all of 2016, says a new report by commercial real estate firm CBRE Canada.

The market is being driven by major international brands setting up shop in the West Coast city and sparking a renaissance in the retail sector.

The report says vacancy rates in downtown Vancouver continue to remain at historically low levels at 2.9 per cent, with mostly consistent rental rates and international brands continuing to drive new demand for retail space.

“Vancouver’s got great traction right now from an international standpoint. We are principally real estate brokers and our phone rings all day long from interested groups but in the last 18 months to two years it’s really transformed into strong international calls,” says Martin Moriarty, associate vice-president of Retail Leasing & Investment at CBRE Vancouver.

“Part of it is Vancouver’s growing reputation in the world. There’s a few things going on here that’s putting Vancouver on the map by way of residential projects, by way of the investment market here. We are also still having some very strong brands emerging for Vancouver.”
The report says five major international brands opened stores in the past year or announced they will be opening soon on Robson Street – Muji from Japan, Bailey Nelson from Australia, Laduree from France, Nike from the U.S. and the Vancouver-based athletic wear designer, Reigning Champ.

Japanese retail giant Muji is expected to open their biggest North American store at 16,000 square feet on Robson later this year.

On Alberni Street, the new high street for prestige brands, sales exceed that of Toronto’s Bloor Street, with rents escalating up to 50 per cent higher than that of Robson Street, says CBRE.
“As such, the demand for space is exceeding supply. A number of new stores are entering the market – including Van Cleef & Arpels, the French jewelry, watch and perfume brand and Hublot, the Swiss luxury watch brand – with more to follow in the remainder of the year,” says the report.
Moriarty says the expansion of international brands into the Vancouver retail market is transforming the city and brands in major centres such as London, Tokyo, Paris, Geneva and Sydney are attracted to Vancouver’s growing international reputation.

Gastown also saw an increase in the presence of international retailers with COS and Filson opening locations in 2017 and a second Bailey Nelson location to open soon.

Vancouver is proving to be a shining example that although the trend in e-commerce sales is growing, many consumers still prefer bricks and mortar for their shopping experience.

“E-commerce is having an effect, but I don’t think the effect is the termination of the existence of bricks and mortar. It’s changing the way the users and the tenants are operating. We have done a lot of deals with tenants that have tried to up their game by way of the ‘experience’ because that really seems to be emerging as a big thing,” says Moriarty.

“A product is very important but the experience is also as important.”
A recent report by Statistics Canada said population growth is driving a rapidly expanding retail market in the Vancouver region with sales increasing from $22.2 billion in 2004 to $36 billion in 2016, a rise of 62 per cent.

At the same time, the Vancouver CMA’s population went from 2.1 million people to 2.6 million, up by 19.4 per cent.

“Moreover, population projections suggest that the Vancouver CMA could see a further 26.4 per cent increase in its population in the next 20 years, which will likely increase the need for planning the location of future shopping centre developments,” says the StatsCan report.

There were 209 shopping centres in 2016 in the Vancouver region and Statistics Canada added there were 9,429 retail stores operating.

https://renx.ca/vancouver-retail-inv...-booming-cbre/

[wave46]

Originally Posted by sunsetmountainland

Vancouver retail boom



https://renx.ca/vancouver-retail-inv...-booming-cbre/

Given Vancouver's changing demographics, I'm not surprised in the least.

[Kitchissippi]

When I look at the Weston family's holdings, from lower end retailing in the Loblaws Group to the higher end Selfridges Group, I wonder if they'll ever be tempted to move into the middle to fill the void/provide competition in the department store segment. I bet there is room for innovation and reinvention, I would love to see a bold new concept away from the old legacy stores.

[kwoldtimer]

I realize it won't happen, but Sears' demise makes me wish Marks & Spencer could stage a comeback in Canada.