The Metro Vancouver Retail Thread

[Vin]

Originally Posted by osirisboy

I like David’s tea. But I’m luckily not a tea connoisseur.

I saw a reveiw once of someone commenting on how bitter David's Oolong was. I was like, hmmm....

[SpongeG]

my friend is with Freedom and everytime we go to White Rock or south surrey he loses his signal, same with when we are in underground parking, he gets no signal. I've never had that problem with Telus.

I think people liked David's cause it was expensive and it was like a treat. I used to work with people who would buy it and treat it like gold. Their presentation was nice. I am not a fussy tea drinker.

[Tvisforme]

I seem to recall that when Shaw acquired Wind, the plan was to eventually introduce a "Shaw" branded service after the overall network quality was improved.

[jollyburger]

Originally Posted by Tvisforme

I seem to recall that when Shaw acquired Wind, the plan was to eventually introduce a "Shaw" branded service after the overall network quality was improved.

I read that they also were paying for someone for the benefit and that's one of their explanations to move to Freedom was to get rid of that brand baggage.

[SpongeG]

Was at Coquitlam Centre today, haven't been in there since before covid. Hillberg & Burke store has shut down, they were a store based out of Saskatchewan I think. Browns has taken over the old Aritzia location. Most of the mall seemed the same.

They cut down a bunch of trees outside to construct the cactus club. I don't get why if they are planning to redevelop the mall why they would build a new Cactus Club that will need to be torn down when that area gets redeveloped.

Also The Shoe Company is opening a new store there this weekend.

[dreambrother808]

Originally Posted by jollyburger

I mean if you are regularly on some remote areas where Telus/Rogers has better coverage then I wouldn't switch, but their network is probably a lot better than it was when it was Wind.

https://www.ertyu.org/steven_nikkel/cancellsites.html

I switched today. Service is good so far. They said today was the first day without long line-ups. I’m looking forward to the buffer of 25 gigs and no more overage charges.

[bluefox]

Originally Posted by WarrenC12

I think this is their angle. Getting current customers to switch from another "tier 1" provider, and perhaps some incentive to hang on to their customer base.

Originally Posted by dreambrother808

This rebranding makes a lot of sense if they don’t want to be seen as the bargain, low-quality cell service. I want my connection to be as seamless as possible and I’m not willing to sacrifice that for a lower bill.

Originally Posted by jollyburger

I mean they've invested a lot in Freedom but it still seems Shaw Mobile has better branding/value to the company.

The interesting part of the Shaw Mobile experiment -- and, I would argue, some of the reason why so many people are confused at this point about what Shaw Mobile is supposed to be -- is that Shaw is actually the flanker brand for Freedom, and thus the reverse of the current telecom landscape in Canada. By industry definition, Shaw Mobile is the MVNO and Freedom is the carrier. So if they do end up using this as a springboard to do a mass rebrand/realignment of their customers into market segments at some point, they sure aren't going about that in the conventional way.

[casper]

Originally Posted by bluefox

The interesting part of the Shaw Mobile experiment -- and, I would argue, some of the reason why so many people are confused at this point about what Shaw Mobile is supposed to be -- is that Shaw is actually the flanker brand for Freedom, and thus the reverse of the current telecom landscape in Canada. By industry definition, Shaw Mobile is the MVNO and Freedom is the carrier. So if they do end up using this as a springboard to do a mass rebrand/realignment of their customers into market segments at some point, they sure aren't going about that in the conventional way.

To aspects to this, the brand/marketing aspect and the technical operations.

In the case of Bell, Rogers, Telus, the "commercial full service" offering is sold under their main brand. The discounted consumer offering is sold under the sub-brand, wind Fido etc. I have to say I still don't understand what Shaw is doing. My impression is they are going to end up with Shaw being the "main brand" and just now the discounted plans are being offered as a way of getting some kind of customer base.

As for who is the main network operator and who is the MVNO, that is a minor detail.

[casper]

Originally Posted by jollyburger

I mean except for the pre-paid gas station market, I don't know what the point is at this point to have all those flanker brands.

The main reason for having two brand is they want a Premium brand they can offer to business customers and consumers who are willing to pay more for the latest models of phones, all the fancy features, better coverage, better foreign travel packages etc.

At the same time they want a low cost brand that gives up all the expensive features and has a lower price point. You can't include any fido plan in a business/corporate bundled not the same thing with Rogers.

[jollyburger]

Originally Posted by bluefox

The interesting part of the Shaw Mobile experiment -- and, I would argue, some of the reason why so many people are confused at this point about what Shaw Mobile is supposed to be -- is that Shaw is actually the flanker brand for Freedom, and thus the reverse of the current telecom landscape in Canada. By industry definition, Shaw Mobile is the MVNO and Freedom is the carrier. So if they do end up using this as a springboard to do a mass rebrand/realignment of their customers into market segments at some point, they sure aren't going about that in the conventional way.

But I always found it strange that as a Shaw Internet/TV customer there was no way to bundle in your Freedom Mobile plans. While the benefit it kind of negligible at best (6 free voice/text plans) at least it's something.

[officedweller]

WalMart to require masks at all stores
https://globalnews.ca/news/7255942/w...RD_Ws68-1tbvI8

[officedweller]

Apparently, Meinhardt's at Grosvenor Ambelside (open just about 1 year) has permanently closed.

[connect2source]

Originally Posted by officedweller

Apparently, Meinhardt's at Grosvenor Ambelside (open just about 1 year) has permanently closed.

True, just drove passed yesterday, For Lease signs on the window. They didn't even survive long enough for Phase II of Grosvenor Ambleside to be complete.

[bc2mb]

Originally Posted by officedweller

Apparently, Meinhardt's at Grosvenor Ambelside (open just about 1 year) has permanently closed.

that doesn't bode well for their Burrard Place location, which seems ill advised to me anyway.

[Vin]

Originally Posted by officedweller

WalMart to require masks at all stores
https://globalnews.ca/news/7255942/w...RD_Ws68-1tbvI8

Good!
Walmart Canada is now following their American counterparts.
I wish some really crowded establishments would make it compulsory as well.

[Vin]

Originally Posted by bc2mb

that doesn't bode well for their Burrard Place location, which seems ill advised to me anyway.

I think they can if they offer something different from Fresh Street Market, which is the closest to Burrard Place. In fact, there aren't a lot of competition nearby, especially later at night. There are also a lot more people living in the Burrard Place neighbourhood than the Village at Ambleside which can get really quiet, especially in the winter or rainy days when people don't hang out at the beach as much. In the daytime, hopefully the future office workers at the new Jimmy Pattison office tower, as well as surrounding work places, can provide the lunch crowd market.

[whatnext]

Originally Posted by bc2mb

that doesn't bode well for their Burrard Place location, which seems ill advised to me anyway.

I never quite understood what Pattison wanted with Meinhardts. I'm sure the South Granville location does well becuase it is expensive and the only grocery in walking distance for that neighbourhood. But Pattison already had a high-end brand with Urban Fare. Was Meinhardts supposed to fill a small-store, upscale niche?

[officedweller]

The Meinhardt's at Pacific Centre is a glorified high end convenience store / cafe for downtown office workers.
I couldn't see that working at Ambleside with low foot traffic.

Not sure if it would work at Burrard Place either, though there are some offices nearby (and more with the Burrard Place office building).

It seems that in each case they are attaching themsleves to the cache of a high end residential building without realizing that they'd need to draw from a much larger customer base than one high end building.

[Changing City]

Originally Posted by officedweller

The Meinhardt's at Pacific Centre is a glorified high end convenience store / cafe for downtown office workers.
I couldn't see that working at Ambleside with low foot traffic.

Not sure if it would work at Burrard Place either, though there are some offices nearby (and more with the Burrard Place office building).

It seems that in each case they are attaching themsleves to the cache of a high end residential building without realizing that they'd need to draw from a much larger customer base than one high end building.

But in the case of Burrard Place, Pattison is the co-developer as well as the operator of the store. I was surprised when Farm to Table opened up on Richards, only a block from Choices, butt they seem to be surviving, so another store located in a cluster of towers a bit further west might do fine. If/when Anchor Point gets redeveloped it will add even more customers.

[Vin]

Originally Posted by officedweller

The Meinhardt's at Pacific Centre is a glorified high end convenience store / cafe for downtown office workers.
I couldn't see that working at Ambleside with low foot traffic.

Not sure if it would work at Burrard Place either, though there are some offices nearby (and more with the Burrard Place office building).

It seems that in each case they are attaching themsleves to the cache of a high end residential building without realizing that they'd need to draw from a much larger customer base than one high end building.

It's got a pretty neat deli though. PC mall needs something like that: there isn't one close by if you don't want to consider the coffee shops. We need better bakeries and delis around town.

Originally Posted by Changing City

But in the case of Burrard Place, Pattison is the co-developer as well as the operator of the store. I was surprised when Farm to Table opened up on Richards, only a block from Choices, butt they seem to be surviving, so another store located in a cluster of towers a bit further west might do fine. If/when Anchor Point gets redeveloped it will add even more customers.

One way to survive is to have a competitive edge over nearby peers, such as having longer opening hours. For instance, Farm to Table closes at midnight: quite a bit later than Choices that shuts their door at around 10pm (I think), which is ideal for the night owls, or many of the young lazy students and residents living in the Wall rental building next door. Many of their items aren't cheap, but I suppose they do sell when people nearby want convenience. Hence although tiny, Farm to Table also has in stock quite a few pre-packaged healthy foods, cheesecakes, small-tub gourmet ice cream, etc. You just need to be different and offer stuff that people want in order to survive.