Canadian Retail Thread - Page 102

Rusty van Reddick · #**2021** Posted **Jan 14, 2011, 3:57 AM**

Calling Target "Tar-jey" is a joke everywhere in the US. Nobody actually thinks it's pronounced that way.

miketoronto · #**2022** Posted **Jan 14, 2011, 4:13 AM**

So when is Canada going to sell off the Canadian Government to the U.S. Government and finish off the the complete takeover of Canada by the Americans?

The founders of Canada's great companies, and retail empires must be turning in their graves at the sale of this country to the highest bidder one piece at a time.

The thing I find so funny is people act like these stores are so different than Zellers, when they are not. Target sells the same crap Zellers and Walmart does. It is no different, yet people think it is.

SpongeG · #**2023** Posted **Jan 14, 2011, 4:17 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by miketoronto

So when is Canada going to sell of the Canadian Government to the U.S. Government and finish off the the complete takeover of Canada by the Americans?

The founders of Canada's great companies, and retail empires must be turning in their graves at the sale of this country to the highest bidder one piece at a time.

The thing I find so funny is people act like these stores so different than Zellers, when they are not. Target sells the same crap Zellers and Walmart does. It is no different, yet people think it is.

thats like saying a PC and a mac are the same

its different if you don't get it you just don't get it and thats okay

anyway zellers bought out an american chain and renamed it to zellers

so its come full circle it was american to begin with

miketoronto · #**2024** Posted **Jan 14, 2011, 4:22 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by SpongeG

thats like saying a PC and a mac are the same

its different if you don't get it you just don't get it and thats okay

anyway zellers bought out an american chain and renamed it to zellers

so its come full circle it was american to begin with

I was just in the USA for 4 days and was dragged to a number of malls. Target has the same brands as Zellers and Walmart. The only difference is they have some private label for clothing. And the clothing is still not something I would buy. But other than a couple different shirts it is no different than Walmart.

To be honest as I have said before, it is almost getting boring going to the USA for shopping, because almost nothing is different anymore. I really had to search to find anything different in the USA that I could truly say "I can't get that design or item in Canada".

Thats o.k. though. Less money for me to spend at American stores, and more money to spend at Simons, a good Canadian company.

Will be interesting to see how all these American stores moving to Canada affect the malls near the American border. As some malls in American border cities get a large amount of their business from Canadians. With all the same stores here, there really is no reason to go to an American mall anymore.

I was just in Detroit and I think if there was 4 stores in the entire mall that we did not have in Canada, that was a lot. Otherwise it was just "pass, we have that in Canada, and the prices are just the same as in Canada". Makes for a quick walk through an American mall now. And I have to say the prices were just the exact same as in Toronto, because I checked out some items before leaving Toronto.

davidivivid · #**2025** Posted **Jan 14, 2011, 4:32 AM**

I really don't understand why it is taking so much time for Simons to expand in Ontario... It's been 10 years since the last wave of store expansion and the company is making a lot of money. There is speculation about a possible store in Gatineau and Toronto but these are just rumors for the moment.

SpongeG · #**2026** Posted **Jan 14, 2011, 4:35 AM**

it has a cult following the same way anthropolgie, apple, h&m, trader joes has

they all sell the same kind of crap but they have cache and that is something that retailers can only dream of

if you don't understand that that doesn't matter - i love tarjey - even oprah said tarjey

jean paul gaultier, alexander mcqueen, cynthia rowley, michael graves, john derian, tucker, william rast, thomas o'brien and zac posen don't just team up to make collections with any old store - they have all or continue to have designer collections with target

shopping is shopping it shouldn't be special anyway - i for one am happy to have the choice and the ability to stay in canada and shop

SpongeG · #**2027** Posted **Jan 14, 2011, 4:38 AM**

anyway icebreaker is opening a store in vancouver - i don't think its a very well known brand outside BC (their website doesn't list any retailers that stock it) - its from new zealand and quite popular on the wet coast fits the lifestyle well

http://www.icebreaker.com

itsallaboutpr.files.wordpress.com

www.zappos.com

Gerrard · #**2028** Posted **Jan 14, 2011, 2:55 PM**

I like Target for the store set up. You're correct in that they don't have a lot that's different about them product wise (except maybe the designer collaborations - the clothing ones are typically cheap and cruddy but the housewares ones are great). However, Zellers and Wal-Mart have a junky aura and bad organization whereas Target is well organized and above all CLEAN.

And they sell the new Polaroid camera, which is seemingly impossible to find in Canada.

But I'd give up any U.S. retailers just to be able to buy beer and wine in the grocery store (In Ontario)...

Acajack · #**2029** Posted **Jan 14, 2011, 3:18 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by davidivivid

I really don't understand why it is taking so much time for Simons to expand in Ontario... It's been 10 years since the last wave of store expansion and the company is making a lot of money. There is speculation about a possible store in Gatineau and Toronto but these are just rumors for the moment.

Nothing official has been announced yet but the worst-kept secret in Ottawa retail is that Simons is going to open a store as part of a big expansion to this mall in the east end of the city:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Lau...hopping_Centre

The mall is in the east end of Ottawa which has more francophones than the west, and is roughly a 25-minute drive from most parts of Gatineau.

Opinions are divided as to whether this is the best choice. Ottawa is bigger and richer than Gatineau, but on the other hand the vast majority of people in Ottawa-Gatineau who are familiar with Simons are those who are originally from places like Quebec City and most of these people live in Gatineau, not Ottawa.

Before you say that the people living in Gatineau will just go to the store in Ottawa, note that Les Ailes de la Mode at Bayshore in Ottawa was totally snubbed by people from Gatineau. This played a part (though there were other problems with that chain/store) in Les Ailes' demise because the owners were counting on capitalizing on name-brand recognition (on the Gatineau side at least) to bring in quite a few customers from across the river. But few of them came.

Not sure of the reason for all of the snubbing of Les Ailes but some people I overheard did allude to having to go to Ottawa to shop at a major Quebec chain (which did not have a store in Gatineau).

Not sure if Simons in Ottawa will face the same reaction from Gatineau residents. But in any event they would probably be wise not to count on the Gatineau market for much more than "gravy" for this store.

Note that Simons has a store in Sherbrooke (100,000 fewer people than Gatineau and a lower per capita income), but it is not in Saguenay or Trois-Rivières, which are similar in size to Sherbrooke but not as prosperous.

SpikePhanta · #**2030** Posted **Jan 14, 2011, 4:21 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by davidivivid

I really don't understand why it is taking so much time for Simons to expand in Ontario... It's been 10 years since the last wave of store expansion and the company is making a lot of money. There is speculation about a possible store in Gatineau and Toronto but these are just rumors for the moment.

I love Simmons!

Jay in Cowtown · #**2031** Posted **Jan 14, 2011, 4:33 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by miketoronto

So when is Canada going to sell off the Canadian Government to the U.S. Government and finish off the the complete takeover of Canada by the Americans?

When I can buy a gun, a case of beer and a Directv box at a Canadian Target... the freedom takeover should finally be complete!

MolsonExport · #**2032** Posted **Jan 14, 2011, 6:03 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by miketoronto

So when is Canada going to sell off the Canadian Government to the U.S. Government and finish off the the complete takeover of Canada by the Americans?

The founders of Canada's great companies, and retail empires must be turning in their graves at the sale of this country to the highest bidder one piece at a time.

The thing I find so funny is people act like these stores are so different than Zellers, when they are not. Target sells the same crap Zellers and Walmart does. It is no different, yet people think it is.

What? Target does crap way better than does Zellers.

Retail empires turning in their graves? Can you direct me to the cemetery?
The Bay is already American-owned!

Quote:

On 16 July 2008, it was announced that Hudson's Bay Company (the parent company of the Bay) had been purchased by the US firm NRDC Equity Partners, which owns Lord & Taylor. The new combined multinational corporation is called Hudson's Bay Trading Company.
-wikipedia

Zellers sucked. Really. Who gives a flyin' fark if it is gone? Zellers was like Walmart, only with higher prices, lower selection, gloomier aisles, and even more wretched customers.

miketoronto · #**2033** Posted **Jan 14, 2011, 9:38 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by davidivivid

I really don't understand why it is taking so much time for Simons to expand in Ontario... It's been 10 years since the last wave of store expansion and the company is making a lot of money. There is speculation about a possible store in Gatineau and Toronto but these are just rumors for the moment.

Simons expansion will be the end to the fame.

Simons is so great because it is not everywhere. They have a couple stores that sells clothing designs that for the most part can't be found anywhere else(they have their own clothing brands).

Simons due to the small nature of the company is still owned by the founders family and the family runs the operation. I sent in a comment once, and had the founders grandson actually message me back with a reply.

They know what is going on. But if they start expanding everywhere and just become another GAP or something, all will be lost.

Size and being everywhere is not always important. They offer a good product, good service, and they actually do help out Quebec alot(they are the company that brought that grand fountain in for Quebec City's 400th Birthday).
Once you turn into a huge national or international chain, a lot of that gets lost.

So I say they should stay put where they are. If I had Simons in Toronto it would just not be that special anymore. It would just become another place you find anywhere. And I bet they would lose that close personal touch you get now. There is no way the president of the company is going to personally email you about a comment you made about the good service they gave you, when a company becomes huge.

manny_santos · #**2034** Posted **Jan 15, 2011, 12:43 AM**

I am glad to see Zellers being taken over by an American company. Zellers was becoming a national embarrassment (as another poster pointed out). If a Canadian company can't run its stores properly, then someone else should be allowed to do it, regardless of where they're from. The most important things are that they adjust their strategies for the Canadian shopper, and hire local management who know local markets. As far as I'm concerned it doesn't matter who owns the company, whether they're Canadian, American, East Indian, Russian, or whatever. We are a global economy now. We have to get used to it, because it's not turning back.

davidivivid · #**2035** Posted **Jan 15, 2011, 1:14 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by miketoronto

Simons expansion will be the end to the fame.

Simons is so great because it is not everywhere. They have a couple stores that sells clothing designs that for the most part can't be found anywhere else(they have their own clothing brands).

So I say they should stay put where they are. If I had Simons in Toronto it would just not be that special anymore. It would just become another place you find anywhere. And I bet they would lose that close personal touch you get now. There is no way the president of the company is going to personally email you about a comment you made about the good service they gave you, when a company becomes huge.

Good point Mike. After all, the president of the company has always insisted on the importance of the costumer's shopping experience, reason why the design and ambiance of their shops are updated frequently... Yeah, good point!

miketoronto · #**2036** Posted **Jan 15, 2011, 1:28 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by davidivivid

Good point Mike. After all, the president of the company has always insisted on the importance of the costumer's shopping experience, reason why the design and ambiance of their shops are updated frequently... Yeah, good point!

Eventhough they have a number of stores, Simons has also always tried to make sure each store has a unique design, etc. They also went out of their way in expanding the Old Quebec City store to fit into historical buildings in the old town.

They do not follow the idea of the same looking chain store in every mall approach.

And the only way you can keep that kind of business attitude is to not have a thousand stores in every single city.
In fact I bet they do so good because they are small. Large chain stores get in trouble sooner or latter because their large size just drains profits, and consumer demand, etc.
Simons has been run for something like 150 years, and I think the small size is part of the success.

MolsonExport · #**2037** Posted **Jan 15, 2011, 2:19 AM**

Some girls will say that size isn't everything, but don't believe it.

SpongeG · #**2038** Posted **Jan 15, 2011, 7:20 AM**

size is important but you can always work it

SpongeG · #**2039** Posted **Jan 17, 2011, 8:55 PM**

its getting closer to toronto...

Quote:

Five Guys Burgers and Fries
Hello Mississauga, Ontario!!! We would like to take a moment to announce that the Mississauga, Ontario Five Guys located at: 2150 Burnhamthorpe Road West, Mississauga , ON L5M 4Z5 is NOW OPEN!!!

SpikePhanta · #**2040** Posted **Jan 18, 2011, 2:27 AM**

I frikin love Five guys.
Too bad they dont have a location convenient to me, surrey and westvan = too far for a transit dude.