The Metro Vancouver Retail Thread

[SpongeG]

Originally Posted by WarrenC12

Convenience stores seem to have seen a resurgence in the last ~5 years or so. I can't say I understand it, but more power to them.

Better than another vape or weed shop!

convenience stores have been taking over in Asia.

[SpongeG]

I was at the Bay at Guildford on Tuesday eve, it's always closed by the time I am there but took a quick look this time as its been a few months since last going in, it closes at 7 where as the mall closes at 9.
There is such a lack of stock that I only really paid attention to the men's as that's all I could look at before being told to leave. But they have moved around what clothes they have to make blank spaces look fuller. The area that used to have things like Nike, Under Armour, Adidas etc, sports clothing had none and was replaced with some jackets and outerwear from One & Only or Jack N Jones basically. There were no Polo Ralph Lauren socks at all, the sock department was pretty close to bare, they used to hang the socks on the walls but they were all bare. The underwear section was also pretty bare and the shoes section was moved around, women shoes have taken over the men's section and the old women section was filled up with things like scarves and gloves. the Mens shoes had been moved to where they used to have some Formula 1 collection type clothing which is no longer carried there I guess. The Polo section was really bare, they had spread out what they had which was mostly summer things, there was no fall or winter stock at all like there normally would be this time of year.
I don't think its going to last much longer.

PXL_20240918_020052900 by snub_you, on Flickr

PXL_20240918_020342540 by snub_you, on Flickr

[NewfBC]

Originally Posted by SpongeG

I was at the Bay at Guildford on Tuesday eve, it's always closed by the time I am there but took a quick look this time as its been a few months since last going in, it closes at 7 where as the mall closes at 9.
There is such a lack of stock that I only really paid attention to the men's as that's all I could look at before being told to leave. But they have moved around what clothes they have to make blank spaces look fuller. The area that used to have things like Nike, Under Armour, Adidas etc, sports clothing had none and was replaced with some jackets and outerwear from One & Only or Jack N Jones basically. There were no Polo Ralph Lauren socks at all, the sock department was pretty close to bare, they used to hang the socks on the walls but they were all bare. The underwear section was also pretty bare and the shoes section was moved around, women shoes have taken over the men's section and the old women section was filled up with things like scarves and gloves. the Mens shoes had been moved to where they used to have some Formula 1 collection type clothing which is no longer carried there I guess. The Polo section was really bare, they had spread out what they had which was mostly summer things, there was no fall or winter stock at all like there normally would be this time of year.
I don't think its going to last much longer.

PXL_20240918_020052900 by snub_you, on Flickr

PXL_20240918_020342540 by snub_you, on Flickr

Wow.. that's quite sad. Looks like they're in liquidation mode without the bright ugly signs!

Ron.

[jollyburger]

I wouldn't be surprised if they file for bankruptcy next year.

[whatnext]

Interesting. I was at the downtown store last weekend and was actually surprised at how good it looked. Definitely way more merch than the pic shows in Guildford. Two of the four elevators were marked Out of Order though.

[RedArbutus]

Originally Posted by whatnext

Interesting. I was at the downtown store last weekend and was actually surprised at how good it looked. Definitely way more merch than the pic shows in Guildford. Two of the four elevators were marked Out of Order though.

That's an improvement from when it was 3 out of 4 out of order earlier this year!

[urbanight93]

It's mind boggling how bad our retail landscape has gotten with Nordstrom's closure and the Bay doing everything it can to not to pivot and reinvest in itself.

I'm very curious regarding how Holt's is doing given all its downtown competitors essentially tapped out. I was at an after-hours event there yesterday and found it to be heavily attended for a Wednesday evening during an alleged consumer spending contraction. They were doing very well years ago so i can only assume things have only gotten better (at least locally).

[officedweller]

Could they be moving stock around between stores?
i.e. is the customer traffic so strong at Guildford that they would have actually sold the stock to cause the empty shelves?

[jollyburger]

Originally Posted by officedweller

Could they be moving stock around between stores?
i.e. is the customer traffic so strong at Guildford that they would have actually sold the stock to cause the empty shelves?

Or suppliers don't want to ship them anything without being paid first

[officedweller]

... but the shelves need to be emptied by customers for them to be empty in the first place.

[SpongeG]

in comparison, the Metrotown Bay store I stopped in at yesterday had more stock but they have shifted around a lot of things to make it look fuller. The old Clarins counter is now an assortment of beauty brands that they used to have on shelves by the entrance and that area is now back to being clothing. The polo section which is fuller than Guildford also seems to not have any fall or winter clothes just summer pieces and ones that have been on clearance for months. The MANGO section is also gone and is now used for some Rodd And Gunn merchandise, I overheard once from the Rodd & Gunn guy that they are like a concession and do not participate in any of the Bay Sales. With MANGO in expansion mode in Canada perhaps they have stopped selling at the Bay to concentrate on opening more of their own stores.

Also at the Guildford store, they have placed a lot of the Zellers merchandise throughout the store, in the Beauty section, clothing sections, etc. very randomly. Didn't get a proper look at the home section but it looked very sparse and still no Christmas merch in store yet, usually the Bay has that stuff out by now.