[M II A II R II K]

A thread to discuss retail, it's rumours, and new and/or popular retail outlets.

[manny_santos]

A thread to discuss retail, it's rumours, and new and/or popular retail outlets.

The perennial question is: Will London ever get an IKEA?

The Aboutown Airbus driver I had coming back from Detroit on Saturday didn't realize London didn't have an IKEA. He had planned to go there to buy some new furniture.

[MolsonExport]

I understand that Lowe's bought out 6/7 former Sam's club outlets...including the one in Hyde Park.

[MolsonExport]

IKEA: London is probably too small (Winnipeg, Quebec City still lack an outlet). So is KW. But perhaps one located equidistant (i.e., Woodstock) and at the intersection of 401/403 would work nicely.

[Duke-Of-Waterloo]

IKEA: London is probably too small (Winnipeg, Quebec City still lack an outlet).

An Ikea is planned to open in Winnipeg sometime between 2012 and 2013.

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/manitoba/story/2009/05/29/mb-ikea-winnipeg.html

[ForestryW]

Southern Ontario already has two so a third is highly unlikely (especially counting Detroit). Buffalo will be the next nearby city to get one I venture.

[SlickFranky]

Southern Ontario already has two so a third is highly unlikely (especially counting Detroit). Buffalo will be the next nearby city to get one I venture.

There are actually 4 in the GTA.

[ldoto]

DOWNTOWN LONDON

By KATE DUBINSKI, THE LONDON FREE PRESS

Last Updated: 10th December 2009, 10:52am


Downtown London is courting a major U.S. fashion retailer -- with the two sides already "on second base," said Janette MacDonald of MainStreet London. :tup: :tup: :tup: :tup: :tup:

To hear her tell it, it's love.

"They want to be in London. It's a big deal, but I just can't say who it is just yet," said MacDonald, adding the deal could be a catalyst for further development. "We're pretty excited."

MacDonald won't identify the retailer, but here's what we know:

It's a "major American global fashion retailer."

It has locations in Toronto, but not in London.

It caters to men and women, in the 20- to 45-year-old age range.

It sells upscale and downscale clothing.

If it comes to London, it'll be in a targeted incentive zone -- along Dundas St. between Wellington and Talbot streets and on Richmond St. between Carling and York streets -- where tax breaks and other development goodies are highest.

London will know more before Jan. 1.

"I have my fingers, toes and eyes crossed," MacDonald joked.

"I think this is a recognition that we are a great market, that we're a great city and not a small village," she said. "Our downtown is revitalized, we're a university and college city, and we have 100,000 people within a three-kilometre radius of the core.

"We have a critical mass."

The retailer has been in London scoping out locations, and has its sights set on a space downtown, MacDonald said.

Other U.S. brands are looking to expand in Canadian cities, long considered "underserviced markets" by American companies, says a Michigan-based urban retail expert.

"You're going to find a number of leading retailers looking at your downtown," said Robert Gibbs, who was in London last month speaking to downtown advocates.

"You have a good core, a good density, a lot of civic uses," he said.

"Many retailers are now preferring urban locations rather than malls because some customers prefer downtowns and if they lease a historic building, it looks like they're a unique concept brand even though they're national," Gibbs said.

Along with J. Crew, which hired a consultant to hunt down possible Canadian store locations, other major companies are looking to expand north, including the Gap, the Limited, Anne Taylor, Target, Pottery Barn and Kohl's, Gibbs said.

"I think any of these retailers would bring more people and overall higher sales and an improved quality of life to your downtown," he said. "Downtown should sell what people buy."

MacDonald alluded to the mystery retailer during yesterday's board of control meeting, when she updated politicians on some of the core's successes in the past year.

Among them are new buildings, refurbished facades and the burgeoning CitiPlaza, formerly Galleria London.

Others include the expansion of Kingsmill's, the reopening of Dan Hasson Clothier on Dundas St., new clothing store Apocalypse opening on Talbot St. and many new restaurants.

More than 76 properties used one or more of the financial incentive programs for the core, and a lot of cash has been given in loans, grants and tax rebates.

But cleaning up London's much-maligned main intersection -- Dundas and Richmond -- is still a high priority. "Those two streets are absolutely our target," MacDonald said.

Parking is also still a problem, especially after the Renaissance condo development ate up much-needed parking space. People have trouble finding parking, particularly when events are held at the John Labatt Centre.

The Central Library has opened the fencing around its reading garden on Dundas, making it more inviting, MacDonald said. "It no longer looks like Kabul -- it looks like downtown London," she said. :banana: :banana: :banana: :banana: :banana: :banana: :banana: :banana: :banana: :banana: :banana: :banana: :banana: :banana: :banana:

[ldoto]

:previous:
City council's board of control heard an update of the last year's successes in downtown London, including the wooing of a major U.S. chain. It could be a marriage made in shopping heaven. :cheers: :cheers:

[MolsonExport]

I never have too much trouble finding parking (curbside or lot) in dt london. Certainly far easier than dt Tarrana or Montreal or Vancouver. I for one would like to see surface lots disappear, to be replaced with buildings with underground parking, or, barring that, multilevel parking structures.

[ldoto]

:previous: Very true:tup:

[manny_santos]

I never have been unable to find parking downtown, although sometimes it takes awhile. I think a good idea would be to put in a multilevel structure between Dundas and Queens Ave east of Richmond, accessible from Queens, with some new storefront development along Queens. I am not a fan of all the surface lots and would rather have parking hidden but accessible - much like what is done with the Covent Garden Market.

[MolsonExport]

^Agreed. I like the Covent garden's parking system. Very often, we come down to the market for a bite to eat, then a walk at the forks, and take advantage of the 2 free hours of parking.

[ldoto]

A major home improvement retailer has made plans to move into north London.

Lowe’s announced Tuesday plans to open three more stores in Canada -- in London, Pickering and Vaughan.

All three locations are former Sam’s Club outlets. Walmart owned the big box discount outlets, and all six Canadian locations were closed last year.

There were signs at the time of the closing announcement that Lowe’s was interested in the sites.

In a news release, the company said it planned to open the three new stores by the end of the fourth quarter of 2010.

Lowe’s already has 16 stores in Canada. They operate in direct competition with Home Depot and Rona.

The new London location will have 103,000 square feet of retail sales space and a garden centre of 29,000 square feet.

Lowe’s expects to create more than 150 local jobs at each site.

[MolsonExport]

well, that's pretty close to my area (Hyde Park). I've suspected this for some time.

[ldoto]

Downtown London is more fashionable than ever. After five years on Main St. in Lambeth, Donna's Apparel has moved to 430 Richmond St., just north of Dundas St.

Owner Donna Haddad held the store's grand opening last week. She said she is a big believer in downtown London and her new location is more accessible to her customers.

"I love to see downtown London coming back. We are surrounded by solid businesses here, like Kingsmill's and Nash Jewellers," she said.

The shop carries Italian and French fashions, from casual to special occasion, along with shoes, purses and accessories.

Haddad became passionate about fashion during her student days in Paris and opened a shop when she returned to her native Lebanon.

Haddad moved to Canada 12 years ago and, as her children grew older, she got back into retailing. She's excited about joining the other fashion shops along Richmond Row.

"I like the competition. Shopping is all about going from store to store."

[MolsonExport]

^good news. now, let's clear out the bums of dundas/richmond, which tarnish a downtown stroll

[ericlewis91]

:previous:
City council's board of control heard an update of the last year's successes in downtown London, including the wooing of a major U.S. chain. It could be a marriage made in shopping heaven. :cheers: :cheers:

this fell through?

[manny_santos]

Just visited the new No Frills store on Colonel Talbot at Southdale, located at Vito Frijia's newest shopping centre. Some likes and dislikes:

Likes
The No Frills store is a nice size, not the monster size of Loblaws or Real Canadian Superstore. Small enough you can find everything quickly! Surprisingly the place was very busy, but it was also well-staffed. At least one other shopper agreed with me that the Metro store in Byron is going to have problems with this competition as their prices have gotten out of sight. And personally, I find that Metro is often severely understaffed. I'll be back to the new No Frills long before I go back to Metro.

The location also has London's newest Tim Hortons (what is that, #356 in the city?), but with a Cold Stone Creamery. I've only seen that in Toronto, so it's nice to see that come to Southwest London. Very similar concept to Marble Slab.

There's another building under construction next to Tim Hortons. Based on the shape, I'm guessing it'll be a bank branch.

Dislikes
Yet another pedestrian-unfriendly experience. I thought the North Talbot area was going to be embracing New Urbanism. But no, it's another centre with a massive parking lot, and all the retail entrances facing away from the roads with the Tim Hortons drive-thru being showcased at the street corner. With all the new housing going in immediately south of this development, Frijia could at least have made it inviting for local residents to walk to. No sense of place here, and just another reason for nearby residents to hop in the car and spew out more greenhouse gases just to get a loaf of bread.

I just don't get the appeal of driving to get basic supplies. It's not normal in most of the urban world.

[Underground100]

^ I haven't been up there yet, but it might be worth visiting, even if I don't have a car. And about the other building under construction, yes, that's going to be a bank; the plan from a city council meeting had a conceptual rendering that showed a future Scotiabank. Bus service could also come in the somewhat distant future too because in an LTC report, there was a plan last year to have a North Talbot route and would travel along Colonel Talbot and Southdale Roads.

In addition, the power centers are definitely not pedestrian-friendly. There have been many times I have been almost hit due to drivers speeding through the parking spaces in the massive lots that separate all of my stores of choice.

[MolsonExport]

^welcome to SSP.


Just as I expected, based on my drive-by 2 months ago. London cannot and will not embrace non-car oriented design anywhere except maybe in very small parts of the core. Goes hand in hand with the Fugly collection of inhuman concrete commie blocks that still rise as we speak.

I think the Tim Horton's count must be past at least 1000 in London by now, but the lineups keep growing. Must be some truth to the old nicotine in the coffee urban legend!

[ericlewis91]

Theres the coldstone/tim hortins in the North as well in the Sunningdale and Adelaide intersection..

clearly everything in london is in the north and south (doubled..)

[Snark]

Just as I expected, based on my drive-by 2 months ago. London cannot and will not embrace non-car oriented design anywhere except maybe in very small parts of the core. Goes hand in hand with the Fugly collection of inhuman concrete commie blocks that still rise as we speak.

I'm not so sure that this is a "London issue". The big box/power centre phenomenon exists in the suburbia in all larger cities in southern Ontario. Waterloo region for example is dominated by them as much or more than London is, and currently has the grand daddy of all power centres under construction right now (at roughly 30 hectares in size) - and concrete apartment towers are going up nearby it.

I'm not sure this is about any community embracing or rejecting something as specific as the power centre either. At the end of the day, it's the retail/business/developer community that came up with the power centre concept because it was immensely profitable - the shopping public or City planners didn't invent them. The municipality can't really stop them (they can only control locations and to a much lesser degree the design of them), and the general public is frankly too wrapped up in their lives to care or even pay attention to such issues. The soccer mom with 2 kids is only concerned with picking the kids up from school, getting home and feeding then and then getting off to soccer practice - and somewhere in that rush picking up some groceries. The nature of the place to get those groceries does not even cross her mind. The only thing that matters is convenience of acquisition and the price of the merchandise. Essentially, the public will use whatever they're fed, so long as it fits within their suburban lifestyle. The average suburbanite is too caught up in the struggle of everyday life. They do not consider the link between the suburban car-oriented lifestyle and urban congestion, environmental degradation, the loss of agricultural land, the drain of natural resources, and the increasing cost to administer and live in such places. The public more worried about keeping their job, paying bills, and getting Jimmy off to that soccer game. And when not worrying about such things, they are more interested in the latest talent show on TV tonight or playing with their X-Box.

When the culture of suburban Canada changes is when stuff like big box power centres (amongst many things) will change. Not before.

[MolsonExport]

consumers by and large do not have any choice (disclaimer: I can and do walk to Unger's farm market on Gainsborough, but the hours are not at all convenient excepting Saturdays). Thus, I drive to get a loaf of bread, because I have no choice in my neighborhood, like most neighborhoods in this City. I was luckier in my early days to live in inner suburb, or urban environments where having a car was more of a liability. I know about the struggle you describe, because I have a family with two young kids, etc.

I think that real change needs to come from without as well as from within. This applies to urban fabric issues, and run in lockstep with enabling environmentally-responsible behaviors. The exurban greenfield developments are subsidized and encouraged by city hall (note: practically everywhere else outside of Boston/NYC is the same in this regards, so it is not a criticism against London, per se). Surely, many consumers enjoy the format; it is also highly profitable with much lower overhead than a mall unit, etc.

[manny_santos]

Definitely not a uniquely London problem. As Snark has pointed out in the past, North American retailing formats have shifted multiple times in the past century, and undoubtedly will shift again. Automobile-oriented power centres will face problems when oil prices go up to the point driving becomes too costly for many people. That could be decades off.

That said, London has a few pedestrian-oriented shopping areas outside of downtown, most notably Richmond Row, Wortley Village, Old East, Wharncliffe in Old South, Adelaide from Oxford to King, and the CBDs of Byron and Lambeth. The latter two are oriented to elderly patrons; Byron has an appropriately-named restaurant called Comforts in the area.

Factoid: London has 8 Money Mart locations, or about 2.3 per 100,000. Toronto has only 1.3 per 100,000.

[Kokkei Mizu]

The location also has London's newest Tim Hortons (what is that, #356 in the city?), but with a Cold Stone Creamery. I've only seen that in Toronto, so it's nice to see that come to Southwest London. Very similar concept to Marble Slab.

1 of the 8 Tim Hortons in St. Thomas was converted a year or so ago. It is actually a pretty nice experience.

[ldoto]

The Wedding Shoppe
Go check out The Wedding Shoppe located in the Yorkville Centre Plaza at 57 York Street!

Wonderful essentials and accessories for that special day! Shop online, or go in and check out the selections.

http://www.theweddingshoppe.ca

[bolognium]

The Wedding Shoppe
Go check out The Wedding Shoppe located in the Yorkville Centre Plaza at 57 York Street!

Wonderful essentials and accessories for that special day! Shop online, or go in and check out the selections.

http://www.theweddingshoppe.ca


FUCK YEAH!