Halifax Retail

[HalifaxRetales]

$16 for a pound of wings

[q12]

In pictures: New HFX Sports bar opens, looks to score plenty of customers

January 13, 2014 Updated: January 13, 2014 | 6:27 pm

By Haley Ryan
Metro

The general manager of the city’s newest sports bar, HFX Sports, said our city has “never seen anything like this.”

On Monday afternoon prior to its grand opening, Brendon Boyd said the social media attention around the high-end bar and restaurant in the Palace’s old location has been “insane.”

“Everything is state-of-the-art. There’s nothing that we didn’t go high-end with,” Boyd said inside the sleek black and silver themed bar as staff prepared for its first dinner rush.

HFX Sports has over 100 televisions throughout the space, including the 20-foot main screen above the light-up glass bar and some in the washrooms.

Read more here: http://metronews.ca/news/halifax/907...-of-customers/


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[Dmajackson]

La Vie En Rose is opening its second Nova Scotia location (first being Dartmouth Crossing) in Mic Mac Mall.

Source : "THE RETAIL BEAT" (January 14th, 2014) - AllNovaScotia.com

[someone123]

Apparently the renovations for that bar cost on the order of $2.5M.

[eastcoastal]

Originally Posted by someone123

Apparently the renovations for that bar cost on the order of $2.5M.

Maybe I haven't been in enough sports bars (or "high end" sports bars) to form an accurate comparison, but does this already look dated to anyone else?

It's clear they spent a lot of cash.... maybe it's not dated, just not my taste.

In any case, good luck to them. Seems that the club/bar/lounge business can be tough... but I don't think there are many other places in Halifax that occupy this niche.

[IanWatson]

Maybe it's not showing in those photos, but are there any tables that seat more than six? When I go to a sports bar, I want to go with a big group of friends and make it an exciting time. Maybe they have accomodated that elsewhere, or maybe they're specifically trying to avoid big rowdy groups in their upscale premises.

[scooby074]

Originally Posted by someone123

Apparently the renovations for that bar cost on the order of $2.5M.

A fool and their money...

/The place doesnt do it for me. No atmosphere, too cold and clinical. Looks like a dance bar not a sports bar.

[pblaauw]

Smiling Goat Organic Espresso Bar will be opening a 2nd location in Bishop's Landing.

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[someone123]

Originally Posted by eastcoastal

Maybe I haven't been in enough sports bars (or "high end" sports bars) to form an accurate comparison, but does this already look dated to anyone else?

Also not really for me. I don't like watching sports and I find TVs in restaurants or bars kind of obnoxious. That being said, I could see there being a market for this.

"Upscale casual" restaurants/bars have become enormously popular in a lot of cities. This one's also about a 2 minute walk from the Metro Centre; probably helpful for a sports bar.

[icetea93]

Italian women's clothing chain Brandy Melville is looking for suggestions on Twitter as to where to locate in Halifax. So far they are present only in Toronto, Vancouver and Montreal in Canada, but they are looking to open in Halifax, Edmonton and Calgary this spring/summer. They are present in major cities worldwide and are considered an up-and-coming retail giant

Edit: Mic Mac Mall appears to be the location, as MMM is asking their Facebook fans what they think of the brand. That or BM is contacting both malls. The overwhelming choice for location from social media fans was Spring Garden. Here's hoping that they listen to their fans! Another big name retailer would be great for the street

[scooby074]

No offense in any way Icetea, but MORE clothing stores... Ugg

As someone who doesnt give much thought to clothes, like most in my line of work, Im getting soo tired of clothing stores coming as big news... The way things are going Haifax is going to have more clothing stores per capita than anywhere in Canada

Halifax hasnt done much to land any major store it seems outside of fashion based ones.. (yes I know there are stores other than fashion arriving, but there sure are alot of fashion ones!)

Moncton scooped up both Cabelas and Bass Pro, two stores I enjoy. Why didnt Hali get them?

Halifax should be making a serious effort to land Ikea (again) and other non fashion chains.. If Ikea comes to Atlantic Canada and happens to choose Moncton over Halifax, I will drive there as opposed to Halifax, the added distance is worth it because Moncton has everything Im interested in, be it Princess Auto, Cabelas, Bass Pro, and Ikea and more if it comes. Plus Moncton has duplicates of just about all the stores in DC and Bayers from Costco to Target. The only store they dont have that I frequent is Lee Valley.

I couldnt care much less about fashion. Halifax needs a Destination store like IKEA (I consider Bass Pro and Cabelas destination stores ) or they will loose a bunch more business to Moncton. They should be wining and dining those Swedes... And on their hands and knees apologizing to them for the treatment Ikea received their last time around.

[icetea93]

Cabela's and Bass Pro tend to go where the demographic is. Halifax is definitely not a hunting/fishing kind of city. Halifax is a fashion forward city. That is why we keep getting big name clothing stores (and why we will keep getting them). Our malls outperform all others in Atlantic Canada by a healthy margin.

In demographic makeup terms Halifax is more like a small New York (business, fashion-forward, universities,etc.) than a small Houston or Denver (outdoorsman like cities?)
I agree that Bass Pro and Cabelas are big destination retailers and they will be great for Moncton. Cabelas has stated that they plan to open in all Provinces (except maybe PEI), so I think we will have a Cabelas eventually.

The demographic in Moncton is much more suited to outdoorsman stores than Halifax. Most stores would take Halifax's large population advantage into account, however these stores tend to ignore that and go where they "belong".

I don't think in any way that losing out on Cabelas and Bass Pro should be seen as a negative on Halifax. It should be seen as a positive on Moncton.

Regarding IKEA, only time will tell. I think Halifax has the more attractive demographic for them with the large universities and whatnot. Now that Winnipeg has one, I think Halifax has to be next. When the Winnipeg store opened IKEA stated that they opened in Winnipeg because they had the highest amount of online orders, followed very closely by Halifax.

[Drybrain]

Originally Posted by icetea93

Regarding IKEA, only time will tell. I think Halifax has the more attractive demographic for them with the large universities and whatnot. Now that Winnipeg has one, I think Halifax has to be next. When the Winnipeg store opened IKEA stated that they opened in Winnipeg because they had the highest amount of online orders, followed very closely by Halifax.

The population on the store's doorstep would be far greater than Moncton, so I despite Moncton's more central regional location, it seems like a no-brainer, especially with the students. Even in Halifax, you'd still get people driving in from all over NB/PEI/NS to shop there. So it wouldn't just be the 400,000 or so in the HRM. Overall, I think the potential market is greater than in Winnipeg, so it seems like it mush just be a matter of time.

What treatment did IKEA receive last time around, as per Scooby's remark?

[MonctonRad]

I agree wholeheartedly with the comments about demographics.

Moncton is central to the hunting and fishing community in all three provinces, so it is not surprising that Moncton registered well with both Bass Pro and Cabela's. The fact we will have them both in the same city will further promote the destination retail market for the outdoor demographic.

There is little or no chance however that IKEA would choose Moncton. It is the sort of retailer that locates in a larger city with a young, urban and university educated demographic. There is only one city in the region that IKEA would ever consider and that would be Halifax......

As far as retail tourism is concerned, it can be a two way street. For example, people from Maine would travel down to Boston to go the Filene's and IKEA. The Bostonians in turn will drive up to Maine for outlet shopping and LL Bean. This type of two way traffic will likely develop between Halifax and Moncton as more destination retailers set up shop. Both cities end up being winners.

[scooby074]

Originally Posted by Drybrain

What treatment did IKEA receive last time around, as per Scooby's remark?

Ikea made a large commitment to NS. Their Dartmouth store was Ikea's first foray into the North American market I believe.

They set up shop here, including building a MASSIVE new store to replace the old one (Leons in Burnside was built by IKEA, IIRC).

They also built a large plant to manufacture wood products called Swedwood which later became Scanwood under private ownership after Ikea left, before ending in bankruptcy two or three years ago.

Thats a very substantial investment, 10's of millions of dollars.

The government of the day did not care about this investment and IKEA pulled up stakes and took off, mostly over our backwards Sunday shopping laws. The government even prosecuted (I believe) Ikea over Sunday opening.

Ikea warned the government that they'd leave over this, and they did.

Considering their past investment and treatment, if I was Ikea it'd be a hard sell to get me to return.

[Drybrain]

Huh, interesting. I looked it up with some of that info and it was in the 70s-80s, apparently.

I don't know about never returning though. That's a long time ago. If there's a profit to be made, I'm sure they'll be back eventually.

[Keith P.]

Originally Posted by scooby074

Ikea made a large commitment to NS. Their Dartmouth store was Ikea's first foray into the North American market I believe.

This is true.

They set up shop here, including building a MASSIVE new store to replace the old one (Leons in Burnside was built by IKEA, IIRC).

This is totally false. They were always in rented premises just off Windmill Rd at Akerley Blvd. They had nothing to do with the Leon's building and were long gone by thwe time that was built.

The government of the day did not care about this investment and IKEA pulled up stakes and took off, mostly over our backwards Sunday shopping laws. The government even prosecuted (I believe) Ikea over Sunday opening.

Ikea warned the government that they'd leave over this, and they did.

Considering their past investment and treatment, if I was Ikea it'd be a hard sell to get me to return.

This is more fantasy. Nothing of the sort ever happened.

[scooby074]

Originally Posted by Keith P.

This is true.



This is totally false. They were always in rented premises just off Windmill Rd at Akerley Blvd. They had nothing to do with the Leon's building and were long gone by thwe time that was built.



This is more fantasy. Nothing of the sort ever happened.

You overlooked setting up Swedwood. A pretty serious investment in the province.

Leons.. I remember hearing it was built by Ikea so they could move from the rented location, but I could be wrong on that, hence the IIRC at the end.

And Sunday shopping was an issue for Ikea. More than market size as is commonly portrayed as their reason for closing. Suspiciously all reference to the original Halifax location has been scrubbed from the current Wikipedia page, including the reference to Sunday shopping. Richmond BC is now listed as their first foray into the NA market. We all know the Halifax store existed.. hmm.... Tinfoil Hat anyone?

Ill concede that what Im about to post here is far from definitive, but Ive heard from several sources that Sunday shopping laws and government indifference at the time were a deciding factor in Ikea's closing. At one time Wikipedia even referenced it.

From:kat on December 2, 2005
and just to let you guys know, while in halifax i did a brief job for Ikea to see if the Maritimes would get a store anytime soon. That was in 2003 and the answer was no at that point. Part of the reason for Nova Scotia was because there is no Sunday shopping. But there was not much talk at that point to one in Moncton but the way it’s growing, you never know.

From: D on January 30, 2007
To quote: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IKEA#IK...n_each_country “This was IKEA flag ship store in Canada. IKEA was open on Sundays, which was illegal in Nova Scotia until fall 2006. Sunday shopping at IKEA was a family outing for many people. The Government forced IKEA to close on Sundays in 1988, and IKEA responded by closing its Dartmouth store a few months later in 1988, and moved its operations to the Quebec City store. IKEA vowed it would never return to Nova Scotia.”

From: Jenn on April 15, 2007:
IKEA will be coming to Dartmouth Crossing in HRM - my cousin is an engineer working on the space specifically set aside for IKEA - they were apparently waiting for Sunday shopping to arrive before deciding to set up shop here…

http://ruk.ca/content/no-ikea-you


Rebuttal taken from the talk page on Wikipedia where an anal retentive editor keeps wiping any reference to the Dartmouth store we all know existed:

Trust me, this is not an Urban Legend. Yes IKEA did own a furniture making company (I think it was called Scanwood Canada Ltd before the province bought it). However IKEA did have a full size retail store complete with childrens playroom, show room, and a self serve warehouse were you picked up your furniture. When the store opened, the local papers (Chronicle Hearld, Mail Star) indicated that this was the first IKEA store in Canada.

On Sunday, a favorite pastime was heading over to IKEA to do furniture shopping, as other than drugstores, it was the only large store open in the area. Sunday was actually the busiest day of the week for sales for IKEA in the Dartmouth store.

For some reason, the Nova Scotia Government, did not pursue IKEA on the Sunday Closing Act. However in 1988, other large retail stores got on the band wagon as the Sunday Closing Act was stuct down. Unlike most other provinces, Nova Scotia kept creating Sunday closing laws, until it found one that would survive a court challenge (at least until a few years ago, when it was finally struct down, and the province gave up on preventing Sunday shopping).

When the Province was successful in 1988 with the Sunday Shopping Law, they pursued IKEA to close. In addtion, the new uniform retail closing act had heavier fines, unlike the old act. IKEA responded in the media, that they were closing, since they would not be profitable, if they could not open on Sunday, and they also indicated that they would never return to the Province, because of the way they been treated by the Goverment of Nova Scotia. This was also communicated as the reason to the staff upon layoff.

Being a long term resident of Dartmouth Nova Scotia, and knowing people that worked at IKEA at the time of closing, I can attest that this is not an Urban Legend.

The details of this event can also be found in the Archive of Chronical Hearld and Mail Star of Halifax Nova Scotia. (The archive is a paid service). I am also sure that residents of Dartmouth can also verify the details of this, as well as people that used to work at IKEA.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk:Li...th_IKEA_stores

[Keith P.]

Only the tinfoil hat types or clueless kids who don't think anything happened before 1995 deny that Ikea was ever here. There is no doubt about that fact.

As for Swedwood/Scanwood, there was a substantial amount of govt funding thrown at it. It hardly seems fair to say that the govt ignored the company during its time here.

[MonctonRad]

I was alive and living in Halifax at the time of this debacle.

The IKEA store in Dartmouth was only marginally profitable, but the Sunday shopping rule was the coup de grace for the company and it's relationship to Nova Scotia.

Coupled with that was a move by IKEA to change it's business model in North America, concentrating only on megastores in urban areas of greater than a million inhabitants and the Dartmouth store was doomed.

IKEA did say that they would never come back to NS, but that was more than a quarter century ago and times (and company managers) change and Halifax is now very different than it used to be. I personally think the odds are reasonably good that IKEA would return to HRM sometime in the next decade.....