Halifax Retail - Page 78

visualman57 · #**1541** Posted **Jan 2, 2015, 11:54 PM**

apparently, RW&Co at the Halifax Shopping Centre has closed. Rumour has it they might be back post reno time, but no confirmation on that news. And rumours are once again flying about Reitmans and Sears saying bye-bye soon to their spaces.

icetea93 · #**1542** Posted **Jan 6, 2015, 2:09 PM**

Aritzia will be replacing RW&Co. in Halifax Shopping Centre

visualman57 · #**1543** Posted **Jan 7, 2015, 3:33 AM**

Halifax ReTales is reporting that Birks is closing their Halifax Shopping Centre store on the 24th. Others say they are just relocating to a small location. Interesting times at that mall.

HalifaxRetales · #**1544** Posted **Jan 12, 2015, 5:46 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by visualman57

Halifax ReTales is reporting that Birks is closing their Halifax Shopping Centre store on the 24th. Others say they are just relocating to a small location. Interesting times at that mall.

probably be closed before that even, the store is pretty empty

visualman57 · #**1545** Posted **Jan 12, 2015, 6:45 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by HalifaxRetales

probably be closed before that even, the store is pretty empty

they had a store closing sale advertisement in the Chronically Horrid Weekend Edition.
Surprisingly, there was an article on the Retail News site today about how Birks is in an expansion mode, opening new stores and revamping others into smaller spaces. I guess Halifax isn't on their chart anymore....

HalifaxRetales · #**1546** Posted **Jan 14, 2015, 12:55 PM**

all kinds of Rumours swirling for HSC

Aeropostale is closing (likely)
Reitmans is closing (possible)
Sears leaving (possible)
Holt Renfrew coming in (doubt it)
Nordstrom coming in (doubt it)
Williams Sonoma coming (possible)
Crate and Barrel Coming (possible)
Zara in (likely)
H&M in (likely)
Body Shop out (possible)

jslath · #**1547** Posted **Jan 14, 2015, 3:35 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by HalifaxRetales

all kinds of Rumours swirling for HSC

Aeropostale is closing (likely)
Reitmans is closing (possible)
Sears leaving (possible)
Holt Renfrew coming in (doubt it)
Nordstrom coming in (doubt it)
Williams Sonoma coming (possible)
Crate and Barrel Coming (possible)
Zara in (likely)
H&M in (likely)
Body Shop out (possible)

Sears days are numbered at HSC (is there a pun there?). Holt Renfrew in Ottawa is closing because the market is too small, so I can't see it coming to Halifax. My money is on Hudson's Bay returning to Halifax...

Looking at the list, once upon a time people thought Apple coming to HSC was not possible (myself included). So, you never know...

visualman57 · #**1548** Posted **Jan 14, 2015, 6:58 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by HalifaxRetales

all kinds of Rumours swirling for HSC

Aeropostale is closing (likely)
Reitmans is closing (possible)
Sears leaving (possible)
Holt Renfrew coming in (doubt it)
Nordstrom coming in (doubt it)
Williams Sonoma coming (possible)
Crate and Barrel Coming (possible)
Zara in (likely)
H&M in (likely)
Body Shop out (possible)

and there is the one about Simons coming to this market. They are currently on a major expansion, and are probably the closest to a "high end" department store that this market could support.

When I worked at HSC, there was a constant rumor flowing around that Saks was taking over the space being emptied in Tower 2, confirmed by a mall employee (from the maintenance dep't).

HalifaxRetales · #**1549** Posted **Jan 14, 2015, 7:13 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by visualman57

and there is the one about Simons coming to this market. They are currently on a major expansion, and are probably the closest to a "high end" department store that this market could support.

When I worked at HSC, there was a constant rumor flowing around that Saks was taking over the space being emptied in Tower 2, confirmed by a mall employee (from the maintenance dep't).

No way HBC will bring a Saks to Halifax before reentering the market as Hudson Bay first. I have been told Tower 2 will be Zara and few smaller shops and be an open atrium streetscape feel.

Simons is in expansion mode, I would rather see them downtown but Sears would be an enticing space. Simons is way more likely ad market approriate than a Premium like Saks, Holt, Nordstrom

visualman57 · #**1550** Posted **Jan 14, 2015, 10:28 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by HalifaxRetales

No way HBC will bring a Saks to Halifax before reentering the market as Hudson Bay first. I have been told Tower 2 will be Zara and few smaller shops and be an open atrium streetscape feel.

Simons is in expansion mode, I would rather see them downtown but Sears would be an enticing space. Simons is way more likely ad market approriate than a Premium like Saks, Holt, Nordstrom

sorry.. I thought the reference to the well placed source would signify the level of sarcasm in my comment.
You are correct though on the Hudson Bay re-entering the market. Bonnie Brooks was quoted last year as saying that HB would be back in Halifax sooner, rather than later... although with the planned renovation and expansion at Micmac, it may take them a while longer than originally thought.

DigitalNinja · #**1551** Posted **Jan 14, 2015, 11:10 PM**

With tower 2 being taken down and renovated does anyone think the other office tower will eventually convert into retail as well?

The Bay would be nice to see it come back to Halifax, way better than Sears. But Simons would be good as well (just from looking at their website) I've never been in a Simons before, would they take up all 3 floors that sears occupies? Or would they go for maybe 1-2 of those floors?

gm_scott · #**1552** Posted **Jan 14, 2015, 11:11 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by visualman57

sorry.. I thought the reference to the well placed source would signify the level of sarcasm in my comment.
You are correct though on the Hudson Bay re-entering the market. Bonnie Brooks was quoted last year as saying that HB would be back in Halifax sooner, rather than later... although with the planned renovation and expansion at Micmac, it may take them a while longer than originally thought.

Planned renovation and expansion at Micmac??

visualman57 · #**1553** Posted **Jan 15, 2015, 12:15 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by gm_scott

Planned renovation and expansion at Micmac??

there has been talk for the last several months of big changes at Micmac. According to some people who are reliable in their reporting, there is a plan coming that will involved the construction of a parking garage, and an expansion of the Bay store out into the parking area, which would create a one level Bay store of approx. the same size as the current store. The top floor of the current Bay would become the food court, and the current food court area would be re-purposed as retail space, potentially for "larger size retailers" I have no official confirmation of any of this, but I have heard the same info from enough people in different areas that I believe there must be some truth to the rumour. In fact, there were engineers doing structural surveying and testing late last year.

visualman57 · #**1554** Posted **Jan 15, 2015, 12:21 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by DigitalNinja

With tower 2 being taken down and renovated does anyone think the other office tower will eventually convert into retail as well?

The Bay would be nice to see it come back to Halifax, way better than Sears. But Simons would be good as well (just from looking at their website) I've never been in a Simons before, would they take up all 3 floors that sears occupies? Or would they go for maybe 1-2 of those floors?

According to an article in Retail Insider back in January, Simons is planning on expanding to as many as 20 stores across Canada. Whether that means all of Canada, or just the Canada that runs to the NB/QC border, I don't know. But generally they run in the 80,000 to 120,000 sq ft range. They sell a lot of private label brands, mixed with some designer labels. Sort of an old Quebec mentality, being updated to the new generation looks.

kph06 · #**1555** Posted **Jan 15, 2015, 2:14 PM**

Target is pulling out of Canada:

Target Canada files for creditor protection, plans to close all stores

coolmillion · #**1556** Posted **Jan 15, 2015, 7:35 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by kph06

Target is pulling out of Canada:

Target Canada files for creditor protection, plans to close all stores

Too bad but maybe this will open opportunities for the expansion of other stores. Someone at Target didn't do their market research homework

scooby074 · #**1557** Posted **Jan 16, 2015, 3:04 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by kph06

Target is pulling out of Canada:

Target Canada files for creditor protection, plans to close all stores

The fact that they are pulling out completely came as a surprise to most. Yes they are losing money, but the losses have been slowing. They have made huge investments in renovating the old Zellers and building several large stand alone stores recently, with one opening in the last month or two (Winnipeg I believe).

Even the CEO said they were committed to Canada as recently as July.

No question they were overly ambitious and misjudged the market, but a complete abandoning of the market as opposed to shuttering the under-performing stores seems a bit rash. Was there some other external or internal pressure other than the losses?

Last couple times Ive been in Target (Micmac, Bayers Lake), I really liked the store. Seems they got their supply chain worked out a bit better, stores were clean (way cleaner than Walmart) and staff was friendly.

That said what were they thinking when they made the Cellphone department staffed by an independent contractor who works different hours than the store itself, so you cant buy cell accessories from an actual "Target" employee, but only from a contractor who dresses just like a "Target" employee and only works from 11:00 to 8:00! I think that bit of stupidity speaks volumes as to why Target failed in Canada. (True story, happened to me at Micmac Target).

Colin May · #**1558** Posted **Jan 16, 2015, 3:14 AM**

I was not shocked.
The MMM store opened after kids went back to school. Major mistake.
The store was dull and not inviting. The colour scheme was awful.
Goods packed high.
And the prices were higher than expected, so says 'the boss'.
Went back once and I couldn't get out fast enough.
Just another box store full of crap from China.
When entering the Canadian market hire a top class Canadian retail executive team - knowing the market is essential and ensures an entrant does not make the same mistake as Marks & Spencer, run by Brits from the executive suite to the sales counter. Went down in flames.

someone123 · #**1559** Posted **Jan 23, 2015, 3:43 AM**

More news about Urban Outfitters on Barrington. According to a top secret source, they plan on opening in May and have some job ads up somewhere. Now there's speculation as to whether or not the sister store Anthropologie will be opening up.

I wonder if The Coast will issue a correction for this headline: http://www.thecoast.ca/Shoptalk/arch...rington-street. It was pretty sad how Tim Bousquet committed the same error that he was griping about, making claims about what will or will not happen without sufficient evidence.

worldlyhaligonian · #**1560** Posted **Jan 23, 2015, 5:42 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by someone123

More news about Urban Outfitters on Barrington. According to a top secret source, they plan on opening in May and have some job ads up somewhere. Now there's speculation as to whether or not the sister store Anthropologie will be opening up.

I wonder if The Coast will issue a correction for this headline: http://www.thecoast.ca/Shoptalk/arch...rington-street. It was pretty sad how Tim Bousquet committed the same error that he was griping about, making claims about what will or will not happen without sufficient evidence.

Is he gone? That guy should be run out of Halifax.