The Metro Vancouver Retail Thread

[SpongeG]

The Broadway store should be easy to fill

[connect2source]

Originally Posted by whatnext

Pier 1 closing all Canadian stores.
https://www.ctvnews.ca/business/pier...nada-1.4815327

Yet more empty commercial space.

Good riddance, terrible place, crap merchandise, totally behind the times.

[Migrant_Coconut]

Originally Posted by SpongeG

The Broadway store should be easy to fill

Surprised that one's lasted so long. There's almost never anybody in it.

[Graham_Yvr]

I was surprised to see my local Starbucks at the Sandman Suites Hotel on Davie Street paper up and close earlier this week. Yes, there is another one a half block away, but it's really small and very busy. I'll be interested to see what backfills this space. It's fairly large, and has the hotel business built in.

[officedweller]

Re: MEC

Just got an e-mail that the old store will be closed March 2-6 and the new store will open March 7th.

[whatnext]

Looking for someone to blame for empty Chinese businesses? Look no further than China's embassy in Canada:

The main problem for Richmond’s Aberdeen Centre food court, in the heart of the most Chinese city outside Asia, used to be a lack of seats.
It heaved around meal times, with tray-toting diners pouncing on tables as soon as an incumbent so much as dabbed their lips with a napkin.
Not any more. The crowds are gone. Most tables are empty. It looks like someone pulled a fire alarm...

....However, you don’t have to poke around the troll caves of Weibo to discover why Vancouver’s Chinese communities might be staying home.
For more than three weeks, China’s embassy has been plainly telling people in Canada to take precautions against the coronavirus by avoiding crowds and curtailing socialising.

“Please avoid travelling to crowded areas as much as possible, and do not organise or participate in party activities as much as possible,” it says in a directive posted prominently on its website since January 28.

It also recommends that anyone who does go to a “public place with a large number of people” should wear a face mask.

That advice all goes far beyond anything suggested for the general public by Canadian health authorities and political leaders (“Continue with your regular business,” Stewart had advised on Monday). If misinformation is behind the woes at the Aberdeen Centre and beyond, then the embassy must share the blame, not just anonymous crackpots on social media...

https://www.scmp.com/comment/blogs/a...virus-fears-if

[Conrad Yablonski]

Originally Posted by whatnext

If misinformation is behind the woes at the Aberdeen Centre and beyond, then the embassy must share the blame, not just anonymous crackpots on social media...

Do you mean to tell me that the average Chinese diner checks with the embassy before heading out to lunch?

Because if they do they have only themselves to blame for issues in their community.

[jollyburger]

Originally Posted by Graham_Yvr

I was surprised to see my local Starbucks at the Sandman Suites Hotel on Davie Street paper up and close earlier this week. Yes, there is another one a half block away, but it's really small and very busy. I'll be interested to see what backfills this space. It's fairly large, and has the hotel business built in.

Redevelopment?

[Vin]

Originally Posted by jollyburger

Redevelopment?

Another example of a store being driven out due to competition.

[dreambrother808]

Originally Posted by Vin

Another example of a store being driven out due to competition.

Another example of someone guessing about the reasons for things with no actual related experience or insider knowledge.

[Vin]

Originally Posted by dreambrother808

Another example of someone guessing about the reasons for things with no actual related experience or insider knowledge.

I think I know a little more than you do.

https://money.cnn.com/2018/06/19/new...res/index.html

https://curiocity.com/calgary/food-d...-over-calgary/

"Underperformance" is the key. Expect more of them to close at urban centres in the near future.

[Changing City]

Originally Posted by Vin

I think I know a little more than you do.

https://money.cnn.com/2018/06/19/new...res/index.html

https://curiocity.com/calgary/food-d...-over-calgary/

"Underperformance" is the key. Expect more of them to close at urban centres in the near future.

But you said it was competition - not underperformance. There's a Blenz nearby, and another Starbucks, but no newly opened coffee shops in the immediate vicinity recently out-competing Starbucks. They've closed at least four in the city in the past few months, including the fairly new Chinatown one. so Starbucks are clearly in retreat. Their switch to frozen, sweeter, centrally sourced baking might be part of the reason for their lower sales performance, but again, that's not recent. But I don't pretend to know, and unless you reveal yourself to be a Starbucks manager (or in a very close relationship with one) you don't either. (Googling news stories about stores closing in the US and Calgary doesn't count).

[Vin]

Originally Posted by Changing City

But you said it was competition - not underperformance. There's a Blenz nearby, and another Starbucks, but no newly opened coffee shops in the immediate vicinity recently out-competing Starbucks. They've closed at least four in the city in the past few months, including the fairly new Chinatown one. so Starbucks are clearly in retreat. Their switch to frozen, sweeter, centrally sourced baking might be part of the reason for their lower sales performance, but again, that's not recent. But I don't pretend to know, and unless you reveal yourself to be a Starbucks manager (or in a very close relationship with one) you don't either. (Googling news stories about stores closing in the US and Calgary doesn't count).

Do you think a monopoly would underperform? Sometimes I wonder if you do take a moment to ponder on things. Do you think a proud brand like Starbucks would admit that they are driven out due to stiffer competition?

[WarrenC12]

Originally Posted by Vin

Do you think a monopoly would underperform? Sometimes I wonder if you do take a moment to ponder on things. Do you think a proud brand like Starbucks would admit that they are driven out due to stiffer competition?

Starbucks is doing fine. They are closing lower performing stores, while upgrading and opening others. The market seems to think they're on the right path.

What's your point? Blenz is a private company with less than 70 locations.

[dreambrother808]

Originally Posted by WarrenC12

Starbucks is doing fine. They are closing lower performing stores, while upgrading and opening others. The market seems to think they're on the right path.

What's your point? Blenz is a private company with less than 70 locations.

Bingo. Someone who knows what he’s talking about.

[Changing City]

Originally Posted by Vin

Do you think a monopoly would underperform? Sometimes I wonder if you do take a moment to ponder on things. Do you think a proud brand like Starbucks would admit that they are driven out due to stiffer competition?

YOU said it was underperformance, not me. Sometimes I wonder if you do take a moment to ponder on things. I don't know why they closed that store - although having two stores within 2 blocks would seem to be a possible explanation. Starbucks don't say why they close stores, they just close them. They most certainly don't have a monopoly, and 2019 was the first time their revenue fell in the Americas - although their revenue increased in the rest of the world.

I suspect Warren is correct, they're pruning poorly performing locations (Commercial Drive, Chinatown, this one among them). On the Drive it's obvious that there are dozens of alternatives. On this part of Davie Street, that's not the case.

[dreambrother808]

Originally Posted by Vin

I think I know a little more than you do.

Yes, I often post with regard to Starbucks because I don’t know anything.

My information is only from google and my imagination.

[dreambrother808]

Originally Posted by Changing City

2019 was the first time their revenue fell in the Americas - although their revenue increased in the rest of the world.

That’s not true. Other than post-2008 financial crisis, the company has seen steady growth.

[Changing City]

Originally Posted by dreambrother808

That’s not true. Other than post-2008 financial crisis, the company has seen steady growth.

Good to know, thanks. Statista reported 2019 revenue in the Americas slightly less than 2018, although growing overall. Source.

[dreambrother808]

Originally Posted by Changing City

Good to know, thanks. Statista reported 2019 revenue in the Americas slightly less than 2018, although growing overall.
Source.

Those numbers don’t match their press release which shows a 9% comp YOY in the Americas.

https://investor.starbucks.com/press...s/default.aspx