[Moncton] Retail Thread

[Feneant]

Originally Posted by MonctonRad

It should be remembered that this is a big addition for the metro area. It is not just a customer contact centre. As the name suggests, it is also an important administrative centre for the bank, and will handle internal accounting services for TD for all of North America. This is a BIG DEAL, with a huge payroll for the metro area. At full roll out (within about three years), there will be over 1,000 employees at this location, about 40% of whom will be earning nearly $70,000 per year.

I'm trying to think the last time we had such a large & lucrative employer setup shop in Moncton and I can't... we've had tons of call centers but it's rare to see a new employer offering careers instead of jobs that barely pay the bills.

[habskilla]

Originally Posted by Feneant

I'm trying to think the last time we had such a large & lucrative employer setup shop in Moncton and I can't... we've had tons of call centers but it's rare to see a new employer offering careers instead of jobs that barely pay the bills.

Not new, but Medavie BlueCross offers jobs, careers, and is huge.

[drewber]

Originally Posted by Feneant

I'm trying to think the last time we had such a large & lucrative employer setup shop in Moncton and I can't... we've had tons of call centers but it's rare to see a new employer offering careers instead of jobs that barely pay the bills.

They're paying 32k a year for the call center employees that is pretty standard in the city if you don't count CON-centrix and a couple others

[theshark]

What ever happened to BBM testlab?

[MonctonRad]

Originally Posted by theshark

What ever happened to BBM testlab?

<crickets><crickets><crickets>

It's BMM Test Labs actually

Seriously, they still have a small facility located in Dieppe, but those 1,000 jobs they promised five years ago never materialized.

They are a worldwide company, maybe they got a better offer in Romania or South Africa...............

[MonctonRad]

Originally Posted by drewber

They're paying 32k a year for the call center employees that is pretty standard in the city if you don't count CON-centrix and a couple others

About 600 of the TD Bank positions are standard customer contact ones, paying about $32k.

The other 400 positions are corporate accounting positions, paying $65-70k.

This means an estimated annual payroll at the new TD Bank Centre of about $47M - nothing to sneeze at.

[MonctonRad]

La P'tit Grenouille, a Quebec based "unpretentious live show bar concept" (also a pub) is looking for a local franchisee in Moncton. They have 16 locations in Quebec.

Sounds like a good concept for downtown somewhere, and could be a hit with the UdeM crowd.

https://www.laptitegrenouille.ca/en/

[lirette]

Originally Posted by MonctonRad

La P'tit Grenouille, a Quebec based "unpretentious live show bar concept" (also a pub) is looking for a local franchisee in Moncton. They have 16 locations in Quebec.

Sounds like a good concept for downtown somewhere, and could be a hit with the UdeM crowd.

https://www.laptitegrenouille.ca/en/

I don't know how large the interior of the old graffiti location is but I would love to see something like this put there. Still no tenant above the new keatings location either.

The most logical spot with the setup they seem to have would be the old O2/Old Cosmo/ location. I wish anyone luck trying to get into the nightlife scene in Moncton...but we are a growing city.

[Ammn_guy]

I know people that work there(bbm), and i work in the tech sector.. The biggest problem all tech companies face here is lack of workers.

There is no one to hire. We pick up every single college, univeristy grad we can get our hands on, and we still need to constantly head hunt and bring in immigrants from toronto or overseas. We hire less then desirable canidates constantly and just deal with the fallout.

Its at the point now if you take a 2yr nbcc course you will be head hunted by multiple companies. For us the workers its great as are becoming some of the highest paid tech sector workers in the country however.. its starting having a negative growth affect i think. We have multiple x million dollar projects on hold due to lack of skilled workers. When this happens too long it gets outsourced overseas(where the quality is bad).

Originally Posted by MonctonRad

<crickets><crickets><crickets>

It's BMM Test Labs actually

Seriously, they still have a small facility located in Dieppe, but those 1,000 jobs they promised five years ago never materialized.

They are a worldwide company, maybe they got a better offer in Romania or South Africa...............

[felip_ars]

I dont get the whole "needs 2 years of nbcc course" in order to work for BMM.

I've been a QA for over 10 years, tested Medical software, Games, Flash games, Phone App, Phone systems (Apple & Lowes),etc, and never took 1 course. Always learned on the spot. Went from simply pressing buttons to checking logs, and pinpoint the Dev what went wrong in the code.

I'm aware that there might be more technical stuff, but by reading the "Junior QA" requirements, it looks like something that anyone with "average to good" computer skills could perform.

They could then slowly learn the ropes within the company (basic Testcases), and perform more technical jobs afterward.

And yes outsourcing QA is a terrible idea

[Taeolas]

University or college credits (or even course credits) are a way to get past the first barrier of hiring... the HR department. The HR department is usually made up of people who are given a hodgepodge list of random acronyms and to look for people who claim they know what those mean.

Plus, usually extra schooling means the person you are bringing in should have many of the basics already down, and should be faster on the uptake, and become a productive employee faster.

Certainly people can get by without those degrees and course credits; but those people generally need to know someone who can vouch for them to get a foot in the door and may need more training to get up. I remember one coworker I had decades ago who never set foot on a college or university campus, but he was one of the best coders we had. But he got in because his friends basically gave him the in he needed to be given the opportunity to prove himself.

[OliverD]

Originally Posted by felip_ars

I dont get the whole "needs 2 years of nbcc course" in order to work for BMM.

I've been a QA for over 10 years, tested Medical software, Games, Flash games, Phone App, Phone systems (Apple & Lowes),etc, and never took 1 course. Always learned on the spot. Went from simply pressing buttons to checking logs, and pinpoint the Dev what went wrong in the code.

I'm aware that there might be more technical stuff, but by reading the "Junior QA" requirements, it looks like something that anyone with "average to good" computer skills could perform.

They could then slowly learn the ropes within the company (basic Testcases), and perform more technical jobs afterward.

And yes outsourcing QA is a terrible idea

A lot of companies are moving away from manual testing and use automated testing instead, where your QAs basically write code that tests other code. And in general, the more technical experience QAs have, the better they are at their job.

[habskilla]

Agreed. It is just a piece of paper to get your foot in the door.

[Sunnybrae]

Wow, amazing how things haven't changed. 25 years ago when I graduated NBCC I couldn't get a job in programming. There were only a few companies around and unless you had a Bsc. in computer science they didn't even look at you. I didn't want to move to Toronto or Ottawa so I ended up in warehousing setting up computerized inventories. Too bad cause when I did my one month work experience for my course, I worked for Point Lepreau power station and created the maintenance software for the spent fuel rods. Again, I didn't have that piece of paper saying Bsc. so I couldn't get a job there even though they said I did an excellent job and created "bullet proof" programs.

[gehrhardt]

Originally Posted by Sunnybrae

Wow, amazing how things haven't changed. 25 years ago when I graduated NBCC I couldn't get a job in programming. There were only a few companies around and unless you had a Bsc. in computer science they didn't even look at you. I didn't want to move to Toronto or Ottawa so I ended up in warehousing setting up computerized inventories. Too bad cause when I did my one month work experience for my course, I worked for Point Lepreau power station and created the maintenance software for the spent fuel rods. Again, I didn't have that piece of paper saying Bsc. so I couldn't get a job there even though they said I did an excellent job and created "bullet proof" programs.

I graduated from NBCC 22 years ago, but didn't have an issue getting a programming job. The real issue was KEEPING a programming job in Saint John. I got laid off along with quite a few others when a big contract was lost to India. The lack of jobs in my field in SJ at that time is the reason I have worked in Moncton for the past 15 years.

Sorry for keeping this a little off topic.

[MonctonRad]

According to this article in the T&T, about a "half dozen" parties have expressed interest in purchasing the old Cabela's location from Bass Pro Shops.

https://www.telegraphjournal.com/tim...tory/100821355 (paywall)

The broker working on the file was understandably quite coy as to who has been expressing interest, but this comment was interesting:

As for what the building could be used for, Johnston said some national retailers want a physical space to compliment the online side of their business.

"There's a lot of online retailers that are coming back to the brick and mortar buildings to help compliment and to augment their online sales,"

This kinda makes you think of Amazon, which is expanding their bricks and mortar footprint with their "Whole Food Markets", which can double as a pick-up point for merchandise ordered on line. A small format IKEA pick up and order point store would be a consideration too. There are other possibilities such as Lee Valley Tools for example. Of course, LL Bean is expanding operations in Canada too, although BPS is unlikely to sell to a direct competitor.

I'm glad to see that there is interest in the location though..........

[Feneant]

Did they give any indication when the building would be sold? You'd think if there was that much interest that it would sell sooner than later but it's been empty for what, a year now?

[MonctonRad]

Originally Posted by Feneant

Did they give any indication when the building would be sold? You'd think if there was that much interest that it would sell sooner than later but it's been empty for what, a year now?

Basically they only said there were multiple expressions of interest, and did not say how serious this interest had been. There was no mention of any imminent sale.

[MonctonRad]

Originally Posted by drewber

Not sure if it's been mentioned but Thai Express is coming to CF Champlain this spring. Rumors of it being attached with the Starbucks behind roots but 100% will be opening in the mall

Recopied from the [Dieppe] thread. This is apparently confirmed on the Thai Express website.

Competition for Ruby Thai. I'm surprised the mall would let this happen.

The only question is where will it go, but as Drewber mentioned, they are renovating the space behind Roots, and this seems most likely.

[felip_ars]

The mall probably let it happened because Thai Express is part of the MTY Food Group. They have approximately 70 brand names (Jugo Juice and Manchu Wok are already there) this could mean more coming to CF.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MTY_Food_Group#Brands