Winnipeg Retail

[CoryB]

^^ The design of the Polo Target store definitely poses challenges for reuse that would not be present with a ground level space. The space currently only has an entrance in one corner and a loading dock only in the diagonally opposite corner. If you were to split the current space into three, two of those three spaces would not have an entrance and two of the three would not have a loading dock. Worse one of the three would have no entrance and no loading dock.

Also being relatively isolated from other retailers means any tenant moving into the vacant Target space needs to be one that is able to generate their own customer traffic instead of being able to take advantage of people visiting other retailers near by.

[drew]

Originally Posted by CoryB

^^ The design of the Polo Target store definitely poses challenges for reuse that would not be present with a ground level space. The space currently only has an entrance in one corner and a loading dock only in the diagonally opposite corner. If you were to split the current space into three, two of those three spaces would not have an entrance and two of the three would not have a loading dock. Worse one of the three would have no entrance and no loading dock.

Also being relatively isolated from other retailers means any tenant moving into the vacant Target space needs to be one that is able to generate their own customer traffic instead of being able to take advantage of people visiting other retailers near by.

The plan is for Target to get reno'd into three units. The reno includes new front entrances such that each unit is serviced, as well the back of the building is being partitioned such that the loading dock area will be accessible from the back of all three units.

Drawings are well under way to reflect these changes.

[trebor204]

Originally Posted by Roger Strong

I wonder if the Target space would've been a tad more marketable to new tenants if the retail space were on the ground floor and the parking above, rather than the other way 'round.

Bad Idea:

There is a chance of what happened in Elliot Lake

[Wolf13]

Originally Posted by CoryB

I did mention it, that is the old Food Barn ;-)

--

In other sightings, this weekend was over at the Kenaston box stores and counted about five vacancies and at least three stores that are likely exiting to move to the Outlet mall once their lease is up. The vehicle count in the parking lot was also shockingly low compared to visits pre-Outlet mall.

Which part? The southernmost seems to be doing alright... added the Marshall's, Sport Chek and others, new Starbucks and a Steakhouse across from Canadian tire, the corner stripmall got completely renovated a couple years ago, and now Lowe's is building right beside it... that site is actively improving.

[AccordTR]

Originally Posted by Wolf13

Which part? The southernmost seems to be doing alright... added the Marshall's, Sport Chek and others, new Starbucks and a Steakhouse across from Canadian tire, the corner stripmall got completely renovated a couple years ago, and now Lowe's is building right beside it... that site is actively improving.

Probably talking over in the Home Sense side. It’s looking pretty rough over there for sure.

[CoryB]

I think on Kenaston in the retail area there are five properties.

1. HomeSense/Hudson Bay Home.
2. Safeway/Home Depot/Walmart
3. Canadian Tire/Lowes/Sport Check/etc
4. Sobeys
5. Rona/Costco.

I was specifically talking about the HomeSense parcel. That said the Safeway/Home Depot/etc one has some signs of distress too as they have currently vacant units in a saturated market. The Costco/Rona parcel never seemed to really develop out the way they had hoped filling space with lots of things that would likely be priced out in a more competitive market.

The only parcel seeming doing okay right now is the Canadian Tire one but mostly due to signing up larger foot print retailers just as the market was about the turn. If all the sudden the spaces between Ikea and Cabela's get developed and put out for a competitive price there could be more relocations happening.

[DonaldSmith]

The area could really use a Princess Auto or Peavy Mart type store. Seems to be a major gap for this area of town.

[buzzg]

People in that area of town pay people to fix things. Canadian Tire/Home Depot/Rona more than cover it.

[cllew]

Originally Posted by DonaldSmith

The area could really use a Princess Auto or Peavy Mart type store. Seems to be a major gap for this area of town.

Peavy Mart will be going in south Winnipeg on Pembina Hwy where the old Zellers was located. Its supposed to be a slightly smaller store than the north Winnipeg on Narin Ave @Panet Rd.

They are not taking all the Zellers space so I guess there will be a future 3rd retailer there as well.

[Chad Weswick]

According to the website of Walt Morris auto dealership in the Waverley auto mall they are building a joint Maserati and Alfa Romeo dealership.

[buzzg]

Wow that would be a massive jump-of-the-gun. FCA is currently "secretly" up for sale with Great Wall Motors and Hyundai-KIA rumoured to be seriously considering buying. Everyone wants Jeep.

Whether it gets bought or not, there's way too much overlap with the positioning of Alfa/Chrysler, the fact FIAT is likely to exit the market, JEEP could be sold off on its own... There could be empty or severely underused FCA dealerships coming up soon, seems way too premature to build a new one for what will at first be 3 vehicles max with all the questions in the air about the future of FCA. The FIAT here lasted what, 18 months?

[esquire]

^ Interesting. I wonder if they will build from the ground up or just renovate the not all that old former Suzuki dealership building?

[rrskylar]

Originally Posted by buzzg

People in that area of town pay people to fix things. Canadian Tire/Home Depot/Rona more than cover it.

Exactly the area isn't Transcona where neighbours are laughed at for not shingling their own roofs!

[Biff]

Originally Posted by Chad Weswick

According to the website of Walt Morris auto dealership in the Waverley auto mall they are building a joint Maserati and Alfa Romeo dealership.

It is mostly done. The signs for Alfa Romeo and Maserati are already up.

[horrorbro123]

Originally Posted by Biff

It is mostly done. The signs for Alfa Romeo and Maserati are already up.

Waverley Automall putting Alfa Romeo and Maserati Next to?

[CoryB]

Considering some of the reports of how press fleet Alfa Romeos are doing in the USA/Canada and the crazy prices they are asking for them this seems like a questionable move even looking past how Fiat has performed here.

In terms of Fiat, since they entered the Canadian market they have always had a dealership here. For a good stretch of time it was a sister location to Pembina Dodge Chrysler. About a year ago they moved out to the Walt Morris Chrysler dealer in the Chipman Pointe West Autopark.

[esquire]

^ I admit I know next to nothing about Alfa Romeos, but I was under the impression that they sell generally flashy, sporty European cars but without the sticker shock of actually buying one of the high end European makes. To that extent they cater to Winnipeg's bargain hunter sensibilities.

They all seem to be in that 50K-100K range which, while high, is still somewhat attainable. You see lots of ~$70K SUVs and pickups in this city, so plenty of people do spend that kind of money on vehicles.

[Biff]

Originally Posted by horrorbro123

Waverley Automall putting Alfa Romeo and Maserati Next to?

Across from Toyota/Nissan

[LilZebra]

Originally Posted by esquire

They all seem to be in that 50K-100K range which, while high, is still somewhat attainable. You see lots of ~$70K SUVs and pickups in this city, so plenty of people do spend that kind of money on vehicles.

My parents bought a "bungalow" type house in south River Heights in 1975 for $49,900.

You can only buy a car with that amount of dough now. Inflation I guess.

[The Unknown Poster]

Originally Posted by cllew

Peavy Mart will be going in south Winnipeg on Pembina Hwy where the old Zellers was located. Its supposed to be a slightly smaller store than the north Winnipeg on Narin Ave @Panet Rd.

They are not taking all the Zellers space so I guess there will be a future 3rd retailer there as well.

Interesting. I live in South Winnipeg and the local chatter was Princess Auto going in there. Peavy Mart, I am unfamiliar with but it looks like a good addition to the area. If I recall (from last time I drove by), the Zellers foot print appears to have three stores available now...?