The Metro Vancouver Retail Thread

[sacrifice333]

Quoting myself from the Olympic Village thread:

Originally Posted by sacrifice333

OV Retail Update:

- Subway - interior work ongoing. Plumbing and framing complete, next up drywall.

- Urban Fare Express - looks nearly complete. Signs on W1st for jobs! Rumour has it that June 9th could be a target. As long as they're open by June 20th they will have opened during "Spring 2012"

- London Drugs - no updates

- Vancouver Salt Co. - no updates

- Tap & Barrel (formerly Your Village Kitchen) - recent article suggests mid-June opening. Pics on Facebook & Instagram.

[whatnext]

Originally Posted by ACT7

I don't post on this thread a lot, but one observation (which I'm sure others have noticed as well). I've never fully understood why Robson has the highest rents in Vancouver when just about every other street around it has higher end stores. Burrard, Alberni, West Georgia, South Granville, even Howe to a large extent.

Anyhow, just an observation. As you were...

A recent article from Colliers on the large number of vacancies on Robson:
http://www.collierscanada.com//en/Ne...s%20transition

[jayyb]

Freshii almost ready to open on West Georgia and Bute (under the Fitness World). I think they are aiming for a 1st week of June opening.

The medical clinic on Bute and Melville is also now open (dentist, RMT, chiro etc.). Most of the retail units under the Ritz building now have "Leased" signs on them as well with some work being done on the corner unit on Melville and Bute. Anyone know what's going in those units?

[SpongeG]

none for Vancouver (yet)

Target announces B.C. store locations

18 stores to open in province
The U.S. Department store chain Target announced today it intends to open dozens of stores in Canada and 18 in B.C. by March or April of next year.

Target intends to announce additional locations over the next several months, the company said in a press release today. Below is a list of the B.C. locations so far.

• Abbotsford – Abbotsford Power Centre

• Burnaby – Metropolis at Metrotown

...

• Coquitlam – Coquitlam Centre

...

• Delta – Scottsdale Mall

...

• Langley – Willowbrook Shopping Centre

• Maple Ridge – Haney Place Mall

...

• Surrey – Surrey Place/Central City


...

Read more: http://www.vancouversun.com/Target+a...#ixzz1vuUsaiil

[officedweller]

Oakridge is still absent.
Anyone know what's happening there?
i.e. could The Bay be looking to expand its store into the Zellers space, especially since it has expanded higher end offerings? (Remember that those 2 spaces used to be one big Woodwards store)

[SpongeG]

rumours are of nordstrom but i think that space is too small, maybe a nordstrom rack

i think it's too small for target, that zellers is a horrible store to shop at - columns in the middle of aisles, very narrow, everything crammed in, target might be able to put in a smaller version of their typical store but i doubt they want to do that and will pass on the location, metrotown isn't too far away really

[officedweller]

That makes sense.
The question is whether HBC would give up the lease to a competitor like Nordstrom / Nordstrom Rack.

[SpongeG]

I could see the bay taking the space back and making a large portion of it into a Top Shop, maybe the bottom level becomes Top Shop and the upper floor becomes an expanded womens floor and some in-store boutiques like they have downtown

[wrenegade]

Oakridge is being completely redeveloped over the next 5-10 years, so it's tough to say what will remain or be added to the mall when they're finished. I'm not sure how long the Zellers lease is there but I would imagine Ivanhoe Cambridge would buy them out before allowing Target to move in and renovate hurting future re-development value. I'm sure as the Oakridge Plan process evolves will learn a little more about what the plans are for the site.

[SpongeG]

Target bought all the leases for Zellers across Canada including Oakridge

but they have gone on to release a lot of them to others such as walmart

I don't see them moving into the current space at Oakridge, they also don't seem to be moving into Brentwood either which itself has big redevelopment plans which seem to get rid of the current Zellers store and replacing it so they can work the entire lot better

also no mention of lansdowne mall yet either, last we heard they were having troubles negotiating the lease with the mall, the mall was wanting too much or something? will be funny if the mall loses zellers and target decides to open elsewhere in Richmond

[officedweller]

Sears has unveiled refreshed stores in Ontario:

http://www.thestar.com/business/arti...freshed-stores

[jlousa]

Read recently that Target was infact going to Brentwood afterall, not sure if that's true but it was in the Burbaby Now recently.

[officedweller]

Pics by me today of The Bay awning removal on Seymour Street.

I'm not sure why they are removing sections of the terra cotta tile from the pilasters -
but I suspect it's for a new lighting system for the facade (since the old one was on the awning).
Sections of the terra cotta tile on the pilasters are also be removed on the Georgia frontage too -
but the parts removed on Seymour seem really low down from the columns/pilasters above.

Also - inside the store, men's suits and dress shirts etc. have moved to the concourse level -
until the 6th floor opens in October according to the sales clerks. The basement level is largely empty.
The entrance to topShop/TopMan is boarded up inside the store
and it is located to the south of the existing scissor escalators from Pacific Centre.

So if the TopShop/TopMan escaltors are also open concept -
that'll be an expansive escalator vestibule area with 3 banks side by side by side.


I could see 2 Bloomingdale entrances flanking the SkyTrain entrance:
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[mezzanine]

Betsy Johnson is closing. (iirc the parent company went bankrupt. )

More depressingly. Book off Japan on Hornsby is also closing...... :-(

[Conrad Yablonski]

Originally Posted by SpongeG

rumours are of nordstrom....maybe a nordstrom rack

Rumours are always of Nordstrom-and most of those rumours are started by the usual suspects who post here.

[Metro-One]

Originally Posted by mezzanine

Betsy Johnson is closing. (iirc the parent company went bankrupt. )

More depressingly. Book off Japan on Hornsby is also closing...... :-(

What!!?? Closing or relocating??

We need a book off downtown!

[mezzanine]

Originally Posted by Metro-One

What!!?? Closing or relocating??

We need a book off downtown!

Have to stop posting from my iPhone, sorry about the typos...

Closing. They stop buying books end of may and close in June sometime. From the signs they are not moving or reopening....

[Metro-One]

That honestly fucking pisses me off!

Here we go again, loosing more variety / flavour to Vancouver's retail scene...

From what I see there is more than enough Japanese / people interested in Japanese culture to keep such a store open.

Nearly have of my friends are Japanese, they are all going to be pissed.

[SpongeG]

apparently uniqlo has started a north american expansion with 3 new stores opening in the states - i believe 2 are in new york area and one in san francisco - have to track down the article againm but it said with so many US retailers hurting and shutting down overseas companies are taking advantage and moving in

the bay awning looks good really makes seymour less dark and depressing can't wait wait to see the final

[Metro-One]

Apparantly Uniqlo looked at Vancouver, but decided against it. That pisses me off as well! haha.

Would love to have a Uniqlo here.

Again, I am pissed off with Book off closing! Now the nearest decent Japanese book store is going to be Seattle!

Vancouver is starting to be hurting in regards to Japanese amenities, despite having the largest Japanese population in Canada and not to mention all of the international students / live work Japanese here...