General Retail News

[spotlight]

Originally Posted by gjhall

I don't see how it's isolated from the rest of the mall, it's at the corner of the two main corridors on the principal level. I could see it being an ideal location for a Williams Sonoma, Pottery Barn, or heck, even a Whole Foods.

Originally Posted by c_speed3108

The bottom level opens out into "Eaton Court" in the mall. The bottom level has a weird exit into the bus station tunnel and a second weird exit toward Nicholas street (sorta the butt end of the complex) The third level has no connection to the inside (or outside for that matter) of the mall.

There are enough US retailers looking for space here plus the fact that it is still a decent sized space, I can't imagine the mall having too much difficulty finding someone to rent out the bottom level. The Apple store is also just up the hallway. The traffic is pretty decent.

Poking around on Google. It would be possible to add a store exit from the third level to the roof - although I am not sure why you would want to.

As an aside, I also note the letters from the EATON'S sign are still up there:

https://maps.google.com/?ll=45.42401...h&deg=180&z=20

as the obj article points out.. rideau will be looking at top level retailers to fill the space.

my guess is the space will be split up.. they would be wise to use the current sears entrance on nicholas as the mall's main nicholas entrance instead of the current one that is basically a hall.. they can re-purpose the hall into a store expansion or something.. they would then trace a main mall type hall from the nicholas entrance to the OC transpo connection and into the eaton's court entrance forming a "Y" type shape hall and giving the mall between 3 to 5 large"ish" size tenant locations.. i wouldn't be surprised to see retailers such as Top Man, abercrombie, hollister, william sonoma, potery barn, crate and barrel be targeted ..

the other completely different option is to leave the space almost as is and have a large retailer like H&M come in.. although it doesn't fit the usual H&M type of location which is why i didn't put it as the first likely option.

there aren't many if any "first to market" type of retailers that are large enough to take the whole floor

[gjhall]

Originally Posted by c_speed3108

Poking around on Google. It would be possible to add a store exit from the third level to the roof - although I am not sure why you would want to.

I think the obvious reason would be for a cafe/restaurant/bar etc to have a terrace.

[kevinbottawa]

It'll be interesting to see if Cadillac Fairview takes this time to build on the vacant development site on Nicholas and do everything at once (maybe there wouldn't be enough time since Nordstrom is opening in 2015). If they end up building a hotel it could connect to Nordstrom on the second floor and/or whatever goes in on the lower level of the former Sears. That would imply that the hotel would have to be high-end

[J.OT13]

Oh, so the Daly level is the garage? This is complicated!

Sorry for arguing when I was clearly wrong.

[eternallyme]

Come to think about it, if the food court was on the 2nd floor, it could brighten up and liven up the little-used underpass to Mackenzie King and would be very popular with DND employees. The underpass is quite poorly maintained as well so it would become much more of a desirable space. Not to mention it could reduce the strain on the dangerous Mackenzie King Station crosswalk - which IMO should be removed and barricaded to speed up buses (pedestrians routinely ignore it as well, someday someone will be killed there).

[J.OT13]

Originally Posted by eternallyme

Come to think about it, if the food court was on the 2nd floor, it could brighten up and liven up the little-used underpass to Mackenzie King and would be very popular with DND employees. The underpass is quite poorly maintained as well so it would become much more of a desirable space. Not to mention it could reduce the strain on the dangerous Mackenzie King Station crosswalk - which IMO should be removed and barricaded to speed up buses (pedestrians routinely ignore it as well, someday someone will be killed there).

I completely agree. I just can't see retail going down there and as a lot of you said, the DND would be big business for the food court. It would be kind of strange since food courts are usually on the top floor of malls (I don't know why that is) but keeping the Rideau Street side of the centre as well as the expansion for retail is the best option.

Barricading the MKB crosswalk is a damn good idea. All about safety and efficiency.

[J.OT13]

Originally Posted by c_speed3108

https://maps.google.com/?ll=45.42401...h&deg=180&z=20

How do you rotate google maps/3D !? And why would they have kept the "Eaton's" sign?

[spotlight]

Deleted

[spotlight]

Originally Posted by J.OT13

How do you rotate google maps/3D !? And why would they have kept the "Eaton's" sign?

you can rotate the map by clicking and dragging in a circular motion the north letter (N) on the top left hand corner.

as for why the letters are still there.. i would think pure laziness and since no one probably goes up on the roof ever.. they've probably forgotten that the letters are there.. unless of course the've been moved since this is obviously a very old image ... man i can't wait for bing and google to update their satellite images for this region.. i'm hoping the new apple map has newer images !!

[Retail-Insider]

Originally Posted by J.OT13

OT is 2 floors; so Kevinbottawa, you might just get your Mackenzie King Bridge food court. Sears is currently 240,000 sqft, take away 157,000 sqft and you get 83,000 sqft of space left. We will have the second largest store in the country.

Keep in mind this will only be the second-largest Nordstrom until other locations are announced. Nordstrom wants stores at Yorkdale Shopping Centre and in Downtown Toronto, both likely over 157,000 sq ft.

Ottawa may be getting a Louis Vuitton concession. Talks have commenced, and we'll let you know when we find out more.

[J.OT13]

Originally Posted by spotlight

you can rotate the map by clicking and dragging in a circular motion the north letter (N) on the top left hand corner.

as for why the letters are still there.. i would think pure laziness and since no one probably goes up on the roof ever.. they've probably forgotten that the letters are there.. unless of course the've been moved since this is obviously a very old image ... man i can't wait for bing and google to update their satellite images for this region.. i'm hoping the new apple map has newer images !!

That is so awesome! Thanks!

[kevinbottawa]

Originally Posted by Retail-Insider

Keep in mind this will only be the second-largest Nordstrom until other locations are announced. Nordstrom wants stores at Yorkdale Shopping Centre and in Downtown Toronto, both likely over 157,000 sq ft.

Ottawa may be getting a Louis Vuitton concession. Talks have commenced, and we'll let you know when we find out more.

I see on your blog you mentioned Ottawa's Holt Renfrew might be moving.

[eternallyme]

Originally Posted by kevinbottawa

I see on your blog you mentioned Ottawa's Holt Renfrew might be moving.

It definitely needs to move as 240 Sparks is a horrible retail location these days - practically dead after 4 pm and on weekends. Where to move to though? It would have tight competition on Rideau Street or in the Rideau Centre itself, but the amount of activity there is orders of magnitude greater.

[kevinbottawa]

Originally Posted by eternallyme

It definitely needs to move as 240 Sparks is a horrible retail location these days - practically dead after 4 pm and on weekends. Where to move to though? It would have tight competition on Rideau Street or in the Rideau Centre itself, but the amount of activity there is orders of magnitude greater.

It would've been nice to see Holt Renfrew fill part of the Rideau Centre expansion along Rideau Street, but that's not happening now that Nordstrom is coming to the mall. It has to be somewhere visible. I don't know where there'd be enough space. Maybe the St. Laurent expansion?

[Kitchissippi]

I personally would prefer if Holt Renfrew stayed in the Sparks Street area. Maybe they could pimp out the old Zellers store and move in there. Once the LRT in in, I would love to see Queen and Sparks develop into something more like the Bloor/Yorkville area of Toronto with higher-end street-oriented boutiques, while Rideau becomes more like Yonge/Eaton Centre

[gjhall]

Originally Posted by kevinbottawa

It would've been nice to see Holt Renfrew fill part of the Rideau Centre expansion along Rideau Street, but that's not happening now that Nordstrom is coming to the mall. It has to be somewhere visible. I don't know where there'd be enough space. Maybe the St. Laurent expansion?

While I think you're probably right about the Rideau Centre, maybe not, as they will be in the same mall in Sherway Gardens, Pacific Centre and eventually in Yorkdale too. In the US it is not uncommon for many luxury department stores to be in the same mall, and let's not forget, Rideau Centre is a very very very strong retail centre, #10 in North America according to retail-insider.com ... so only time will tell on that one.

Alternatively, 240 Sparks has been going through some major renovations and I believe a private management company is now doing the leasing, not PWGSC, so it may well turn around.

[KHOOLE]

Originally Posted by gjhall

While I think you're probably right about the Rideau Centre, maybe not, as they will be in the same mall in Sherway Gardens, Pacific Centre and eventually in Yorkdale too. In the US it is not uncommon for many luxury department stores to be in the same mall, and let's not forget, Rideau Centre is a very very very strong retail centre, #10 in North America according to retail-insider.com ... so only time will tell on that one.

Alternatively, 240 Sparks has been going through some major renovations and I believe a private management company is now doing the leasing, not PWGSC, so it may well turn around.

I doubt that Bank and Sparks will ever turn around, Public Works or not. The same goes for the Sparks Street Mall. As Kevin said earlier, the place is dead after 4 PM and on weekends.
Ottawa is a government town and unles you can get civil servants to work 24/7, Uptown will always be dead, with or without the DOTT.
Better put your bids on redevelopment of Rideau St eastward: people live there and the market keep things going. It was a busy street before and can very likely come back to life.

[J.OT13]

The CBD and west Downtown are gaining some population too. Certainly not as much as the Market/Rideau area, but still.

If 240 Sparks and Place de Ville connect once the subway is completed, Holt Renfrew could expand one level down. I'm not sure how all these connections (same goes for the World Exchange Plaza, Sunlife Centre, Constitution Square and any Morguard holdings around the stations) would work considering the existing underground parkades which is something TO and MTL didn't have to deal with.

On another random note, Fairweather in the Rideau Centre is closing (not that anyone cares) and H&M confirms once again that they are actively looking for a location in Ottawa.

[eternallyme]

Originally Posted by KHOOLE

I doubt that Bank and Sparks will ever turn around, Public Works or not. The same goes for the Sparks Street Mall. As Kevin said earlier, the place is dead after 4 PM and on weekends.
Ottawa is a government town and unles you can get civil servants to work 24/7, Uptown will always be dead, with or without the DOTT.
Better put your bids on redevelopment of Rideau St eastward: people live there and the market keep things going. It was a busy street before and can very likely come back to life.

I agree. Forget placing any retail west of Elgin in the uptown core unless it is focused on the business community on weekdays. Sparks Street is excellent for lunchtime and pre- and post-business activities (great for restaurants), but so useless evenings and weekends.

[kevinbottawa]

Originally Posted by J.OT13

On another random note, Fairweather in the Rideau Centre is closing (not that anyone cares) and H&M confirms once again that they are actively looking for a location in Ottawa.

Over the past few years I've been telling my wife Fairweather is a waste of space since they tend to occupy some of the largest spaces in malls outside of department stores. I can't wait for them to close the Rideau Centre location. The one at St. Laurent is packing up too. In both malls they occupy large spaces that could otherwise be used by retailers that want to be in Ottawa but can't find the space.