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Originally Posted by Authentic_City
So there are now 3 major downtown developments talking about some kind of grocery store? Obviously it would be unlikely to see a grocery store at True North, Skycity and 300 Main. Which development will be able to pull it off, I wonder?
Because 300 Main will be the first major residential building to rise, I wonder if this location is most likely? Portage and Main would be fairly handy to residents of the Exchange too, I would think.
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My guess is that Artis stands the best chance because of of its location and existing infrastructure. TNS may have the graham bus lanes, but 300M has the stop on Main street, the graham mall also, and the stops on Fort Street as well as some degree of Portage. That is so much public transport...
However, a grocer may want prominence. Yes, both destinations are prestigious but 300 is on P+M and has the best visibility and also infinitely more vehicle traffic going by, not to mention a parkade 4x the size and everything else that's already there. Speculation is strongly reduced. TNS will be a destination, but it is tucked behind the main drags. But you can't miss 300M. Plus the established well-heeled work at P+M in the surrounding 4 towers, compared to TNS stg 1 and Hydro. However, TNS is more central to south of portage and the rest of downtown...but 300M is closer to the established neighbourhoods of the exchange district and waterfront area.
That and they'll have their residential tower copmlete first.
Quote:
Originally Posted by esquire
First grocery store to open is all we'll get, IMO. I'm still not convinced that a full-line, full-size supermarket is even viable yet. It worked at Eaton's and The Bay because they had the extra space in their own building... it becomes dicier once you factor leased space into the equation. And the downtown population, while substantial, is still pretty spread out... I doubt many of the people living behind Portage Place would be walking over to Winnipeg Square for groceries, for example.
I think something like the Carrefour City locations you see in some European cities is a more realistic model for downtown Winnipeg. A good selection of basic grocery items and convenience foods. Sort of like Family Foods on Donald but with some style.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by esquire
I'm not saying it necessarily has to be that brand, it's more the idea really. Basically a convenience store on steroids.
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Maybe... but we don't have downtown density... A larger store can attract more people since it still is a destination. Since our downtown isn't dense, I'm not sure a resident at TNS would walk the skywalk to 300M for such a small store, or vice versa. They'd do it for a big player, though.
If our downtown increases its density strongly over the next 5-7 years, that would be an ideal player in the exchange, however.