Downtown Oakville

[Memph]

So I've recently returned to Oakville where I grew up. There seem to be a lot more vacant storefronts in the downtown along Lakeshore Rd. I counted 22, which includes vacant for lease storefronts, 1-2 that are boarded up, and a few that are in buildings under renovation. In any case, there's certainly more than there were 10 years ago, and more than in other communities... even Kerr street (Lakeshore to Speers) has much fewer, just 4 of them based on street view.

It's definitely not the first place you would expect to have a lot of vacant storefronts, given the number of multi-million dollar homes being built in SE Oakville. 10-15 years ago there seemed to be more "middle class" stores, then they got replaced by upscale stores but the upscale stores and restaurants are apparently experiencing high turn-over and the "middle class" stores don't seem to be returning to the vacant storefronts.

And while there hasn't been as much condo development in the last 10 years as in Toronto, there's still 111 Forsyth which replaced Sharkey's and a few low rise condo and townhouse developments. I wonder what's going on...

 

[wopchop]

From the Toronto Star last year;

Higher rents and parking rates, as well as competition from outlet malls, online and cross-border shopping, are mentioned by struggling business owners. But the recent recession’s impact on Oakville’s affluent class is the theme they all turn to.

“They’re cashed out. We call it ‘maxed’,” says Greg McKinnon, owner of The Running Company. “They’re paying $2,000 a month for the Beamer and the Land Rover in the driveway, they have million-dollar mortgages and $50,000 in landscaping. There’s not a lot of money left over.”

Asked if she thinks the area’s reliance on high-end clients now feeling the pinch is a big factor, Hanna has a mixed opinion.

“People in Oakville are affluent because they worked hard, were successful and were careful with their money. There’s no question the economy has affected everyone.

“But I’ve been through two other recessions. To have this number of businesses closing, there’s more happening.”

She says, like many smaller, unique retail strips, downtown Oakville’s is facing more and more competition. “We have to be more competitive to draw customers. We have to make it more accessible. We have to promote ourselves. People can just zip into a mall, park and go shopping anywhere.”

I think downtown Oakville is facing a lot of the same problems that others are, but specifically the high-end boutiques are seeing the market change around them. There is a larger trend of the established fashion retailers falling out of favour and the market being dominated by 'fast fashion' (ie H&M, Forever 21, Zara, etc.). Demographics play into this change. A lot of the older stores in downtown Oakville simply don't cater to the younger generation. Styles and trends change.

I'm not so sure about restaurants, but there seems to be plenty downtown still, and turnover is high in that industry anyway.

Rent is also quite high downtown, so I'm not surprised that businesses are now starting to struggle.

Kerr Street is now starting to see increased interest due to lower commercial rent than in downtown.

I imagine that the Toronto Premium Outlets mall in Halton Hills has also affected things.

 

[Memph]

Yeah, I dunno. My assumption was that the people shopping in downtown Oakville are mostly from south of the QEW. The demographics there are mostly 45-80 year olds with the 60-80 year olds getting replaced by 45-60 year olds as they die or move away. Not a whole lot of young people moving into south (or at least SE) Oakville other than teenagers living with their parents.

Aside from the fashion boutiques, there were also interior decor stores, arts/gifts and toy stores that have left.

I also wonder about the impact of all the new retail being built nearby - not just the outlet mall at the 401 which caters at least as much to Peel and Milton as to Oakville. First there was the Whole Foods plaza, it opened maybe 10 years ago, as well as some live-work townhouses along Lakeshore near Kerr. Then about 5 years ago there was the commercial area across Maple Grove Plaza - admittedly it seems to be mostly spas and medical offices. Finally last year you had the Longos plaza, also on Cornwall.

How typical is it to have as many vacant spaces as in downtown Oakville? Uptown Waterloo for example has a lot fewer, especially if you exclude Waterloo Square mall which most likely has more vacancies than the rest of Uptown combined (I blame the design partly, though too high rents could be another factor). Port Credit and Streetsville seem to have a fair bit fewer vacancies than downtown Oakville as well. All of these have a greater diversity of businesses though, both in terms of income levels they're targeting and type of product they're selling. Richmond Hill, Newmarket, Brampton, Burlington, Bronte, Markham, Milton, Whitby and Dundas' downtowns would also be worthwhile to compare to.

And if high rents are a factor, I wonder what it will take to get the landlords to realize they need to be more reasonable.

 

[wopchop]

I would agree that the Whole Foods and Longos plazas on Cornwall have both probably affected business downtown. There has been some new retail development along Lakeshore, west of Kerr towards the Fortinos. I brought up the outlet mall because it contains a lot of fashion retail, which has always also been a big part of downtown Oakville retail.

I live off Kerr now, and from what I know, the area west of the creek is seeing a lot more demographic change than downtown and south-east Oakville in general. This is nothing in comparison to North Oakville, which is where most of the younger people and families are moving.