syn
Senior Member
It is...but to be fair, the lawsuit pertains to how the malls have been managed since COVID-19 arrived.
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It is...but to be fair, the lawsuit pertains to how the malls have been managed since COVID-19 arrived.
Northern Light
Superstar
So, I would have discounted the lawsuit notion, as-of-right, until..........
I decided to check out The Bay tonight, as @ShonTron flagged their sale.........
So I decided to pop by...............first I encountered my local store (Eglinton Square) was closed. Its current posted hours show it closing at 5pm daily.
Annoyed, but undaunted, I drove on to Scarborough Town Centre.
I did get there before it closed..........but the store was closing at 7pm.
To my shock, in that case, 7pm is the mall closing hour mandated by Oxford.
When I got home, I looked it up, and I see they're (Oxford) closing Yorkdale at that hour as well;
While Cadillac Fairview is closing the Eaton Centre at the same time.
I have to say, this is the moment when retail shopping starts to curve up to its annual peak (pre-Christmas)
Closing at 7pm nightly makes no rational sense.
The Bay, likely has the option of staying open later, given its own exterior doors; but having most/all of the rest of the mall closed would certainly put a damper on business.
Fundamentally, that will impair traffic volumes.
Lets be clear, some shopping has shifted online; but there's still a huge in-person market. The stores are also a pick-up point for online orders.
While I think The Bay is being poorly run in many respects, purposefully undercut by its owners.
I also think its landlord's aren't doing it any favours.
That's likely mutual, mind you.
But still.
I decided to check out The Bay tonight, as @ShonTron flagged their sale.........
So I decided to pop by...............first I encountered my local store (Eglinton Square) was closed. Its current posted hours show it closing at 5pm daily.
Annoyed, but undaunted, I drove on to Scarborough Town Centre.
I did get there before it closed..........but the store was closing at 7pm.
To my shock, in that case, 7pm is the mall closing hour mandated by Oxford.
When I got home, I looked it up, and I see they're (Oxford) closing Yorkdale at that hour as well;
While Cadillac Fairview is closing the Eaton Centre at the same time.
I have to say, this is the moment when retail shopping starts to curve up to its annual peak (pre-Christmas)
Closing at 7pm nightly makes no rational sense.
The Bay, likely has the option of staying open later, given its own exterior doors; but having most/all of the rest of the mall closed would certainly put a damper on business.
Fundamentally, that will impair traffic volumes.
Lets be clear, some shopping has shifted online; but there's still a huge in-person market. The stores are also a pick-up point for online orders.
While I think The Bay is being poorly run in many respects, purposefully undercut by its owners.
I also think its landlord's aren't doing it any favours.
That's likely mutual, mind you.
But still.
Richard White
Senior Member
It sort of does.
Think about it. How much traffic is actually coming in past 7 pm during the pandemic? I go to the Scarborough Town Center every weekend and it is often quite dead. There are people but not as much as normal.
That being said malls also need to clean as per covid protocols. They need to sanitize touchpoints, clean floors etc every night.
They are doing heavy cleaning every night as opposed to just one day out of the week.
I get where the bay is coming from but those early closures are likely either a health and safety thing or a lack of traffic thing.
Keep in mind too it costs alot to keep the lights on, heat blaring.. etc. If you have less traffic it makes sense to close early so you can dim the lights and turn the heat down a few degrees.
Northern Light
Superstar
Most people, pandemic or not, still work during the day.
They can neither shop, nor pick-up deliveries to a store, during weekday, daytime hours.
I can tell you as someone with access to sales figures for some retailers (not HBC) that sales are typically quite good in the 7-8pm hour on weeknights; you get more erosion after that as the evening goes on.
But sales are much higher, in the stores I deal with in the 7-8pm hours than 2-4pm.
You can see sales waves (lunch) 11am-2pm, after-work 5pm-7pm, early evening 7pm-9pm.
Those last 2 show as consecutive, but there is a lull at peak-dinner.
I would not advise most retailers to close that early.
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I would also add, there are no cleaning practices which require closures that early. I know this.
There are some 'enhanced' cleaning protocols for high-touch points. But most retailers are not 'deep cleaning' nightly.
Which, in any event, would not require more than 6 closed hours, tops.
Not 16 closed hours per day.
Richard White
Senior Member
I think I just got burned...
I went to a mall last night for a meeting (weird, I know); I haven't been to a mall since before COVID. I was surprised that most things were closed, even Shopper's Drug Mart. Things with outdoor entrances like Starbucks, Indigo and restaurants were open. I didn't see the Bay, it was at the other end from where I was going. But I can tell you that there was no cleaning going on. There were quite a few people around, it was far from deserted.
Northern Light
Superstar
soundmuseum
Active Member
Regarding Northern Light's comment, I was at The Bay Queen St. the other Friday night after 6:30PM. Surprisingly, there were actually quite a lot of customers throughout the 5th Floor Men's department. I left shortly before they closed at 8pm and there were still many others shopping on the different floors. Usually, I'm there between 3PM and 4PM, where it's more like an abandoned bowling alley.
On another note, HBC needs to get their website and stock levels sorted out. There's a lot of product in store that does not show up online and vice-versa. I also found items that the website said were sold out and unavailable in store, but the store itself still had plenty of stock.
On another note, HBC needs to get their website and stock levels sorted out. There's a lot of product in store that does not show up online and vice-versa. I also found items that the website said were sold out and unavailable in store, but the store itself still had plenty of stock.
Frankie1984
Active Member
The Saks Off 5th at Bramalea City Centre has been closed the entire week. Went by today and they were signs posted at the entrances that said that the store was closed until further notice and there was staff inside that was putting merchandise on rolling racks.... might be nothing, might be something.
JasonParis
Moderator
Maybe a COVID outbreak?
yrt+viva=1system
Senior Member
Visited The Bay store at Centrepoint yesterday and found that they top level has been completely emptied out. There were signs posted up saying they were renovating. All the men’s clothing has been shifted to the main floor and there seems to be an area that will be designated for a Top Shop.
Richard White
Senior Member
They did this with Sears at the STC just before they closed...
Towered
Senior Member
"Renovating" - LOL! Who do they think they're fooling?
WislaHD
Superstar
I noticed that QuadReal has purchased two large warehouses from Hudson's Bay in Brampton and Etobicoke last week. Those types of assets are only appreciating in value these days, so selling them marks yet another concerning sign.
Northern Light
Superstar
Hmmm.
No inside info on this one, but I too find it unlikely Centrepoint would get a facelift.
It's also abnormal for Hudson's Bay to close a floor entirely during renos.
They would more typically close 1/4 to 1/2, tarp it off.
Also, not the normal time in the cycle for this. (renos, where possible happen during the off-season, not Christmas); sometimes unavoidable.......