Karen Stintz: Memo to incoming TTC chair

[Riverdale Rink Rat]

If you remove the whole "Toronto politics" drama though.....do you really think that International News would not have been aware that a bunch of lucrative leases on news stands in subways were coming up for renewal in 2014? If they new that (given that's the business their in) don't you think they would have been preparing a bid in anticipation of some sort of call for bids?

I am actually surprised that only one other bid has come forward....but that probably speaks to the consolidation in that industry more than anything.

OK, but your scenario implies that TTC officials should have been well aware a second interested party was interested in bidding. Therefore, both Stintz and Ford should also have known that as well. So... where does that get us?

 

[BurlOak]

Rob Ford does not like talking with people who are not yes-women. Karen Stintz has been CC'ing Rob Ford on the newstand discussion, but he still does not play well with others.

See Karen's letter to the TTC commissioners, cc'ing to her blog, at this link.

I feel strongly that this review be conducted by a third-party since TTC staff have been inconsistent in their recommendations to the Commission.

That sounds like a shot at her own staff to me.

 

[Ansem]

Sometime a pictures are worth a thousand words...


TTC

STM Montreal

I think it would have been a good thing to see what the competitor had to offer

 

[nfitz]

Sometime a pictures are worth a thousand words...

And sometimes they aren't. Hard to see much in the pictures.

Is your point that the Toronto ones seem to have more product, and more convenient because you don't have to walk into a separate room?

 

[Ansem]

And sometimes they aren't Hard to see much in the pictures.

Is your point that the Toronto ones seem to have more product, and more convenient because you don't have to walk into a separate room?

stop being as ridiculous as i remember...

My point is that Stinz should have went through a bidding process to at least see what the competition had to offer. I live in Montreal and stores in subways stations are way more modern, more choices than the TTC

With this new deal, were getting more of the same...

 

[JayBeeGooner]

That montreal store looks tiny compared to what's offered in Toronto.

 

[nfitz]

stop being as ridiculous as i remember...

Is it necessary to be so utterly rude? You can tell little from your very tiny photograph.

I live in Montreal and stores in subways stations are way more modern, more choices than the TTC

I've lived in Montreal as well, and to tell the truth, I don't remember a lot of stores in the fare-controlled area. I recall one at Lionel-Groulx on the platform - and I don't recall it being particularly big. Some stations have some retail, but you have to use it before you pay (though perhaps less of an issue in Montreal, as you invariably have to leave the fare-controlled area to get on a bus).

With this new deal, were getting more of the same...

Is this such a bad thing? I think more stations in Toronto have a store in them than Montreal.

What is it that people are expecting to find in these stores that they aren't finding? I've never not found what I'm looking for ... a drink, or a candy bar ...

Not sure the big deal. It's a normal business practice to renew a tenants lease, if they meet the terms.

Though if with a competing offer, they want to retender the entire thing, that's fine too.

 

[W. K. Lis]

Most store operators will want a store at the Bloor-Yonge station (205,480 - 2009 figures). Not many will want a store at Bessarion station (2,590 -2009 figures). The deals would have to include providing stores at some of the low ridership stations, maybe not Bessarion but others.

 

[Johnny Au]

Glencairn station needs significant renovation even to have enough room for a Gateway Newstands within the fare-paid area. To be fair, Glencairn is one of the least busiest stations in Toronto (despite the fact that there is room for a Gateway Newstands in Bessarion station, which is less busy than Glencairn). In addition, there have been plans for trains to short-turn at Glencairn as well, making the station busier.

Glencairn Station is approximately 100 metres away from the nearest convenience store (which is on Marlee).

 

[sixrings]

I'm thinking that area around marlee with all those strip plazas is going to be intensified with some 8 floor mid rise condos hopefulyl enough that it makes glencarin used more frequently.

 

[nfitz]

Additionally, as it is being portrayed in the media, the TTC hadn't even set out the terms for a lease extension yet, Gateway took the initiative to make an offer that the TTC "couldn't refuse," so to speak.

And why should they refuse?

Go through the recent tenders which Gateway has participated. It's been Gateway bidding en masse, and then a few small vendors which only bid for 1 or 2 locations. The companies that has been making all this fuss, hasn't even been bidding recently.

Given only one company has been bidding for most of the locations, them offering an extended contract that would give the TTC more money, doesn't seem unreasonable to me.

Whole thing seems overblown ... surely if there's a problem, the bid review process will identify and rectify it.

Seems to be more about politic opportunism, with corrupt mayor Rob Ford trying to deflect the media onto something else, and tar a potential competitor in the 2014 election ... if there was teeth to this, he would have said something back in November when this was first identified to him.