News on retail chains (was: New Mall Retail)

[Kingsway]

Target buying Zellers is a total pipe dream. Although there are handful of decent locations with decent deal terms there are so many small market stores and odd sizes. American retailers (Target, Costco, WalMart, Home Depot, Lowes) are all about prototypical real estate. Even Erin Mills/Sq 1 are 2 floors which would be tough for them to merchandise and operate in their proven formula.

Then there is the issue of small markets, Zellers is in markets of 10,000 all over Canada which creates logistic nightmares that US based retailers have never seen before...I.E. think of shipping goods around the mid west vs shipping goods to Grand Falls, NF, Saskatoon, Nanaimo, Hanover, etc.

 

[Dan416]

If Wal-Mart can figure out how to use 2 floors, so can Target. I don't see 2 floors as being a huge detriment. And even if it were, they could just take one floor and give up the other floor to the mall to redevelop. No one said they have to take ALL the Zellers locations anyway. Surely they could pick and choose. And for the ones that don't make the cut, too bad so sad.

 

[dt_toronto_geek]

I don't see it mentioned here and this is old news but my favorate soap store suddenly closed in early January, Fruits & Passion in the EC. Perhaps that's where Godiva is going? An email showed up on Jan. 7th announcing their closure with the nearest location being FCP. It does say they will notify customers when they re-open so perhaps they are relocating.

Sad to hear about Pier 1. They have some cool stuff there, love their candles.

 

[gregv]

If Wal-Mart can figure out how to use 2 floors, so can Target.

I have been to a Target with 2 floors in Brooklyn, NY.

 

[vistaway]

At Square One, the huge new Victoria's Secret that is taking over the old Roots/SOYC/Fine Gold now has the hoarding up with a Summer 2010 opening date. They have demolished a good chunk of the mall corridor in that area as well (which was just redone in the most recent renovations).

The Richtree/Marche location disappeared as of yesterday. Nothing left, but hoarding is now up.

 

[khris]

Richtree is gone?? NO! Lame! Maybe it will also reopen as a Movenpick like FCP?

 

[Dan416]

At Square One, the huge new Victoria's Secret that is taking over the old Roots/SOYC/Fine Gold now has the hoarding up with a Summer 2010 opening date. They have demolished a good chunk of the mall corridor in that area as well (which was just redone in the most recent renovations).

The Richtree/Marche location disappeared as of yesterday. Nothing left, but hoarding is now up.

I just saw that on my Facebook (I am a "fan" of Square One) and they announced it and had pictures of the hoarding. The stated opening date is September 2010, which I guess is still technically summer. The info says a 12,000 square foot store, so they are taking the following units: 2-144A (formerly Roots) 6340 sq ft, 2-144 (former SOYC) 1690 sq ft, 2-143 (formerly Fine Gold) 1220 sq ft and 2-145 (formerly Bedo) 2355 sq ft = 11,605 sq ft (I guess they rounded up

Glad to hear Richtree is gone. That really can mean only one thing!

 

[Dan416]

Which one? Richtree or Marché? I'm assuming you mean Marché signs on the former Richtree former Marché location? lol i.e. like at Brookfield Place

 

[vistaway]

The signs do say Richtree, which seems odd. But they are just ones someone printed up on computer, so I suspect they meant to say Movenpick.

 

[Duke-of-East-York]

They have demolished a good chunk of the mall corridor in that area as well (which was just redone in the most recent renovations).

Does anyone know why are they doing this? To allow VS a higher frontage?

 

[Dan416]

The Square One Richtree is indeed staying as a Richtree. The hoarding now has a rendering of 'Open Kitchens by Richtree'. Looks like they are trying to differentiate themselves from Movenpick

I'm kinda disappointed lol.

On a different note, the H&M at Bramalea appears to be moving to a 19,370 sq ft spot in that mall's expansion linky: http://www.morguard.com/images/propertyImages/ON - Bramalea City Centre, Brampton - Floor Plan2.pdf

That square footage is a more typical size for a full-concept store than the mall's current tiny store (4,334 sq ft).

 

[khris]

Bah! I was really hoping it would be a Marche too. Oh well.

 

[Jonny5]

There is a blurb in the Wall Street Journal that FCUK will be closing many stores across the world. The US is to be cut back to only 6 locations! There were no numbers for Canada, but if they were to follow the same pattern there will be some vacancies soon.

 

[the_yellow_dart]

I'm really confused. Aren't Marche, Movenpick, and Richtree all just different names for the same company?

 

[grey]

When Movenpick left Canada several years ago, the Canadian subsidiary became independent and was renamed Richtree. "Marche" is a term used by both for their food markets.