The Retail Apocalypse

[afransen]

The final Mississauga retail strategy has not yet been released, I believe. I take your point about the MCC area, but I'm actually hoping to see greater focus on retail along big streets. Streets like Hurontario or Dundas, I think have a number of apartment buildings that are zoned residential, rather than mixed use.

You see a lot of buildings like these:

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I'd like to see some incentives for retail strips in the yards of such apartment buildings.

They should more resemble this:

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Hurontario and Dundas are never going to be streets where you will want to sit on a patio and enjoy a coffee or meal. They are highways. I think better for buildings to turn their backs on the arterials (let them be roads) and have a separate network of streets that are actually pleasant places to be. A 6 lane arterial cannot be a pleasant place.

 

[Sauga89]

Hurontario and Dundas are never going to be streets where you will want to sit on a patio and enjoy a coffee or meal. They are highways.

I was more focusing on the buildings than the patios (though the patios work pretty well on Lakeshore). Once you're inside the door, I'm not sure it matters whether the building is on a busy street or not.

I think better for buildings to turn their backs on the arterials (let them be roads) and have a separate network of streets that are actually pleasant places to be. A 6 lane arterial cannot be a pleasant place.

Technically, once the LRT and BRTs are built, it will be four lanes plus two transit lanes. There are plenty of retail heavy streets in Toronto that are two car lanes each way.

Also, who says it has to be an either or proposition. The city's report says it needs to add 5 million square feet in net terms across the city in the next 25 years. If you curtail retail development along streets with heavy foot traffic, good transit, and good visibility, you may not get all the retail space you need.

The market you need to serve is people who just got off work, hopped off at their local LRT or BRT stop, and want to pick up dinner or do their errands on the walk between their apartment and the LRT/BRT stop. They are not going to give up their cars if they have to go to Square One or Dixie/Dundas for their groceries.

Plus, how does retail make a busy street less pleasant than it already is?

 

[Towered]

How many stores will they even have left now?

It's sad to hear but the writing was on the wall. Once they introduced the HMV section I knew it was not going to end well.

Yeah, that was truly a bizarre move to dedicate significant floor space to...vinyl, CD's, and DVD's...like, did they really think hipsters would shop there??? Completely out of touch. Corporate, suburban style big box retail is anathema to them.

On a related note, TRU was also notorious for shamelessly gouging adult collectors. **** 'em.

 

[gabe]

Yeah, that was truly a bizarre move to dedicate significant floor space to...vinyl, CD's, and DVD's...like, did they really think hipsters would shop there??? Completely out of touch. Corporate, suburban style big box retail is anathema to them.

On a related note, TRU was also notorious for shamelessly gouging adult collectors. **** 'em.

The HMV section was so half assed. The records were just thrown into bins completely unorganized. The store i was in some of the records were stacked on top of each other, the kid who stocked the bins didn't know or care that the records will get damaged that way. Not a smart way to store a product that costs $40 to $60+

 

[afransen]

I was more focusing on the buildings than the patios (though the patios work pretty well on Lakeshore). Once you're inside the door, I'm not sure it matters whether the building is on a busy street or not.

High volume/high speed roads are not pleasant walking environments. They are very loud. You can't easily cross the street. Hurontario you will have to walk long distances to cross and you can't safely jaywalk.

 

[Sauga89]

High volume/high speed roads are not pleasant walking environments. They are very loud. You can't easily cross the street. Hurontario you will have to walk long distances to cross and you can't safely jaywalk.

All true, but you seem to be implying that walking along a busy street is somehow optional. If someone is getting off the LRT or BRT after work, and they have to walk along a busy street to get home, why should the zoning laws forbid building a convenience store or fast food restaurant to serve them? It's not as though a retail outlet would make the walk less pleasant.

 

[afransen]

All true, but you seem to be implying that walking along a busy street is somehow optional. If someone is getting off the LRT or BRT after work, and they have to walk along a busy street to get home, why should the zoning laws forbid building a convenience store or fast food restaurant to serve them? It's not as though a retail outlet would make the walk less pleasant.

It shouldn't be forbidden--but quite often these are the only places where retail can be built, outside of malls.

Do you think Queen West would be as popular if it was 6 lanes and had speeds of 70 kph?

 

[Sauga89]

It shouldn't be forbidden

In Mississauga, along much of Hurontario, the zoning by-laws forbid the land from being used for retail.

If you look at these screenshots from Mississauga's zoning map, brown represents residential apartments, and orange represents townhomes. Light purple is offices, a slightly darker purple is retail, and the even darker purple is mixed use. There is a fourth shade of very dark purple, which are gas stations and auto shops.

There are a few site specific exemptions I think, but my understanding is that retail is forbidden in the brown and orange areas.

Now compare the above to the Dixie-Dundas area below.

I would be very happy to see more retail on quieter side streets for all the reasons you listed. My only point was that I would like to see those big brown blocks along Hurontario converted to mixed use. An apartment owner should be able to put up a couple storeys of street facing retail as of right, without fighting through a complex rezoning process.

 

[AlbertC]

RIP Dufferin Mall Toys R Us (pic taken at the end of Dec 2025)

 

[torontowest91]

are any Toysrus staying open?

 

[narduch]

are any Toysrus staying open?

Vaughan Mills location is still open. I think the Newmarket one is too. Also Sherway Gardens.

But the way they are closing stores their days are numbered.

 

[AlbertC]

Toys R Us signage being removed outside Dufferin Mall

 

[Sauga89]

Mississauga has released its final retail report on preserving and expanding retail in the city. I think a lot of it is very applicable to the rest of the GTA.

I did a deep dive on the final Mississauga retail development report. Here are some of the key recommendations:

Seek area-specific market research and information that considers the amount, type and location of retail at a finer grain to ensure greater alignment between retail supply and more localized needs, demand and market positioning.

At the municipal level, design an incentive that can be stacked with current incentive programs in Mississauga to encourage mixed use (e.g., Vaughan, through a Community Improvement Plan (CIP), is proposing to use a mix of development charge deferrals, grants and forgivable loans to promote the development of office and non-residential uses).

Recognizing the need for flexibility for landowner and the prime objective to create mixed use communities, the City may consider creating a mechanism to transfer minimum retail requirements between sites within a specified area.

(Note: this means that when replacement retail is required as part of a development, not all retail would have to be built on-site, but could be nearby)

As identified in the Mayor’s Housing Task Force Report as a strategy to make non-residential space more affordable, explore incentives for multi-floor retail to support the OP density bonus policy, which indicates that non-residential uses above the ground floor do not count in a building's height calculation

Re-evaluate or simplify requirements for form and design elements (i.e., entrance requirements, loading areas, etc.) that could compound challenges in developing new retail space.

Through the development of a retail design or an area-specific design manual, the city should seek to encourage and promote flexible retail design (e.g., moveable fixtures and walls, reduction in the use of structural columns and permanent or fixed barriers, adjustable lighting tracks) that support more flexible interior partitioning. This will help preserve opportunity for larger unit formats, in addition to 'micro-retail' units that are more affordable and of less risk from a tenanting perspective.

Advocate support for taxation policy at the provincial level (i.e., explore mixed use retail tax class)

Here is what I would like to see that's not in the report:
- I'm a bit disappointed the tax incentives are being put off for further study. I suppose those might have to wait for that recommended more granular, neighbourhood by neighbourhood study of retail shortages, but I was hoping it would be in this report
- While there's some language about reducing red tape for developers, and ensuring that zoning by-laws allow for retail, there's no specific proposal to re-zone any areas. As a start, I'd like the city to re-zone residential apartment buildings on major streets to mixed use.
- No specific mention of reducing required amenity space in residential buildings, which might free up space for retail. (Though there is a report about amenity space coming to city council soon.)

Lastly, here are some good graphics from the report.

This is the breakdown of how much retail Mississauga needs added in net terms city-wide in the next 5 years and the next 25 years, broken down by type of retail. Note that the city already has 30.5 million square feet of retail. The chart below shows that it needs to add 2 million square feet in the near future to keep up with demand from a growing population.
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This shows how construction costs in Canada have risen, expressed as a percentage change over the previous year. Construction costs have gone up from the previous year almost every year, which makes retail construction more expensive.
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