The Retail Apocalypse

[narduch]

Toys R Us in Woodbridge (near Hwy 7) is shutting down.

 

[evandyk]

That was announced a while ago. I think there are two of them relatively close to each other up north so they're just keeping the one at Vaughan Mills.

 

[Richard White]

https://www.reddit.com/r/torontobiking/comments/1ljkvwy/all_decathlon_gta_stores_shutting_down_july_31st

If this is true, STC will be losing another major tenant this month.

@Northern Light any insight?

 

[Northern Light]

https://www.reddit.com/r/torontobiking/comments/1ljkvwy/all_decathlon_gta_stores_shutting_down_july_31st

If this is true, STC will be losing another major tenant this month.

@Northern Light any insight?

Not a lot.

Its not a market segment I follow closely.

I'm fairly certain they had some under performing stores.

You saw that with the exit from Union, I believe there was another store where they sliced the footprint down............Burlington? Not sure.

On cursory examination.....I'm hearing that many potential customers experienced inventory issues. Some in particularly complained about lack of kids bikes.......

I'm also hearing there were simply too few customers, with relatively low brand recognition in Ontario.

But take that with a grain of salt in as much as its anecdotal.

I'll see if I can unearth a bit more.

 

[narduch]

This is sad news. They were the only sporting goods store that had quality products at a decent price.

 

[AlbertC]

Definitely unfortunate. I've had good experience buying outerwear and footwear from Decathlon before. But I do agree that they were unable to build greater brand exposure here.

 

[Northern Light]

Definitely unfortunate. I've had good experience buying outerwear and footwear from Decathlon before. But I do agree that they were unable to build greater brand exposure here.

I asked someone in the industry if they even had an ad campaign introducing the brand here, because I honestly don't remember one.

Do you recall if they ran any?

 

[Richard White]

I'm also hearing there were simply too few customers, with relatively low brand recognition in Ontario.

But take that with a grain of salt in as much as its anecdotal.

I'll see if I can unearth a bit more.

Now you have me curious.

There's a decathlon here in Budapest. I'll check it out later today on my way home to see what things are like.

It's not a true analog but it may give insight into the brand overall

 

[AlvinofDiaspar]

I asked someone in the industry if they even had an ad campaign introducing the brand here, because I honestly don't remember one.

Do you recall if they ran any?

Don't recall seeing any on social media.

AoD

 

[Altec]

This sucks to read. Their stuff is great for getting into sports. It was like the Ikea for sports.

The Burlington store recently renovated and blocked off half the store. So that explains why,

Hopefully the online store stays.

 

[evandyk]

We bought skates for my wife and son last year. They seemed to have really good stuff compared to Canadian Tire or the alternatives.

 

[Towered]

That sucks. Sportchek by comparison is just another clothing store.

 

[evandyk]

I know my wife was going to Decathlon for things like helmets and gloves too. She was a big fan.

 

[ShonTron]

This sucks to read. Their stuff is great for getting into sports. It was like the Ikea for sports.

The Burlington store recently renovated and blocked off half the store. So that explains why,

Hopefully the online store stays.

Back when MEC was better, it felt like the IKEA of sports. A shame Decathlon couldn’t make a go of it.

Union Station could use a general bike shop.

 

[christiesplits]

Back when MEC was better, it felt like the IKEA of sports. A shame Decathlon couldn’t make a go of it.

Union Station could use a general bike shop.

Would a bike shop at Union Station work with the ban on bikes in Union during rush hour?