The Retail Apocalypse

[Northern Light]

Retail Insider Reporting that Decathalon is not yet exiting the market......

Decathlon closing 5 stores in Greater Toronto Area

Decathlon Canada is considering options for quicker, more efficient service in the GTA, including wholesale distribution, new strategic partners and smaller format stores.

retail-insider.com

The website will remain for online purchases.

The retailer is reevaluating its GTA strategy.

Its considering the option of smaller stores, or selling wholesale to third party retail in the GTA.

 

[Richard White]

Retail Insider Reporting that Decathalon is not yet exiting the market......

Decathlon closing 5 stores in Greater Toronto Area

Decathlon Canada is considering options for quicker, more efficient service in the GTA, including wholesale distribution, new strategic partners and smaller format stores.

retail-insider.com

The website will remain for online purchases.

The retailer is reevaluating its GTA strategy.

Its considering the option of smaller stores, or selling wholesale to third party retail in the GTA.

Unfortunately the Scarborough store is closing however.

Between that and HBC closing it should be interesting. I wonder it IKEA would consider expanding their store?

 

[torontowest91]

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

Guess you didn't buy enough Helmets.

 

[SubHuman]

The Long & McQuade website does list the former Cosmo Music site address, but only "for repairs and school rental questions... We will be renovating the building in preparation for a full store opening late summer."

Richmond Hill Music Store Information | Long & McQuade

Stop by your local Long & McQuade in Richmond Hill, Ontario. Shop the best new musical equipment from the top musical brands and browse our product specials.

www.long-mcquade.com

Retail Insider Reporting that Decathalon is not yet exiting the market......
It's considering the option of smaller stores, or selling wholesale to third party retail in the GTA.

I went into the Vaughan location (Rutherford Rd) once, and it bizarrely and unnecessarily covered an enormous amount of floor space, apparently 65,000 square feet.

Inside Decathlon’s New Store in Vaughan Near Toronto (Photos)

France-based sporting goods retailer has opened its ninth Canadian store.

retail-insider.com

 

[Sauga89]

I posted this in the Hurontario zoning thread, but I think it's relevant here too.

I don't know if there's a better place for this, but the city of Mississauga has released an interim retail development report.

The city is expected to need 5 million more square feet of retail by 2051. It currently has 30 million square feet, with another half million proposed.

The report also notes that retail distribution is uneven in the city, and a lot of existing retail may disappear. Areas like Port Credit and Streetsville are predicted to lose retail in net terms even as they densify. They need to add 1.2 million square feet to meet demand.

View attachment 666151

It says incentives have to be deployed to generate new retail spaces and encourage walkability. It doesn't say what those incentives should be, but I imagine that will come in the final report this fall.

 

[christiesplits]

Canadian mall staple Claire's files for bankruptcy.

Iconic accessories chain Claire’s plans to seek creditor protection in Canada

Claire's CEO says the company is making the move because of increased competition, consumer spending trends and the shift away from brick and mortar retail.

www.ctvnews.ca

 

[AlbertC]

Toys R Us are closing 38 stores across the country:

https://torontolife.com/city/dufferin-mall-toys-r-us-closing/

 

[ShonTron]

Toys R Us are closing 38 stores across the country:

https://torontolife.com/city/dufferin-mall-toys-r-us-closing/

What are the others, though?

I was at the Dufferin Mall store in early October, looking for a gift for my nephew. I ended up at Walmart instead, which had a better selection of the building toys he likes most. It was a particularly disappointing experience.

 

[AlbertC]

What are the others, though?

I was at the Dufferin Mall store in early October, looking for a gift for my nephew. I ended up at Walmart instead, which had a better selection of the building toys he likes most. It was a particularly disappointing experience.

BlogTO mentioned other Toronto locations closing include STC, Victoria Terrace Shopping Centre, and Lawrence Allen Centre:

Toys 'R' Us closing dozens of stores across Canada including multiple in Toronto

Toys "R" Us Canada, which was once a dominant force in the country's retail landscape before online giants like Amazon took over, is shrink…

www.blogto.com

 

[narduch]

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.

 

[Richard White]

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.

That may be the last of them.

Honestly, Toys 'R' Us has not been good since the late 80s and early 90s. With the advent of online shopping, social media and an ever changing landscape it is hard to keep up.

Think about it. Trends and toys change so quickly now, it's not like the 90s where people were using Beanie Babies as a form of currency.

 

[afransen]

I posted this in the Hurontario zoning thread, but I think it's relevant here too.

Suburbs need to find a model for retail that pencils in fairly car-dependent areas but is also walkable, place-making and just generally not horrible. Most examples are either too ersatz too far for walk-up business, or on streets that are far too wide with too much car traffic and lanes to cross. I think the interior or condo blocks would be better as low car volume pedestrian shopping streets, and leave the parking/loading on the perpendicular streets. In MCC, more retail should be on streets like Brickstone Mews, and less on roads like Confederation Parkway.

Brickstone Mews (Streetview)

Confederation Parkway

There is this recently developed restaurant district in Mississauga that I just find depressing.

Street View · Google Maps

Explore a place in a more immersive way in Google Maps.

maps.app.goo.gl

 

[TossYourJacket]

Toys R Us are closing 38 stores across the country:

https://torontolife.com/city/dufferin-mall-toys-r-us-closing/

So last week I was talking with a coworker who's also from the Kingston area about how crazy it was that Toys R Us was still open there given it's parking lot is at least 95% empty all the time and has been since probably the 2000s (it is in a very unwalkable area, so it's not like people are just getting there without a car). If anything, the few cars there were probably overflow parking for the adjacent Loblaws half the time. Unsurprisingly that's one of the stores closing, but like it speaks to how badly managed the company was that the store was even open as long as it was. Maybe if they had cut stores like that, the busier ones could have survived.

 

[Sauga89]

Suburbs need to find a model for retail that pencils in fairly car-dependent areas but is also walkable, place-making and just generally not horrible. Most examples are either too ersatz too far for walk-up business, or on streets that are far too wide with too much car traffic and lanes to cross. I think the interior or condo blocks would be better as low car volume pedestrian shopping streets, and leave the parking/loading on the perpendicular streets. In MCC, more retail should be on streets like Brickstone Mews, and less on roads like Confederation Parkway.

Brickstone Mews (Streetview)
View attachment 700570

Confederation Parkway
View attachment 700571

There is this recently developed restaurant district in Mississauga that I just find depressing.

Street View · Google Maps

Explore a place in a more immersive way in Google Maps.

maps.app.goo.gl

View attachment 700573
View attachment 700574

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:

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

They should more resemble this:

 

[Johnny Au]

November 21, 2025:

Lawrence Allen Centre:

Update:

It's now up to 40% off. Most items are now at 25-30% off.