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Toronto Eaton Centre

The new guy at Sears Canada seems to have a good grasp of what is/went wrong.

However, some of the problems may be beyond his ability to repair.

In the U.S. the combined Sears/K-Mart entity is doing ....so/so at best.

And if the one had to question which of the two were doing better (in the U.S.) it would K-Mart.

As many of the locations are co-located or arguably within competitive distances, there has been long standing speculation that the decision might be taken to unify stores under the K-Mart banner; a banner which no longer exists in Canada.

I'm not even sure Sears has the rights to that name in Canada anymore since HBC (as owners of Zellers) bought it out here, in some form or another.

Sears is not a global name; and if (big if) it were to disappear in the U.S., could that banner survive in Canada alone?

I'm not sure............(all rumours and speculation.........I claim no definitive knowledge)

I would say this, either way, historically, SEARS does not know downtown retail. The Eaton Centre location and comparable equivalents across the country were never a good fit w/that banner, in my opinion.

I think that if they hope to remain successful in Canada, either they need to re-start an 'urban' retail division (eatons anyone? LOL) or they need to sell off the leases to their urban stores.

In the case of the Eaton Centre, I don't see Target as a good fit, as I think that store was meant to be a BIG store (originally 9 floors) now what..5?, max. 7 (2 bottom levels are now part of the mall).

I think a destination name is required for this space, except and unless you want 2 anchors; but I see that as very challenging, given that you have only 2 mall-entry levels from the south.


Just my 2 cents....
 
I could just as well see Eatons/Sears redeveloped into further facilities for Ryerson, as an annex to the Ted Rogers School (whose metal wall facing the store seems to hint at that potential)
 
Northern Light said:
I think that store was meant to be a BIG store (originally 9 floors) now what..5?, max. 7 (2 bottom levels are now part of the mall).

I think a destination name is required for this space, except and unless you want 2 anchors; but I see that as very challenging, given that you have only 2 mall-entry levels from the south.
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Anytime I have been above the first floor it seems very quiet. One time, while looking for a certain kitchen item, the staff led me on an adventure through the fourth and fifth floors and I was the only non-employee around.
The fifth floor is the top and it is only half used for the store with the other half an employee only area, probably manager offices. The Bay seems to do much better on it's upper floors.
 
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Yeah, to continue the off-topic chat: that Sears location does seem to be in trouble. It's never been great but it's really degraded over the past year or two, everything is messy, products strewn everywhere, impossible to find anything, stuff in the catalog looks really dated, the staff is either MIA or surly, and we got terrible customer service when we ordered a mattress last year. I only buy socks there now. In contrast, The Bay location at Queen has been getting better and better with the new ownership: it looks great, the new food areas are really attractive (if a tad pricey), the staff is genuinely helpful. I actually really enjoy shopping there now.
 
I would imagine that the Disney Store is either renovating the existing store or moving to a new location, to allow them to open an Imagination Park format store. It's one of the few stores that has not yet been converted.
 
If the Sears were to fold, which department store would be the best fit Eaton Centre spot?

Nortstroms
Macy's
Saks's
Neiman Marcus
Bloomingdales's
other?
 
Nortstroms, Bloomingdales's, Neiman Marcus, Saks's are high end department stores. Sears already tried the high-end department store when they relaunched Eaton's and it failed. I think a mid level department store is more suited for the Eaton Centre. Macy's J.C. Penny, Lord & Taylor, Dillard's would all make a great replacement for Sears.
 
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gabe said:
Nortstroms, Bloomingdales's, Neiman Marcus, Saks's are high end department stores. Sears already tried the high-end department store when they relaunched Eaton's and it failed. I think a mid level department store is more suited for the Eaton Centre. Macy's J.C. Penny, Lord & Taylor, Dillard's would all make a great replacement for Sears.
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I'm inclined to agree. Nordstrom's, Saks, or Neiman Marcus would work better at a Yorkdale or even at Shops at Don Mills. Bloomingdales would be right on the edge. Macy's or Lord and Taylor would both work well, and Macy's in particular brings a lot of that classic department store ju-ju this site really needs. Penney's is more down on the discount side, closer to a Sears.
 
Macy's would be a good fit at that location. Lord & Taylor and The Bay are related (same owner NRDC Equity Group via HBTC) so doesn't make sense since Queen St. Bay is a block away.
 
gabe said:
Nortstroms, Bloomingdales's, Neiman Marcus, Saks's are high end department stores. Sears already tried the high-end department store when they relaunched Eaton's and it failed. I think a mid level department store is more suited for the Eaton Centre. Macy's J.C. Penny, Lord & Taylor, Dillard's would all make a great replacement for Sears.
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I don't remember if Sears was pushing the relaunced EC store as "high-end"..I just thought of it as just a Sears with a bit better stuff...Yorkdale is pretty much the same with a few store exceptions..
 
unimaginative2 said:
Aubergine!
[video=youtube;qHhsc4lYamc]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qHhsc4lYamc[/video]
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One of the best campaigns ever. When ever I hear the word aubergine I think of this. Or when one of my Brit friends calls an eggplant an aubergine.

One of the worst campaigns ever as it failed.
 
I always associated Sears with a more working class blue collar aesthetic. It always seemed a bit out of place to me at Eaton Centre.
 
I think a Macy's or Nordstrums would be the best fit here and I would hope that they would occupy all floors of the store. I don't know how Sears was able to convert so much retail space to office space. I would have thought the lease agreement with Cadillac-Fairview would have prevented this.
 
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