Winnipeg Retail

[The Unknown Poster]

Circle K abruptly (or seemingly abruptly) closed their Pembina/Chancellor location a couple weeks ago. One day it was open, next day closed with a sign saying thank you for years of service or something. People were walking up and trying the door. It was the neighbourhood convenient store forever, well since they built that strip mall back in...mid 80's?

At the same time, noticed the Applebees in the parking lot being emptied out though I think its been empty for awhile (did it re-open after the fire)?

[buzzg]

I was told by a commercial agent here Circle K is looking to open/buy more gas stations and transition out of standalone locations unless they're extremely profitable.

[The Unknown Poster]

Originally Posted by buzzg

I was told by a commercial agent here Circle K is looking to open/buy more gas stations and transition out of standalone locations unless they're extremely profitable.

Interesting. Dont they have a ton of Mac's stores here that are all stand alone?

Cant imagine it sitting empty for long. Prime spot on the corner. Was my go-to lottery and slurpee stop. They replaced the nearby 7/11 a long time ago so now we're in a slurpee dead zone between the sev north on Pembina and the sev in ft richmond. Big problem, I know. lol

[michelleb]

Getting *more* into gas stations seems mad.

[esquire]

Originally Posted by The Unknown Poster

Interesting. Dont they have a ton of Mac's stores here that are all stand alone?

Cant imagine it sitting empty for long. Prime spot on the corner. Was my go-to lottery and slurpee stop. They replaced the nearby 7/11 a long time ago so now we're in a slurpee dead zone between the sev north on Pembina and the sev in ft richmond. Big problem, I know. lol

That is a pretty long stretch without a decent slurpee stop. I know there are the gas stations but their slurpees (Petro Canada, etc.) are for shit. Business opportunity there for sure.

To michelleb's point, it's funny that Circle K is getting more into gas stations when the business seems to be declining and will probably drop off sharply in a decade once EV sales take off and the associated EV infrastructure really builds up critical mass.

[The Unknown Poster]

Id be happy if CoOp stuck one of their stations on that corner (in place of Applebees). But I doubt its large enough. Traffic is bad enough there with the turnoff of East Bound Bishop Grandin. Surprised they havent put lights in there yet. Lots of near-misses at that intersection.

Nearest Coop is Bridgewater. Long stretch between stations on pembina (St Norbert to Taylor). And they have decent slurpees too.

Seems like bad timing with increased residential in the area (the apartments on University) and right behind the now-closed Circle-K they're building a retirement building.

[cslusarc]

Effective recently, you are no longer able to make returns or exchanges at Hudson's Bay Winnipeg Downtown.

[esquire]

^ Is The Bay Downtown still open during the current lockdown? I was wondering if the recent public health orders might have hastened the store's demise... even if the doors are still open I can't imagine that many people would be shopping there now.

[cslusarc]

According to thebay.com - all 3 stores in Winnipeg are open probably because they carry essential durable goods for the home like small appliances and linens.

[CoryB]

Re Circle K

1. Pretty sure they aren't company owned locations but rather franchise locations.

2. While Alimentation Couche-Tard is the master company, Circle K did gain it's market share as the convivence store attached to primarily Shell service stations.

3. While vehicle propulsion is changing away from gas to electric that transition isn't going to be immediate. Further, service stations could also make that transition to charging stations. Further, car washes and similar are still needed for electric vehicles.

4. Even if service stations complete vanish, they tend to have some fairly prime real estate locations which could transition to a different model.

--

Overall, as it is the independent operators taking the high risk side of the arrangement I think the transition that Circle K is looking at makes sense.

Now the $100 question -- did any of the local former Circle K locations make the transition to Alimentation Couche-Tard?

[buzzg]

I was very young when original Circle K was still around. Only one I remember was Waverley and Grant, which just became an unbranded Shell c-store for the last few years of its existence. Like they took the Circle K sign down and put a decal that said "Convenience Store" haha – you could still see the outline of the old sign.

[DirtWednesday]

Circle K had a licensing deal with Shell back in the 90's. When the deal ended, Shell decided to convert their signage to something in house. Shell Select was born.

[bomberjet]

http://clkapps.winnipeg.ca/DMIS/perm...1028(RM)ETC-10

Sobey's on Reenders is renovating their facade. It reminds me of the 80's ish style Safeways with glass on the front. Like the one that was on McPhillips.

[rrskylar]

Originally Posted by bomberjet

http://clkapps.winnipeg.ca/DMIS/perm...1028(RM)ETC-10

Sobey's on Reenders is renovating their facade. It reminds me of the 80's ish style Safeways with glass on the front. Like the one that was on McPhillips.

Getting ready for the competition from Save-On going in at the old Sears site at KP!

[bomberjet]

Yup. There are 2 Sobeys and the Fresh Co. in close proximity.

Does anyone know what type of amenities the KP Save On will have? The McPhillips location has dim sum, Chinese, chicken wing bar, etc available. The St. James location has less.

I would assume less than the McPhillips location.

[CoryB]

I would expect the KP Save of Foods to be closer to Bridge Water than St James but never been there. There is a chance they have more prepared/ready to eat foods like McPhillips though as that is a big profit area in an otherwise tight margin segement.

[esquire]

I wonder why Save-On hasn't opened any more stores like the one on McPhillips? That one is impressive and offers something different... the rest basically strike me as smaller, pricier versions of Sobeys.

[BAKGUY]

Originally Posted by esquire

I wonder why Save-On hasn't opened any more stores like the one on McPhillips? That one is impressive and offers something different... the rest basically strike me as smaller, pricier versions of Sobeys.

I like that store too.
The McPhillips store is not their standard prototype.
It only exists in a few select places.
The only other one I am aware of is in Surrey B.C.
As they open more stores very cautiously in this economy of uncertainty and click & collect options, perhaps one more might be an international food store in the future here at best.It is costly to carry inventory you are not buying in bulk like the basics at their other mainstream locations.
You will notice that +most of their international foods are from India Philippines and China.
Not much from Eastern or Western Europe.There are a few stores that cater to those tastes.
Fresh-co also has 2 very large International food aisles in their 2 stores.
I doubt they will have as much in all 4 of the 4 new ones opening this spring..

[bomberjet]

I didn't even know there was a Bridgewater location.

Based on my rough google earth measurements.

St. James 34k sq feet
Bridgewater 38k sq feet.
KP 50k sq feet
McPhillips 63k sq feet.

So my guess of somewhere between St. James and McPhillips seems reasonable. Although I don't know exactly where the mall corridor will pass through, etc on the inside at KP. Just going by the roof area.

[AccordTR]

Originally Posted by esquire

I wonder why Save-On hasn't opened any more stores like the one on McPhillips? That one is impressive and offers something different... the rest basically strike me as smaller, pricier versions of Sobeys.

Save On international is a very very rare breed in their chain. In fact there is only 2, 1 here and 1 in BC. They have said that Winnipeg will not be getting another one before, as it’s basically done with the ‘international’ brand for the time being.