Canadian Retail Thread

[Acajack]

Quebec City retailer La Maison Simons is pretty aggressive in its expansion.

After Edmonton (already open), Ottawa in 2016 and Toronto likely getting two stores fairly soon, next Monday they will announce a new store for 2015 at Les Promenades Gatineau (formerly Les Promenades de l'Outaouais).

Simons at this mall had been rumoured for years but when they announced they were going to Rideau Centre (less than 10 km away in downtown Ottawa) most people thought Gatineau wouldn't get a Simons for a while, if ever.

Les Promenades was bought a year or so ago by Oxford and apparently they are quite aggressive about turning into a higher end mall like Yorkdale in Toronto.

Still, it's surprising given the size of the market here that they are building two new stores so close together.

They have two stores in Quebec City (old town and Place Laurier mall) that are only 7 km apart but Simons has been a retail icon there for centuries and people in Quebec City are also arguably more fashion-oriented than people in Ottawa-Gatineau.

[eternallyme]

Originally Posted by Acajack

Quebec City retailer La Maison Simons is pretty aggressive in its expansion.

After Edmonton (already open), Ottawa in 2016 and Toronto likely getting two stores fairly soon, next Monday they will announce a new store for 2015 at Les Promenades Gatineau (formerly Les Promenades de l'Outaouais).

Simons at this mall had been rumoured for years but when they announced they were going to Rideau Centre (less than 10 km away in downtown Ottawa) most people thought Gatineau wouldn't get a Simons for a while, if ever.

Les Promenades was bought a year or so ago by Oxford and apparently they are quite aggressive about turning into a higher end mall like Yorkdale in Toronto.

Still, it's surprising given the size of the market here that they are building two new stores so close together.

They have two stores in Quebec City (old town and Place Laurier mall) that are only 7 km apart but Simons has been a retail icon there for centuries and people in Quebec City are also arguably more fashion-oriented than people in Ottawa-Gatineau.

They might want to look east next perhaps, Moncton or Halifax? Are they big enough to support such?

[kevinbottawa]

Les Promenades was bought a year or so ago by Oxford and apparently they are quite aggressive about turning into a higher end mall like Yorkdale in Toronto.

Are they really trying to make it higher end like Yorkdale? A previous article said they were trying to compete with St. Laurent. Then again that was before they announced an additional $30 million.

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by kevinbottawa

Are they really trying to make it higher end like Yorkdale? A previous article said they were trying to compete with St. Laurent. Then again that was before they announced an additional $30 million.

The VP of Oxford said this:

M. Brouillard affirme que les Gatinois auront un centre commercial de la même qualité que celui de Yorkdale, à Toronto, dans lequel la compagnie investit 300 millions $.

[LeftCoaster]

Landlords will always talk a big game, no one ever says they are trying to make a mediocre product. Whether they put their money where their mouth is remains to be seen.

Simons will continue their aggressive expansion, they just announced a store in Park Royal in West Vancouver and have many more in the pipeline.

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by LeftCoaster

Landlords will always talk a big game, no one ever says they are trying to make a mediocre product. Whether they put their money where their mouth is remains to be seen.

Simons will continue their aggressive expansion, they just announced a store in Park Royal in West Vancouver and have many more in the pipeline.

My sense is they want to secure their place as a cross-Canada player before the big American chains that are looking at Canada gain too much of a foothold.

[LeftCoaster]

Absolutely. There is a very rare opportunity in Canada with the collapse of sears and they are smart to aggressively pursue the void left behind.

That said they fill a slightly different niche and can very effectively operate in a centre alongside Sears.

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by eternallyme

They might want to look east next perhaps, Moncton or Halifax? Are they big enough to support such?

Sherbrooke has a Simons and its metro has 200,000 people. Its wider trading area is certainly smaller than both Moncton's (even if it is a smaller metro) and Halifax's (double the size of Sherbrooke in the metro only).

Of course, there is of course the name recognition that Simons benefits from anywhere it opens in Quebec, which gives any new store in the province a good boost to start off with.

[MonctonRad]

Originally Posted by Acajack

Sherbrooke has a Simons and its metro has 200,000 people. Its wider trading area is certainly smaller than both Moncton's (even if it is a smaller metro) and Halifax's (double the size of Sherbrooke in the metro only).

Of course, there is of course the name recognition that Simons benefits from anywhere it opens in Quebec, which gives any new store in the province a good boost to start off with.

With Sears about to go belly up, there likely will be new opportunities for Simons in the country.

There is a Sears at Champlain Place here in Moncton. It might be an attractive location for Simons to consider. The fact that the CMA is 33% francophone might help.

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by MonctonRad

With Sears about to go belly up, there likely will be new opportunities for Simons in the country.

There is a Sears at Champlain Place here in Moncton. It might be an attractive location for Simons to consider. The fact that the CMA is 33% francophone might help.

In spite of the metro size gap, Moncton is actually a lot closer in size to Halifax as a potential retail market than many people realize.

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by MonctonRad

With Sears about to go belly up, there likely will be new opportunities for Simons in the country.

The best Sears locations will likely be snapped up by Simons or someone else, but a quick search shows there are almost 200 Sears stores in Canada.

If the entire chain shuts down, a whole lot of those are likely to remain vacant for quite some time without any takers. (I am thinking for example of the Sears in Les Galeries de Hull, which is a distant second when it comes to malls in Gatineau).

I suppose many of them will be redeveloped for some other type of use other than a department store.

[MonctonRad]

Originally Posted by Acajack

In spite of the metro size gap, Moncton is actually a lot closer in size to Halifax as a potential retail market than many people realize.

Indeed, we had H&M in Moncton for a couple of years before Ottawa did. Champlain Place hosts a lot of higher end retailers that (in the Maritimes) would only be found in Halifax (Eddie Bauer, GAP/GAP Kids, Sephora, MAC, Swarovski, Coach, Fossil, Pandora etc). They are also clearing out space in Champlain for Victoria's Secret & Pink too. Simons would fit right in.

It was announced just in the last couple of months that both Bass Pro Shops and Cabelas are opening in Moncton by 2015. We will be the only market in the country with both stores.

[Nouvellecosse]

Originally Posted by Acajack

In spite of the metro size gap, Moncton is actually a lot closer in size to Halifax as a potential retail market than many people realize.

Based on?

[MonctonRad]

Originally Posted by Nouvellecosse

Based on?

Based on being a lot closer to the rest of NB and PEI than Halifax is. Halifax is larger and will always have stores that we don't have, but we are a relatively close second and we are more convenient to (nearly) half the population of the Maritimes than Halifax is.

[Nouvellecosse]

But those cities also have their own retail markets don't they? There's a big difference between attracting occasional out of town visitors who have to drive several hours, and having that population in the same metro area 10-20 min away. Sorry, but I just don't see how its comparable.

[ue]

Originally Posted by Acajack

Quebec City retailer La Maison Simons is pretty aggressive in its expansion.

After Edmonton (already open), Ottawa in 2016 and Toronto likely getting two stores fairly soon, next Monday they will announce a new store for 2015 at Les Promenades Gatineau (formerly Les Promenades de l'Outaouais).

Simons at this mall had been rumoured for years but when they announced they were going to Rideau Centre (less than 10 km away in downtown Ottawa) most people thought Gatineau wouldn't get a Simons for a while, if ever.

Les Promenades was bought a year or so ago by Oxford and apparently they are quite aggressive about turning into a higher end mall like Yorkdale in Toronto.

Still, it's surprising given the size of the market here that they are building two new stores so close together.

They have two stores in Quebec City (old town and Place Laurier mall) that are only 7 km apart but Simons has been a retail icon there for centuries and people in Quebec City are also arguably more fashion-oriented than people in Ottawa-Gatineau.

Do you think the Eaton Centre Sears in Toronto would go to Simons? I think it'd be great to have there, to have a profitable Canadian department store on what is supposed to be Downtown Toronto's main intersection (or at least it's trying to be, some may argue it isn't). But it seems like Nordstrom is snatching up a lot of old Sears leases (Vancouver, Ottawa, Calgary). Not that I wouldn't mind a Nordstrom there, it'd just be nice to have a Canadian department store on Yonge and Dundas. Nordstrom can go in Yorkville or Yorkdale or Sherway Gardens.

[kwoldtimer]

Originally Posted by ue

Do you think the Eaton Centre Sears in Toronto would go to Simons? I think it'd be great to have there, to have a profitable Canadian department store on what is supposed to be Downtown Toronto's main intersection (or at least it's trying to be, some may argue it isn't). But it seems like Nordstrom is snatching up a lot of old Sears leases (Vancouver, Ottawa, Calgary). Not that I wouldn't mind a Nordstrom there, it'd just be nice to have a Canadian department store on Yonge and Dundas. Nordstrom can go in Yorkville or Yorkdale or Sherway Gardens.

That would seem awfully ambitious, but it would be cool to see a Simons flagship store in that location. Or, how about both Nordstroms and Simons?

[NBNYer]

Originally Posted by Acajack

They have two stores in Quebec City (old town and Place Laurier mall) that are only 7 km apart but Simons has been a retail icon there for centuries and people in Quebec City are also arguably more fashion-oriented than people in Ottawa-Gatineau.

When I lived in Quebec City, there was also a Simons in Les Galeries de la Capitale. Did it close?

[vanatox]

Originally Posted by NBNYer

When I lived in Quebec City, there was also a Simons in Les Galeries de la Capitale. Did it close?

No, still there. You could say that Quebec City has 2 and a half Simons, because the one in Vieux-Québec is much smaller than the other two.

[Southcore]

Saks Fifth Ave to open at Yonge and Bloor, where the Bay currently sits. They are looking to open the second largest Saks in the world there, double the size of nearby Holt Renfrew (~185K sq ft):

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/repor...633445/?page=1