[esquire]

Birks moving to Lombard and Main always seemed like an odd fit... they were isolated, far away from any other retail. There is zero retail foot traffic at that site. This was clearly a decision made out east, someone probably looked at the Polo Park lease renewal rates, then looked at alternatives and said "wow, we can lease by the office towers at Portage and Main for a quarter of the price" and moved there without fully realizing why that space was available for cheap.

Anyway, it's not surprising. Downtown retail is dead.