Business in Winnipeg - Page 114

esquire · #**2261** Posted **Jul 31, 2020, 1:11 PM**

Interesting news about the Fort Garry. I found it curious that the current owners never affiliated themselves with one chain or another prior to now. I guess there is a downside in doing so in terms of the costs, but having a big brand in your corner does seem to drive a lot of business from loyal business travellers. I'm assuming Ascend Collection is relatively cheap in terms of royalties and the costs it imposes when it comes to hotel standards... they probably let you do your own thing unlike Marriott and similar chains, where everything is extremely standardized and owners are constantly having to update their hotels.

As for the Marlborough, I'd be interested in knowing what is going on there. It was never an elite hotel but more so a respectable mid-ranger. However, it seems as though the owner has not really put any money into the place since the 80s or 90s (other than buying the Garrick and turning one of the theatres into a pool, I suppose) and now it looks pretty down at the heels. But between the location, the ballroom/meeting rooms and other amenities, it looks like all the basic elements are there for a nice, successful hotel. I could see it as a nice Marriott Courtyard location, for example. It will be interesting to see if a new owner keeps it on its current trajectory (i.e. running it more or less into the ground) or spends some money on fixing it up.

buzzg · #**2262** Posted **Jul 31, 2020, 2:42 PM**

The Malborough is making a lot of money – it's been more or less full since the 2009 floods, mostly with government-paid rooms for evacuees and people coming down from up north for services and medical care.

I agree, it'll be interesting to see if a new owner would just keep it the way it is and take the money, or transform it into something new. It has so much potential, that crystal ballroom was one of the best venues in the city. Went to quite a few events there when I was young.

esquire · #**2263** Posted **Jul 31, 2020, 3:05 PM**

^ If it's a moneymaker then why is it so cheap? Seven million seems low for a profitable business and the downtown land it sits on. That's about as much as a dozen mid to slightly upper end suburban homes.

dmacc · #**2264** Posted **Jul 31, 2020, 3:33 PM**

My guess is it was profitable until the people displaced by the floods were sent back. It's a little hard to fill rooms that have been lived in for years with all that wear and tear i'm sure it requires a lot of investment to bring it back.

The Unknown Poster · #**2265** Posted **Aug 4, 2020, 5:48 PM**

CFL hotel plan is to take over hotels and create bubbles. One hotel was talking to them but declined because it wasnt the best deal for the hotel. Last I heard Canad is one of the hotels on Pembina.

esquire · #**2266** Posted **Aug 4, 2020, 6:24 PM**

^ It feels like the ship has nearly sailed on a CFL season. For training camp, a 6 week season and playoffs, they'd have to get it going around Labour Day and we're getting close to serious crunch time once you factor in the quarantine periods that would be involved for players coming up from the US.

esquire · #**2267** Posted **Sep 25, 2020, 2:49 AM**

Considering how much local media hype tech businesses tend to get, I'm surprised that I've never read anything about Priceline's operations at 360 Main before. Nice pics of their offices too!

https://members.techmanitoba.ca/list...eline-com-3263

buzzg · #**2268** Posted **Sep 25, 2020, 2:46 PM**

They've been here for years, were in the Exchange before. IIRC it was in the building where Saddlery is.

DonaldSmith · #**2269** Posted **Oct 5, 2020, 8:12 PM**

10/5/2020 2:35 PM
Amazon to open site in Winnipeg
Amazon is opening a site in Winnipeg in 2021 — the multinational retail giant’s first on the Canadian Prairies.

"This is an exciting day for all of us," an Amazon spokesperson said at a Monday announcement at the Manitoba Legislative Building.

More to come.

cheswick · #**2270** Posted **Oct 5, 2020, 8:33 PM**

To the above, it's a delivery station that will receive and sort parcels coming in. I assume it has to do with the volume of business they see out of Winnipeg?

bomberjet · #**2271** Posted **Oct 5, 2020, 8:39 PM**

It's not an actual distribution centre that keeps stock of all sorts of crap. It's a shipping depot that sorts parcels. Would've been a bigger deal if it was a huge warehouse with stock.

esquire · #**2272** Posted **Oct 5, 2020, 9:08 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by bomberjet

It's not an actual distribution centre that keeps stock of all sorts of crap. It's a shipping depot that sorts parcels. Would've been a bigger deal if it was a huge warehouse with stock.

It's weird seeing the local business boosters cheering this on in the media when it's basically like a Walmart opening up... they're just going to be taking market share away from existing bricks and mortar businesses.

Seeing one of them mention this in the same breath as the city's HQ2 proposal was... a bit much.

plrh · #**2273** Posted **Oct 5, 2020, 9:38 PM**

I hope it speeds up Prime delivery times. It sucks waiting a long time for impulsive purchases.

pspeid · #**2274** Posted **Oct 5, 2020, 11:12 PM**

Here's the article from CBC

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manit...toba-1.5751142

Like people have said, not HUGE news, but nice to see some more jobs being created in town. Also nice to have an Amazon "presence" in town.

ywgwalk · #**2275** Posted **Oct 6, 2020, 3:29 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by pspeid

Also nice to have an Amazon "presence" in town.

There is Thinkbox already:

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manit...fice-1.5087498

CoryB · #**2276** Posted **Oct 6, 2020, 2:01 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by cheswick

To the above, it's a delivery station that will receive and sort parcels coming in. I assume it has to do with the volume of business they see out of Winnipeg?

It will likely also handle fresh foods that cannot easily be shipped, stock the "hot items" for same day/next day delivery and allow advanced staging for pre-order of items like new release Bluray movies on day of release.

Quote:

Originally Posted by esquire

It's weird seeing the local business boosters cheering this on in the media when it's basically like a Walmart opening up... they're just going to be taking market share away from existing bricks and mortar businesses.

Wake up and smell the same-day coffee delivery from Amazon. This play is about groceries and little else. Also "taking market share away from brick and mortar businesses" is going to happen whether Amazon is shipping to here from Vancouver or the Inkster Industrial park.

Quote:

Originally Posted by plrh

I hope it speeds up Prime delivery times. It sucks waiting a long time for impulsive purchases.

Outside of fresh groceries, pre-orders and "hot" items it won't change Prime delivery speeds much. Most orders are 2-3 days currently. For more niche items they will still need to be picked and packed in either Vancouver or Toronto, loaded on the overnight flight to Winnipeg and sorted onto delivery runs. I can't imagine the sort is going to get a lot more efficient as it is likely sorted into delivery runs before it even leaves the existing facility to be loaded onto the plane. The rate that Amazon is building this last ten mile facilities in Canada is clear they are bringing their grocery game from the USA north in a big way. Sobeys/Safeway/FreshCo are in massive trouble. Also keep in mind Amazon wholly owns Whole Foods.

pspeid · #**2277** Posted **Oct 6, 2020, 2:47 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by ywgwalk

There is Thinkbox already:

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manit...fice-1.5087498

Hmmmm...interesting. I suppose a more accurate comment would have been having an Amazon branded presence in town.

wags_in_the_peg · #**2278** Posted **Oct 6, 2020, 2:57 PM**

more jobs for the city, what a great thing even if they are potentially lower paying, still better than CERB or EI.

check out Liberal leader of MB on Twitter, he's against this. I shared this on my community FB page as he's our MLA and he responded with he would rather not have new jobs instead of low paying and poor working conditions. what a tool (in my opinion).

https://twitter.com/DFLamont/status/1313211413507248136

esquire · #**2279** Posted **Oct 6, 2020, 3:16 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by CoryB

Wake up and smell the same-day coffee delivery from Amazon. This play is about groceries and little else. Also "taking market share away from brick and mortar businesses" is going to happen whether Amazon is shipping to here from Vancouver or the Inkster Industrial park.

Sure, but the point is that there's not much to get excited about. The local boosterati are carrying on like we won HQ2 bringing all sorts of good tech sector jobs to town, when in reality it's a big warehouse where the main function will be people putting small boxes into bigger ones.

cheswick · #**2280** Posted **Oct 6, 2020, 3:36 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by wags_in_the_peg

more jobs for the city, what a great thing even if they are potentially lower paying, still better than CERB or EI.

check out Liberal leader of MB on Twitter, he's against this. I shared this on my community FB page as he's our MLA and he responded with he would rather not have new jobs instead of low paying and poor working conditions. what a tool (in my opinion).

https://twitter.com/DFLamont/status/1313211413507248136

He makes decent points. In the long term Amazon is costing far more jobs in Winnipeg than it's creating. The piles of money Bezos dives into came at the expense of local business around Canada and the world. You can of course take the view of the inevitability of it, but is Amazon on a level playing field given the tax breaks they get, and what is the local governments role in levelling that playing field instead of worshipping at their feet for any meager investment they put in the city.