Winnipeg Retail

[WildCake]

Originally Posted by CoryB

Just a guess but with it being an operating Safeway until it started the conversion some of the prep work was likely behind others like Bronx which was vacant and could have started work sooner.

Wrong store - Save on Foods is in the Pembina Crossings mall, at Bishop Grandin. It has been a while since they started working on that store, since before the pandemic. I feel like most retail coversions when you don't have to drastically alter the exterior take a few months, not a year plus.

You're thinking of the Safeway conversion to Freshco at Pembina/McGillivray. That is only supposed to take a few months and it looks like the exterior is ready to go.

[CoryB]

^^ Re Save on Foods, not sure why but their build process is really long and slow. Pretty sure the flagship at Northgate was a year or more from announcement to opening. The KP store also seemed to drag on a really long time after almost everything but the roof of the former Sears was stripped from the site. I think Save on Foods might have done some reallocation of available funds to get more delivery vans on the street when the pandemic started last year and online groceries spiked significantly. That would definitely make sense as they were in many ways best positioned to leverage that.

[vjose32]

Originally Posted by esquire

Not surprising... the only Winnipeg Bay store that didn't look totally neglected over the last 20 years was the Polo Park location, where they were able to ride the coattails of the total overhaul that Sears gave it when they turned the space into a short-lived Eatons store sometime around 2002.

I think the last time HBC spruced up a Winnipeg location on its own was when they spruced up the downtown store around 1986 in anticipation of Portage Place opening.

Actually I think the last store HBC spruced up was the Zellers at Northgate in the 90s to try and compete with Walmart, but for some reason people didn’t return sadly.

[WildCake]

Originally Posted by vjose32

Actually I think the last store HBC spruced up was the Zellers at Northgate in the 90s to try and compete with Walmart, but for some reason people didn’t return sadly.

All Zellers in Winnipeg except the fort richmond store got spruced up at the same time, 2011 or 12 I believe. The decor was eerily similar to the US Target stores, which was likely a selling tacting to tell Target 'their stores can make x$' please buy us.

HBC got a way bigger offer for Zellers then than from several years earlier.

[esquire]

Originally Posted by vjose32

Actually I think the last store HBC spruced up was the Zellers at Northgate in the 90s to try and compete with Walmart, but for some reason people didn’t return sadly.

I meant Hudson's Bay locations, not their other chains like Home Outfitters, Zellers, etc.

[wags_in_the_peg]

Petland is going into the other 1/3 of the former Home Outfitters on St. James. the other 2/3 of building is Japanese Oombo store (speling?)

[cheswick]

Originally Posted by wags_in_the_peg

Petland is going into the other 1/3 of the former Home Outfitters on St. James. the other 2/3 of building is Japanese Oombo store (speling?)

Oomomo. Went there the other day. If you need some sort of organizational basket or bin, that's where you look.


In other retail news Kia on McPhillips is now open. Gauthier plans on building an apartment building behind it much like they did across the street behind the Hyundai.