Richardsons to Buy Part of Viterra

The Richardson family continues to be one of the strongest business entities in Canada all the while based in Winnipeg.

Today we learn, the Richardsons will pick up part of Viterra as the Regina-based company is bought up by Switzerland's Glencore International.

Despite the sale of large chunks of the Viterra company, it will remain headquartered in Regina.

We didn't end up so well when Viterra bought up Agricore United a in the past decade. Even now, huge gaps in the once filled Canwest building remain open due to the the purchase and closure of the grain offices (compounded by Canwest being grabbed by Shaw as well).

There had been some promises that Winnipeg wouldn't be so bad off from the purchase of Agricore United but alas, hundreds of employees were shed from the head office that was numbered around 500.

And Agricore's loss came on the heels of United Grain Growers and Agricore joining together. At that time, hundreds more lost their jobs. At least in that event, it was two Winnipeg companies joining forces.

As the Canadian Wheat Board ends (with the loss of hundreds of jobs there as well), the once great agricultural enterprises that employed so many.

I wonder how long it will be before we ask: how do we preserve the old Wheat Board building or what should go in there?

Anyways, it is hard to have too much sympathy for Viterra given we got thrown under the bus when they took over Agricore. The Richardsons pick up more grain trading business for a shade under a billion. Agrium from Calgary picks up all the retail stores. Glencore picks up the overseas businesses and makes Regina its base in Canada.

It is hard to measure what value that promise has from Glencore. As much as the promise Winnipeg had from Viterra?

Glencore is in the middle of a even greater $90 billion merger with a mining corporation. Hard to imagine where they will be or where their head offices might exist even a few years from now.

Th Richardsons are not likely to go anywhere. With any luck, this will result in more head office jobs and more economic spin offs for the city.

Likewise, Paterson and Cargill appear to be entrenched in the city.

However, the downtown continues to remain littered with hundreds of jobs lost in agriculture. It is hard to imagine that the end of the Canadian Wheat Board will spur a new movement of ag business that will replace what was lost.

And in many cases what does exist may ultimately be owned and controlled in places like Switzerland.

It will be an interesting year ahead.

T-Mobile What Britain Loves

Upper Fort Garry

Manitoba Club and Upper Fort Garry Gate



All that remains of Upper Fort Garry

Too many calls for money, too many preservation projects that need government money, no timelines for getting projects done, too few deep pocketed donors and the constant chasing away of businesses that do want to invest.

It is no way to get things done.

Seed money can be helpful for projects as we have seen in condo development downtown and how it has leveraged a significant private investment. However, things like the Millennium Centre, Upper Fort Garry and the Human Rights Museum always seem to be fighting for viability and starved for cash.

It is particularly galling when preservation projects end up looking similar or worse than what was planned. The Millennium Centre in the CIBC building chased away Cowboys from Calgary only to become and under utilized and not so well known...banquet hall.

And now the Friends of Upper Fort Garry are turning the Fort Garry site into a parking lot for at least two years.

Have to say this is pretty discouraging. Makes you wonder if the project will even get off the ground. It might be 2015 or 2016 before shovels are in the earth. Who is to the say that some of the principle players driving this are going to still be around? Not to be morbid but the length of time for development exceeds a lifetime for some people.

A surface lot isn't doing anyone any favours in the area except maybe the Manitoba Club and the guests there for dinner.

I compare this to land that the province sat on behind Broadway not helping the area around the Convention Centre. The stubborn refusal to consider all development options for that section of land left them windswept lots. And that has lasted decades and the Convention Center was isolated.

It is hard to stay upbeat in the city when bold plans wait years and sometimes decades and what we get is a parking lot.

Not easy to say this will be for the good of the city in five or ten years when it hurts so badly now.

Government Building Downtown

The provincial government has stepped up moving and consolidating offices in the downtown area. Some people have said this is not true development as it is government, others are against it for the simple reason that it is government pure and simple.

I'll set aside the libertarian view we should not have government or extremely little of it. Suffice to say, Winnipeg has had a high level of all three governments making a base of the city for delivery of their services. I don't have to go back far in our history to see what unbridled private delivery of business services meant. In some cases it meant a shoot out if we go back to the Hudson's Bay and Northwest Company rivalries.

However, as I said, I won't go into an anti-government or anti-business screed. I believe we try to limit the overreach of government but I happen to believe that there needs to be balance. To that end, I think all three levels of government need a strategy in the province of Manitoba to promote density, sustainability and best land use through re-development. And wherever possible use this strategy to leverage private investment.

If you look all up and down Portage Avenue, for example, many of the office buildings there have had some form of government office in them. I am not exaggerating in the least. While some of the buildings had a geographic reason to be in the area (such as the former post office building...later CJOB building), many of the other offices were leased just because space was needed.

In short, government offices have helped fuel suburban office development for years.

The provincial government as well as the federal government have always had offices downtown but not so much a plan. The province has placed lots of offices on Broadway over the years and it has helped give that street vitality. It has made sense given the fact that the legislature was right there on the same street. Only problem is that the province's strategy meant sitting on surface lots behind Broadway for decades contributing to a lack of density around the Convention Centre.

The province has been hit and miss in recent months about leasing or helping fuel a building cycle downtown lately. It is leasing space in an old Air Canada building at 352 Donald Street and a space at 287 Broadway and then again at 777 Portage Avenue. Those are the hits. The misses are calls for companies to make offers of property and then not following through.

Even a small amount of leased space can trigger millions of restoration. And so it is the case with 111 Lombard Avenue where Brick's Fine Furniture used to be located. It is an attractive building with a parkade across the street and surface parking lot beside. Despite the fact the building reno will include an expansion into vacant space, it seems the province probably can't help think it is attractive with the parking.

The proper investment by government in offices that they need can be the beacon for further development. Some interesting things are happening in terms of this investment now. It could and should be even better.

A plan should be in place to slowly move things to more central locations in a community here and elsewhere in Manitoba. Placing a very large building with tax people near the fringes of the city should be something thought of as unusual in the future.

There are good places downtown. However, they need people. Those people primarily come from those who live in the area. However, central location for sport, entertainment and office workers helps elevate a downtown to one that is busy with activity all day and all night.

More people equals more safety in that it generally translates into an abundance of eyes and ears to report break ins, aggressive behaviour and the like. Think of how most people feel when they are in The Forks: generally secure and happy to be there.

In 2013, it might be a surprise some of the things that are happening downtown. I can't think of anything so strong since the 1980s and the Core Area Initiative and its beginnings. Sadly, what eventually happened as that the focus became just on Portage Place and The Forks and too much in between fell by the wayside.

Rigged Elections

It is rather astonishing the revelations about the robo-calls that took place in the federal election last fall that misdirected voters away from where they were supposed to go or tried to confuse or anger voters. The Conservative party has been implicated in this using technical gadgetry and voter lists that are in their possession.

The Conservative response has been two-fold. One is to accuse the opposition of doing the same and two, to say that it is the work of one individual. One Tory staffer has resigned.

Rigged elections are nothing new in Canada. We have seen both the NDP and PCs in Manitoba use fraud, voter suppression, illegal advertising or spending or plain stealing or questionable ballots or theft of voter boxes. The Filmon Progressive Conservatives faced the wrath of the electorate over tactics used to split the NDP vote.

The NDP learned from this and ensured no investigation was ever done on the 1999 election campaign where they used union workers resulting in $76,000 that had to be returned to Elections Manitoba. Bit of a sweetheart deal and no further inquiry was made. Ancient history for some but we have seen continued suppression by the NDP of their part in illegal activity. And in the most recent election, we saw some gaming of the system when reporters were invited to the birthing centre in contravention of the law.

But Manitoba provincial politics is not what we're talking about here. It is the federal Conservatives under Stephen Harper who may have really stepped in it. The machinery of the Conservative party has been used to disrupt election intentions.

Lists of people who identified as Liberal were used to make calls to turn the tides in an election. This is considered breaking the law.

The RCMP should be contacted and a complete investigation done by Elections Canada.

There are probably many Tories laughing at all this. Some might be saying: So what? Other might accuse the Liberals or NDP of doing worse over the years.

The truth is they should be concerned. If someone was able to access their lists, their vote call machinery and a budget to make those calls, they should be sweating. It bespeaks of a lack of control at the top.

If it turns out a lot of people were involved, it might prove bad as well if charges are laid.

The Conservatives might think: Oh, we'll win this in court. Like we always do. Or in the court of public opinion, we'll win.

However, think of Gary Filmon and his shock when people actually did remember the fraud from the previous election.

Sephora's Open in St. Vital

There was a lot of excitement when the store first opened in Polo Park. Now one has opened in St. Vital Shopping Centre.

I visted the Jets Gear store in St. Vital. Some say it is small but it looked to be not too bad in size. It was kind interesting to see the variety of products offered. I ended up getting a Jets T-shirt.

It is my hope that there will be a Jets summer sale of products in s similar vein as the Bomber Locker Room Sale at the end of football season.

The one thing that St. Vital does so well is host things like the three times a year Children's Hospital Book Sale. Some criticize the malls fro a variety of ills but this event really brings out so many people from all over the store.

Polo Park has nothing even remotely similar.

The major shakeout in retailing continues. I suspect that Polo Park and St. Vital will continue to compete for top international retailers while places like Kildonan, Garden City snd the like look to more local and national retailers.

I saw signs indicating that Australian jeweller Michael Hill is opening soon in St. Vital as well.

Cabela's To Open in Seasons of Tuxedo

Cabela's to open full size store in Season's of Tuxedo on the Ikea site.

The store will be the largest in Canada at 72,000 square feet over Edmonton and Saskatoon stores.

To put in perspective for Canadians familiar with East Grand Forks Cabela's, the Winnipeg store will be 12,000 feet larger than that.

More information on the store to come.

However, the will also include bike trails, traffic circles and many trees.

Banana Republic and Ivivva Athletica Opening in Polo Park

Gap and Old Navy sister store Banana Republic is slated to open in Polo Park in the near future.

Also opening is Lululemon little sister store Ivivva Athletica. I say little sister since it exercise clothes for girls.

The move for Banana Republic was made possible when Nygard didn't renew their lease and Quilts Etc moved near to The Bay. And why would they? It is fairly clear that Nygard with a large property on Kenaston has made the same choice that Tommy Hilfiger did.

And why make that choice? Well, it is expensive being in a mall like Polo Park. They are chasing a young crowd and the customers that Nygard wants are closer to Kenaston one would think.

It is quite the transformation for Polo Park and it will continue as they try to have some stores no one else has in the city. For some retailers, they will find their options better elsewhere.

As for Ivivva Athletica, they are extremely young and female in orientation. Lululemon already had line ups through the mall. I expect this store to be no different.

Is it possible for a mall to too young and too female? I guess we shall see if Harry Rosen and Apple decide to make their move elsewhere.

Official 2012 Honda CR-V Game Day Commercial - "Matthew's Day Off" Exten...

Ferris Bueller's Honda Day Off

Bits and Bites

Globosapiens Used Bookstore in their new location on Portage (top picture) and old one on Roblin (bottom picture)

Last year Globosapiens Used Bookstore closed on Roblin Boulevard. Thought it was gone for good but it took over the spot on Portage Avenue once the location of The Chronicle, a hemp shop. Don't know what the quality of the bookstore is but any used book store is good for the city.



Sydney Morning Herald travel column

I had meant to talk about this a couple of time and it was once again mentioned in brief in the Free Press in the last weeks about the Sydney Morning Herald.

Unlike a lot of travel column writers, the Australian writer did not come for the main attractions like museum or a festival. He came for the flavour of the city. That is not something easy to see for someone to find.

How do we define ourselves? What are we proud of? What attractions do we love and want to show off?

Going downtown is not going to wow someone unless they are at The Forks or attending an event like Fringe. The downtown can be desolate place a lot of the time. I can't tell you how many times people have mentioned how empty it seems or how threatening it is.

The place our intrepid travel found to be the real Winnipeg was found in Osborne Village.

As a backpacker, our traveller says this:

So what does Winnipeg have going for it? On the surface, not much. This is a city that counts a difficult intersection (the aptly named Confusion Corner) as a famous landmark, which should tell you all you need to know.

The tourist brochures would point you towards the Manitoba Museum, an undoubtedly interesting collection of artifacts and historical pieces in the town centre. But I'm not much of a museum goer, so that was only going to keep me amused for a couple of hours.

Sooo, no museums for our fellow. Guess Human Rights Museum wouldn't rank high either.

Not all travellers will be be attracted to such things.

So off to Osborne Village our reporter went:

But help was at hand. That friend I once travelled with was still living in Winnipeg and she'd offered to meet up for a drink. We were going to Osborne Village, she said, the artsy, creative side of Winnipeg that I only realized existed after I was told we were meeting there.

And that's when Winnipeg started to make sense.

You know how dodgy, rundown suburbs seem to become cool over time? How places such as Surry Hills in Sydney used to be no-go zones until the artists and musicians moved in and suddenly the people who wanted to be around artists and musicians followed suit?

Winnipeg is on the cusp of that transition. It was never dodgy - just dull. But it was also cheap and the government offered incentives for creative types to move in, so the artists and musicians packed up their vans, tackled Confusion Corner and settled down on the prairies, completely changing the city's landscape.

There have been a few people who mention how the Shopper's Drug Mart will destroy this unique culture. I don't particularly buy it. A displaced video rental store and one restaurant won't do it.

Having said that, a well designed multi-story Shopper's could have addressed a few concerns about diversity, density and design.

Is it too late? Would have loved a Vi-Ann overlooking Osborne from above. And a Movie Village could have found a home in that concept as well.

Anyway, all is not lost. Osborne Village is a work in progress and people continue to want to live there. And that is a good thing.

Our reporter had this to say in the end.

It would probably shock the customs guy as much as the rest of Canada, but the city I found is not just cold - it's cool. Who'd have thought?

Not James Turner but he might know the guy

James Turner has been a reporter in Winnipeg since 2005. He has bounced around from one media group to another but is now at the Winnipeg Sun. Good reporter. Too bad he can't do the headlines as well since the stories are good, the headlines cringeworthy.

There is no truth to the rumour that he is creating the Turnerington Post.






Academy Road, Bejeweled and Frenchway

Some closures of businesses on Academy Road. Bejeweled, across the Street from Starbucks is shut down. Likewise, Frenchway restaurant.

Both have been around for a couple of years.



Charitable Giving

We have seen a number of stories of charitable giving in the last years from gifts to the universities to hospitals to the human rights museum.

The Silverberg's gift to the Jewish Foundation which in turn will gift others such as the Humane Society and Manitoba Branch of the Cancer Society will be lifetime contributions. The $8.5 million will go far.

Similarly, the contribution by Laurie Johnson, a retired pharmacist of $1 million split between Riverview Health Center and Misericordia Health Centre is a remarkable gift.

I contribute monthly to the Winnipeg Foundation. I hope that when I am long gone, my family will be deciding on what things in Winnipeg to fund in perpetuity.

Seasons of Tuxedo

Seasons of Tuxedo from SPINE on Vimeo.

It has been busy in terms of Kenaston Route 90 and the IKEA/Seasons of Tuxedo site.

Two separate announcements but related in every way. The first is that there is a video showing what Seasons of Tuxedo will look like. Yes, it will be different from a lot of malls: It will have traffic circles. Most likely they will work better than the ones in River Heights.

As far as malls go, it resembles what Polo Park once was which was a mall with open air components. At 1.5-million-square-foot commercial feet, the site will rival Polo Park. The 395,000 square foot IKEA is proceeding well. Lots of construction on site and the opening remains fall of 2012.

Seasons of Tuxedo is slated for 2014 or 2015. If I had to guess the first components might be earlier than that. For example....a movie theatre complex. My view is there might be a race on to capture the new market with three malls forecast in the near future: Seasons of Tuxedo, the new mall west of Assiniboia Downs and the stadium site at Polo Park. Add to that the proposed factory outlet mall with no start up date or location announced for Winnipeg yet.

As this all goes on, Kenaston creaks and cracks. A city committee has targeted houses for purchase to expand to 6 lanes of Route 90 traffic. Keep in mind that there is no budget to purchase, no plan for the St. James bridge, no timetable on the Kapyong Barracks and no end in site to probably the most expensive traffic corridor in the history of city of Winnipeg.

Helllo? IKEA is in a few months. Hundreds of houses are being built every few months in Waverley West.

Danger, Will Robinson!

Think we need a tri-level meeting of government now as this is problem that will go boom. It is already going boom.

Anyways, nice mall by the looks of it. Too bad the best traffic management is probably inside the site itself.

Winnipeg Free Press - Rate Your Journalist Part 1

The Free Press is the paper of record for the city of Winnipeg.

There are some excellent writers and there are some that tend to make some readers crazy as they read. I will list those writers and editorial staff according to the the paper's own biographies listed. Some I have an opinion about, some I don't know what they do as it might be setting editorial policy in the background. I know many of you will have an opinion about the writers.

Have at it:

First...

Administration

Bob Cox, publisher

He has been a reporter and editor for the Free Press and publisher since 2007. He has had a few columns over the years. They seem random in that they cover a wide variety of topics from the personal to local and national.

Nothing wrong with that per se. I would love a "paper-making" column that explained the nuts and bolts of how the Free Press operated in every capacity. I'd love once a week but every month would be improvement over nothing at all.

A publisher is responsible for a profitable paper but also for carrying out a direction that the owners establish. What is that editorial policy in general? Do we have a mission statement? Is their a political angle? Are the owner's politics known? Is the publisher's?

Who is the publisher responsible for in terms of hiring and firing and why? Can we find out more? It isn't very transparent. And I can imagine the Free Press would be asking those questions of business and government. We need to hear how the publisher handles these crucial issues. Certainly, I'd love to know in a general way how things get decided.

There was a documentary on the New York Times recently. It was enlightening. It would be good for the Free Press to have a regular feature in the paper showing what was behind the curtain.

The opening of the Free Press Cafe downtown was innovative. I have not been there yet but it is a good way to reach out. Would like to see more.

There are some that have criticized the Free Press for not looking more closely at construction of the human rights museum early on. The issue of being a promoter of such projects is being questioned as interfering with analyzing of said projects as they develop. It seems clear at the moment that the museum might be in a spot of trouble. Some people were pointing out for a while that this might be happening.

So what is the view of other people on the publisher? As I've said, I want to know more about what happens at the paper and explanations of why it does what it does and sometimes a more focused look on what it hasn't done well in the past or present.

Margo Goodhand, editor

She has had many firsts in her career. She still posts regular columns of a variety of subjects. She takes credit as well for the News Cafe. The Community News Commons is still not up yet though according to the website. Could be good, no way tell yet.

The site is here.

Some critics have said that the Free Press editor was too quick to jump on criticism from some of its detractors, specifically The Great Canadian Talk Show. Freedom of Information requests have provoked questions.

It seems to me that the Free Press had nothing to fear from pokes at being the paper of record and might have even done well to allow their reporters the ability to respond. Chances are that lines of communication would have shed light on news gathering, reporting and opinion. And all of this might have been done with humour, humility and gentility.

Differences of opinion will exist. That's fine. No need to be defensive.

As with the publisher, I think we need to see more of an explanation of how the news operation works. Regular informed commentary would be huge to that end.

As far as the direction the paper takes, it seems to me that the paper could stand to address the issue of a makeover where each section of the paper might be re-done. Better pictures, graphics and news bulletins would be welcome. I have no idea when certain columns run. Tell me.

I would love to see a finer, sober thinking approach to Sundays. Can't we have the View From The West there?

More guest columns and bloggers, please.

Is a columnist shuffle out of the question? We have seen a few shifts from Ottawa to Manitoba and Arts to City Hall. If a columnist can switch to a new portfolio or take on a certain role for a while, it can be amazing journalism. Some great pet columns came from Bruce Owen.

Would love to see the whole team come aboard for things like elections. It should be a full court press from humour columns, general columns, sports columns, TV and arts columns and business columns. I can't help think that a story about a treehouse could have waited till after the election.

I think I wrote to the editor directly one time about the lack of inclusion of screenwriters in movie reviews. I am happy to say that I notice that the writer or writers are included in reviews. If it ain't on the page, it ain't on the stage.

So what are people's views on the editor? I want to know more, see more, expect more.

The Free Press is not going down for citizen reporting via tweets. It won't. And with other media struggling or folding and city forums ending or other city media folding like Sandbox, the Free Press will be looked to as a continued paper of record.

I hope it steps up even in light of a lesser local competition in providing news.

to be continued...

Don Percy Back on Winnipeg Radio

Ever wonder where Stan Kubicek and Don Percy ever went to?

Until the conversion of 1290 to TSN Sports Radio, Don Percy was spinning oldies.

I wondered back then if he would land a job in the multitude of radio stations in the city.

Well, looks like he has found a home at Breeze along with Stan Kubicek.

At 100.7, Breeze is not exactly tearing up the charts. Bringing in Don Percy will get noticed and the newspaper ads certainly indicate they think he has a fan base.

It is hard to keep up with the changing formats of 100.7. It was The Lounge over Christmas, HANK FM before that and Cafe 100.7.

Way back, it was nostalgia radio.

New ownership has come out with a little spirit. The Evanov Group started up Energy 106 to poke an eye at Hot 103. Until very recently, it must have been quite clear that 103 had the top 40 pop hip hop market to itself. Not anymore. Interestingly, it looks like the intention was to call 106, The Jewel before settling on Energy.

Now we are seeing an attempt to move into 102.3 Clear FM's territory for another Evanov property. Breeze has probably got a long way to move past the Rogers owned station but you never know.

The complaints on Winnipeg radio are many. Never has so much been offered in such a limited range. We'll see if anyone breaks from the pack.

It will be interesting to see the new radio ratings and whether TSN Radio is big.

In any event, welcome back to two Winnipeg broadcasters.

List Time - Top Posts of 2011

I am a little late in getting up lists for 2011. It was quite a busy final weeks to the end of the end and it remains fairly busy.

My top viewed posts generally revolved around commercial enterprises that are opening in the city. Without doubt, the top post by far was on Swiss Chalet. Menards takes up two slots as well as a post I did on black and white police cars. Who knew the cars would be so fascinating.

I have no idea why my top 10 book list from last year continues to get hits each week.

I have two posts that are joke posts on Harper and Martha Stewart which gets hits each week.

The rest of the list is filled with store openings.

I think some of my Charleswood stuff has to limited an audience.

Anyway, on to the list...

Swiss Chalet Returns to Winnipeg
Mar 27, 2011, 24 comments

8,845 Pageviews

Menards - Deliveries to Winnipeg
Dec 6, 2010, 2 comments

2,804 Pageviews

List Time - Top Manitoba Books
Dec 23, 2010

2,565 Pageviews

Menards Coming To Winnipeg - Sort Of
Nov 24, 2010, 2 comments

2,355 Pageviews

Martha Stewart Gets Too Close To Polar Bear
Nov 6, 2010, 2 comments

2,143 Pageviews

Black and White Police Car Models - After Crown Vi...
Nov 24, 2010, 4 comments

1,363 Pageviews

Black and White Police Cars
Jul 5, 2010, 2 comments

1,338 Pageviews

Harper Talks About Pulling Out
Apr 1, 2011

1,317 Pageviews

Coach Store Coming to Winnipeg
May 15, 2011

1,202 Pageviews

Aeropostale Opening in Winnipeg
May 6, 2011

933 Pageviews

Hitler Rant - Loves Winnipeg Jets - Hates Washrooms

Rogers Closing Video Stores in Winnipeg

It sucks if you rent videos or games. The choices are becoming limited to small kiosks for videos and nothing really for games.

We keep hearing this is the wave of the future and that it is old technology, etc. However, as I have pointed out a few times, to access this technology, you need a high speed connection to the Internet, computer or electronic device or cable and satellite connection. Not to mention a subscription to a content provider like Netflix. Video on Demand on cable and satellite is still too limited in its offering, is expensive and has no extras.

People may say: So what? I get all my stuff with free downloads. Well, we have seen that those avenues are being blocked more and more. Could be a time soon when we might not be able to access things nearly with the convenience or lack of consequences.

Rogers Video Plus are the latest to announce a series of closings. Four of their stores are being shut down. It is part of a 40% reduction of their stores in Canada.

If you live in certain parts of the city, there are no larger video rental places left at all. It can be a good thing for an independent willing to stick it out but we have even seen the owner of Movie Village looking to sell.

Here are the stores that are closing.

1853 Grant Ave
Winnipeg, MB R3N 1Z2
(204) 488-4969

756 Pembina Hwy
Winnipeg, MB R3M 2M7
(204) 452-1234

823 McLeod Ave
Winnipeg, MB R2G 0Y4
(204) 654-1234

47 Goulet St
Winnipeg, MB R2H 0R5
(204) 237-7496

There was a point made here that if you wait a while, a DVD will be sold for around the same price as a rental. While that might be true of DVDs, it isn't true of games that they can be purchased so soon for so little. The rental places truly made it possible to check out a game and decide if it was worth it.

I know one thing that has happened since most of the video stores have closed around me: I have not watched as many new or older movies.

A Bar Street For Winnipeg?

Top picture is 456 Main Street today where Fox and Fiddle will be located

Middle picture is Fox and Fiddle on Yonge Street, Toronto

Bottom pic is 456 as the old Bank of Toronto

In the last weeks, we have been inundated with stories of bars and restaurants opening, often in the downtown.

One of the restaurant groups in Toronto that has worked with older buildings is Fox and Fiddle, an Irish pub-style group. They announced recently they going to build on Main Street near Whiskey Dix.

Fox and Fiddle is likely to appeal to those looking for a meal, pre or post sports or theatre events and after work or as a neighbourhood eatery. It is likely to bring a slightly more mature crowd than the nearby Whiskey Dix. And this is good, since there should be a variety of crowds up and down the street if for no other reason than to create excitement but also a civil interaction.

Whiskey Dix has been around a few years, overcoming some violent altercations ending in death in its previous incarnations. At 12,000 feet, it is monster sized and has one of the largest patios in the downtown area.

Violence is the type of stuff can destroy any bar even suburban ones. Security for bars and restaurants is both an internal and external matter. Bars have to enforce no weapons policies and over-serving protocols. Police have to be very vigilant and everyone should be aware of zero tolerance of shenanigans.

However, a lively bar and restaurant quarter can also be a boon for cultural and business affairs. It is not enough to have the Fringe Festival or MTS Centre in an area if there is nothing to do before, in between and after.

The streets of Portage and Main Street used to be lined with offices and retail. We have lost both offices and retail to the suburbs and in its place we have suffered either empty store front or offices or worse, large surface parking lots.

We have seen a scattering of restaurants and bars in the Exchange District and elsewhere but never in a real grouping like they have in Austin, Texas or Ybor City in Tampa.

The addition of Fox and Fiddle on Main might actually attract other similar businesses. At 3,100-square-foot and $750,000, this is a major investment downtown.

And it isn't the only one. The old Chocolate Shop restaurant is being converted into a Mediterranean-style restaurant. That 3,500 square foot location has been a restaurant for years aside from a stint as a cooking school. Arkadash Bistro and Lounge at 268 Portage Ave will be getting around a $300,000 facelift.

Farther down the street, some major players are sniffing around locations near the MTS Centre. More on that in a Portage Avenue update.

We have been seeing some interesting developments over the last several months. Except more private cash to start investing. And time to get some of the large surface lot landholders off their duffs and looking at possibilities.

Shopper's Drug Mart Osborne Village Part Deux

Shopper's Drug Mart and Vietnamese restaurant Vi-Ann

After the first expansion plan went poorly, Shopper's Drug Mart is putting forward another plan. This time it has found two willing sellers to facilitate growth up Osborne Street.

Already there is neighbourhood resistance. The city's board of adjustment will look at the proposal in a meeting at City Hall on December 21. Expect a lot of concern.

Two things emerge from the genesis of this plan: The first is that Movie Village might not be long for Osborne Village. If the owners are looking to sell and are unsuccessful, it doesn't means that the movie rental shop will stay open.

The neighbourhood has already lost Blockbuster. This would be a major hit for the non-car drivers living in the area.

Now, some people will say no loss...things are going digital anyways but people forget that the seeing movies via TV or computer still requires cable, satellite or high speed Internet connections all of which cost money. Then you have to pay for content. This can end up more costly than a TV, DVD player and a rental.

However, this isn't about video stores. If Movie Village wishes to sell or close, it is their right to do so. However, it would be wrong to assume the store will remain a video store by resisting Shopper's expansion.

If Movie Village does close, chances are something would go into the location. Just not a video store.

The one business is this endeavour that is at the mercy of the property owner's is Vi-Ann. The restaurant doesn't own the building it is in and if it is sold and redeveloped, they might not have options about going somewhere else. This is a sad situation but one we see often repeated with businesses that lease space. Sometimes the owners of the property push you out in favour of other things.

Once again, stopping Shopper's to save Vi-Ann may not work if the owners of the building looks to re-develop on their own.

Both Shopper's and Vi-Ann face out to Osborne Street and have entrances to it. Movie Village has long turned its back on the street and looks on to the more lucrative Safeway behind it.

The street behind Osborne, more of an alley, really has become the choice route for pedestrians. It is a long stretch of street from Shopper's to the Liquor Commission where you don't see the same vitality as you do in the blocks after. With only two businesses having any access to the street, there is very little presence there.

So, what exactly happens if Shopper's gets its wish? Well, we lose two beloved businesses, both of which might be in danger regardless if the proposal is turned down. Will it affect Osborne? Probably no more than what is happening now. In fact, with a good zoning ruling on the proposal, maybe Shopper's can be persuaded to be more street friendly on Osborne. Ditching the frosted glass might help.

If resistance to the Shopper's proposal is about "fighting the man", it is as wrongheaded as resistance to Safeway's expansion in the Village.

Outright resistance to Safeway ignored the fact that the neighbourhood was successful because there was a large grocery right in the area. Some homes were displaced in the area for expansion but Osborne Village's entire history has been marked by development and increasing density. Dogged resistance to change would have left the neighbourhood a low density section of the city. Who knows? Had activists been at the ready long ago, it still might be a barracks.

I am in the middle on this. I am not against Shopper's expanding for the sake of saying no to a large corporation. I am also of a mind that no one should roll over. If Shopper's get the green light, significant consideration needs to be looked at on zoning to make sure Osborne Street is vital. The look of the building is worthy of consideration. Entrances, windows, colours should be appealing.

Perhaps one aspect that might be promoted is: Can floors above the Shopper's be built? Now isn't that a novel idea? A residential component, offices? Wouldn't be rather neat if the floors above a Shopper's contained a restaurant like Vi-Ann? Just saying...

We'll see what happens next week. An open mind will be good. Don't resist, don't roll over, be constructive.

Westport Festival

Plans and Location for Westport Festival

The Westport Festival is a new development being promoted by Shindico. It seems festival has replaced Centre, Plaza, Court, Common and Village.

I guess the developer thought a retailing concept called The Downs was too sad.

In any event, this development near the Assiniboia Downs is very large. How big? Well, bigger than the lot where Unicity Fashion Square used to be before being converted to a WalMart big box concept in 2000.

The Westport follows that same big box line with two very large box store locations with one unique difference. There is a listing for a large movie theatre complex on the site.

We have already seen that we are losing one discount movie theatre chain with the conversion Cinema City on McGillivray. What could this theatre be? First run movies, second run?

One thing is clear: The people of St. James and Charleswood have been under-served for years in the movie theatre department. The only real theatre in St. James was the King's Theatre and it closed decades ago. And the Polo Park Theatre in the deep dark recesses of the basement of Polo Park Mall was not worthy of the place.

Silver City Polo Park has been serving the west part of the city since it was built in the 1990s.

That is a large section of the city where kids faced a very long bus ride in some case or difficult to impossible access if they lived in Charleswood to any movie theatre. It was one reason that for a very long time, there was a lot of video rental places along Portage Avenue.

The 450 acre Red River Exhibition Park is immediately north of the site. The eight auto dealers of Pointe West Autopark is right next door on an equally large piece of land.

In short order, things are getting busy in this area. It is easy to see the streets serving a mall, Red River Ex and the autopark are not up to snuff. Work will have to be done to avoid a three ring circus there.

So what big stores might be looking at those retail boxes? Well, a good bet is Lowe's. However, could not Target be a possibility? Kohl's would be the next dream store for Winnipeggers but there are others coming like J. Crew, Brooks Brothers and Crate & Barrel.

Only time will tell but fully leased signs are up in a lot of the city malls and some retail street strips.

The other interesting element of the Westport Festival is a hotel. Like a lot of others, Shindico hopes to capitalize on the nearby MTS Iceplex and the need for hotel space for the teams going to tournaments. It is obvious that there seemed to be no need just to serve the Red River Ex and Assiniboia Downs.

There has been a flurry of hotels built in that area after years of nothing.

The stretching out of our infrastructure and the traffic chaos in Headlingley is a debate that should happen as this project starts to take shape. Nevertheless, the increasing fully leased signs all over the city means that if we are ever to get certain stores, they will have to have a place to go.

To that end, the city continues to expand outward. Perhaps city council will continue to try and backfill spaces without some of the NIMBY-ism we have seen in recent weeks.

Kiehl's Opens in Winnipeg

Kiehl's Opens Wednesday

They only have 135 stores around the world but Kiehl's is an an iconic New York store that has been around since 1851. Each store as motorbike in it and Winnipeg is no different. The bike in the 1000 foot second floor location has a 1969 Harley-Davidson Electra Glide. The store is now a division of L'Oreal.

The store describes itself as an "old apothecary" concept.

Polo Park continues to pursue exclusive retailers to its location. Any local retailers would fare far better in the regional malls or at street level than hope to get into the mall now. In fact, many Canadian retailers will have to look over their shoulders in the next months.