Friday, September 25, 2015

List of Stores for Outlet Collection

Outlet Collection Winnipeg at Kenaston
List of possible stores.

Aldo Outlet
American Eagle Outfitters
Ardene Outlet
Aroma Espresso Bar
Banana Republic Factory Store
Bath & Body Works
BEBE OUTLET
Bench Factory Store
Big Smoke Burger
Boathouse Outlet
Body Shop Outlet, The
BOSS HUGO BOSS
Brooks Brothers Factory Store
Browns Outlet
Buffalo David Bitton
Calvin Klein Outlet
CARTER'S OSH KOSH BABIES AND KIDS
Cellicon
Chico’s Outlet
Children`s Place Outlet, The
Claire's Outlet
COACH
Cole Haan
Columbia Sportswear
CROC OUTLET
Danier Leather Outlet Store
DAVIDs TEA
DKNY
Dynamite
ECCO Shoe Factory Outlet
Eddie Bauer
Famous Footwear Outlet
Forever XXI
Fossil Outlet
Freshly Squeezed
Frosted Cupcake
Game On Sports
Gap Factory Store
Gateway Newstands
Geox Outlet
GNC
Guess? Outlet
Haggar Clothing Co.
Hot Topic
Imperial Meats
Izod
J. Crew Factory
Justice
Kate Spade Outlet
Kavar Boutique
LA VIE EN ROSE
Lacoste
Lindt Outlet
L'Occitane Outlet
McDonald's
MICHAEL HILL
Michael Kors Outlet
Mountain Warehouse
Naturalizer Outlet
Nine West Shoe Studio
Not Your Daughter's Jeans
NORTH FACE, THE
Old Navy
Oliv
Pandora Outlet
Pepper Palace
Polo Ralph Lauren- COMING SOON
PUMA
Quiksilver
Reebok Outlet
Rockport
Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory
RUD by Rudsak
Salomon/ Arc`teryx
Samsonite Outlet
Sbarro
Shades
Shoe Company, The
Shirt Store
Signature Perfumes
SKECHERS
Sockrates
Soft-Moc Shoe Rack
Starbucks
Subway
Sunglass Hut Outlet
SURPLUS Official Diesel Outlet
SZECHUAN EXPRESS
Thinkkitchen
TIM HORTONS
Tommy Hilfiger Outlet
Trade Secrets
Triumph Lingerie Outlet
UGG Outlet
Van Heusen Outlet
White House Black Market Outlet
Wine Country Vintners
WIRELESSWAVE
Ya Ya & Co.
Zales Outlet

Thursday, September 24, 2015

BESTSELLER Store Coming to Polo Park

BESTSELLER Store
BESTSELLER, a multi-brand fashion retailer from Denmark opened their first stores outside of Europe in Canada this week. The Quebec opening in Montreal was followed by the announcement that four more locations in Canada would open by next next year. Polo Park was one of those locations in 2016. Winnipeg will be the first location outside of Quebec.

The trendy store averages about 7000 plus square feet and carries men's, women's, teenager's and children's clothing, Founded in 1975 in Brande, Denmark, the family owned business is
 one of Europe's biggest fashion companies featuring their own brands of Jack & Jones, Vero Moda, Noisy May and Y.A.S. In Canada it will exclusively sell Adapt and Studio 75.

This continues the trend of Polo Park moving to highly sought after and exclusive retailers for the mall store.

Thursday, September 17, 2015

Oh Doughnuts Coming to Broadway

On Broadway just below Amici's
Amanda Kinden's artisan doughnuts have been enjoyed at Parlour Coffee for some time but she has not had her own location till now. The former Bella's Spa below Amici's came available and as of this week a banner has hung outside announcing their future home.

Broadway has always been a people street and food trucks and restaurants line both sides of the street to serve the residential and office crowd. The soon to be completed RBC Winnipeg Convention Centre may also be part of the crowd that looks to be served by the variety of food services in the area.

Often in our focus of things the city has gotten wrong, it is hard to remember what the city has got right. Broadway continues to be a source of things that attract people in growing numbers.

Saturday, September 12, 2015

Goodlife Fitness Coming to St. James

3193 Portage Avenue Superstore
Goodlife Fitness continues their expansion in Canada which has taken them coast to coast and made them the largest fitness company in Canada.

They have been looking at expanding in several parts of the city only to be thwarted by the lack of ideal space or bigger retail giants swooping in and grabbing spots. When Target shut down, Goodlife put in an offer on many of the properties only to be re-buffed. In Winnipeg, Target Grant Park went to Canadian Tire, Southdale Target went to Walmart and Target Polo Park went to owners of Polo Park. Kildonan remains unclaimed but Goodlife is already just down the street from there.

A number of weeks ago, Goodlife listed the latest place for their expansion in Winnipeg and it is in St. James.  The address they listed is 3193 Portage Avenue which is home to Real Canadian Superstore.

Goodlife and Superstore are old friends. In Winnipeg, the first two Goodlife Women's Only gyms were set up in or on Superstore properties on McPhillips and in Sargent down from Polo Park. Those clubs remain with the company today.

The Superstore in St. James on Polo Park is an odd duck. It is one of a very few Superstores with an underground parking lot on Canada. Built in 1989 for around $10 million, the company initially tried to buy an abandoned adjacent school site of the St. James school division but were re-buffed. They went ahead anyways and built a heated parkade instead and found success as one of the first large sized stores in the 250,000 square foot range in the west end of the city.

Site of Goodlife Expansion?
The old school site did eventually get sold and developed and on the corner facing Portage is a Crosstown Credit Union. At the back of the site now is a condo. In between the space as seen above is a space listed for development and could accommodate a 20,000 square foot building. This is the exact size Goodlife needs for a co-ed gym.

There is already a Shapes Women's gym and a Y on west Portage but they do serve different crowds. The construction of a new co-ed fitness center right in the middle of neighbourhood on the south side is likely to be very welcome.

I am not entirely sure of the logistics of the project that will be complete next year. The configuration of the parking lot will be interesting. Look to see zoning plans for it soon!

Friday, September 4, 2015

Landmark Cinemas at Grant Park

In Late June, New Landmark sign went up at Grant Park
This week the Landmark Cinemas at Grant Park did a full reveal of the $2 million redevelopment of their eight screen movie theatre. Formerly know as the Empire Theatres, the movie chain was jettisoned by the Sobey family when their grocery division purchased Safeway.

Grant Park mall has been undergoing a years long renovation that has had to adapt as big changes in Canada's retail market shook up the scene. The arrival of Target was the impetus of change at the shopping center but planners could not have forecast what was in store for the future. Sobey's was forced to sell off four Safeways by the federal government for competition reasons and Grant Park Safeway was one of them. This brought a whole new player to town in the form of Red River Co-Op who for the last few decades were more known for gas and convenience stores rather than grocery.

Menawhile, all of this was happening at the same time as Zellers was closed and Target moved into Canada. For Grant Park it meant a multi-million expansion of old Zellers footprint to accommodate the new Target. Not to be outdone, McNally, Liquor Mart and Shopper's all expanded.

The inside of the mall was upgraded was section at a time and some long time tenants closed or moved to make way for others. It was a bit of a mess and it continued for a few years.

However, it was all in anticipation of Target coming so every dollar spent was considered a worthwhile investment. And when Target finally opened? Pfft. It still had the new paint smell when the company decided to tuck tail, close and run home.

Still, Grant Park owners had already committed to completing the renovation they had set upon so floors and skylights proceeded apace.

Sobey's Empire selling of their theatre division to Landmark Cinemas of Alberta was just one more adjustment along the way. The company was no stranger to Winnipeg as they continue to own the Towne in the downtown. However, the company had seemed content to stay out of the way of Cineplex and Empire for the big suburban movie houses.

At first Landmark just ran the theater as is with no major changes but it soon became apparent that the company wanted to upgrade and brand the theater as their own. To be sure, things are afoot in the movie business. The conversion of Cinema City to Odeon VIP for $4 million in 2012 introduced reserved seating and a licensed lounge and drinks at your seat. Both Silver City locations also had major upgrades and Imax added.

Landmark did one step further. They have made ALL their seats reserved. No more wondering if you get a seat separate from the rest of your party because of rush seating. A few years from now, movie goers will probably wonder why this never happened before.

So aside from the reserved seating, what else did the $2 million buy? It bought a lounge where a store once stood and a grander entrance to the lobby. The lounge is not licensed for alcohol but there are hints it will be. It is available to anyone in the mall as it is before the ticket collector for the theatres.

The new concessions are pretty snazzy but the highlight is three drink dispensers that can deliver 131 drink flavours and can even be mixed.

The decor and seating have all been refreshed and one theater has Extra enhancements for 3D and rocker seats.

In all a major improvement. Landmark has noticed that certain blockbusters are likely to be less attractive to clientele so expect a few more discerning movie goers to Grant Park. All in all the theater is a welcome improvement to the city.

While Grant Park is still putting together the last few pieces in the mall including a Northern Reflections opening in October, it still awaits the hard work to turn the old Target into a Canadian Tire. It will be at that time that the mall will be able to say that work for a time is complete.

Thursday, September 3, 2015

Odysseo Coming to Winnipeg September 10


If there was any doubts that circus was in town a drive down Kenaston would put that to rest.

The big top is up kitty corner to IKEA and lots of activity is taking place in advance of Cavalia's production of Odysseo. The show runs September 10 to October 4 and features
an equestrian and acrobatics show in a creation put together by one of the founders of the Cirque du Soleil.


The fencing went in an around the production in the last days and the additional tent tops are in place for horses, performers and services for the audience. Outsides lights now fill the night skies illuminating the largest touring tent show in the world. At over 38 meters high and covering 6,320 meters of space, it is bigger than the Winnipeg Blue Bomber field. The stage within the tent is bigger than the MTS Centre's skating surface.

It is simply an enormous facility. And yet for all that, only 2000 or so people will seated in side for a show. The bulk of the space will be for the performance featuring a 13 meter mountain and 380,000 liter lake for the 65 horse and the 45 human performers.

Everything about the show is big and the 80 workers assembling the site are at it every day. The $10 production is expected to generate around $5.5 million in economic benefits to the city and about 100 local temporary jobs. Ticket prices range from $50 to $250 at the highest VIP level of experience.

Cavalia generally performs in large cities around the world and the reviews are often glowing. It is a little more unusual that they appear in a city under a million people. Expect quite a bit of excitement as the show nears opening date.