Even in a pandemic, the former HBC Home has been converted to other uses. Originally built as Linens and Things, the Bay changed it to Home Outfitters. In recent years they are closed and the ones in Winnipeg have been converted to other uses.
First Oomomo opened. It has not fully operated yet because of restrictions but specialized in sales of Japanese goods. Now next door they have finished painting the red sign of Petland.
The old Sears building is getting closer to looking complete in the exterior changes.
Hakim Optical across from Polo Park closed. However, they are inside the mall now and down the street at Leon's Centre. Hakim has taken up the type of dominance that Winnipeg-based Shopper's Optical once had. King Optical on St. James once had 200 people producing glasses for all over Canada. It closed in 2014 and few years after all the Stewart N. King/Shopper's Optical stores numbering 74 locations were sold to Luxxotica for $67 million.
Winnipeg used to be a glasses powerhouse.
Sears Polo Park started at Simpsons-Sears in 1959 and was the anchor to around 40 stores arranged in two open air strip malls. It was the second enclosed mall in 1963 and expanded with the inclusion of Eaton's as its northern anchors in 1968. It was in this year that it became entrenched my memory as we became new residents of River Heights. I was probably there earlier but I remember visiting my grandparents on nearby Ashburn and going to the mall and seeing a very new Eaton's.
The Simpson-Sears always seemed to have a busy auto centre and garden centre. I even remember boats being sold.
The St. James apartments were built in 1969. For years, there was no way to get down Ness to Polo Park because there was no road crossing the rail. This opened the street opposite to Polo Park to things such as the St. James apartments but also for a McDonald's further down the street.
This became the primary way for people south of the Assiniboine to access Polo Park.
Sears has been converted to a mix of offices and retail. It likely managers never conceived they would ever not have stores leaping at the chance to locate at Polo Park.
EQ3 will be moving into the Sear renovation. This will leave the corner at St. James and Portage empty for the first time in decades. Pier 1 Imports closed years ago and EQ3 has a pop up in there. The re-located store will be larger than what they have now. Even in the pandemic Winnipeg-based EQ3 has done well and this will be a flagship store for them.
Cadillac Fairview wants to put apartments on that corner once EQ3 is gone. Winnipeg Airport will try to stop them. In the next year or so we should see how that turns out.
It is hard to imagine normal after the pandemic. Sometimes we are so busy that it seems like people are back to routine but then it important to point out some businesses have been shut since last March.
And some businesses have been struggling since before the pandemic. The question of what happens to The Bay is an open one. Will HBC survive? I thought no but the store probably needs more revenue streams that it does now. Whatever happened to its restaurants?
Many malls seem to be reeling from filling holes from large retailers collapsing. Some are doing okay. Some are having to do a re-think.
Meanwhile, along St. James some of the stores that have closed in last few years are finding tenants like here where HBC Home has given way to Oomomo and Petland. The sign says fully leased.
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