Fairmont Hotel and Fort Garry Hotel Undergo Multimillion Dollar Upgrades

The Richardson Family repurchase the Fairmont Hotel in 2024 after selling it in 2010. Since then they have been upgrading mechanical, plumbing and heating and cooling systems. The 1970 built hotel was part of the overall Richardson work that included their headquarters, a hotel, parkade and another office building. In 1979 it also included the Richardson Concourse connected to the main Concourse and Winnipeg Square. 

The hotel was originally called the Winnipeg Inn and was the foremost luxury hotel in the city and has remained such for decades. Even now, it is the main hotel for Hollywood stars and NHL players because of the king-sized beds and two secure floors. It hasn't been without its critics. Some NHL players have been critical of Wi-Fi, the isolated location away from things and that isn't as posh as some of the hotels they stay at. The accelerated pace of the long delayed Sutton Place Hotel and the very low vacancy rate of hotels has hastened the Fairmont to upgrade now.

They are not the only downtown hotel to upgrade. The Delta has also upgraded so that it has captured some of the NHL, AHL and officials bookings. The Fort Garry Hotel has had $5 million dollars of work since 2020. Yuk Yuk's was one addition in the old Club Room. The Oval Room was completely upgraded. The Sunset Terrace outdoor patio was built as well as the Vida Cucina Italia formal dining room. The latest work is nearing completion for April and involves first floor rooms being turned into suites and luxury Regal rooms for about $1 million. These 15 rooms are possibly the poshest and largest in the downtown.

Mid-range hotels have also been upgraded and in some cases expanded in the downtown and beyond. The Best Western Plus was re-branded as Hampton Inn and had floors added. The Holiday Inn and Suites Downtown was also renovated. The Holiday Inn Airport West was re-branded to Birchwood Inn. The Hilton Garden Inn by Seasons is expanded a few floors and unknown amount of room. The Holiday Inn on Pembina Highway is getting a full renovation.

All 340 rooms at the Fairmont will be upgraded. Every restaurant and ballroom will get the same treatment. At $120 million, it could be one of the biggest investments in a hotel in Winnipeg ever. It is unclear what the price of the Sutton Place Hotel near the arena will be. The overall cost is listed for True North towers and the like was $400 million but there has not been a breakdown of what cost what.

Many downtown organizations and businesses are nervous about the Fairmont being closed for nearly a year. Some of the media comments make it clear that some small restaurants get a lot of customers referred by the hotel. The hotel also serves a lot of guests for concerts and entertainment in the area. I'm sure the Richardsons considered just doing floor by floor but it sounds like this will be far bigger in scope for piecemeal work like that. 

Between 2026 and 2027 so many big projects for hotels are planned that the city will look very different when they are complete. Another noteworthy project is a Hyatt Centric Hotel on Broadway. It is being built where the former CRA federal building was. It is surprising that it took this long for another hotel to join the Fort Garry Hotel on Broadway considering the government and business offices on the street.

As for the Fairmont, it will be ready for a real revival of Portage and Main when the Metis museum and apartments just down the street open in the next years.

Firefly TV Series to Return as Animated Series

Firefly was a TV series that was briefly on the FOX network in 2002 for a two hour pilot and 13 episodes before being cancelled. Low ratings got it cancelled before all 13 episodes were aired. This left three unaired episodes which had many begging for their release. Oddly enough, it would take the British Sci-Fi cable to air the entire series in syndication in 2003. In Canada, the whole series would eventually air in full on Space, the sci-fi channel, a few years later. For many people, the opportunity to rent of buy the series came a year after it was cancelled and the fandom grew accordingly. I tried watching on FOX but they kept changing the airdates and I just missed episodes. I eventually watched the whole series on Space and the movie that came out in 2005. Serenity was not a box office success the year it came out.

Creator of the show, Joss Whedon, was a FOX network fave with Buffy the Vampire Slayer and movie writing credits to his name. The reputation of FOX was to aim for younger audiences in the 1990s and and it was bolder than other networks in choosing material. However, it was also a time when NBC dominated and networks like CBS were coming up with things that would lead to their own dominant ratings. FOX was putting things in the window but unless it really built an audience like The Simpsons or X-Files, it was quickly pulled out of the window. A long list of show that were pulled left audiences in North America disappointed.

Pre-empting shows by networks for sports, holiday, presidential addresses and the like has a fundamental negative impact on those shows. In some cases, the networks can't help it but other times it is the programmers who cripple the show. Not to mention networks that want to put the series order out of whack as in the case of Firefly. Studio execs decided another episode should be first. The lack of consistency was too much to build an audience.

Nathan Fillion, who played Captain Mal, is presently lead and executive producer of The Rookie has been teasing some sort of revival of Firefly and has been showing clips of the cast agreeing that "it's time." The final piece was Alan Tudyk who played Wash in the series. Fillion and Tudyk are leading the charge but this is a full cast push. Creator of the series Joss Whedon has given his support but has not taken a role in whatever new project that might result from the gathering of the actors. This may be to give them a clean slate with the studios and networks who might not want to be accused of giving Whedon a free pass from work harassment that he was accused of going back to the 1980s.

The cast of Firefly actually seem to like each other and officially just announced, they have agreed to a second season of Firefly as an animated series. Showrunners have been announced and presumably script idea. What still hasn't been worked out is a network or streamer to carry the series. This won't be the only live action series to bring back the stars in an animated series. Star Trek did it with much of the old cast and Babylon 5 did it with as many as the living members left from the their series.

Sci-Fi fans and their conventions keeps shows alive in way that comedies and dramas of other series don't as often have. Star Trek owes any extension past its 1960s series to conventions and any product they could put out whether it was comics or animated series. The original actors and writers were able to work during the writers strike at the time. Animated writing was not in the Guild at the time.

Firefly already has had books and comics made  following the series. An animated series would support the building of a franchise. It is hard to see if it will lead to more live action series or movies but many studios are looking to bring back beloved programs. I don't think I'd ever live to see the day a show like Matlock back. None of this would be possible if the actors from the show were on board and promoting it so heavily. Let's hope a broadcaster picks it up!

The Re-Newed Expansion of 7-Eleven in Winnipeg

 

Southland Corporation in Dallas had been operating stores since 1927 but by 1946 had re-branded as 7-Eleven to reflect their general operating hours. It began to franchise in the 1960s to various countries such as Canada. The first store in Canada would be in Calgary with others that quickly followed. Unbeknownst to many, 7-Eleven has been Japanese owned since 1991.

The history of 7-Eleven in Winnipeg goes back to 1969. The first location in Charleswood was before the municipality even joined the city in 1972. The first 7-Eleven locations were built in Alberta and only a few months later Winnipeg's was built on Dale Avenue as part of the Westdale Shopping Mall. By 1979, there were over 40 stores across the city. Initially, they were operating from 7 am to 11 pm but a number of stores operated 24 hours a day except Christmas and a few other holidays over the years where they closed all day or were of reduced hours.

Robberies were awful at any store that operated 24 hours. This included Domo gas stations, Mac's and 7-Eleven. Some stores reduced hours because Winnipeg was near the worst in Canada for this. The police wanted the stores closed at night but conveniences stores pushed back. The company responded in 1976 with some of the security measures that everyone today is familiar with. The 6000 stores across North America now had limited amounts of cash at night. By 1980, the timed safes were in place. The first lottery tickets were sold in 1971 in stores, a first for Canada.

It may be hard for people to remember but Slurpees were behind the counter and poured by employees from 1969 to late 1980s. It was very limited in flavours in that Coke and Sprite were the only consistent drinks. Hoagies first appeared in the 1980s. And Slurpees in Canada were different than the U.S. in that they were more icy while in the U.S., they were more syrupy.

Sometimes it was 7-Eleven that led innovations and sometimes it was different regions and stores adapted to the areas. Microwaves introduced at stores in the very late 1970s and 1980s made it possible to have heat and eat items. Burgers, hotdogs and hoagies were popular in Canada. In Japan around the same time it was rice balls (o-nigiri) or simmered foods (o-den). In the U.S. it was hotdogs and burgers. I would think that chicken has really taken over at 7-Eleven over the last several years.

In 1991, the family that owned majority shares of 7-Eleven tried to take the company private and was overwhelmed with debt. Even selling some divisions was not enough to bail them out. In Canada, we probably didn't know they were even in trouble. The Japanese franchise was probably surprised how tenuous the parent company was in Dallas. Because of the strength of the Japanese yen, they were able to take majority ownership of the company and several years later made it a full subsidiary.

Most Canadians still don't know that the ownership change happened. Nor was there any sense of who directed how operations were to be run in Winnipeg or Canada, for that matter. There does seem to be a general manager in Winnipeg for the corporate stores although there is a distribution center on Bentall. This begs the question of who makes decisions for the stores on say, what newspapers should be carried or what local food needs to be on the shelves. One example, in 1979, after the Winnipeg Arena was expanded for the NHL's Winnipeg Jets, tickets were sold to games for a discount.  The Charleswood location became a prime spot to grab these tickets. In 2025/2026. 7-Eleven came on board as a Jets sponsor and a Slurpee machine now resides at the Canada Life Centre and store ads appear on the broadcasts. In the past, only the Dallas Stars got that ad support for a hockey team. Not surprising since that is where the company was founded and still operates the U.S. base.

In the most recent year, 7-Eleven Canada has tied to evolve a small restaurant style area that serve alcohol. In Winnipeg, it is only one location on Ness and that location isn't even open 24 hours. In Ontario, they have far more testing this out. And it is a test. It might not work. Sometimes 7/Eleven chases a trend as it did with renting videos back in the 1980s. It took some years but the convenience store retreated from sales when big players like Blockbuster, Jumbo and Rogers took over.

Convenience stores like 7-Eleven have always had coffee but even those use to be poured by store clerks at one time. Then small coffee stations were set up with coffees rotated by clerks. Now the machinery and choices for coffee are a lot more varied.  It is uncertain how many people get coffee at 7-Eleven in Winnipeg compared to competitors. To be sure Winnipeg is very much a Slurpee city unlike any other in the world. It isn't just corporate kiss-up when 7-Eleven says Winnipeg is the Slurpee capital of the world. It is a phenomenon unlike any other place on the planet. In some stores there are a dozen or more choices. In a Japanese 7-Eleven they are likely two machines and they aren't going to be Coke and Sprite.

Magazines are no longer in stores in Canada. They used to be positioned in their own row and newspapers were right beside the store. Some 7-Elevens in Winnipeg used to have Toronto Stars, USA Today and every national paper along side the local Free Press and Sun in abundance. Newspapers are now exiled to the corner.

Pay phones were once inside, then moved outside and now gone altogether. Banks vie for space for ATMs inside 7-Eleven. Lottery stations are now right beside the door. The formerly clerk supplied food is now self serve and deliveries have exploded in every 7-Eleven.

Canada's Circle K attempted to take over 7-Eleven worldwide last year and failed in part to the difficulty it is for international companies to take over Japanese ones. Some were saying Japan might be invoke national security reasons since convenience stores are so depended on in Japan. Oddly enough, 7-Eleven continues to acquire stores in the U.S. but that same courtesy does not extend the other way.

Regardless, it appears both companies are cutting marginal stores and ones subject to safety issues. Winnipeg has seen around 10 stores cut in recent years and management has said some of it is because of crime. In fact, they put a number on how much product was being removed from stores and it was in the hundreds of thousands of dollars. That is unsustainable and while corporate critics might not have had any sympathy, this level of theft was also taking down mom and stores and leaving the area barren of any grocery or convenience stores. 

According to Mayor Gillingham in his State of the City address, 7-Eleven has spoke to him about an expansion of the company in Winnipeg. After the closure of the aforementioned locations, it is curious what the company has in mind. We can take our clues from some information released back in February as well as world reports on 7-Eleven. In terms of the former, 7-Eleven has indicated they are open to franchising opportunities. This is interesting because they are very much a corporate store company. In Australia, the company took over the entire Australian franchise as part of corporate takeover. In Canada, they appear to to looking at side by side operations.

So what does that mean? It means that we could more of a saturation of stores in certain parts of the city. For example, Portage Avenue has two stores along the entire run from Portage and Main to Headingley. In Tokyo, that would be unheard of. The company would try and place stores along major transit hubs and shopping areas. Suffice to say that places like Charleswood and St. James with only four stores seem a little light in terms of presence. 

There is no getting around the shoplifting issue in Winnipeg and around North America, for that matter. 7-Eleven is at the forefront if security for convenience stores in the world so expect even more efforts to reduce theft and identify those who are responsible. It will be positioning any new stores to have the best chance of success but also security. Given how many university students are off Pembina Highway, it is a missed opportunity that 7-Eleven has no stores aside from the one. This seems a perfect opportunity for franchises. And let's not even talk about how underserved the east side of the Red River is. 

An opportunity for franchisors to do really do well with a company that is iconic in Winnipeg is good. In some cases, some areas are crying out for any kind of convenience store. There are literally none and certainly not 24 hours. There could be opportunities as well for stores inside malls, airport and sports facilities. 

This doesn't have to be all bad for existing convenience stores. There have been several that have opened up and they are finding niches that 7-Eleven can't fill such as being on the ground floor of apartments, offices and the like where they would rely on foot traffic more than car traffic. These stores also cater to niche areas such as ethnic foods to sell or to serve. 7-Eleven may be a lot of things but not a seller of ethnic foods or big on foot traffic. Even St. James has seen at least three convenience stores that fit the ethnic label open in the last 12 months.

From the government side things, the province has to keep pushing on secret property agreements that protect companies such as Safeway/Sobeys having any competitors set up near them. This sounds like it might apply to just big stores but any agreements of exclusivity need to be known and hoarding properties is anti-competitive and should be dealt with federally by the Competition Bureau and by the provinces to make sure these secret agreements see the light and are handled by the municipal board. As far as the city goes, they need to ensure security for 24 hour stores and that may entail more police visits, safety audits and sharing of information. A lot of trouble is sometimes organized or the same people.

Some might not find an expansion of 7-Eleven exciting but if the attempt is to make the stores as essential as they are in Japan, that mean offering food and service at prices that are compelling. For example, the egg salad sandwich in Japan sells for 200-300 yen. That is about $2.50 Canadian. The egg sandwich in Winnipeg is $5.00. We need to keep competition up in Winnipeg because those type of prices for 7-Eleven are typical for a number of products in Japan.

They key to vitality in many cities is the diversity of options for those who live in it. Think of the bodegas of New York or the bakery shops on Paris. Price competition competition comes from a multitude of suppliers. If we ever want to have $2.50 egg sandwiches, a Japanese-style surge of stores will help.

U.S. Makes It's Position on Trade Clear

Figuring out the the Trump position on anything is a difficult one. He can contradict himself in the same day. But fair to say that his tariffs on Canada for steel, aluminum, lumber and cars is not just a negotiating position but the actual position he is taking so long as he is president. Jamieson Greer, the U.S. Traded Representative has made it very clear. He has stated that Canada's manufacturing sector has to move to the U.S. and Canada will have at least 10% tariff on all goods and possibly 15% tariff and Canada can't have any corresponding tariff or face punishment. He says the U.S. wants the liquor ban abandoned (even though it is in response to U.S. sectoral tariffs), they want access to Canada's dairy

The conservative viewpoint in Canada is that Trudeau and now Carney were just playing games on a deal. It is apparent that Poilievre in 2026 has seen popularity drop even steeper for not even mentioning Trump by name for few of alienating his base who, in some cases, support Trump and even advocate for the U.S. to annex Canada or for parts to separate. The steady migration of his MPs to the Liberals and low poll numbers could indicate that made in his own party see Trump as a drag on their support and chanced of government.

July 1st is the day that CUSMA, the free trade agreement is to be negotiated in earnest although discussion are going on non-stop since Trump came back into office. NAFTA and now CUSMA have been around since 1994 and aside from a few areas such as culture and supply management, it is almost entirely tariff-free. As such, Canada, Mexico and the U.S. have configured supply chains so that we are all supplying elements to an overall economy. The end of free trade means those supply chains disappear.

It would appear the U.S. thinks that all manufacturing will be in the U.S. and we will buy the products. However, the U.S. car companies of Ford, GM and Stellantis have already indicated now high priced the cars will be and that they are likely to go under as a result. For Canada, we are likely just to stop buying those products and get cheaper ones elsewhere. Chinese electric cars are far cheaper.

Many Republicans know how damaging tariffs are but the fear they have of Trump is so high, they will say nothing. The strategy of waiting or dragging out negotiations has been mentioned a few times. The Supreme Court has struck down some tariffs and others have time limitations on them. All the while, the mid-term elections are coming and some Republicans fear they will lose the House and possibly the Senate. By then it is game over and the House will take responsibility for tariff control again and Trump will see more Republicans distance from him.

Or at least that is what the Carney and the Canadian government is probably hoping for. Signing a bad deal is worse than no deal. As most countries are finding, Trump changes the deals he has in place every week.  With this in mind, Carney has been going to country after country to begin the process of restoring old trading relations and beginning new ones. In this past week, a deal with India on energy has been made despite misgivings about Indian involvement in the death of Canadians.

There is probably no trade deals out there that don't have some sort of naysayer. Sanctions for countries like Belarus and Russia because of Ukraine invasion. Tariffs, boycotts and tensions with the U.S. with Trump. Issues with China and India because of foreign intervention. And the list goes on. Any attempt to change those dynamics comes with challenges. And conservative media keeps says Carney is holding up real work on a U.S. trade agreement.

It starts to feel like gaslighting as we often see from Conrad Black contributions from the National Post. Or puff pieces from Postmedia about Poilievre. It is no wonder why Ford Progressive Conservatives get so annoyed. Ford knows that the deal the U.S. wants is to close down all car manufacturing in Canada and have a 15% tariff on top of that. Some federal Tories seem convinced Carney is holding up the deal but the provincial ones know that only a quick bad deal is in the offing.

Time is on Carney and Canada's side. Tariffs are unpopular among Americans. War fares even worse and the United States is doing both. The mid-term election in November possibly means the House of Representatives and Senate go Democrat. And while Democrats are not always trade friendly, they are not likely to pursue blanket tariffs on Canada and the world. Trump seems pretty set on his path and for the foreseeable future, Canada is likely to try to stay off his radar while leaving negotiating to the backrooms.