Red River Co-op Grocery to Open at Seasons of Tuxedo

Red River Co-Op Grocery announced that one of the last major retail spots in Seasons of Tuxedo has been claimed by them for their 9th food store in the province. Rumours had been swirling for some time that it had come down to two or three choices but Red River had been the most aggressive in pursuing south Winnipeg locations. The other south location being built is the St. Norbert food store which replaces the formerly flooded location in the neighbourhood.

Although it wasn't announced where the store would be located on the 100 acre mixed development that makes up Seasons of Tuxedo, there is really only one place it could go. It will be located in the 35,000 square feet space available in front of the 55 Plus The Link and the Brightwater Assisted Living Tuxedo location. Access will come along a number of Sterling Lyon Parkway turn-offs that also head into Outlet Collection and residential areas.

It is the growing residential make-up of along Kenaston and Sterling Lyon that will most welcome Red River Food Store. Competition among grocers is a good thing. And having one where residents can literally walk to is even better.

Across the road from the new grocer is a hotel, residential units and Cabela's. It is very likely that by 2021, there will be very little development left in all Seasons of Tuxedo as a flurry of restaurant, residential and shops will be opening. It is easy to see this is a bit of a race to get thing done before Kapyong Barracks demolition is complete and development plans are announced. Waiting two years could have seen Red River choose Kapyong instead.

Another useful thing about Red River Food Store being in the Seasons of Tuxedo location is a pharmacy. Given the proximity of so many residents, this might be their pharmacy if choice, especially for some many seniors.

Expect the doors to open on the grocery is summer of 2021.

Hyatt Place Coming to Downtown Winnipeg

Hyatt Place through its Toronto developers has announced that downtown Winnipeg will see a historic building converted into a hotel at 138 Portage Avenue. It is just down the street from the Fairmont Hotel and Richardson Building on Portage Avenue East.

The Hyatt Place Hotel will build atop and on the eastern side of the 1909 Keewayden Block (Jacob Crowley Building), a Chicago-style warehouse building that has housed a number of businesses but hosted garment industry related businesses for decades.

The building is immediately behind the BellMTS buldings and surrounded by parking lots, some used by the telecom.

The views towards The Forks should prove amazing and the just down the street is Shaw Park and Portage and Main.

Parking should not be a problem as the building is surrounded by parking lots and may in fact have allotted spaces for itself already. It has been pointed out that entrance and exits might be interesting for hotel guests using hotel shuttle, taxis or rentals. People familiar with the Fairmont Hotel can attest to the entrance there which has its challenges.

Hyatt Place is not a big hotel. It caters to business people in town and will likely have use of being centrally located or near airports. In some ways, this add on to an old building has the feel of red River College and their Princess campus which incorporated the facades of old buildings. In this case, the shell and bones of the old building will be the foundation of the new one.

It is difficult to find fault with this business when the alternative in many cases has been the bulldoze older buildings for ever greater parking. I think it can aptly be shown there is a ton of parking surrounding this new hotel. The establishment is small enough to imagine that it will not generate need the car traffic of its neighbour to the west at the Fairmont which hosts ballroom events as well as meetings regularly.

This Hyatt will be under construction at the same time as differently branded Hyatt rises up in Seasons of Tuxedo in front of Cabela's. A crane is already on site and foundation is being laid.

There was some doubt about the amount of hotels being built in the city but recent occupancy rates have suggested that trade show and business travel remains strong. Tourism has been steady as well. Hyatt Place should be a welcome addition to downtown Winnipeg.

Hyatt House Season of Tuxedo Plans

They put in an application in May and now it is revised for Hyatt House Hotel in the Seasons of Tuxedo. The six story 135 room L-shaped hotel will be out towards Sterling Lyon Parkway in front of the Seasons apartments and Cabela's.

The revised plans include better landscaping and fencing for the space.

The plans still leave a lot of space which at a guess could small shops or services or more likely a restaurant but nothing is on the books yet.

Across the street in the Outlet Collection Mall and several condos and apartments. The transformation has been dramatic along the street in only a few years.

Hyatt will join the Hilton as the first two hotels built in southwest Winnipeg since the 1960s.

The obvious needs of Sterling Lyon Parkway/Wilkes are going to be more stark in the next months to years. Still, no money for road expansion beyond Shaftesbury Boulevard seems to be in the cards. On the plus side, the city is in surplus this year which is very likely the result of projects like this that are bringing in new taxes in infill areas.

Andrenaline Unlimited Takes Over River City Sports Location

The retrenching of River City Sports to its original location and liquidation of stock from other stores is a reminder how fickle retail can be. The expansion to the IKEA site on Sterling Lyon last only 18 months.  The Seasons Of Tuxedo retail development slowed on the north side once the Cabela's was up. Last year the Seasons rental apartments as well as Montana's restaurant opened. However, the promise of a Lowe's never came and further expansion of other stores stalled.

River City Sports was a bit early into the development as not enough traffic was coming to the retail beside IKEA. Hard to know what the future is for a once dominant sports store but we can happily report a different sports store has taken up the challenge and opened just before Christmas in the old location.

The new store is another Winnipeg sporting good group with locations in Edmonton and Saskatoon as well as in St. Vital Mall under the FXR Riders. The specialty retailer sells snowmobile clothing and helmets as well as other items in what is described as power sport. The new location at Seasons of Tuxedo called Adrenaline Unlimited will feature FXR brand as well as KTM which is a supplier of for offroad bikes.

It seems likely that Adrenaline Unlimited has a specialty in sport that is not as easily duplicated by other big sports stores. In other words, it is likely to be a destination store in the way IKEA and Cabela's are in their fields.

The Outlets of Seasons continues construction across the street and new condos and apartments in the area ensure that there will be a larger population in the area to sustain additional businesses in proximity. The entire Sterling Lyon and Kenaston area is very close to the synergy that shopping districts like Polo Park and St. Vital have.

It is possible that Adrenaline Unlimited is just the right specialty retailer to make that location work.

Montana's Coming to Seasons of Tuxedo

Aside from the Seasons apartments which have gone up in the last several months, it is safe to say that the Seasons of Tuxedo site has slowed down in development. Assinibone Credit Union is running and a few service based businesses are putting down roots but Red River Sports folded and their space remain vacant.

The promise of a Lowe's Home Improvement and the plans they submitted to the city remain unfulfilled. Suffice to say that it appears a lot of business is taking a wait and see attitude as development as accelerated on Winnipeg's first factory outlet mall. Housing is going up all over Sterling Lyon Parkway. Without doubt the area will have a large resident population and soon.

In the mean time, after 9 PM, things get real quiet in the parking lots of IKEA and Cabela's. The restaurants of Fat Burger and Taco Del Mar do attract people later on but the lack of a casual dining restaurant is profound. This will be now remedied by the arrival of Montana's Restaurant.

The plans for the restaurant were provided to the city this week. The size of the place will be over 5000 square feet and include a patio. There will be substantial landscaping, sidewalks and bike access to the site.

So much has changed at the corner of Sterling Lyon and Kenaston and so much more is coming. It is hard to be believe that just three years ago, it was rail land and industrial and with no people living there.

Expect the one casual dining place will attract others. It will be interesting to see if we land restaurants not presently in the Winnipeg market.

Montana's above the Fat Burger location

Outlets of Seasons

Outlets of Seasons well under construction

Key to map above

The construction across from the Seasons of Tuxedo on the Outlets of Seasons site continues to go on at breakneck speed. So far most of the work is prepping the site for above ground construction but residential components are already three and four floors high and look to be done sometime in the next several months.

Some of the apartment work is adjacent to Outlets of Seasons but should ensure that the area has a population day and night. In and around Polo Park, it can be pretty empty once the stores close.

In the aftermath of so many retailers closing across Canada, it is important to know that many continue to open. Location, location, location is the old axiom in business retailing. As Target found out, the old Zellers locations were not great, their approach to the Canadian market even worse and despite much anticipation and good will, they failed and mightily.

The location at Kenaston and Sterling Lyon should offer a huge advantage to retailers and restaurants. However, it is not a panacea. Just ask River City Sports which is closed in Seasons of Tuxedo. Once IKEA and Cabela's went up, the retailing side stalled and the home improvement center site remains vacant as does the planned addition retailing beside the former River City Sports location.  I have no doubts those areas will fill up but sometimes there is a price that is paid for being the first to be on a site.

So what will be in the Outlets of Seasons site? Well, the developer is still keeping that under wraps but the site outline is revealing. It shows a hotel and two luxury car dealerships facing out to Kenaston. This would seem to be second hotel in the planning phase along Kenaston and the second and third car dealerships. Already down the street Mercedes is building their luxury car dealership to replace their Portage Avenue location.

Also of note are the dozen or so restaurants scattered about the Outlets of Seasons site. To be sure there are a few restaurants across the street at Seasons of Tuxedo but they are lite on sit down casual dining. In short, where are the Earl's, Moxies and Keg's? It is highly likely something new will locate in that area that the city has not seen before. Mayhaps it could be a Milestone's.

The centerpiece to the Outlets of Seasons site is an indoor factory outlet mall. To be sure this is more suitable for our climate. Size-wise, it looks as if 100 stores will be located inside. Outside there will be a mix of smaller and larger retailers. Four are listed as anchors.

In light of the many jobs lost as a result of Target's closing, we can hope that this new mall will add that many jobs and more. Development appears more balanced as it incorporates far more residential than we have seen in decades. It is has already eased a terribly low vacancy rate, created pet friendly rental units and ones where all five appliances and storage is included.

The city needs to continue to push for sidewalk and bike path connectivity to surrounding areas. One missing component could be a grocery store.

Stay tuned for further developments.

River City Sports Kenaston Closes

It seemed to be a can't lose location but River City Sports off Kenaston in Seasons of Tuxedo has been closed by the landlord. By some media accounts, they were not paying their rent and had been struggling for months.

The Kenaston location had been selected as the flagship location after the original Henderson Highway location was shut down.

River City Sports becomes the first retailer to fail at Seasons. Tucked in between IKEA and Cabela's, it seemed the location should have been perfect. This was not to be.

The additional retailers to be added in 2014 to the site definitely slowed and the focus turned to apartments of the south side of Sterling Lyon Parkway. The long awaited Lowe's is still not built. A continuation of planned retailing seems to have stalled.

So why the failure? In short, there has been a lot of retail built this past year. They 20 plus stores added to Polo Park and other stores built along Kenaston have spread out where new retailers are locating. River City Sports would never see others join it in the area and drive sales.

This could be a lesson for some retailers. The boom we have seen in retailers being added these last years could be mitigated by a saturation of the market and a slowing of the economy.

The focus of a lot of developers now is to ensure that housing goes up near their retail center and to this end, we see a lot of apartments and condos going up around Sterling Lyon.

The collapse of oil prices and the markets could signal a new recession. Is this one of the first signs for Winnipeg?

Seasons Apartments Tuxedo Coming Soon

Seasons Apartments near IKEA/Cabela's

It has kind of flown under the radar but is now taking shape on the IKEA and will open in spring of 2015. It is immediately beside Cabela's on a spot that that was designated for future development. Surprisingly, it has gotten built faster than the long awaited Lowe's Home Improvement that presented their plans for the area many, many months ago.

The spot beside Cabela's is Seasons Apartments

 More of the activity near IKEA has shifted across Sterling Lyon where the factory outlet mall is being laid even as we speak. Condos and apartments are also being prepared adjacent to the new shopping area.

What is interesting about Seasons is that it is a large 1, 2 and 3 bedroom apartment rental complex that is pet friendly. Unlike many apartments, it also has in suite washer and dryers and dishwashers. Prices are not listed for the apartments yet but given the shortage of newer rental units, it could prove popular.

The big question is: Will people want to be in space of one of Winnipeg's newest and largest shopping districts?

If the increased building around Superstore on Bison Drive is an indication, the answer appears to be yes. It seems most developers have cottoned on to fact that if you want to fill your very large site, putting housing in might be the ticket.

There seems to be few larger developments now that don't have some sort of housing component.

I am still awaiting the day that Polo Park or St. Vital Centre announce they are building additional floors for housing.

The arrange of housing for Seasons appears to be three buildings laid out in a horseshoe. All look to be four floors with outdoor parking.

There is additional retail likely to be added to south of Sterling Lyon near IKEA but it will be interesting to see if so much housing will attract a grocer to supply all the residents.

Walmart and Grant Park Pavilions

New Walmart on Taylor Avenue

Work has already begun an the Walmart Supercentre in the Grant Park Pavilions site along Taylor behind the Grant Park Shopping Mall.  It is familiar territory for Walmart since they once occupied the spot presently held by Target in the mall back in 1994. At that time, the 9 Woolco stores across the province were taken over and re-made as Walmarts.

Grant Park Pavillions

Shindico is the developer of Grant Park Pavillions and they have been shepherding a variety of projects along Taylor Avenue for decades. The site near the Manitoba Hydro building has probably been on a wish list for future development for years but it has been held back by the fact that major hydro lines cross crossed the land.

The hydro lines that had to be buried

A perfect storm of events conspired to make the land near Hydro ever more valuable. First, the land around Grant Park has a higher density than many areas due to many apartment blocks nearby. The proximity to River Heights and Fort Rogue has ensured that a number of stores in the area do well. This is turn has led to a decades long expansion of retail along Taylor Avenue. Sports, health and recreation including Reh-Fit and racquet sports clubs was the street's reputation in the past.

24 hectare, 60 acre site

Pembina Highway is very close by and for people looking to pick up something before heading home to For Garry and St. Norbert, a diversion midway to their neighbourhoods along Taylor is workable.

900 townhouses on park right behind mall

The dogear of the rapid transit goes right past the site of the new development and towards the new Park lands development still in the inception phase.

Even more traffic problems on Pembina?

All in all...so much promises to be perfect in terms of location of this development. Big concern though has to be the traffic flows on to Taylor off Pembina Highway. Is the city ready for this? My guess is no.

So much new housing going up nearby

There appears to be a race for several shopping sites across the city. Most seem to be incorporating some form of multi-unit housing in their site plans and Grant Park Pavillions is no different.

Housing on site

 Some critics might think that no one will want to live on a site with so much shopping. They should perhaps look to the Superstore on Bison Drive to realize those mutli-unit homes are rapidly selling.

At some point this massive retail build is going to have to slow down. I am not sure when or how but I suspect a development past, present or future will founder.

It is interesting to note that Fairweather, the development of Seasons of Tuxedo has passed on the work of bringing the next phase of the Sterling Lyon retail project to others. They won't be putting together the factory outlet mall. Did they just think it was a good time to cash out?

The south side of Sterling Lyon continues to fill in but no new big box has been announced and built since last May with Cabela's.

One thing is certain that Winnipeg will see more multi-unit housing go up in many retail developments. A captive audience for those stores is the possible reason. Perhaps one day, we may see residential towers built atop of existing malls like Polo Park.

Seasons of Tuxedo - Kenaston Village

Assiniboine Credit Union Kenaston Village

Assiniboine Credit Union Scurfield Blvd

They were tiny and I at some point, it was expected that they would merge into a bigger location. I am referring to Assiniboine Credit Union.

It was only a few years ago that credit unions across the province started to consolidate. The banks had left them a lot of openings as they were closing branches all over. However, the credit unions needed additional strengths to capitalize and that is why merger mania took place.

Since that time, we have seen much large credit union locations merge. Now, Assiniboine has decided to take the plunge and close two of its smaller locations in south Winnipeg at Kenaston Village and in the Whyte Ridge Shopping Centre.

The location that Assinboine Credit Union wants to locate to is the Seasons of Tuxedo site. This had been reported on long ago but it is only now that we are hearing an announcement. Apparently, they were taking a wait and see approach first to see how fast the development would proceed and how successful. The new location will be 5,700 feet and once open, the other branches will close.

Seasons of Tuxedo presently is anchored by IKEA and Cabela's but Structube and River City Sports are amongst other stores are now open.

Fat Burger opens on August 8 and that will fill the last restaurant location in a building where Subway, Taco del Mar and Pita Pit.

A Shell gas station is well under construction beside the Mr. Lube at Seasons of Tuxedo. Piles are being driven in close to that site for another retail complex as almost all spots elsewhere are leased.

The site where the future Lowe's Home Improvement has not been touched. It is uncertain what the wait is about as plan approvals did go through the city.

As some businesses locate to Seasons of Tuxedo, other malls will have to figure out what to do with some of their new open space. Kenaston Village now has had the former Rogers sit empty for more than a year. They will soon loose Assiniboine Credit Union as well.

The absorption of the old Rogers and Blockbuster sites has been fairly good although some problem locations continue to plague real estate agents. Innovative thinking is probably required. For example, old movie theatres in Winnipeg were converted to retail and entertainment sites in Winnipeg. It is hard not to think that some solution is forthcoming with these expansive old video store. And if not, sub-dividing them seems to be in order.

Kenaston Village has to think about how they fit into the future.

The next wave of store announcements is coming soon. New restaurants as well

The big question for businesses is where to locate. There are now several viable options out there and for some, it is a wait and see attitude. We still don't know the impact of all the Targets just yet, especially the brand new ones. Will it affect traffic patterns dramatically? Polo Park could be even busier when the new Target is up at the stadium site.

In late summer, there may be a renewed surge of activity as businesses make the choice of where to invest.

River City Sports set to Open Seasons of Tuxedo

River City Sport to locate in sport marked "grocery"

The signage is up for the three newest tenants of Seasons of Tuxedo. Structube, Fat Burger and now River City Sports have their signs up and work looks to be continuing in all.

It was reported back a few weeks ago that River City Sports was going to open a superstore at Seasons of Tuxedo and this is a very large store they are opening.  The store will be 17,000 square feet which is a substantial jump from the 3,500 square feet at their St. James Polo Park location.

River City Sports has been around since 1991 as a Winnipeg institution but it is spreading west in much the same way as old Athlete's Wear of Winnipeg once did.

A very large sports store supercenter is probably the only defence against some of the larger built stores that from Dick's and Scheel's that are opening in cities throughout the States. More on that in a post tomorrow.

McNally Robinson ensured its success when it opened a large format bookstore in Grant Park Mall.

The building of a fair sized River City Sports in Seasons of Tuxedo leaves only a few spaces in the present buildings waiting for a tenant.

The landscaping continues in the lots surrounding IKEA and Cabela's. Piles are being put down for a new building to go up. Still no obvious signs of work being done to the new Lowe's Home Improvement store.

Stay tuned for more news.

Target Opening, Cabela's Opening

The old Zellers now Target at Southdale Centre on Lakewood Boulevard

This is the day that Target opens three locations in Manitoba, two in Winnipeg and one in Brandon. The first to open in Winnipeg is the Southdale Centre location and Kildonan Place. Both of these stores occupy old Zellers locations.

There are likely only a few people who will mourn Zellers. It never did live up to potential, didn't capture the population like say... Canadian Tire, never became anyone's first choice for anything really. In the end, the smart move for Hudson Bay Company was to sell off the leases and use the money to at least save HBC. And it worked if the retail sales from last quarter of 2012 are to be believed. HBC is doing much better.

Target will be a huge improvement in retailing in Winnipeg and Canada. Each store has undergone a $10 million refurbishment. The Polo Park and Grant Park future locations will likely be much more.

I think the one disappointment people will have is that prices are not going to be as low as stores in Grand Forks or Fargo. Taxes and tariffs only count for a part of what the difference is. There is logistics involved as well and far greater competition in the U.S. To be blunt, world-wide manufacturers figure to have higher margins in Canada because it is considered less competitive or of value than the U.S. market. This forces Canadian retailers to charge more.

The only way to slowly force the prices down to something we see in the U.S. is for successful retailers like Target to be in the market. The scale needed and the competitive drive will certainly help.

What Canadians don't know and probably don't care since it doesn't affect them is that the U.S. government subsidizes or runs at a loss things that help make U.S. prices lower. And by that I mean the Interstate highway system and decades long support from the federal government, subsidized airports that don't charge user fees and a post office that loses money in the billions.

Imagine how that affects prices. A company can ship a product on a federally subsidized highway, place it in the mail offering free shipping cause of the subsidized mail and it can be sent via air because of federally subsidized airports.

As mentioned, Canadian don't care that this might not be sustainable in the U.S....they just wonder how it is that clothes cost so much cheaper there.

The stagnant sales over the last few years in the U.S. have meant that U.S. retailer are casting their eyes northward. We have seen a steady stream of U.S. stores and restaurants come up and we will see a lot more.

Target is not the only one to open up this week. On Thursday, Cabela's opens up their Seasons of Tuxedo location. It is a massive store and is sure to attract people from inside and outside the city to shop there. The fact that Winnipeg is head office to the Canadian operations will pay dividends for years.

A few closures to mention. After 52 years, Gord's Ski shop has shuttered its doors. The owner indicated the Kenaston location and poor snows over two winters along with a decline in snowboarding capped the iconic company.

Curiously, Dolce Vita in Polo Park is locked up in a dispute with Cadillac Fairfew, operators of the mall. No word on their St. Vital Centre location.

Fatburger Coming to Winnipeg

Fatburger will be opening soon in the the Seasons of Tuxedo development alongside the IKEA.

New signage went up late last week for the several new stores and restaurants. Bouclair Home sign is all lit up at night and the store officially opens today. On Monday they snuck open. The 8000 square foot store is new to Winnipeg but no stranger to the rest of Canada.

A conglomeration of restaurants opens in April across the parking lot from IKEA and Bouclair's. The signage is already up for Pita Pit. The other restaurants coming are Subway and Taco del Mar.

In the same block of restaurants will be Winnipeg's first Fatburger. The California chain already has locations across western Canada. The very famous hamburger joint also has fairly famous owners such as Magic Johnson as well as franchise owners like Montel Williams and Kanye West. It is also mentioned in many west coast hip hop and rap songs.

Coming hot on the heels of Five Guys Burgers, Winnipeg now has a very crowded premium hamburger joint in the offing.

Further construction in the Seasons of Tuxedo site is still underway with the only sign up indicating Mr. Lube is coming soon. A stand alone casual dining restaurant and Lowe's looks to be underway in the early stages.

The Cabela's looks very close to completion. Bright lights on the inside and many worker vehicles every day suggest it won't be long till we see Canada's biggest Cabela's open.

This is all part of stage 1 of the development. It remains to be seen what comes in stage 2 and stage 3.

Restaurant and Store Openings

1575 Regent Wild Wings Now Open

Transcona continues to host the first openings of major U.S. and Canadian restaurant franchises in the last month. In short order, Five Guys Burgers, Famous Dave's Ribs and now Wild Wings have opened up.

The 1575 Regent location for the Canadian Wild Wings location is already thick on the ground with restaurants. However, they all seem to fit in their own niche from sushi to roast beef to wings to burgers to ice cream. Probably a good idea to bring a pair of pants with an elastic waistband.

The mystery of what will replace the Sal's on the Esplanade Riel bridge is solved. It will be a bistro called Chez Sophie that will serve pizza and likely have a gift shop attached. Hopefully, they serve ice cream too for those walks across the bridge.

Target stores are under construction all over the country and they look to have a soft launch in March. The three malls in Winnipeg ton receive Targets are Kildonan Place Shopping Mall, Southdale Centre and Grant Park Shopping Centre. In the case of Grant Park, don't expect it so soon. Zellers just closed the store a short time ago and Target is doing a massive overhaul of the store. It remains to be seen if they are increasing the size of the store but in the various phases of reconstruction of Grant Park, both the Liquor Mart and Shopper's Drug Mart all increased in size.

Kildonan Place Shopping Centre

Kildonan Place Shopping Centre

After a sushi invasion on Academy Road, the Mexicans are coming. The Modern Taco Company opened in the old Frenchway location near the bridge in December. The Free Press did an interesting story about how authentic Mexican food had finally arrived in city. The old Brit Cafe on Portage Avenue saw JC Tacos and More move in last year sometime. They now have three in the city. I expect we will see more authentic Mexican restaurants emerge across the city in the next months.

Modern Taco Company in old Frenchway location

As concerns rise about available choices for food and grocery elsewhere in the city, we see another of the large Rogers stores at 3500 Portage Avenue that was closed last year put to use. Vita Health has taken over the location with a Fresh Health format that features organic food and a deli section. This extra large location should prove popular to St. James residents who have to shlep to Tuxedo to shop now.

Old Rogers becomes Vita Health

In terms of grocery stores, the Free Press has written an excellent story about corner stores and the strong connection to the Korean community. Much like on the west coast of the U.S., Winnipeg has seen and is continuing to see Koreans run these small businesses with heart and soul. Sad to see the follow-up to their story was one of the families talking about their encounter with a weapon carrying robber.

Anecdotally, I have been hearing about more Koreans coming to the city to start a new life. We need more of these hard working families here (Mexicans too) and can't afford to have them vulnerable to strong arm robbery. More community policing, please. And look out for your neighbourhood store.

In terms of new stores aside from Target, Cabela's is really shaping up. The massive Seasons of Tuxedo location by IKEA has their signage up, They still appear to be on schedule for opening a few months from now. The Marshalls store at Polo Park North is slated to open even earlier.

Speaking of Polo Park, the story is that Steve Madden will have a store in the mall soon. If true, it will be another indication of the transformation taking place inside. This footwear store is on many people's must have list.

La Vie en Rose has been around a while. It was thought that Victoria Secret would affect their sales but perhaps not. They are opening an outlet store up on Kenaston that's a fair size at 4500 square feet.

With all the restaurants going up in Transcona, it is good to know that GoodLife Fitness has put up another co-ed location in the area.

The closed Future Shop on Regent

However, those looking for Future Shop will have to go out of the area. It seems the best combination for Future Shop or Best Buy is when they are side by side. A stand alone store in this market was probably not enough of a draw.

The economy was slowing in December. The province of Manitoba had momentum coming out of 2012. Businesses are still investing but there is no doubt that North America could stand a big boost heading into March. And it is pretty painful start when gas keeps going up.

Lowe's Home Improvement and Bouclair Seasons of Tuxedo

Lowe's Home Home Improvement Plan Approved.

Bouclair Sign Approved

The ads for IKEA are coming via print and television. They are cute, informative and keep emphasizing the opening day November 28. Every day and late into the night contractors and employees are working, training, assembling and stocking the building. If I had to guess if they were going to be ready, I would say no. However, this is what they do and come hell or high water...or snow, they will open on the day they say they will.

As mentioned here and from what everyone can observe for themselves, there is a whole lot of other construction going on that is nearing completion. The building beside IKEA is going through finishing touches. Although no official announcement has been made by the developer, it is now confirmed that Bouclair has applied to the city for two signs on the exterior of the building.

This is Bouclair's first Winnipeg location and they are a home decorating store so being this close to  IKEA is probably beyond their dreams.

The other store that has not officially announced they are coming but has submitted plans to the city is Lowe's Home Improvement. No word on when they will be built but sometime in 2013 is the word.

The opening date for Cabela's in May of 2013 but they are moving along so swiftly that it this could change.

Seasons of Tuxedo Store Preview Part Deux

Well, looks like a revision of what we saw on the Seasons of Tuxedo video. No longer does IHOP appear and ditto with Montana's Cookhouse or the banks. DQ and Harvey's have disappeared as well.

I can still make out Pita Pit and Subway but can't make out the other two. Looks like restaurants to me. Can anyone tell from the logos?

There are a few store additions beside the Ikea but I can't make those out either.

One new addition: Opening date of Cabela's is listed on the building.

Edit: It looks like it is Winnipeg's first location of Taco Del Mar, a Mexican restaurant.

Compendium of Restaurant Openings

Five Guys Burgers Opens Second Location

Five Guys Burgers has now opened their second location at 2425 Pembina Highway. The place has an old school feel to it and the burgers are quite good. If burgers aren't your cup of tea, there is Papa John's next door in their second location for the city of Winnipeg.

The pizza wars continue in Winnipeg. Pizza Pizza is opening a Charleswood location in the former location of Body Sculpture by Lynn. Little Caesar's is right next door practically.

In the Charleswood Mall, Subway has opened where Quizno's was located.

Parents, if you ever wonder where your kids are during the summer, it is a good bet they are in the McDonald's parking lot at the Charleswood Mall. A whole herd of them this week.

Heading back to Pembina Highway, final hiring of staff for Woody's Barbecue had begun last week. Location opens soon.

On Kenaston, A&W is being built quickly across from Ikea. Hard to believe no other fast food place grabbed the spot.

All the blue and yellow walls are up for Ikea. Expect the final closing of some of the gaps in the next weeks and it is all inside work thereafter. The metal framing of a building beside the Ikea is almost done. I have not heard what will be going in there but a good chance is that it will be ready in the fall along with Ikea. The piles just went into the ground for Cabela's at the back end of the site.

It seems one of the favourite thing to do lately is to show pictures of the gluttony that can be had at Famous Dave's in Transcona. It is without doubt that Winnipeg families have opened their hearts and wallets to this rib joint. Expect to see more pictures on Twitter and Facebook.

Construction is well underway on Centrepoint across from the MTS Centre. But will we have a Jets season or a lock-out? The project will not come on stream till 2013 but what will be the two marquee restaurants?

Here are a list of possibilites:

Hard Rock Cafe Winnipeg
Bubba Gump's
Rain Forest Cafe
Hooter's
Shark Club
Ruth's Chris Steakhouse
TGI Friday's
The Keg
Chiplote Mexican Grill
Outback Steakhouse

There are other possibilities too.

I have a suggestion for the Red River Ex expansion: Medieval Times.

It should be noted that the recession in the last year has led to closures of a whole passle of restaurants and stores in Fargo and Grand Forks in the U.S. People who first had a taste of Outback will be shocked to know Fargo's closed. Likewise, Timber Lodge Steakhouse gone. The last of the Bennigan's closed. In terms of stores Abercrombie closed in West Acres Mall.

The main point for raising this is that Canada is better territory for some U.S. retailers and restaurants.

Famous Dave's probably could not be happier about how it has been received.

Now I know I will hear the inevitable arguments about eating local and criticism of chains. My post does not for a moment dismiss the great local fare. The best scenario for the city is a variety of places in terms of location, food, price and type of food.

Seasons of Tuxedo Part 2

Corner of Sterling Lyon and Kenaston in April of 2009


This week the entire Ikea building frame was put in place. It now sits on what will be the full footprint of its location. The parking lot is also taking shape now.

Expect to see all of the blue and yellow walls up before the end of June or mid July and then the work of getting things ready inside will continue. The opening is still slated for fall of 2012 but how soon? September, October or November? I am going to say October.

Further site clearance continues for the Cabela's going up. Lowe's Home Improvement has not submitted a site plan yet. This week the site plans for Mr. Lube's location go before the committee. Well, no real drawings of the place but they are going in Seasons of Tuxedo.

Still no movie theatre announcement. I am now thinking that might not come till 2013 when they begin developing the north side of Sterling Lyon. After last summer's demolitions, there has not been anything going on there. The rush is on to get Ikea done.

The site is massive and lots of workers are involved in building it. Many of the traffic lights are still inactive but there is some indication of problems emerging.

Let's deal with Sterling Lyon heading east past Ikea. The right turn on to Kenaston used to be one lane with a yield sign. It is now two lanes with a traffic light. Okay, no problem. However, the curb lane is a turning lane into Ikea not onto Kenaston! At the moment, you have vehicles that are all trying to stream into one lane of traffic because only a short distance ahead, Kenaston resumes only two lanes.

Now, city planners better be aware of how people use their intersection lest we have what happened at McGilliary and Kenaston. In that case, it was mounting deaths.

Poor lines down on the road continue to be a problem. Heading north towards Sterling Lyon has two left turns, one of which is into the Ikea. There is an unlit sign indicating an island ahead prior to the turn at Sterling Lyon. Can't tell you how many people have made the mistake of getting in the wrong lane too early and almost killing themselves and others.

Stop experimenting with people's lives and put up lit signage to indicate that some lanes are for entering the Seasons of Tuxedo only. Paint the roads!

All I see is a mad scramble building for this fall and City hall will be to blame if they don't actually drive through that intersection.

Other than that, looking forward to Swedish meatballs in only a few months.

Update: Shortly after noting no painted lines on the right turn off of Sterling Lyon, some were painted on Monday.

Lowe's Coming to Seasons of Tuxedo

Overhead view of IKEA under construction
Back in March, it looked like the cat had been let out of the bag about the next retailer to move into Seasons of Tuxedo.

In March, Montez Core Income Trust bought 40% of Seasons of Tuxedo. In the process, they made this announcement:

Located at the corner of Sterling Lyon Parkway and Kenaston Boulevard in the city's southwest quadrant, it is a planned 1.5 million s.f. project on just under 200 acres. This is a new greenfield development and the Fund is participating in the southern half of the project which is an 834,000 s.f. outdoor centre shadow anchored by a 395,000 s.f. IKEA, a 77,000 s.f. Cabela's and a 100,000 s.f. home improvement retailer.

Um, the only official announcement has been Ikea and Cabela's.

Now, just down the street and both a Rona and a Home Depot sooo.. it won't be either of these big boxes going in.

This leaves Lowe's. We are the only province east of Quebec without one.

I won't say Menard's because I don't think they could open in the city without a distribution center for Canada.

So, you heard here first: Lowe's coming to Season of Tuxedo.

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.