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.

Rumours of Stores Coming to Headingley Costco Site

The Costco is already having an impact along Portage Avenue in terms of retail renovations and filling in some of the empty spaces along the street. The landlords with property sitting idle might get some calls of interest. Still, renovations to update tired spots is accelerating. Safeway and Walmart have renovated. Uncertain if other grocers such as Sobeys on Portage have renovated but most stores may require a re-fresh to compete. As mentioned, Costco 's imminent arrival will change traffic patterns and attract other retailers as well as residential.

This is an important thing to note about the Headingley Costco compared to the others in the city. The west Winnipeg one will have so much housing on site. It is only now, decades later, that apartments are going up on McGillivary are within walking distance of the Kenaston store. The problem is that there will never be enough housing around that store unless they decide to take over something like Rona property or build up vertically. And that wouldn't be instant.

Headingley has already seen a lot of residential building quite separate from the Westport Festival where the Costco is to reside. As seen in the plan above, there are a ton of apartments within walking distance of the store. Mixed developments are what every retail area tries to achieve now. The vulnerability of big box and regular malls to major retail closures has become all too apparent. The United States has found that even having a grocery store is no recipe for success for a mall since so many grocers are closing locations.

The rumours about what will join the Costco have been flying in the last weeks. Are announcements coming soon? The clues can possibly be seen once again in the plan above. There are two large retail spots that look suspiciously like a Red River Co-Op or a Save on Foods. Neither of these two have stores in the west part of the city. It is unlikely both grocers move in but expect an announcement of at least one of them coming. The other rumour is that now that Rona has rationalized their Lowe's Home Improvement stores into their national group and closed stores literally across the street from one another, they are looking to build a Rona in west Winnipeg. It could be that Home Depot might try to usurp Rona in their plans but they might be happy with the amount of stores they have now.

There is at least one hotel listed as going up. Rumour it was some kind of Hilton but  given the proximity to the iceplex, Assiniboia Downs, Red River Ex and the city of Winnipeg. A hotel, as opposed to a motel, is very much needed in the west part of the city. Large hockey tournaments consistently fill every motel along the strip. Two other motels on that stretch of Portage are usually jammed with hockey parents. It is not inconceivable that more hotels might be added to the plan given the attractions nearby.

Lots of restaurants were being added. It appears McDonald's to have a place by the roadside. They have a location at Walmart nearby but the nearest drive-thru is at least several minutes down Portage. There has also been talk of everything from an Earls to a Moxie's to a Joeys locating on the site. As far as new restaurants to the city, rumour has been Jersey's Mike's has been looking at the site. Also on the list has been an additional city location for Freddie's Frozen Custard and Steakburgers. In addition Shake Shack, Fazoli's and Chick-fil-A have all been mentioned as possible. Not on the list at all is Cheesecake Factory which has no Canadian expansion plans.

As far as other retail, it is likely some sort of sports store is likely although SportChek closed down just down the street. However, one story going around is they didn't want to sign a new lease if they were interested in the site near Costco. 

Another interesting rumour has been that a major gym will build a large fitness center in the shopping area. Whether this is Goodlife, Altea or a re-located Shapes or maybe something else entirely. 

Coscto's completion is expected this year so it is very likely a flurry of announcements comes soon on what joins it. It is worth noting that much like Seasons of Tuxedo, it could take a decade or more to fill all the space. Given the rumours though, it appears there is huge interest in the site.

The Out of Town Visitor to Jets Fan Experience

 

Once again an influencer has come in to town to see the Winnipeg Jets and offer commentary on the city and its offerings when it comes to the fan experience. I won't post his links here but for those interested, it was in regards to the team playing Buffalo Sabres. The game was a loss and the crowd was not at their most animated. It happens. A dull, cold day and an afternoon game on a Sunday is more likely to attract young families, especially for last place Sabres.

Jets were ripe for the picking with some of the Winnipeg players on Sabres having great games. Good for those guys. As for Jets, the first place team is still pushing to stay on top and go to the playoffs all the way. It has drawn notice from hockey and sports fans all over North America. Some of them have come all the way to the city to experience the team. And in some cases rip the city for even having a team.

This is what happened with the vlogger who visited the city for three days and questions why the NHL ever gave Winnipeg a team. To put it bluntly, the Jets got a team because Atlanta Thrashers was just not able to succeed despite a small passionate fanbase. With only one playoff run, the Thrashers struggled and not even first round picks, big acquisitions and patience from the NHL was able to change that. Winnipeg got the team because they built a new arena, had an ownership group and ready to bail out the league if a franchise was about to go. 

The Thrashers team that Winnipeg got was a one line team with literally not much in draft and development. None of the coaching staff moved over. And yet overjoyed Winnipeg fans bought all the tickets and provided years of waiting lists. I think it is quite undeniable that the Jets have built one of the strongest franchises today for draft and development, coaching and player enrichment. They have frequently updated their facility and added the iceplex and have done much to improve the fan experience around the arena.

The ownership of the Winnipeg Jets is held by the Chipman and Thomson family. The Chipmans, known for the Birchwood Auto Group, and the Thomsons, known for Reuters. David Thomson is thought to be richest owner in the NHL. He came to be owner after a long business association with Winnipeg as owner of the Free Press and CKRC. He was also a long time fan of the Jets.

The Jets ownership, management and facility are not in question. Could the arena be bigger? Sure. It has been expanded as much as it can be in its present form. It has three professional teams that use it and has a full concert docket. It is a moneymaker. Jets owners have also purchased the Burton Cummings Theatre to help manage its concerts and event business. They have built real estate investments around the arena to enhance the entertainment district.

It is important to keep in mind that the Jets are just part of the overall business. The Manitoba Moose and owning the Canada Life Centre contribute to the True North bottom line. Rental of arena to the Winnipeg Sea Bears and concerts help pay for overall operations. Moreover, the Jets have bought Portage Place and the $3 million a year in that parkade money is now in True North's hands. The Hockey for All Centre iceplex in Headingley serves as the practice facility for the Jets and Moose and is the central tournament spot for amateur hockey in Manitoba.

Sales of tickets were up 12% as of January for Jets. Corporate sales have also gone up and it has been a focus for the True North Entertainment group since fall. Millions have been spent to enhance fan experience and most visitors to the arena usually remark at how engaged the fans are. For this year, it might in playoffs where it is most important for the Jets organization to not only fill the arena but the streets. The economic benefits of the playoffs are enormous and the good wills and community engagement is what the team can build on and for the city to prosper.

The Jets have acknowledged they need more corporate sales. How they do a re-set is something that will have to evolve. The are many companies in Manitoba and some will have to be won over again or for the first time. In other words, corporate sales are not just about what is good for the Jets but what is good for the companies. And to thread the needle, the team can't lose the enthusiastic crowd for corporate seats where people don't show up. They need to make going to the Jets as vital to regular season tickets holders as it is to companies.

One accusation about Leafs playoffs is that the regular season ticket holders can't afford the corporate price of their seats later on. And the people who can get those seats just don't respond like the fans who were there for 41 regular season games. Thankfully, that hasn't been what is seen in Jets games. That is sometimes the trade-off that seats are sold out but passionate fans are fewer. It isn't always the case but happens often enough to be commented on.

A few sports operations have reported that the attractiveness of box seats has lessened while corporate meeting rooms at sports facilities has increased. If this true, we might see a reduction in box seats as we presently have within the arena. Apparently, Toronto has started creating more business meeting spaces for Leafs games. I assume regular bowl seats suffice if there is a meeting room before, during and after the game.

Most out of town fans to the Jets come to Winnipeg from all over Manitoba, Northwest Ontario and sometimes Saskatchewan. The rare guests come from elsewhere in Canada or international. Those that travel to Winnipeg for a game are often coming for shopping, visiting family and going out to restaurants. At the old Winnipeg Arena, people used to stay at the Viscount Gort or the Polo Park Inn (later Canad Inns Polo Park). At the Viscount it was possible that visiting fans would run into the visiting team staying in the same hotel.

Today, it is not much different and out of town fans stay in their favourite hotels based on their shopping and entertainment needs. Some will stay where they have always stayed near Polo Park for water slides or for familiar hotels. Others have been staying at downtown hotels even if the shopping is elsewhere. In some ways, the old Polo Park location was already a hugely successful entertainment area. The 20 year old arena downtown is slowly building up to become an entertainment area.

Like most developments in Winnipeg, the entertainment district is years behind schedule. The discussion over the slow pace of Sutton Place Hotel has been made on this blog. It does appear that the speed should increase but it has been 8 years of waiting so far for the hotel and the restaurants that come with it such as Chop. In the good news category, The Keg is building a large restaurant at St. Mary and Donald, kitty corner to Cityplace and the Canada Life Centre. Once Chop goes up, there will be four steakhouses within walking distance of the arena.

A number of restaurants have opened in the Exchange and in Osborne Village which is an indication that restaurants are slowly coming back after the loss of so many over the last five years. Recovery downtown is much slower but the True North development of Portage Place and the new Pan Am Clinic will mean thousands of people in the area seven days a week. Expect some coffee shops, breakfast places and other restaurants to crop up around the area as the food court will be eliminated for the clinic.

It is expected the Portage Place and even further down the street Bay development will proceed faster than other projects. That is good because they have had several years of stalled work between the Canada Life Centre and RBC Convention Centre has been inconvenient and contributes to a sense of no life around the arena. The road is always an obstacle course and year after year of nothing. The moment it opens it will transform the area.

However, returning to the question of why Winnipeg has an NHL franchise. It has a a franchise because despite being a small market, it has a better facility than many other cities in the NHL. It has a richer and more stable ownership than most in the NHL. It has a very good management team that has been able draft and develop players which is what Atlanta was great at. It has owners trying to create a fan experience inside and outside the arena area. It has a good TV and radio broadcast team. It has good print coverage and a fair size podcasting coverage. It has a new strategy to increase corporate sales.

The Jets are number 1 in the league and some people keep thinking the team should be moved. It isn't going anywhere when the league has so many franchises that could be in need before the Jets are. Even the New Your Rangers could be moving to a new facility across the street. The Calgary Flames are in the process of building a new arena but the city of Calgary owns it. Salt Lake City has an old arena and no immediate plans to build a new one. Jets have one of the newer arenas with the only criticism that is should have 3000 more seats. I imagine the Jets have a soon to be announced plan for arena expansion or a second arena. The reason is that the city would like to have a women's pro hockey team, a women's pro basketball team and possibly, a WHL team. Can't very well do that with one arena.

So to those who wonder why Winnipeg has a franchise, it is because they are building an organization to that. And that will mean we'll see the fan experience from NHL to concerts become more important for putting fans in the seats. And for the out of towers, we have to make it is the best experience we can.

RnR Restaurant (former Perkins) to Become Apartments

Portage Avenue was the site of a Perkins at 2675 Portage for many years until the restaurant group faltered under its new ownership and switched over to RnR Restaurant just before the pandemic along with two other locations. The year 2019 was terrible for Perkins which went bankrupt and only exists in Ontario in Canada now. The total in North America is likely under 250 locations. RnR took over three locations and now it is just down to the Portage Avenue location.

RnR Portage continues to operate but the location is just too big for 2024. The huge breakfast crowds and late night crowds don't exist anymore. The land they occupy has become far more valuable.

The low density along Portage Avenue has been very surprising given that it is the High Street of the city. It is a very long line of commercial buildings but surprisingly many are just one or two floors. A lot of times we see strip malls with parking in the front. There is a striking lack of apartment buildings along the entire length from Portage and Main to Headingley. For example, there is very little housing in the downtown area along Portage. The West End is spotty at best. Multi-residential units were recently built where the Palomino Club is.

St. James is where you see apartments of some size on both north and south sides of the street. In the 1960s and the 1970s, the apartments drove public transit and commuter demand up and down Portage Avenue that continues today. Since that initial construction, apartment building along the St. James stretch has been sporadic. Developers generally have shied away from already developed land in favour of land from closed schools and the like. Or on the fringes north of Ness.

The fringes just don't have as good road and public transit or developed. In Headingley there are a ton of apartments going up in the area beyond the Perimeter Highway. 

Elsewhere on Portage, it isn't easy to acquire land even when some places remain empty such as the former Robin's on Portage. Some of the strips of commercial land on Portage are surprisingly narrow. There is also quite a lot of zoning setbacks from the road which waste a lot of space. The city expects buildings to be built back 20 feet from the sidewalk. Many builders could use that space for more units.

In the above picture you can see the Courts of St. James to get an idea of scale of the new place. At 7 floors and 150 units it is not crazy big. And the building comes right to sidewalk. It gives the building street presence. An apartment of similar size is across the street with a parking lot in front has no street presence at all. A commercial unity is promised for the new apartment but I have no idea where it is based on the picture.

While restaurants are an important part of Portage Avenue, single floor buildings with vast parking like The Keg take up a lot of space. It should be interesting to note that The Keg was building a new location downtown as part of an apartment building when financing fell through. It was going to rely on parking in the surrounding area rather than having a surface lot. There are parts of Portage that have underground or parkade parking for their commercial or apartment buildings. Superstore is a good example.

Parking is in the back of the new apartment building with lane access. There are fewer parking spaces than units. There are many bike storage units in the underground parkade. The design is U-shaped.

Contrast the new apartment with the Courts of St. James and their mall next door with their setbacks. The city has pushed development back from the sidewalk for no discernible reasons. It isn't needed here.

Manitoba has the fastest percentage growth in 2024 than any other area except Alberta and Yukon. Every apartment that goes up is filled almost immediately. The city should move quickly to approve this build. As for the former Perkins now RnR, it will harken back to a time of larger breakfast focused casual dining places of a different era. Could that time come back? Anything is possible but restaurants seem to be decreasing their footprint and as we are seeing in other cities, restaurants on main roads are being bought for higher density buildings.