McNally Jackson on Recent Law & Order

McNally Robinson Books started in Winnipeg in 1981 when bookstores were often found in malls such as Coles and WH Smith. Department stores still had large book stores. Many retailers such as Eaton's and The Bay had very active book sections even the 1980s. Some of the independent retailers for books often worked at a place like Eaton's book department before they struck out on their own. 

Mary Scorer was one such person who worked at Eaton's until when in 1959 she started her independent store under own name. Her location in Osborne Village helped kick off an era of independent retail and restaurants in that neighbourhood. She went to be a book publisher and her store went through a variety of hands locally after. The 1980s would kick off a new era of bookstores after Eaton's cut their book department.

Ron Robinson, the Robinson of MacNally Robinson, came via the Eaton's route. He had been a book buyer at Eaton's till they cut their large 25 member staff in 1980. He, and and Holly McNally would start McNally Robinson in the very recently built Kenaston Village strip mall in 1981. Initially, the McNallys scouted the traffic there, thinking about starting a business in a community that was still new to them.  Holly McNally had left her career in 1980 as a social worker to move to Winnipeg where her husband Paul had taken a position as a professor of English at University of Manitoba. The huge hole left by Eaton's cutting the book staff was the impetus for McNally and Robinson to consider going down the same route as Mary Scorer decades earlier: to build an independent bookstore. But where?

The Kenaston Village Mall was built by the Lakeview Group in 1978 on what had been scrub forest land across from the Kapyong Barracks in south River Heights. The Red Baron, built in 1979 and an original IGA grocery store brought in a lot of people. However, it was the Grapes and Peppers restaurants that really took off. Tuxedo and River Heights folks sadly lacked many restaurants in their immediate are so this appealed to many who wanted somewhere to shop as well as eat.

To the McNallys, this looked like the perfect place to start a bookstore and with Robinson in 1981. McNally Robinson Booksellers was born. 

Robinson left after a year later in 1982 and went on to a decades long career in national and local CBC Radio.  He made the initial purchase of books, got everything organized for inventory and established the contacts needed to be make the store sustainable.  The store remained McNally Robinson because it was too expensive to change the name when he left. However, it was successful enough to expand to Osborne Village in 1986 and Portage Place in 1987. Two major renovations took place at Kenaston and staff was built up accordingly.  Holly McNally ran the stores but would eventually be joined by husband Paul and her children. They all had a hand in managing over the years.

By 1988, McNally Robinson's was a must stop for authors to give readings and to visit on tour. It was only natural that the bookstore along with Manitoba Writers Guild would help fund a literary award that was the richest in western Canada. It was heady days for McNally as writers both local and national along with some international would pass through the doors every day.

In 1995, the a children's bookstore on Henderson Highway opened. This was just the beginning of the heyday of bookstores in Canada. In 1994, Cole and W.H. Smith Books were merged and superstore Chapters books began to be built. The move in Canada was to prevent U.S.-based Borders books from crossing into Canada. 

By 1996, McNally could see the writing on the wall seeing the large format stores of just over 20,000 square feet popping up on both sides of the the border. They would consolidate their Kenaston and Osborne locations at a 21,000 square foot location in the Grant Park shopping mall. It would include a restaurant called Cafe au Livre (later Prairie Ink) and a large children's section on the second floor. Enough space was given for book signings and readings. While the other stores closed the Portage Place location continued operations for several years.

The Grant Park location would be a runaway success and McNally would go onto open McNally Saskatoon in 1998. This store instantly caught on with the same format that worked so well at Grant Park. The McPhillips stores closed in favour of a wholesale division for school libraries called Skylight Books. By 2002, McNally opened a store in Calgary in a building they owned and in 2004, they opened a location in the Shops at Don Mills Toronto.

However, it would be a McNally opening outside of Canada that would surprise the most. The daughter of Holly and Paul McNally, Sarah, after schooling at McGill would find work in the New York publishing world. With an inheritance from family and knowledge of bookselling that she was born to, she opened a McNally Robinson in New York City in the Soho district in 2004. She called it McNally Robinson and it was listed as on the main site in Winnipeg as one of their stores.

In 2008, the stock market crash led to a recession throughout North America. McNally's expansion in Toronto turned into a money pit of losses. The Calgary store property was at first sold and rented but then eventually closed in 2008. By 2009/2010, Toronto and Polo Park also closed. The recession's damage dragged everything down and even auto manufacturers had to be bailed out.

After the dust settled, the only two stores to survive were Saskatoon and Winnipeg. However, the location of McNally Robinson in New York also survived. In 2008, Sarah McNally renamed the store McNally Jackson in honour of her son and and now ex-husband. She remained sole owner of the store. It was probably necessary to create some distance between the two companies because while both shared a McNally as owner, they were two different companies.

It was a tough time for the book industry as e-reader were all the rage. Book stores tried to get in the sales of these but paper and print remain the draw in stores. Huge retailers like Indigo-Chapters and Barnes and Noble struggled to stay relevant. In many cases, they resorted to selling things besides books to help with their margins. However, for both McNally Robinson and McNally Jackson, they continued to curate books, in some cases print books with their own printers. They did have other merchandise but the concentrated 

There is no doubt that Prairie Ink restaurants help McNally Robinson attract customers in the days, evenings and weekends. For McNally Jackson, it is the book clubs. Jackson also, spun off Goods for the Study which New Yorkers have taken to create worker spaces and presumably areas to read as well. Robinson created a community classroom to teach those who signed up to study in a variety of interests. Jackson publishes Jackson Editions, a select group of books for discerning readers. Robinson has been a main supporter of the publishing industry and events. Authors depend on McNally for sales and for awards.

In 2012, Holly and Paul McNally indicated they would be selling McNally Robinson in a phased sale that would be final in 2015. Other family members in the McNally family in Canada went on to other projects. Longtime employees Chris Hall and Lori Baker took over the company. The company expanded once more in 2018 with a 1000 foot store at The Forks.

Meanwhile, McNally Jackson under Sarah McNally also was going through changes. No other linked on the website to McNally Robinson, it spun off Goods for the Study, a style shop for personal spaces in 2013. By 2018, it opened a second location at Williamsburg, Brooklyn. In 2019, the third location in the South Street Seaport opened in lower Manhattan. Post Covid, they opened fourth location in Downtown Brooklyn in 2022. And finally, in 2023, they opened the largest location in 1 Rockefeller Plaza. That location was 7000 square feet and included a Goods for the Study shop. Along the way, the employees became unionized.

McNally is the third largest buyer of books in the NYC and has become part of the fabric of the city. And this brings us to McNally Jackson appearing in a caption card of NBC's flagship show Law & Order. Most of the time. the show studiously avoids naming businesses and the like. Even universities like Columbia and NYC nary a mention.  Fordham University always gets mentioned because it is not as posh as the other and require donors and money from filming. 

Now it is McNally Jackson that gets a mention. It is right across the street street from 30 Rockefeller Plaza and the Today show streets set. Every NBC reporter, performer and employee knows the store and has likely been in it. The store has become so beloved that it finally got a mention. However, it may only be people in Winnipeg who recognize the link all the way back to Winnipeg. 

So hurah for independent bookstores. May the ones named McNally live forever.

McNally Robinson The Forks Now Open

On Friday, just as Jets game was getting ready to go and The Forks was about to launch into another monster Festival du Voyageur. there was thing overlooked in all the hoopla At one point on Saturday a warning went out on CBC radio that parking all over from museum to Johnson Terminal was packed with people attending Festival and Mardi Gras at Union Station. For those people convinced downtown ain't got nothing going on especially in winter, it came as a surprise when seeing rugby players in an outdoor tournament by the ScotiaBank Theatre. It was cold out out! Yet, people walking and skating and enjoying events on both sides of the river.

The Common restaurant format at The Forks is probably one of the most innovative and mature decision made in Canada. It basically said it believed Winnipeg was responsible for enough for alcohol, food and retailing in an open concept and weren't going to treat it like a beer garden of...say...irresponsible rugby players. In fact, after play a few rugby players imbibed and asked: Does white wine go with bruises and ice abrasions?

As mentioned, given the high car and foot traffic making it to one of Winnipeg's top attractions, it was a little tweet that indicated a momentous opening was taking place. McNally Robinson has returned downtown for the first time in years. Their last presence in the area has been at Portage Place and they were still a going concern when they made the choice to move to Polo Park. It was a tough start there and they might have survived it had they also not taken up residence in a Toronto mall that was an unmitigated disaster. The creditors gave them a choice...retrench or die. Polo Park and their Toronto location closed and the Winnipeg Grant Park and Saskatoon location survived and eventually turned it around and were sold to principles who worked a long time for McNallys.

A book store at The Forks makes sense. It is where many in the city go to entertain, eat and shop and the events are pushing further out with each year. The truth is that bookstores are still relevant and the store itself will be an attraction there. We've waited a long time for the return of McNally downtown. Welcome back.

Winners Coming to Grant Park Shopping Mall

There has been talk about it for some time but a Winners store is indeed opening in the space between McNally Robinson and Red River Co-Op grocery store at the Grant Park Mall. A series of store closures and moves inside the mall and of ones facing out to Grant Avenue are signs of the logistical chess game in preparing the mall for another key anchor.

Modern Taco Company is closed now and Magiccuts has a sign inside the mall indicating where they will be moving to in the future. Once all the spaces out front are vacated, the interior walls will be removed to create the larger space. It is unknown whether this includes an expansion outward to the same line as McNally. Both Shopper Drug Mart and the former Target also pushed out northward to create space in past years.

It seems Grant Park has been under construction for years and in truth, it has been. Only now one of the last corridors is being modernized in the same design as the rest of the mall. Canadian Tire is now open in the spot that Target once occupied. However, they did not take the entire space in July leaving room for Goodlife Fitness to join them on the east side.

Goodlife Fitness will have to do some work on the space as there are literally no windows or entrances out front to the space. Nor is there a trailer out front yet selling memberships. Expect to that and work being done soon.

The addition of Winners will make Grant Park Mall a strange hybrid of big and small stores. Not wholly a big box mall or traditional mall, it keeps evolving and has has big money spent on it to achieve success. Contrast this with what has been happening at Garden City Mall which has seen a steady decline that borders on neglect.

There is no timetable on Winners but the opening seems likely in 2017.

Grant Park Mall Update

Cambrian Credit Union beside Petro-Canada

The big news first is that the Grant Park Mall will see Canadian Tire open on July 1st. It will take over a good large chunk of the former Target, former Zellers, former Walmart, former Woolco. With any luck, this will be the last anchor store that spot has for many years to come. The store will be 86,000 square feet leaving 34,000 square feet left to occupy.

There is still a vacancy on the east side of the Canadian Tire and I was to hazard a guess, it would be ideal for a dollar store.

Inside the mall, Menchie's has opened up across from Autumbee's Pizza. That entire end of the mall should benefit when the Canadian Tire entrance once again opens in summer. At the Co-Op Grocery store/Liquor Mart end, there are a few vacancies as well. Expect to hear more over the next weeks.

There is construction in the marking lot next to the Petro-Canada where a 5,800 square foot Cambrian Credit Union is being built. The location replaces the building at 735 Pembina Highway near the turn off for Stafford. There are presently 11 locations in Winnipeg and Selkirk. The CIBC inside the mall has been located there for 45 years.

Grant Park has always been a little bit more than some other malls. The movie theatre, McNally Robinson and a large liquor store bring in a consistent crowd. A few more key pieces and the years of work put into the mall should pay off.

Hidden Retail Treasures

There are hidden retail gems all over the city. Sometimes you have to look beyond the expected places to find them. All too often you have to rely on word of mouth to even know about such places.

As Christmas is coming, I will mentioned two places in one mall that could be helpful in filling a few stockings. First, let's identify the mall: It is Grant Park Shopping Centre.

Yes, that mall.

I have written about the renovations that have been happening over the last number of years to the mall. It seems like the place has been under constant construction. This was to accommodate three different stores making very large expansions. The Liquor Mart, Shopper's Drug Mart and Target all have made huge additions inside the mall.

The arrival of Target in particular boosted mall management's need to re-configure stores inside. Some stores like Hangers closed not only at Grant Park but all over the city. It could not have been an easy time knowing that at least three years of work to the 1962 built mall was forecast and somehow business still needed to be done.

With Target's opening, it looks very much like the bulk of the mall has reached completion. However, aside from the amazing McNally-Robinson, what is at Grant Park that you couldn't find anywhere else? This is not to dis the big stores but truly, you don't drive across town to a new Liquor Mart.

Well, for those still looking for gifts from Christmas, look to Grant Park for Entertainment Exchange and Pylon.

The Entertainment Exchange is a used CD and DVD place that has seen a few locations in the mall and at one time had four location across the city. The owner, former Record Baron proprietor, has kept the shop going since the very late 1990s. The demise of Rogers and Blockbuster video stores has only increased the need for a specialty store like this.

Despite what people say, DVD and CD players did not completely die in favour of digital downloads and Netflix.

I am not going to argue with those that suggest it is a waste to buy used CDs and DVDs though. Like vinyl records, the medium attracts a following. And to be honest, not everyone has access to high speed Internet or the devices to download. A cheap DVD player and a cheap DVD attached to a cheap TV is a lot cheaper than paying or even having available...high speed Internet access.

This is where Entertainment Exchange is amazing. There are older and more recent CDs and DVDs selling for very affordable prices. On a recent visit, I saw a very inexpensive copy of second season of Homeland which just came out this year. Want the whole Star Wars Clone Wars series? It is here. Filling out your Billy Joel CD collection, find it here.

Not surprisingly, the word exchange in the name is accurate. If you are in fact a guy who has gone all digital and have a huge collection of DVDs you are looking to sell, I expect you will find a buyer at the store. Or perhaps you are angry at Family Guy for killing off the dog Brian and want to dump all seasons of the show as a show of solidarity with the dearly departed, I am sure you will find solace with Entertainment Exchange.

There are so many older TV series on DVD, music CDs of every genre and hard to find stuff that it is difficult to do it justice. Suffice to say, bring your stuff in and find stuff at one of the few stores in the city that changes every time you go in.

The other store in Grant Park that is a real treasure is Pylon. Yes, I know that they have a location in The Forks but not everyone has been there or seen it. It is highly likely that Pylon in Grant Park is set the take off now that mall renovations are done.

What is Pylon? Well, if you love pop culture, you will love Pylon. They sell Marilyn Monroe items, they have everything Doctor Who, Dexter, Halloween, Star Wars and beyond. Belt buckles, bobbleheads and baubles are in every corner of the store. It is pop culture mana from heaven.

If you are looking for a quirky clock, it is here. Want a stuffed Doctor Who toy. Here. Something to hang on the wall? They have it.

I expect those people who love the trinkets of Comic Con will love Pylon.

Okay folks, here's the best part. The stores I mention are locally run. If you want to run a triple header of Winnipeg stores then McNally, Entertainment Exchange and Pylon fits the bill. But walk around a bit more in the newly renovated mall, there are a few new stores, a few more local and a few old but trusted stores.

And pass word about hidden treasures because without that word, they could simply just disappear.

Grant Park Shopping Mall 3

Target Opening Soon

This coming week Grant Park Shopping Centre starts to re-surface their parking lot outside the Target. Things are getting close for the opening of the store.

Meanwhile, inside the mall, the roof has been blown off for sunlit portals to bring in some natural light in.

One of the New Portals

The Modern Taco Company expands beyond Academy Road and opens beside McNally Robinson soon. Access is from outside the mall.

It has been years of construction but in the end, Grant Park Shopping Centre has been transformed.

It has always been a bit of a hodge podge despite expansions and modernizations over the years.

There seems to more of a flow from one end of the mall to the other after this major initative.

Despite this major completion, the mall still has question marks regarding two anchors. Will the Safeway close, be re-branded or sold? Will Empire Theatres modernize, be closed or turned to a discount movie house?

The Target which opens soon will be southwest Winnipeg's first and the store will under severe scrutiny comparing it to the U.S. experience. One suspects that Target Canada's executives know they won't be able to underperform for very long. Somehow, Target needs to find the same success that Costco and Walmart have found in Canada.

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.

Polo Park 12 - Broadway Florists and Other News

Original location of Broaway Florists



Polo Park location of Broadway Florist

Two year ago, Polo Park celebrated its 50 anniversary. As reported in the Free Press, there were some original tenants still calling the place home. That number is dwindling as Zellers will be re-branded Target soon and Broadway Florists finds itself squeezed out.

More and more local and Canadian retailers are seeing themselves cast out of the premiere mall in the city in favour of American and international retailers. While there is still Canadian content in Polo Park, the one thing you won't find anymore is a florist.

The family owned Broadway Florist, a city force since 1923, did not get the lease renewal that had automatically happened their entire time at Polo Park. The 1000 feet main floor retailing spot and the 2000 square foot basement storage was withdrawn favour of 600 foot space beside Scotia Bank. Oh, and forget about the basement anymore too.

Not good enough for the Cholakis family who looked elsewhere and bought the Academy location where florists have existed for 60 years. At present it is Villa Flora. However, it used to be home to another longtime Winnipeg florist, Academy Florist.



Aside from Broadway Florists, Ben Moss has also moved in the store to a more central and larger location. They are using a new design that is being unrolled to the rest of their 63 locations.

The second location of Bath and Body Works just opened as well.

The big empty space of McNally Robinson will be occupied by Urban Planet. No word on whether they will use all 20,000 square feet of it.

H & M To Open Around Polo Park

They teased about it in 2009 and put up classified ads seeking employees but ultimately H&M backed away from moving into Polo Park.

Last Thursday, they tweeted that they were coming and Polo Park was mentioned again. However, there is no room at Polo Park for a store that size unless they locate into the old McNally Robinson site. The site that H&M rejected in Polo Park is now occupied by Forever 21.

This would seem to indicate that H&M is probably locating in one of the power center malls in and around Polo Park.

The arrival of H&M would be another check off a list of stores Winnipeggers have wanted for some time.

Polo Park 9 Calendar Club...Rainforest Cafe? hmm

Indigo-Chapters book store is also a 50 per cent owner of a seasonal retailer called Calendar Club, a retailer of...calendars. They have recently opened a store in 10,000 of the 20,000 feet of McNally Robinson's old Polo Park location.

Polo Park managers hope that people flock to the store so that it convinces Indigo to open a store permanently. That seems unlikely given the large Chapters store next door.

My view, given the large and unusual space of 20,000 downstairs from the mall, is that Polo Park should be seeking a restaurant.

My suggestion is that they seek out Rainforest Cafe. The average size of their locations is 20,000 square feet. The inside and outside entrances and the ability to customize the exterior make McNally's a perfect location for the popular chain's third Canadian location.

I can just imagine now and steaming volcano on the exterior of Polo Park where McNally once was.

Polo Park 8

Exterior of Hollister storefront.

Polo Park continues to get ready for Christmas. Skechers is now open and Forever 21 and BCBG MAX ARIA are building. Now word comes that a young favourite Hollister is going to open in the mall.

Hollister moves into the recently vacated Addition-Elle store. The retreat of Addition-Elle should come as no surprise. They are following Tommy Hilfiger out to Kenaston. No sense having two stores so close together.

Hollister only has seven locations in Canada so far. This should prove a major attraction for people outside Winnipeg to come to the city to pick up clothes not easily found elsewhere in the province.

Overall, Hollister has only been around for 10 years world-wide but it has swept the U.S. coast to coast with bright T-shirts and hoodies. Their exterior storefronts are intriguing and the inside has various rooms. One outstanding feature is a wall bank of TVs that features two views on either side of the pier at Huntington Beach. It is live footage of surfers. Cool.

Hollister usually like to place side by side with its older sibling of Abercrombie and Fitch. However, space at Polo Park in nearly filled save for the huge empty spot of McNally Robinson at 20,000 square feet.

The other exciting news in terms of Polo Park is what is happening just north of the mall. Work is well under way for Corus Entertainment's radio stations. CJOB, Power 97 and Groove 99 are moving soon from Portage Avenue. However, the radio stations occupy only a small portion of the nearly 200,000 square feet of space being developed. Word has it that the anchor store to the development is T and T Supermarket, a Vancouver-based Loblaw's owned Asian food grocer.



Illustration of the new development.

T and T is planning a 45,000 square foot store which dwarfs the recently opened Lucky Supermarket which opened on Winnipeg Avenue earlier this year with 20,000 feet of retail space. Sun Wah Supermarket on King Street is only about 13,000 square feet.

The CBC said some Asian retailers are fearful of the competition whereas some people said that the store will appeal to a variety of customers of non-Asian descent who are looking for produce and products.

The store will be a great addition.

However, I can't be the only one thinking that issues of traffic in the area are only going to get more complicated.



View of the busy Polo Park area.



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Winnipeg James Armstrong Richardson International Airport Part 4

A couple of new developments in the last weeks in regards to the airport. The forecast is still that it will open in 2010 but I have not heard a drop dead date yet on when.

The demise of McNally Robinson at Polo Park has also put a damper on their plan for an outlet at the airport. The Winnipeg Airport Authority has still not made the change on their map though.

Interesting to note that in the departures area, there are two T.G.I. Friday's listed.

Just before New Year, the go ahead for the new shuttle from the airport to city hotels got the go ahead. Understandably, taxi drivers are not happy but it isn't like the service is going to kill them. The initial purchase for the shuttle runs is only three vans capable of holding 9 people.

Taxi drivers have said the shuttle will hurt their business but it is hard to sympathize when the sale of taxi licenses have shot through the roof in price. There is obviously some big money there somewhere.

The shuttle will help create a regular schedule for city hotels to have access to the airport. Some may drop their own shuttle vans in favour of the new service but with only three vans to start in the airport fleet, I wonder if some of the hotels will keep their vans on the road to ensure direct access to their hotel only.

For the most part the shuttle is convenience for out of town visitors to use. For many of the rest of us in the city who do not wish to leave a car in long term parking not rely on family and friends for a drop off, a taxi remains the top choice.



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McNally Robinson

McNally Robinson has been an important institution for Winnipeggers since the 1980s. Prior to that, people relied on Coles and W.H. Smith books in the malls, Eaton's and The Bay for books at the department stores and for an independent book store, they went to Mary Scorer, founded in 1959.

In the 1980s, Winnipeg Supply's John Doole took over Mary Scorer and ran them for a time. However, a new independent bookstore was just starting.

McNally Robinson was founded in 1981 and since that time has moved around to a number of locations until they arrived at their Grant Park Shopping Mall location in 1996. It was Winnipeg's first taste of a superstore for books and since then the city has had a love affair with that location.

The move from Portage Place to Polo Park for McNally may have been a killer given the recession and proximity to the Grant Park location. Computerized reading tablets were also a big seller this year which may signify a new trend in how people read books. It cuts out traditional booksellers.

Lastly, the brutal price cutting from Amazon and Wal-Mart has no doubt affected the bottom line.

On December 29, 2009 McNally Robinson has declared bankruptcy. The Toronto store at Don Mills and Winnipeg's Polo Park close almost immediately. The Grant Park and Saskatoon location remain open and will stay that way unless the receiver agrees to restructuring.

One thing I can say is that I certainly spend a lot of money at McNally in a year. Where did I spend it? At the Grant Park location for the most part.



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Polo Park Part 6 Fifty Years Old

The old Eaton's building (now The Bay) on the north end of Polo Park in the 1970s
Exhibit area of Polo Park in the 1970s
Fountain at Polo Park 1970s
Exhibit area of Polo Park in the 1970s
Interior shot of Polo Park in the 1970s
Interior shot of Polo Park in the 1970s
Interior of Polo Park in the 1970s
Another angle of the sculpture looking out on to Portage Avenue
Sculpture at the east entrance
The Polo Park Cinema
Sculpture outside the north entrance.
The old yellow and black Polo Park sign. Photo and all others from the U of M archives.

Winnipeg Building Index at the U of M Library - Digital Collections https://digitalcollections.lib.umanitoba.ca/islandora/object/uofm%3A2631259

Polo Park celebrates its 50th birthday this year. I have written extensively on the mall as it is the oldest and largest shopping centre in the city. In 1963, it became the first covered mall in Manitoba and possibly the second in Canada since the first was in B.C. in 1962.

The former racetrack was converted to its present retail format in 1959. At that time Simpsons Sears department store began construction and was completed in May. The rest of the open air mall was completed in August of the same year.

The design of the mall was Simpsons Sears at the south end and two retail strip malls facing one another running north from the department store. There were 40 stores in the first incarnation of the mall, only seven of which remain with the mall in 2009.

Those stores are:

Simpsons Sears
Broadway Florists
Fashionette Hair Stylists
Mario's Beauty Salon
Perth's
Tip Top Tailors
Zellers

The Polo Park Bowling Centre was also an original tenant.

The present owner of the mall Cadillac Fairview is celebrating the anniversary of the mall's opening on August 20 by honouring longtime employees and the original stores.

Today the mall, after five renovations and three expansions, is home to over 200 stores, a 500 seat food court and 6000 parking spaces. The last major expansion in 2008 saw Sport Chek move from its basement location to a large store fronting the south entrance. This made way for McNally Robinson to take over the location. The old food court on the second floor was expanded atop Sport Chek below.

As I have detailed here before, the mall still lacks a theme and is poorly organized. The food court is off to one side of the mall and lacks the great hall feeling that St. Vital Centre has. Women's fashion has no discernible groupings.

Still, after 50 years, Polo Park has survived and prospered. It will be interesting to see if it will be here 50 years from now.

Winnipeg James Armstrong Richardson International Airport Part 3

The Winnipeg Airport Authority has begun announcements of some of the businesses that will operate in the Winnipeg James Armstrong Richardson International Airport.

There are some interesting retailers that will locate in the mall.

The most interesting announcement is that McNally Robinson and Toad Hall Toys are opening stores. I'm not sure what than means for the Virgin Books and Records store in the old terminal but it seems that they would be in conflict with McNally.

The Free Press listed the 13 retailers and restaurants:

Local operators:

Salisbury House of Canada, best known for its Sals nips (hamburgers), hot dogs, french fries and pastries.

Gondola Pizza, known for its pizzas, pasta dishes, ribs, chicken wings and salads.

Stella's Cafe & Bakery, which specializes in home-made breads, cinnamon buns, soups, sandwiches, salads and desserts.

McNally Robinson Booksellers, a full-service bookstore known for carrying a broad selection of titles from local authors.

Toad Hall Toys, an "old-world" toy shop whose products include exquisite dolls, miniature puppets, musical toys, science kits, and arts and crafts supplies.

Stella's or Gondola's Pizza will be favourites for locals and expats coming to the city.

I have never been a favourite of Sal's. I find they are expensive and the food pedestrian. The only thing I found appealing about them was their late hours. I admit I haven't dropped by recently so maybe I shouldn't judge so harshly.

There are some national and international operations as well.

National and international operators:

Starbucks Coffee, an international specialty coffee/restaurant chain.

Tim Hortons Inc., Canada's largest specialty coffee/restaurant chain.

T.G.I. Friday's, a U.S.-based, family-restaurant chain.

Rice Tales, a contemporary Asian, quick-serve, restaurant chain offering a variety of Japanese, Chinese, Thai and Filipino dishes.

Upper Crust Bakery, a U.K.-based chain best known for its freshly baked French baguettes. Also carries an extensive selection of gourmet salads and fresh pastries.

PGA Tour Shops, a U.S.-based retailer offering both men's and women's golf and leisure apparel and accessories.

Rosetta Stone, one of the world's leading language companies that sells specialty CDs and other computer-based language-learning products.

CNBC News, which offers in-store broadcasts of CNBC business news programs and carries a broad range of traditional newsstand products, including books, magazines and convenience items.

Rice Tails and Upper Crust Bakeries sound very interesting. I have heard of Rosetta Stone through their ads. I'd have to see what the store offers to make a full assessment.

TGI Fridays is huge in the States. I think they only offer a few locations in Canada. It will be curious to see what the size of some of these restaurants are.

There are more stores to announce yet. Let's hope they have a few more local companies.

My big issue is that 70% of what has been announced is in post security. That means for people waiting for friends and family to depart or arrive will not have access to many of the businesses in the airport.

Why is this a problem? Well, for airports like Winnipeg, I don't how long people wait to depart once they have cleared security but shopping and dining takes time. For hubs airports where the wait might be long, such things are fairly important. However, I am curious as to how much time people will spending in the security area prior to or immediately after their flights have landed. I guess this will be the main determining factor in how these place succeed.

Still, some interesting business announcement for the airport.

Some questions remain: What happens to the old terminal?



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Polo Park Part 4

After location, the next important decision a mall manager can make is content.

In Polo Park's case the first thought was the anchor stores that were to be the main draw. Initially, those stores were Eaton's and Sears and in the grocery department, it was Loblaw's and Dominion which in a unique match-up stood across from one another within the mall. In the center of the mall were the jewelery stores facing off against one another.

Dominion stores went out of business and this became the impetus for many malls across Canada to do the renovations that they did in the 1980s. Loblaw's eventually became Real Canadian Superstar.

After the 1986 renovation of Polo Park, the anchor stores were Sears, Eaton's, Zellers and Safeway. There was a Coles and a WHSmith in the book department. There was a barber and hairstylist, a record store, some banks, a Boots store from Britain, shoe stores and men and women's fashion stores. Some of the youth oriented stores were Roots and Club Monaco on the second floor.

The food court was an important addition for the mall to remain competitive with developments in St. Vital Centre and elsewhere in the city.

In 2007, prior to the mall renovation some of the stores and services have changed with the changes in technology. There are now a few cell phone and electronic companies hawking their wares such as Telus and The Source. An old standbys like RadioShack is no longer in the mall.

Polo Park has reinforced its reputation as being the number one spot for jewellers in the province with nine of some of the most prominent names in the field facing off against one another in the mall, many near the center of it.

As one walks around the mall though, aside from the food court in one place and jewellers near the center of the mall, it is hard to get a sense of theme. Children's clothing is spread out all over the mall over different floors. Men and women's apparel is spread out with some popular stores placed in odd places where traffic is lighter.

It isn't like this in other malls where conglomerations of certain stores create an energy that attracts people.

How is that Lululemon or Billabong end up way out on the second floor surrounded by stores that create no synergy between them?

Perhaps the mall management will try to remedy the situation once the renovations are complete but some of the stores have been where they've been for some time.

One of the unfortunate oversights in the mall has been the lack of any bookstore for some time. That will soon be corrected with the addition of McNally Robinson in the spot soon to be vacated by SportCheck. This is a huge plus for the mall and big improvement on the old Coles and will be about the size of their main store at the Grant Park Shopping Centre.

Aside from a general re-organization of stores in the mall to play to certain themes, mall management ought to go after certain stores that would be unique to the Winnipeg market such as Aéropostale and Hollister.

I'll reserve further judgment on Polo Park until renovations are done. It is quite clear though that mall improvements have been needed for quite some time. That goes for the entire surrounding area in terms of traffic flow, parking and overall visuals.




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