Second London Drugs Coming to Polo Park

Polo Park goes through changes every ten years or so. Sometimes it is a surprise such as when Sears or Zellers closed and sometimes it is expansions they take on themselves. It is what make this particular shopping center the number 1 one in Manitoba and one of the tops in Canada.

The second floor has gone through a few changes. After many years as department stores like Brettons and Zellers, the mall decided to do a horseshoe of a variety of stores. Some have been very successful such as Tommy Guns will be moving to a larger location. Others unnamed will close. It was revealed some others like Famous Footwear are moving.

London Drugs will be the new store taking up second floor space at Polo Park. A few more stores are to be closed or moved before that happens. Below the Belt and Urban Outfitters will no longer be in the mall. Build-A-Bear has already moved. It will be sometime in 2025 that London Drugs will open which will be 25 years since they first arrived in Winnipeg at St. Vital Mall.

There is already a Shopper's Drug Mart in the mall. However, London Drugs is also known for electronics and other items that Shopper's Drug Mart does not carry. There are over 80 stores of London Drugs across western Canada. It is curious why Manitoba has only had one for 24 years when Saskatchewan has 5.

The horseshoe part of the mall has had more difficulty attracting and retaining stores than other parts of Polo Park. A pharmacy and store like London Drugs is a game changer. It will stabilize that area of the mall and make it and attractive stop for those not wanting to go all the way to St. Vital Mall. 

The Forks Comeback 2023

Early in the new year, The Forks turned around their numbers for people coming the site to pre-pandemic levels. Measured by trackers at entrances and seen in actual numbers at events, January 2023 looked more like January 2019. Space to gather has been a hallmark of The Forks and key events, unique merchants, special food experiences and tourist attractions makes it different from other areas. Crime scares and protests groups have had an impact but renewed security may be helping. Random attacks cannot be dismissed as overreacting. If people are afraid they will stop going to a place. In fact, they will flee. And the recent occurrence of protest groups using The Forks for gatherings can and has resulted in problems. One of the reasons in the past we have not seen this is that the park area has been that it is intensely busy with festivals, concerts and recreation. Hard to have a protest when so many people are there already for other reasons. Usually celebrating.

The Forks has to walk a fine balance. Their next stage of development announced some time this year will probably be some sort of apartments across from the Human Rights Museum. The risk is that new residents take a dislike to some of the long term activities that have existed for decades such as concerts and festivals. Or perhaps new residents ask that the more than the century railway line be moved once apartments are up. It is not beyond the pale. It may be that new residents ask that the skate board park be removed. Certain we know that fireworks will no longer be part of Forks celebrations. Perhaps they will get an order for them to be stopped at Goldeyes Park as well.

Things evolve to be sure. Assiniboine Park no longer has fireworks and the same applies to The Forks. Tens of thousands used to go to both and stay for the fireworks. Arguments can be made about how it scares animals and annoys a great number of people but, in the case of Assiniboine Park, it means they shut down for the night quite early for activities. In recent years there have been calls to end concerts outdoors as well even if they earlier in the day. If The Forks goes down the same route, it is likely most outdoor activities might be limited due to residential complaints, especially at night.

The parkade at Portage Place continues to be cash injection every year at The Forks, They have at least moved to charge for parking that they do have including their own parkade which for the longest time was free. They have also started renewing leases at more market set rates. Local innovation in food, retail and recreation has differentiated it from a regular mall. Returning revenue into improving the area marks it differently as well since the money isn't sent to investors in Toronto.

The recent offer from True North to buy the land lease and parkade along with the mall at Portage Place looks to net The Forks $34.5 million. They have publicly stated that they would put it in savings and use the interest to fund things. Do the government parties have a say on this windfall? That is a lot of unassigned money.

Sustainability is important because after the last sections are developed, it is unrealistic to think that cash injections from three levels of government will come. There are indications that revenue to support the site and the programming therein is a priority.  That comes from charging for parking they have on site, lease money as landlord of the area and site rentals for festivals. Mandate creep could see The Forks tasked to develop other land but we have see what happen from the North Portage experience. The Forks diverts the money to themselves. In a lot of ways, North Portage would have better staying as a separate entity as revenue would have stayed in the area. The Forks, on the other hand, would have gone bankrupt in 1994.

Winnipeg downtown is not the only place trying to pivot during the pandemic for downtown areas. Toronto has found it very painful and the closure of Nordstrom's in Eaton Centre and many other retailer has hit hard. And like a lot of North America, people are slow to return to the office. Nevertheless it is growing and plans are for 100 new condo towers a year for the next ten years. But will people be working in offices or from home? And what will become of downtown office towers and attractions? Or old neighbourhoods? Below is Toronto in 1989.

In the 1980s through 1990s Toronto was like Winnipeg in that it had football fields of parking space and industrial land/rail yards open. Above from Toronto Archives in 1989 is what Toronto looked like. The area in red was the railyards. In 2023, the entire area is filled with offices, condos/apartments and the like. However, the 1990s were marked by a real estate collapse was pretty widespread across Canada including Toronto and Winnipeg. It really is the last years that Toronto residential towers have exploded so that they literally dwarf the five big banks downtown.

Both Toronto and Winnipeg developed their rail yards and in the case of Toronto, their port. It can be argued which did better. I think Winnipeg did better at creating public space and a sense of centrality to the city that Portage and Main lost or never had, Toronto certainly created big sport and convention centre facilities but in all that rail land, where is the great public space? It is all condos now.

Sometimes being about 20 years behind has helped Winnipeg avoid mistakes other urban areas have committed before us. For example, Calgary demolished its warehouse district. Toronto in a rush to fill waterfront area with condos had insiders grab units and the buildings created a wall of glass and concrete from the shore. At The Forks, development has been slow and thoughtful and each piece has been well considered. Once again, it was money from Portage Place that made it possible not too just fill it with condos.

Developers would love to build in The Forks. There are really only two spaces left but is unlikely a large tower or two that will be built because of the scale. Public and political pressures will limit the height and frown on restricted public access. It will more clear what comes soon enough. Presently, the parking lots are revenue generators so The Forks are not in a rush to see them closed for development that could take two to three years. The question of having public parkades below the new development and/or public transit/active transportation is still being discussed. 

The above picture sourced from The Forks. The Human Rights Museum is a national museum next to a national park. The expectation is that the area will always have school buses, public transit and active transportation to it. Accessible parking, loading zones, tourist parking need to be accounted for. When Railside and Parcel 4 are removed, will they have a public component for a tourist/visitor to park, walk through, get a meal and access The Forks attractions be part of the equation?

Picture from Forks documents. The rail line makes for a walled area for the The Forks and Goldeyes Park. The shaded red area is where announcements will be made in due course of what will go up on the surface parking lots. There is certainly enough parking just outside the rail wall. However, it is beyond the mandate of The Forks so matters of security, accessibility and availability end at Main Street. Why this matters is that should be of high concern to The Forks of how people come to The Forks. Do they avoid it because it is too far away, too unsafe, hard for for those with mobility issues? Is it too expensive? No place to bring a tour bus in? A school bus. No place to have buses waiting? The very long term success of The Forks turns on these questions.

Ironically, the other charge in the North Portage Forks mandate, Portage Place might have a more solid future once it is sold and have more opportunities for future public and private investment. The above picture from Forks documents shows the huge area it covers. And yet other parts of downtown are in need of some sort of planning to help with sustainability.  It is a little bit like whack-a-mole. One area of downtown gets attention only for another are to collapse. Recent example, the closure of the The Bay.

The 2023 comeback for The Forks will have to focus on safety with the large numbers of people that come through. This is not just limited to crime but in terms of crowd control, traffic control, water safety and events that are celebrations of community. It would be a shame if the Forks has to shut out mid-evening for events because of noise concerns. As mentioned, fireworks will just continue somewhere else...like Assiniboia Downs. They just won't be accessible to those without a car.

Sometimes your success causes you to cancel things because of neighbourhood rejection. Things like Days of Wine on Roses were cancelled on Corydon and New Year's celebrations in Osborne Village because business and residents reject them. And so the concern at The Forks is that someone says: no more parades. And maybe that happens as people push to make the area less friendly to those outside their region.

There seems some certainty that in 2023/2024/2025, The Forks will have tens of millions from Portage Place sale. And even without much of a coordinated development plan for downtown, there are a number of projects that will all likely be coming on stream at the same time. Expanded hotels, apartment buildings and office towers are going up within blocks of The Forks. This contributes to more people living and working close to the largest green space by the Red River. Moreover, more traffic on riverwalks/sidewalks, skating paths and biking lanes are a reflection of how close some people are to the area. It doesn't make sense if you live in an apartment in St. Boniface a baseball throw away from a festival in The Forks to drive your car less than several minutes away.

If safety and public access to The Forks remain a priority, it can succeed in attracting people and unique stores, restaurants and festivals. The success of the area going forward should trigger further exciting development in nearby opening spaces. Surface parking lots are a poor use of downtown space. This is why True North chose to develop the former Eaton's parking lot into buildings and a square to enhance the value of their entertainment district. There are 200 parking spaces underground which is about the amount that the same amount occupied by the surface lot.

Winnipeg remains a car city but certain neighbourhoods like Osborne, St. Boniface, parts of Henderson and others make it possible to actually walk to a grocer, bank or pharmacy. That is to say, they are closer and easier to step out of your door and walk to than to get in your car and drive. Even in Brightwater, there are plenty of people who are in walking distance of the grocery store and other amenities.

The Forks is many things but it isn't that neighbourhood described above. If people live across from the Human Rights Museum, The Forks Market nearby is not a full grocery, nor pharmacy or local bank. More of the empty spaces near The Forks will have to be filled with such things or residents will have to head out of the area to patronize them. It isn't likely that a large national grocer will be built on the site but numbers of residents spreading out along Waterfront and two apartments built on Main in the last year means means a place like Winnipeg Square might service nearby residents longer hours and offer more grocery items at their Shoppers Drug Mart.

The real test this year for The Forks will be how they handle summer starting in June. There will be many assessing the safety of large festivals, how Canada Day will be celebrated and if protests and rallies become increasingly part of the public space as a substitute for the Legislature. And most importantly, will attractions becomes less public or require a charge, Will their hours be reduced? Will attractions be pushed out? All eyes will be watching on this. The comeback will only become permanent if the vast majority of people believe we all have ownership in the area.

Unicity Smart Complex in St. James

In 1975 Unicity Fashion Square opened at the end of the city. St. James was still building homes at this time and there were few enclosed malls in the city such as Garden City, Polo Park and Grant Park. Success seemed very likely. With Woolco and The Bay, they had some solid anchors. On opening, they drew good crowds and thereafter but always had a stubborn wing of the mall that had stores come and go. 

Within five years Unicity faced competition from all corners of the city as several malls opened up such as St. Vital Centre, Kildonan and Eaton Place and Winnipeg Square among others.

In 1994 Woolco was taken over by Walmart but this did not help Unicity as the mall was nearly half empty by this point. At the risk of losing Walmart altogether, Unicity Fashion Square was bulldozed in favour of a Smart Centre of big boxes anchored by Walmart. 

Of the original stores in Unicity, the only ones from 1975 remaining at the location are Shopper's Drug Mart, Reitman's and McDonald's. 

The lineup up those first stores is listed above.

Pictures from the Winnipeg Tribune Archives 1975, University of Manitoba.

The old anchors for Unicity were Woolco, The Bay and Dominion. The new anchors are Walmart, Canadian Tire, Sobey's and a solid lineup of Winners, Mark's, Dollar Tree, Valu Village, Staples, Sport Chek and others.

Unicity isn't a particularly attractive. The rules on greening their lot were fairly weak in 2000. As far as successful goes, it is generally fully leased compared to old Unicity Fashion Square.

I have been in a few Dollar Trees but find Dollarama to be better.

Winnipeg has a lot of thrift stores but Valu Village are fairly big.

Most of Unicity is wide parking lots and very little landscape.

I expect at some point Unicity, like a lot of malls, will be approach the city for zoning for housing. They should be forced to green up their property when that happens.

The retail landscape is changing everywhere and big parking spots like this are spots for future mixed development.

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.

Goodlife Fitness Coming to Grant Park Shopping Center

In 2015, Goodlife Fitness indicated an interest in all of the Targets that were closing in Canada. Some scoffed at this without realizing how many former Eaton's locations had been taken over by the national gym many years back. Still, at least in Manitoba, the pursuit of four fair sized locations seemed a longshot for a variety of reasons due to size or location.

Grant Park just north of future transit station. High traffic area coming soon

There has been no official announcement but it has been confirmed by sources in the real estate world that Goodlife is about to occupy one of the old Targets. That location is the Grant Parking Shopping Center.

At first it was thought that Canadian Tire would occupy the whole location. However, the renovations underway reveal that the retailer has taken 86,000 square feet of the old space. The part that is left is still a massive 34,000 square feet section immediately behind Pony Coral.

The map included shows how Canadian Tire will share the space with Goodlife. At 34,000 square feet, it will easily be the biggest location in the city surpassing Kenaston

Canadian Tire opens July 1st and Goodlife Fitness, if all the rumours are true, looks to be in the next several months.

What Next for Winnipeg's Old Target In Southdale?

Southdale Target Winnipeg Closed

The first of the Targets closed in Winnipeg at the Southdale location on Lakewood. The site had been a former Zellers and now it is being cleared of anything not nailed down. The option of what goes in the location seem to vary.

The stores unlikely to locate there are Canadian Tire or Giant Tiger which already have locations just down the street. Also in the area is a Shopper's Drug Mart. The thought of a grocery store as well seems limited with a Co-Op right next door.

The word is that Goodlife Fitness might be interested in the location but it might not be the entire store footprint which is around 100,000 square feet. This might actually be a good use if people examine how busy the Regent and Kenaston locations of Goodlife are.

There is a Pizza Hut in the corner of the lot and a McDonald's on the other corner. A Shell station and other retail borders the Target. It is unlikely the entire site will merit a re-design so the Target location itself will be what is changed.

Southdale Centre is an important commercial district but it is not a mall or a power center and the number of retailers who might be interested in the site will be small.

In the month of May all of the Targets will be closed and it will be a battle between landlords to fill spaces. In some cases that won't be difficult. In other cases, it will not be easy at all. Locations like Polo Park are probably not going to have a problem getting tenants. Southdale will have to think outside the box.

Two years ago the retail sector was on the upswing and the Canadian economy looked good. A downturn in oil revenues and consumers pulling in their spending and we see Target running back across the border. How fast the Target landlords find new tenants will be an indication how resilient the Canadian economy is.

Grant Park Landmark Cinema Expansion

Landmark to add Xtreme Theater to Grant Park

At present the Landmark 8 Cinema at Grant Park Mall is basically the same as it was under former owners Empire Theatres. That will change over the next months as Landmark refurbishes the lobby and the theatres.

It is uncertain whether they will continue to keep all eight theatres as they are adding their marquee product XTreme Theatre to their line up. The screen will be 60 by 30 and the seats will be wide recliners.

It seems unlikely that further building can take place behind Grant Park Mall. Landmark Cinemas has already built right to the back of the property line and spread out in both directions. It is my guess that they might have to cannibalize two theatres into one or sacrifice seats in their largest halls to make way for bigger screen and recliners. It remains to be seen what it will all look like.

Landmark's decision comes on the heels of their announcement of the closure of the 3 Globe Cinemas in Portage Place. Landmark also owns the Towne 8 which was renovated last year so they remain the only owner of movie theatres downtown.

The Landmark group is no small movie ownership group. The purchase of many of the Empire Theatres vaulted them to number 2 in Canada and 10th largest in North America. It seems only fitting that they keep up with Cineplex Odeon which has renovated all their theatres in the city in the last years.

Grant Park Mall has been renovating all aspects of the mall for the last three years. It is barely recognizable from when it started. Target, Shopper's and the Liquor Mart are all bigger. Safeway was just turned into a Co-Op.

In recent months Modern Taco Company and Booster Juice have opened. Modern Barber Shop opens in August and a huge chunk of office space will be occupied by Winnipeg Radiology Services.

It seems highly likely that Grant Park Mall will be completely renovated and maybe completely filled by Christmas.

Additional traffic from an exceptional theatre upgrade is practically a given.

The big question is whether Landmark will be enticed into one more theatre complex somewhere in the city.

Menchies Frozen Yogurt - Charleswood Shopping Center Plaza 3

Menchie's at Charleswood Mall

It has taken 10 years since the reconstruction of the Charleswood Shopping Center Plaza but finally every spot in it is fully leased. In 2004, a re-think was needed as Zeller's de-camped to Grant Park Shopping Center. This left the enclosed mall with a major tenant gone and an older less desirable property. At the time, the mall was known as the Forest Park mall reflecting the Charleswood neighbourhood that was built around the same time in 1978.

It was decided that a new concept of a strip mall, big box would be more suitable and where Zeller's once stood a new large style Shopper's Drug Mart and Dollarama now sit. Eventually, the whole mall and longtime tenants all did a re-fresh including Safeway in 2007.

There were only a few stubborn spots that seemed to lack for tenants.

The mall suffered a temporary setback just a few years ago when Blockbuster closed right across Canada but the spot quickly found a tenant elsewhere the coveted the larger spot. Pet Valu moved in fairly swiftly.

This left Pet Valu's spot forlorn till now. In April, Menchie's Frozen Yogurt opened up, the second location in the city after Dakota in St. Vital. The mall is now fully leased for the first time as a result.

Menchie's is a San Fernando-based restaurant that is rapidly expanding across North America. The variety and pricing has proved popular as well as gluten free, dairy free and vegan choices. Expect to see this restaurant snap up similar spaces all across the city.

Restaurants are a tough business and we have seen many chicken restaurants die such as KFC and Chicken Delight in the city. Also, there have been a few Quizno's casualties. The tastes of the public can be fickle and their price points also come into play.

The extreme expansion of retail coming on the market means landlords will have to be ever looking for places that are unique and can stay the long haul. We have seen some persistently stubborn vacancies in some long time retail areas of the city. The Charleswood Shopping Center Plaza is no longer one of them.

Corydon and Stafford Swiss Chalet/Harvey's Drive Thru

Larger Harvey's/Swiss Chalet Drive Thru Toronto

Missed it when it was mentioned in the Free Press in October. At that time, it was indicated that the only thing that was holding up the development of the old Chicken Delight location at Stafford and Corydon was the wait for an additional franchisee to share the corner

It was well known that Harvey's had won the right to build a drive thru at the corner that had held a Chicken Delight since 1981. In a controversial decision, a drive thru was allowed to continue. It was felt that some attempt had been made to hide the fact to the owners and developers that a drive thru was grandfathered in to the neighbourhood plan.

A majority of city councillors felt this created unfair circumstances and awarded the Harvey's a winning bid for the decaying Chicken Delight property. Some additional zoning improvements were added and the developer was given the go to proceed to construction stage.

Months and months have gone by and aside from a mid fall update that appeared in the Free Press, nothing seemed to be happening.

Well now, according to the CBC, the additional franchisee has come aboard and we should soon see at the corner a Swiss Chalet/Harvey's Drive Thru.

This is not the first time we have had the combo in Winnipeg. Swiss Chalet/Harvey's operated out of the old Winnipeg International Airport for many years. The move to the new terminal left the city with neither restaurant until Swiss Chalet opened on Kenaston and Harvey's opened on Portage Avenue.

Given this city's love of Swiss Chalet as evidenced by the packed parking lot on Kenaston, it is interesting that it took this long to get another one.

Corydon is at that uncomfortable time where residential and commercial development is increasing how busy the area is. There are legitimate concerns about traffic, noise and the like. They should be addressed but not to the point of driving people and business away from the area.

Osborne Village has gone through challenges throughout its development. While some have reacted with disdain for Second Cup, Starbucks and American Apparel coming, the truth is those businesses have helped anchor certain blocks and enticing people to local fare all throughout the Village.

The upset over Safeway and Shopper's expansion was legitimate but overwrought. The Safeway that emerged from the planning process is a lynchpin of success for the Village. Likewise, the Shopper's may have displaced a DVD rental store and restaurant but it also improved the corner's face out to Osborne as well as offer expanded services. And yes, a 24 hour pharmacy is needed in a  city Winnipeg's size.

And what of the Corydon Village?

It looks like development resistance has reached a prickly time.

There may be anger over a Harvey's/Swiss Chalet at the corner of Stafford and Corydon by some but it was a drive thru for 30 years and the neighbourhood didn't fall apart. It is likely the restaurants will be welcomed by many who live in the area.

I think pushing for improvements to the area planning are worthwhile and with luck and care, Corydon can continue to be one of the more desirable areas of the city.

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.

Why is Target Failing in Canada?

Target has not even been in Canada for that long and it is already pulling in satisfaction numbers that are below industry standards. Heck, even Zellers probably did better.

Costco tops the Forum Research poll that came out this week for Canada and retailers.

The list ran this order:

Not very good numbers.

Now this list is for those people who have been to the stores in Canada since they have opened.

So what accounts for the dissatisfaction? The details are a bit sketchy but in a nutshell people are no doubt comparing Target USA with Target Canada and finding it wanting. Even more troubling for Target in Canada is the fact that their numbers are dropping. A previous poll found higher numbers than they have now.

It is no easy task to create a new national store with 124 stores, three distribution centers. They certainly can't blame Zellers staff since they only retained 1% of them.

In Winnipeg, we have one major Target renovation of the old Zellers at Grant Park underway and new construction of the the Super Target at old Canad Inn Stadium site at Polo Park. Quite simply, a lot of Winnipeg does not have a really local Target yet. There are no Targets in west Winnipeg. Many people in the city have not been to the ones open yet.

Analysts are saying that Target needs to do well with their grocery so that they get more regular visits. Walmart has recently upgraded its grocery sections to counter Target and Loblaw's/Real Canadian Superstores.

Loblaw's is set to buy Shopper's Drug Mart and Sobey's is buying Safeway.

And there is Target will sub-par numbers for satisfied customers.

What is the solution? Price and selection and location, location, location.

Can Target do it? Well, they have had a reputation for being a tough competitor. Most Canadians won't give up on them yet but they are showing dissatisfaction now.

Osborne Village Changes

Confusion Corner Tower at Osborne

It looks like the final approvals are forthcoming from the city on the tower first mentioned back in 2012 for 257 Osborne Street by Confusion Corner. With a few tweaks here and there, the city looks to green light the project. It may the first evidence of density going up near the new rapid transit corridor.

The five storey office tower should be underway soon.

Also getting approval in the next week will be 548 Stradbrook Avenue, site of the boarded up Phi Delta Theta house. Till recently, the city was holding up approvals there for multi-unit housing but a few tweaks and the job is back on track. It will be a welcome addition to the neighborhood.

The old Papa George's restaurant still remains for sale. After 35 years at 93 Osborne, I think it is good that it is taking some time to figure who would best take over the property. The original location of Papa George's was where Mona Lisa restaurant was on Corydon Avenue. In the 1970s, it was George's...then Papa George's and the 1980s it became Mona Lisa Pizza. For a while there were a few Papa George's locations in the city until owner Nick Contzamanis was left with the iconic Osborne location.

The deal for a new place is complicated because the owner of Papa George's did not own the property. The property is owned by Martin Ringer who also owned the property run by his son at Movie Village as well as the Vi-Anne Restaurant. The Shopper's Drug Mart expansion on those old properties continues.

The demise of Movie Village may have been in the cards but it has not completely disappeared. The store has moved into Music Trader, also a Ringer owned and operated property. Martin Ringer was one of the original investors in the concept of Osborne Village. He did not start as a developer but as owner and operator of Ringer's Pharmacy in Fort Garry.

One other original owner in the Village is Basil Lagopoulos who has just shuttered Bistrot by Basil's. Despite entreaties from his son to hang up his apron and sell the property, he plowed through two years of insurance claims to come back. Over a million was spent on the restaurant. It will likely remain a restaurant but we are seeing this all over the city: Long term restauranteurs with 25 years plus closing in part because of how hard it is to keep on going or have someone take over the business within the family.

Fear not those that worry about Osborne Village, I think you can expect to see restaurants return to Papa George's and Basil's site.

It would be good to see some major initiative on what is an important corner just down the street from the two restaurants. It is the issue of the Number 4 Fire Hall. Now, I know what you're saying...not another freaking fire hall but go with me on this.

The site of the present Number 4 Fire Hall is here:

Number 4 Fire Hall at Osborne and Stradbrook

It is situated by the old but important Osborne Village Inn.

Fire Hall and Osborne Village Inn and beer vendor

Quite a large property if you put them together as one whole piece, right?

Hotel and parking lot and fire hall on the corner of Osborne

The Osborne Village Inn was built in 1962 and is home to The Zoo and Ozzy's.

It is fair to say that the hotel is a cultural touchstone of the area but is not exactly where one might stay for a room. Two years ago, a murder took place that could have been linked to the hotel.

Give the fact that a number of older hotels have closed or slated to close recently such as the Montcalm, Charleswood Motor Inn, Sheraton/York the Hotel and Place Louis Riel...it should come as no surprise that the future of the Osborne Village Inn should be considered.

If the thinking is that a hotel, vendor and live music place in the Village is good, could the addition of the Number 4 Fire Hall and a complete re-build of the hotel and vendor along with the desired parkade all be part and parcel of a worthy development?

It is interesting to think about. A better quality hotel with restaurants and live music entrances right out to Osborne (suitably sound proofed), a taxi stand and turn in for the hotel, a vendor with drive thru on Wardlaw with parkade connected possibly all the way from Wardlaw to Gertrude would be rather amazing.

I know parking is a dirty word here but look behind Osborne Street on the hotel side and see the scrubby parking now there. It aint pretty but it is used by people working in the area or going to shops and restaurants.

But what to do with Number 4 Fire Hall?

A suggestion:

The old Esso Station at 425 Osborne

The abandoned Esso station at 425 Osborne might be a good bet if still available.

425 Osborne beside Winnipeg Transit Garage

The site is close to the present station but also to some important routes beyond Osborne.

Massive Transit Garage...back is connected to Rapid Transit

The beauty of 425 Osborne is the traffic lights, the private Winnipeg Transit road, the backway entrance to rapid transit and the ability to build a fire hall with you can drive straight through from back to front in the new format of present buildings. No more backing into the fire hall garages.

Okay, am I being pie in the sky here or is this doable? I know no one wants to talk fire halls but giving up that corner lot could be lucrative for the city.

At the moment, we have an old hotel and and old fire hall in the Osborne Village. It would be a shame if the hotel closes and the city was caught flatfooted.

Moving the fire hall could trigger a huge project as well as locating fire service to an area that makes so much sense in a logistical way for the entire city.

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.