Forever 21 and Bluenotes Closing at Polo Park, Thrifty's Opening

Summer is when many malls start making changes so that everything is in place for the fall/winter season when school starts and Christmas shopping begins. Forever 21's American owners closed all their Canadian in 2019 stores despite their success in Canada to help their bankrupt U.S. stores. Even though Canadian owners took over the name and operations in 2021, the Covid years hurt retail for some time and changed shopping patterns. Even today, some shoppers were unaware that Forever 21 had returned. The Polo Park shop is a massive 37,000 square feet so the closure was something that is not easily filled. The first time it happened was when a flurry of closures in retail were happening.

And so Forever 21 is again closing their big store but at least there is a retailer in the wings waiting to take on 35 of their employees and add more. Thrifty's is returning to Winnipeg after closing their last store at Outlet Collection four years ago. Thrifty's thought their old name was losing lustre so many were converted to Bluenotes. More big retailers have a few nameplates to sell from. Forever 21's, owner also owns Urban Planet and that is still doing well.

The closure of Bluenotes at Polo Park is simply a transfer of those 20 employees and brands to the supersized Thrifty's. On July 12 Forever 21 will close and July 22 Thrifty's will open. The old Bluenotes should have no problem being filled as Polo Park remains one of the top 10 malls in the country. There are still no announced plans for the old Bay though. The size and score of that requires some real investment and innovation. There are no department stores about to take over.

Many malls are being upgraded at the moment. Polo Park has seen many changes. Victoria Secret's 12,700 is going through a complete upgrade. Body Shop is moving upstairs. Other changes and upgrades are expected. Will Forever 21 come back? You can never be too sure. Four years ago it seemed unlikely Thrifty's would be back. Generation Z and Generation Alpha seem to be driving mall renewal and interest. 

Red River Co-Op to Move Into Portage Place

The signage has gone up and the parties have confirmed it. Portage Place will have a ground floor grocery and a pharmacy. That store will be Red River Co-Op. At 22,500 square foot store and a 6,500 square foot pharmacy and a staff of 57. This will be the 10th store in the Winnipeg region for the Co-Op. The timing of the opening is 2029. Construction has been ongoing all this year and the building of the Pan Am Clinic is the first priority. 

The Bay is also under intense construction and there hasn't be an update on where they are at but it is ongoing. Housing and offices will eventually be in place there and nearby and the need for the grocery store will be apparent. Initial response that a Red River Co-Op going is has been positive. There are five national grocers with their huge suppliers. It was thought that a Sobeys/Safeway had the inside track. However, the Co-Op is local and likely pushed hard to expand their store size after a near death experience back in 1983. The entire grocery business was shut down along with anything not related to fuel sales. It was a painful recovery.

Munther Zeid from Foodfare questioned the economic reasons and said if there was a market for grocery, Safeway or Safe on Foods would have moved in. He has a point save for one thing. Grocery store size. The companies he mentions builds new stores that are 40,000 square feet. The South Osborne Safeway has a legacy store at 19,000 square feet. It is hanging on because it has no competition and a parking lot.

None of the biggies want a store with no dedicated parking lot. So why does Red River think they can do it? The pharmacy. There are only a handful of pharmacies downtown even with a few thousand residents living nearby. The few Shoppers and Rexall are all south of Portage Avenue. Red River Co-Op notably kept their pharmacy as a stand alone location on Main when Giant Tiger took over their lease (which they have since abandoned) on Main Street. Pharmacies make money. And they are built with layered security everywhere. 

Know what Foodfares don't have? Pharmacies. Zeid knows groceries better than anyone. He has been on the frontline for decades and fighting shoplifting harder than anyone. He knows what he talks about when it comes to trying to make a living in the grocery business. The pharmacy and its safes and locked areas is a good cushion for profitability. Thousands of students at the University of Winnipeg, student housing across the street by the Winnipeg Art Gallery, housing behind Portage Place and new housing onsite atop Portage Place provides the population base to build a store customer base. 

The lack of a food court in Portage Place should discourage the type of congregating for the purpose of drug distribution. And thousands of patients a day at the new Pam Am Clinic should create the safety of crowds that is seen when hockey and concert events happen downtown. Harassment of people will have dozens of people calling 911 and filming it. Likewise, True North properties have zero tolerance for encampments or people taking up residence of doorways. Seriously. Watch security make themselves present if people linger in the Square for purposes other than commuting or commerce. Also, get in a fracas at Canada Life Centre, find yourself banned for life from all events there. Malls like Polo Park also institute bans so I expect to see Portage Place ban people from the property if they are violent or shoplifting. Technology will be used to identify people who are consistently a problem.

Low income people have to be protected and the work with the community patrols will help with people who need assistance. Housing geared to income is part of what is going up in the area but success with come from a mix of people which could include tourists in hotels, visitors for concerts, conventions and sports. 

In keeping with the standard set ups for most urban groceries, there will be one entrance in, delivery, deli, bakery, meat, dairy and produce sections. If there is any area I feel they might skimp on, I would say sections of ethnic and specialty stuff. This probably suits some of the ethnic convenience stores that have tried to carve out new niche areas for themselves downtown and elsewhere. Self checkouts are likely to have two forms of control. The first will be scanner exiting the checkout and the next will be receipt control. It is unclear whether the store will exit to the front street or inside the mall. Staples found it was better inside. One thing is clear is that there will be another line of security for the mall and apartment entrances. And street patrols will be plainly visible.

Things have to be a multi-pronged approach to make the area successful for housing, retail, recreation and healthcare. If people feel there are no go zones where they could face danger, they will resist going there. In some cases though, you will have no choice. If you have a knee surgery at Pan Am, you will be there are 8 AM. Likewise, many people work downtown and not some suburb. They need to know they can ride the bus without fear, park their cars and find them later and go outside for lunch without the chance of homicide or being swept up in arrest.

I suspect there will be a lot ways this happens and it will be black by block that are reclaimed as neighbourhoods. A grocery is essential to that and the amount of spending to convert Portage Place and the former Bay building tops $1 billion. This isn't just a luxury mall and luxury housing. It is a comprehensive reconstruction and not a trip down nostalgia lane. It is trying to build housing in the area and make sure there are services to support it. The mistake at Portage Place is the investment stopped after the 1980s. The money earned was delivered to The Forks for their ultimate success.

St. Vital Centre Purchased for $160 Million

St. Vital Centre was built in 1979 for about $40 million just when a flurry of other malls were going up in including Kildonan Place, Winnipeg Square, Eaton Centre and Unicity. That was a lot of malls all at once and some of them did not survive or have been drastically changed over the years. Most of the malls were owned by real estate companies in the beginning but many including Primaris and Cadillac Fairview are now owned all or in part by the Maple 8, Canadians top government pension funds. For the last numbers of years St. Vital Centre has been owned by the Ontario Pension Board.

In recent years some private players have been making inroads as owners. It is unclear who their shareholders might be. In many cases their financing still comes from pension funds as in the case of Brookfield Asset Management. The fact that a pension fund sells a property doesn't mean they are not part of shareholding or or financing the deal to enhance their balance sheets. 

In the case of the sale of St. Vital Centre to Leyad, a Quebec-based real estate company, it appears the sale was financed by six credit unions in a syndicate. Since Leyad is a private company, it doesn't have to disclose its financial structure except to the banks and paying taxes. 

This is not the first foray into real estate in Winnipeg by Leyad. They have purchased Garden City Square, Johnston Terminal, CDI College and the Canada Goose Distribution Centre over the years for a pretty significant footprint in the city. Next to Montreal, it might be the biggest holdings right in the company. 

For many years St. Vital Centre has been firmly entrenched as the second largest mall in the city. Due to the location, it is hard for it to expand much beyond what it is now unless they build up. However, they still have to fill the empty Bay store location. This is an issue for Polo Park as well. Since the other large story closures led to knew tenants, it is expect that by year end announcements will be made on new uses for the space. And Leyad seems well suited to investing in their properties but that remains to be seen. The Johnston Terminal took a while to get going again after Covid but seems better now.

There is no record of what the purchase price of the mall when it was taken over by the Ontario Pension Board. However, with the original price being $40 million and the sale price being $160.5 million that is a very healthy price for a mall still producing income. The powerful Canadian pensions probably can't quit malls completely. They are too big and growing to not buy real estate. The U.S. could be less attractive if their economy tanks but who knows? That could be the perfect time to invest. Just ask the people who bought dirt cheap after the last crash in Florida and Arizona.

As mentioned, there have been some malls across Canada that have closed. In Winnipeg, that would be Portage Place, Unicity and a few strip malls. However, Canada never really overbuilt the way the U.S. has and done. In Grand Forks, North Dakota, you could call Columbia Mall a failed mall. It is embarrassing to see.

The purchase by Leyad is probably an attempt by St. Vital Centre to remain the second largest mall in the province ahead of Outlet Collection Mall and the rest of the Seasons development. This may be a losing battle because the Seasons development had been going strong for 13 years. There has never been a stop in building on the site although it is possible this year might see the last few spots filled up in the surrounding mall spaces.

St. Vital's hosting of the Children's Hospital Book Sale at least two to three time a year also fills the place with people from all over the city and beyond. For those who don't remember, it used to be Polo Park that hosted this. The destination malls usually have things over seasonal times to attract shoppers. The more unique, the better. For many decades it was mini-concerts and fashion shows.

It seems Leyad's purchase of St. Vital Centre will be followed up with a multimillion investment in the former Bay location soonest. There are few if any big retailers out there that could take the full space over. Some are still hankering for a Simons department store but it might be wishful thinking as the company takes a long time to expand their private company. Others believe there might be a new grocery coming courtesy of rule changes that block competitor from opening in the same mall. Many places have agreements that are paid for to keep other grocery and pharmacy out. This has been ruled as anti-competitive. Those that continue to practice may face penalties and fines.

It used to be that malls had long lists of retailers wanting to move in but the need to expand the hours and reasons to go to the mall have had to increase. It can't be all fashion stores that don't last a season. Expect to see more moved development in the near future.

 

Kildonan Place Food Court

It seems Kildonan Place has been under construction for a decade. And to some extent it has. The loss of Sears and The Bay along with other stores meant the mall seemed to be perpetually replacing stores like Dominion, Sears, Bay, Zellers and Target. The addition of Save-on-Foods and a new and expanded movie theatre has helped bring stability to that end of the mall.

The goal of a mall is to extend how long each day people are there as well as try to get repeat business. A grocery store usually brings people to the mall at least once a week as do any pharmacies in the mall. A movie theatre can attract a younger crowd and help the restaurants and food court on a weekly basis and longer into the evening and weekends.

Polo Park and St. Vital Centre have also gone through substantial changes but Kildonan Place has been hit by the changes in retailing harder than most. It seems to have solved the issue of retailers as well as anchor entertainment but the long stalled upgrade to food court just didn't happen until now.

A good food court or all can add all sorts of life to a mall. The St. Vital food court expansion cemented it's spot as the most attractive of the courts with soaring ceilings, faux stone surroundings and fireplaces. Most food courts try to have a variety of ethnic choices albeit in fast food options. Polo Park's second floor food court is not nearly as attractive but it is large and has variety. It is possible that we see Polo Park do something different but I tend to believe if they had wanted to move, they would have used the space on the first floor of the Sears building. Still, I would not rule out a third floor being added to the mall in the next five years and the food court moving up. This would likely only happen if there is a new focus on hotel, housing and entertainment in the mall.

However, back to Kildonan, their food court has been in need of an upgrade for ten or more years. The food court they have sufficed with is cozy but the mall is bigger and the amount of people living nearby greater. The move and expansion of Dollarama as well as Cineplex Junxion set up opportunity for an upgrade. This was an 8000 square foot space to create a new food court.

The old movie theatre will be demolished and a newly re-designed entrance will go. Guest Services will move and re-open in April. As far as the food court goes, it will go from 8 vendors to 10 vendors and 325 seats to 550 seats. Although some things are expanding, the actual leasable space will be reduced by 30,000 square feet.

None of the work comes cheap and it will take till 2027 for work to be totally complete. By that time perhaps the next huge change happens to Kildonan. The ups and downs have hit this mall more than most but according to the landlord, it is still a profitable mall.

Some local retailers will displaced in this which is sad because clearly the mall depended on them when large national and international stores shut down. There is some evidence that some of these stores are finding other leasing space for themselves. 

Abercrombie and Fitch, Uniqlo Coming to Polo Park, Eddie Bauer Closing

Polo Park remains the top mall because it continues to adapt and attract tenants. Having said that, it must be exhausting some of the big retailers like Eaton's, Sears, Zellers, The Bay and others who have collapsed over the years. Even now, the mall and St. Vital are trying to figure out what to do about the empty Bay stores. It is likely we hear more in 2026 but it is unlikely that there is any big retailer is about to grab the whole space. Even Simons would not occupy that much space as seen from their recent expansion from Quebec into Ontario.

This story is not about the anchor stores though. This is about the smaller retailers that make up the corridors between the anchors. After Christmas every year changes are made and there will be periods where some retailers are looking to to downsize or close and others are looking to the opposite. There will be attempts in the mall to move retailers around so they can occupy bigger spaces or to be in an area where each retailer attracts a certain type of customer. For example, jewelry stores like to locate in the middle of the mall where two or more corridors intersect.

Polo Park has kept up as the top mall because it constantly invests in the building and seeks out unique stores no one else has. The Apple store does huge business. However, even having one exclusive store can have it's time and close. Eddie Bauer has been around for years and was part of a huge upgrade in 2014. There is only one in the city and on January 7, it closed. It is unknown whether this is a lease that was not renewed or whether Eddie Bauer itself made the decision. 

In the end, it doesn't matter because the mall has been moving tenants around to accommodate incoming retailers. While it is suggested Gen Zs are not going to the mall, Canada cannot merely assume what is true in the States is true here. There is some evidence to suggest that certain stores can indeed attract young people. And malls have been trying to add attractions and activities that attract families. Ask West Edmonton Mall and Mall of America about those.

Malls are like hotels in that renovations and changes within an existing framework need to be done each decade to keep things fresh. It is worth noting that Polo Park was late to the food court crowd in the 1980s. They had mall restaurants as tenants and in department stores but nothing like the other malls until their late 1980s reno. That was the way to attract young people back in the day and still is.

The constant change in recent years hastened by Covid means just as a mall settles one issue or need, they get bulldozed by new announcements of store closures they perhaps didn't not anticipate. As mentioned, Eddie Bauer is closed. The company has been closing closing locations over the last few years. However, the location closure has given Hollister a chance to re-locate and do a re-fresh. The California-look store has been at Polo Park since 2010. It is unknown if they will restore the video walls of Huntington Beach webcam that the company has broadcast since the early 2000s. Most of the stores have dropped the beach hut like entrance for a brighter, open window look. Apparently, Gen Z likes brighter lights. Also gone in the new design is the heavy scent and loud music.

In Hollister's old location near Zara, sister company Abercrombie and Fitch is set to come to Manitoba for the first time. They have had their ups and downs, CEO problems and the like. The store first started in 1892 so they know something about adapting. As a new store to the province, it will attract a lot of interest from young to mid-range age shoppers. Abercrombie has gone through several iterations as most successful brands have done. The opening of the store in 2026 should cement CF Polo Park's hold as the top mall in Manitoba.

To cap it off, the mall is adding Uniqlo, the Asian-inspire store that has fans across the world. This will be the third in a series of Asian stores to open at Polo Park. It likely won't arrive before St. Vital Center's own Uniqlo arrives. The southeast mall continues to be the main rival to Polo Park. The large Asian population of Winnipeg and those that love Asian fashion and beauty is changing the retail industry.

The goal of any mall is to transform and not leave big empty gaps in the building. To that end, what Polo Park does with the old Bay will be one to watch after these latest stores open.

Uniqlo, JD Sports and Lululemon to Open in St. Vital Centre

The closure of The Bay at Polo Park and St. Vital Centre has not stopped the two top malls in Winnipeg from frantically trying to upgrade. In a previous post, I indicated that Long Drugs and other stores are under construction in Polo Park. St. Vital Centre is also upgrading with some stores ready to open by September 26. It race to Christmas with only three months to go. Some stores will make it, others won't.

People in Winnipeg have a few stores on their wish list. Some they will get, others they won't. The malls have moved other retailers already in place to get choice tenants. Polo Park has done that with London Drugs coming. In some cases, the stores moved elsewhere in the mall. In other cases, they closed altogether.

For St. Vital, there has always been an awkward spot just off the doors to the food court. The mall moved some shops around and Mark's Warehouse took a very large 16,455 square foot space. It effectively created an anchor for that area and the store is less than a year in the new spot. Stores like Garage and Dynamite are opposite.

With so many hits to mall department store anchors both Polo Park and St. Vital have have had to respond to the closures. However, so much has been happening that it has been difficult to keep up with. The good news is that retail sales are up in Canada and retailers are expanding their businesses. And while the big departments are closing, other smaller are doing better.

Truth be told, the make-up of stores in malls has always been changing. The one consistent thing had been the anchors. Now the anchors are changing. Some say Amazon and Wayfair are killing the malls or big box stores or Walmart and Real Canadian Superstore but malls still are gathering places for people. In a lot of cases, stores like Walmart want to be part of or attached to malls.

Malls are evolving and are now places to go a spa, get your nails done, go to a gym or go to food halls. Something that can't come in a delivery van. The fitness centres at malls has developed nicely in Winnipeg. We can expect to see more sport and recreation related investment to attract people which supports the mall. It will be interesting to see what they do with the old Bay. That won't be a task till at least next year.

Perhaps the biggest entry into malls lately has been nail and spa shops. The Venetian has been so successful at St. Vital Centre that they are moving to larger quarters. Men's hair shops have been finding success in the malls too. Polo Park has always had some men's barbers but now they can be seen in many malls. Tommy Gun's has become a Canadian success around the world.

Venetian might be an example for other malls across the country of of spas in malls.

At St. Vital Centre, mall owners have been always wanted some good original stores that no one else has but they also look at Polo Park with envy and hope to grab their own version of popular stores in the largest mall. And so it is that two popular stores will be coming in the next days and weeks to St. Vital. Over time, malls like St. Vital have filled spaces such as the departure of Sears.

The first to open September 26 is Lululemon is opening their third location in the city after Polo Park and Outlet Collection. This is a huge win for St. Vital. Lululemon has a very loyal costumer base that makes their way to wherever the store is. Now for people in this area of town, they have a store right where they live.

Another huge win is the soon to arrive JD Sports. The UK-based store has only one location in Manitoba so far at Polo Park. The St. Vital location will make two. The stylish sports store is pricier than a SportChek but has collections that shopper look for.

To bring these storm in, some doors have moved and others have closed altogether. Sunrise Records has moved to a different corridor.

The big get the St. Vital hasn't announced is Uniqlo. To get this store, the mall is moving a bunch for stores or seeing some close.

Uniqlo has 33 stores in Canada and many have just opened in 2025. St. Vital will get the first one in Manitoba. You can bet that Polo Park will be envious. The Japanese-based store has been on some shopper's list in the province for some time.

Another add on to come is HolyShakes which is a Canadian company the specialized in gourmet shakes. They are to open soon but their doors open to the exterior of the mall near SportChek.

Without doubt the large amount of building are the malls adjusting to the renewed demand for in person retailing. It could be indicating a slow recovery post Covid.

Kiokii Coming to Polo Park

Lots of construction going on in Polo Park as it continues to adjust to the loss of major retailers such as The Bay. It isn't all bad news. As per usual there is a rush of activity to prepare for Christmas which is just under 100 days away. This seems to happen in Polo Park every year as stores ebb and flow with the fashions. Only rock steady companies go on and on such as Apple and Victoria Secret.

It used to be jewellry stores that were the forever stores. They were often in the center of the mall facing one another. All usually on the first floor. Polo Park continues to have a lot of jewellry stores but only Ben Moss is on the first floor center court anymore. A few have migrated to the second floor while others like to be closer to entrances on the first or second.

The old Brettons/Zellers second floor area is finally getting the transformation that create anchors on that floor. 

As mentioned here before, London Drugs is opening their first location on the second floor where the mall looped around in a U shape. It was a less desirable location than some others in the mall but London Drugs is likely to have their own customer base that will park at second level exclusively to shop at the store. 

At the other end of the space for a location will be Ardene. The store is no stranger to Winnipeg but this appears to be a larger location which they have been building for the last 10 years. They usually are about 20,000 square feet. It will join a few other stores to capture the female shopper such as the highly sought out Zara, H&M and Forever 21.

While fewer in number, there are stores to serve young men and men. Harry Rosen, Tip Top and more recently Rodd and Gunn. The loss of the The Bay has given an opening for some retailers to serve men.

One local success is Unique Bunny which is highly sought after for its unique offerings. 

The loss of The Bay suddenly opens up space for make-up stores. With that in mind, a new store is almost ready to open called Kiokii. It features health and beauty from Japanese, Korean and Chinese markets.

It will join other cosmetic sellers like Sephora and Mac.

There are a few blanks in the Polo Park mall that still need filling and rumours are all over the place on those. As for the The Bay, the mall has literally used drywall to seal it off.

What Should Go in The Bay Spots at Polo Park and St. Vital 2025?

The word is on June 1st, 2025, the Bay as a department store will be closing their doors forever. Polo Park and St. Vital Centre will once again have large spaces to fill. It has happened frequently for Winnipeg's top two shopping malls. They have managed to survive and even thrive. It wasn't easy though and there are examples across North America where malls are decaying after losing anchors.

Polo Park has found new tenants after losing Brettons, Eaton's, Safeway, Zellers and Sears. There are still some big retailers worth looking to attract. London Drugs is moving into the second floor of Polo Park which is a big win for the mall. Likewise, St. Vital Centre has replaced old tenants such as Eaton's, Woolco and Safeway. They will now have to replace The Bay.

When Polo Park lost Sears, there were no obvious choices to fill such a large space. They turned to EQ3, the furniture store that had been in the mall parking lot, to move in The remaining space was on the first floor was taken up by popular store Zara. Even with the expanded space, the second floor was unoccupied so Intouch 24/7 call centre moved in. 

There are no obvious choices for an anchor for the Bay location. Simons, a family owned department store would be ideal but they might only be interested in one floor. They expand very slowly and they are in the middle of an Ontario expansion so might not be able to do. Their expansions have always been slow and self-financed.

Polo Park did have a grocery store for many decades it. Safeway was the last store to be located there. They surprised the landlord when they didn't renew the lease and instead located to a supersized format on Madison. While the mall adjusted and brought in other retailers, a grocery store is a very good way to bring in people seven days a week. Could it be that we see a grocer like T&T or Co-Op move into the ground floor space?

The Shopper's Drug Mart has some grocery in it as does the Dollarama. Some critics on social media have blamed the Dollarama for a spike in undesirable elements at the mall. Some have blamed the conversion of the former Clarion Hotel to a medical stay for the government of Nunavut. Attributing bad things to the Utuutaq Centre where pregnant women come for medical stays seems a bit of a reach. As for the Dollarama, there have been a few in the surrounding area for years.

In the post Covid world so much as moved online. Recent stories on the news have reported that stores are migrating to Internet-only sales. Many have said foot traffic patterns have declined. Costs to run a brick and mortar business have gone up. If commercial streets and malls have more stores migrate to online platforms, what is left? For some malls in North America it has been more entertainment options, food halls and restaurants and in recent years residential units.

Polo Park has already indicated they are looking at residential units going in on their expansive property. These will likely go up in parking areas before anything attached to the mall but that might change with the departure of The Bay. The trick is to find tenants that have customers that come in seven days a week over the course of an entire day. As mentioned, grocery stores and pharmacies meet that criteria. Fitness centers do as well in that category. Polo Park has had a 20 lane five pin bowling alley since 1959. It is things like that which have lasting power.

There has been a rumour that Cadillac Fairview was interested in bringing Cineplex Odeon's Playdium to the mall. In 2024, the company opened their first game arcade in a Toronto location. Something like that occupies about 20,000 square feet so it would not fill 200,000 feet of space of empty Bay store but it could be a start.

And what of St. Vital? There is already a gym and two grocery stores as part of the mall and on the property. It already has a movie theatre. It is possible they too could try for an arcade but it is possible they might pull in retailers such as Old Navy into the store instead of the parking lot. However, they too have a size problem in terms of filling the space. A residential option seems unlikely for St. Vital. However, a hotel option might not be out of the question.

Filling nearly 400,000 square feet of space will require some innovation and patience. It is worth noting that Canada does not have nearly as much retailing space as the United States and top malls like Polo Park and St. Vital have been surprisingly resilient. The real estate value of the malls mean that careful consideration of how space is utilized. Even parking space has become too valuable for it to be empty for large parts of the day. And while some might find comfort in a certain consistency and uniformity in malls, they will have to have something unique that you can't get from online scrolling/

Walmart Unicity Renovations 2025

I have pointed out that the Walmart at Unicity is one of the smallest and until 2025 the one most in need of renovations. It is obvious Canadian execs realized that this year they had to get things with Costco opening up down the street in months. Since the company seems unable to expand the footprint of their store, they had to reorganize it since it the narrowest of aisles and the poorest laid out of all the stores in Winnipeg.

The renovations have been agonizing for residents of Charleswood/St. James and Headingly. The store is hard to navigate already so the moving of the pharmacy, floor improvements has led to wide confusion. Where the pharmacy has gone is a huge upgrade. The old location was poorly thought out.

Unicity Walmart still lacks in the deli section that the Taylor and Kenaston locations have. I can't have been to the Polo Park location recently. It is, by far, the most aggressive a Walmart in the city. From the parking lot to the grocery aisle, you are likely to be bowled over by some sharp elbowed person. Unicity has more polite crowds although the narrow aisles are there to create maximum delays and requires the patience of a saint.

The grocery aisles being constructed on the west side of the store are very long. I'm not sure if this is the final configuration so I won't pass final judgement on the store at this time.  I have complained about how Unicity Smart Complex and Walmart have shown their age over the past few years. A few stores have closed and a few opened that are probably better attracting people seven days a week. 

The the coming Costco has a lot of businesses spooked along Portage Avenue. And they should be. Gas stations in St. James have higher prices than most places in the city. Costco will make them take notice. The same applies for car dealers, tire/repair shops and automotive parts people who will have no choice but to compare prices to the big retailer. Walmart was badly in need of an upgrade lest they lose their grocery and pharmacy business to Costco.

Safeway and Sobeys have also had upgrades but I suspect they might have to do more. Post Covid, Portage still has gaps but there are apartments and some other buildings slowly starting to spring up. The former Perkins/RnR restaurant will be turned into apartments shortly. Platinum Auto (formerly Holiday Chev Olds) closed and relocated across town. It is a large site so expect to hear something soon.

There is a lot of building around Costco itself which could affect restaurants along Portage. Walmart could not let an upgrade wait any longer so they have poured hundreds of thousands into the work. This might be a stopgap. I say this because Kenaston Walmart had to upgrade several times in competition with the Costco there. The big problem is that Unicity site is just not large enough for more. Until then, we will have to be happy with an upgraded store for Walmart in Unicity.

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. 

SportChek Unicity Closed

In the last two months SportChek Unicity has closed. No specific reason was given but parent company Canadians Tire was in the mall as well as sister company Mark's. Canadian Tire carries both company's stock on their shelves. That is a lot of one company exposure in one mall. It will not be easy to fill that spot unless sub-divided.

The big one question is whether the Unicity Shopping Centre is due a makeover. The Walmart in St. James is truly the one with the greatest need. It is the worst Walmart in the city for size, width of the aisles and for what it doesn't carry. The new Coscto by Assiniboia Downs is going to kill it.

Some time back Walmart closed its Unicity Lube and Tire service so there is potential room to expand back there. But the store is in desperate room of expansion and can unlikely expand further east into where Dollar Tree sits. It can't really go further north as it is near as far in that direction as they can go. It can't expand west as it is into residential area. It is possible it could push further south but will they do that?

And what of SportsChek? Was their closure and indication of a move to the mall where Costco in going? Could it be that Walmart has not announced a makeover for their store because they are moving to the Costco site as well? Impossible? Well, it certainly looks like there are plans for a grocery with a garden centre there. It just doesn't seem big enough for Walmart though. 

We saw a lot of movement along Kenaston once the Outlet Collection was in place and this could be the same sort of thing happening now. When the new retail pops up there, it could be shops setting up at a new location.

Some discussion of why SportChek closed was that it always looked empty. They had a bad problem with shoplifting. It was poorly stocked. The only thing we are sure is that it is closed. 

Unicity has always been a mall with challenges. The Walmart is very busy but left no room for major expansion. The Sobeys, Canadian Tire and other stories seem to do well but the area lacks charm. Even their bud terminus looks tired. The restaurants at the front all appear to be doing well. It will be interesting if in fact there is an upgrade to this mall once construction of the Costco happens.

It is never too late for an upgrade as McPhillips mall showed. Wait too long though and you start losing stores before that happens.

Will Dinner Theatre Ever Return?

 For the first time in decades, Winnipeg has no dinner theatre. It has been some time since Celebrations has closed. A combination of years of Covid, rising inflation and a union strike made theatre owners throw in the towel. It remains to be seen whether a private theatre serving dinner will ever be able to get off the ground again in Winnipeg.

Over the decades we have had Holly Mug and Stagewest Dinner Theatre in Winnipeg. The only one listed as still active in Winnipeg is the Tara Players Irish Theatre and Dinner. It is unlikely that Winnipeg has tired of dinner theatre but the margins much be tight and renting a spot in a hotel has to be difficult. Owning your site is probably helpful but that rarely seems to be the case.

Still, Celebrations was around since 1990 and probably able to keep its costs downs by having the same theatre production show in Calgary as well as Edmonton. The days of Canad Inns having their nightclubs and other attractions filled has obviously been more challenging the last few years.

You never want to say never say never when it comes to things making a comeback. Yuk Yuk's is back with a comedy club in Winnipeg at the Hotel Fort Garry after many years of not being here. 

Some dinner theatres like Medieval Times around North America rely on tourism. While tourists likely came to Celebrations, it relied on Winnipeggers and surrounding areas for the bulk of their audiences. The shortage of restaurant staff and the uncertain dynamic post pandemic probably means no business will be in a rush to open. Sill, it will be curious what Canad Inns does with the property. Additional meetings rooms? Performance space?

Stagewest success, which started in Edmonton, was that that they were operators of hotels and wrote literally thousands of plays to perform in their dinner theatre. The Winnipeg operation only closed on Kennedy Street because of the construction of Portage Place. 

I think dinner theatre remains something that Winnipeggers want but it will likely not get unless it has a major partner from a hotel, restaurant or theatre company.  In Calgary and Edmonton, Jubilations (Celebrations sister locations) are based at shopping malls including the West Edmonton Mall. 

The two most likely spots for a dinner theatre would seem to be Polo Park or St. Vital Shopping Centre. However, both are nearly full or completely leased and would likely have to be fully committed to the concept. I am more surprised that neither mall has added a hotel attached to the mall as an amenity. Give the approvals CF Cadillac Fairview has for development around Polo Park that isn't a bad bet. Still, we haven't seen the type of hotel development around malls in this province that U.S. malls have. Even Columbia Mall in Grand Forks which could be called a failed mall still has several hotels surrounding it.

I don't think anything will happen soon but after decades of dinner theatre, it is hard to imagine that it will never return.

Long and McQuade to Move to Polo Park Area

 

Long and McQuade, a Canadian national music store, started off pretty small for its Winnipeg location. They were the third location in Canada to open in 1971 and took over Winnipeg Piano, a city institution on Portage. Business boomed at Long and McQuade moved to Osborne the following year. By 1978, they had moved to Corydon.

My impression of Corydon was that it wasn't a big store but I was not sure how deep the store went or if it included a basement. One thing is clear is that the move to Stafford was one of constant expansion as they took over large swaths of the old Videon building in 1997 until there was little left that they didn't operate from. The move to Pembina Highway was a purpose-built store of 25,000 square feet in 2016. 

There are three locations in the city now at Wall Street, Henderson Highway and Pembina Highway. It is the Wall Street location that is moving to Polo Park because there is very little room to expand at their present location. At one point there was a very music shops all along Portage and Wall Street but pretty much the only one left is St. John's Music. The Pembina location boasted it had the largest curved wall of guitars in the world. At 400 guitars, they might be right.

The old Wall Street location used to be Gorden Price/Mother's Music and became a Long and McQuade in 1993 and full renovation in 2014. Mother's Music used to be right across from University of Winnipeg in the 1980s.

The Henderson Highway location is fairly new at 2019. It was a former location of River City Sports. Henderson Highway is filled with music stores.

The location for the relocated Wall Street/Polo Park location is on Ellice just east of Empress Street. It is a multi-million purchase of the whole 9 acres and 120,000 square foot building where Long and McQuade will occupy 50,000 square feet of what is presently Bianca Amor's Liquidation Supercentre.

In 2007, the whole complex was purchased by Cabela from Sidney I. Robinson who used to operate S.I.R. Warehouse, a business not dissimilar to Cabela's. Prior to that, the building was used by MTS for their fleet vehicles. 

Much of the area around Polo Park was industrial right up to the 1980s.

For those wondering what happens to Bianca Amor's, it has found a smaller spot on St. James.

The new Long and McQuade's is modelled after Halifax and Calgary which feature a store and distribution centre. The company has quite a bit of product going from place to place and at 50,000 square feet of space, the new Polo Park location can handle that.

This is a massive investment in the city and evidence that music lessons and musical instruments are big business. There isn't a company that I know of quite as coast to coast in their field as Long and McQuade.  An employee increase for the people hired for the distribution centre and for music lessons is guaranteed. Total numbers are not known. And of course, the construction and millions spent will help the economy here in 2024.

Original Joe's Closes St. Vital Location

Original Joes's built their first restaurant in River Heights at the corner of Grant and Kenaston in 2010. It was the old location of Grapes which had lasted for decades until it fell out of fashion. They built their next one beside St. Vital Centre two years later. And a third one opened out on west Portage at Unicity in 2020.

The restaurant group started in 1998 and is presently part of the Recipe Unlimited colossus that might employ the most employees in the business in Winnipeg. They also own The Keg, Montana's, New York Fries and many more. In recent years, this company has closed all their Kelsey's in Winnipeg.

In the last week they shuttered the Original Joe's at St. Vital. Details of why were not revealed but as a best guess, it might be because it was harder to get to than one might think. There was no direct route back and forth between the mall and the restaurant.

Over the years, it has become more and more apparent that getting into St. Vital Centre when rush hours or holidays are around is not as easy feat. It gets harder each year as more traffic head both south and east to growing suburbs beyond but also use the mall as their central shopping area.

It is highly likely another restaurant group will take a chance on this locations if given a chance. When Recipe Unlimited closed Kelsey's in Winnipeg, many were taken over by restaurants like Smitty's. The fact that a patio is already in place has to be a selling point.

It is a tough time running a restaurant at the best of times. Many have struggled terribly with staffing even as minimum wages have gone up. Immigration is increasing but the rate of people retiring and leaving the job market seems to rising even fast. The increase in inflation and interest rates could also mean mean people are more likely to cut dining out. It is a difficult market to assess. Nevertheless, it will be interesting to see if something new comes to this location.