What Restaurants Should Locate by Portage Avenue Costco?

Costco is now open along Portage Avenue. Even as the doors opened and work continued in different places, apartment construction continues. The rumours on restaurants locating right by the highway have jumped since last week. There are some diners further in Headingley such as Nick's Inn and Headingley Grill. Denny's operates on many days 24 hours. The Gates just across the river has fine dining. However, with Costco now open, the demand for drive-thru and casual dining in a growing commercial and residential area is rising.

There are many more stores coming to the area as well as apartment buildings. The plan is for at least 6 or 7 roadside restaurants and drive-thrus. Nothing has been announced yet but several places have been mentioned as potentials. Arby's comes up all the time as a potential tenant. It is no secret they want a second location in the city after the success at Seasons of Tuxedo. There has been talk of a return of Swiss Chalet to the site for a third return visit to the city. I'm not sure why this chain would think the results would be any different than the last times they were here.

Montana's has been mentioned as a possibility. It is highly likely that McDonald's will want to build out at the site given that their closest restaurant is inside Walmart Unicity. This is true of all the big chains. They will look at the Westport site because of the shopping, recreation and new housing going up. In 2026, expect the hear a flurry of announcements now that Costco has gone up.

To review some of the restaurants I've heard from clients that may look at kicking the tires of locating at Westport are:

Arby's

McDonald's

Applebee's/IHOP

Pancake House

Starbucks

Smitty's

My understanding is that breakfast/lunch places are highly sought after because of Costco's hours and to reach the commuters coming down the Trans-Canada Highway.

Tim Horton's is already on site and has been there for years. Robin's is possible but they have been struggling for years to come back. Some local coffee places that are possible are.

Thom Bargen

Empty Cup

The word is that a steakhouse/casual dining place is being looked for. Original Joe's is nearby already so that is unlikely. Some of the ones mentioned are:

Joeys

Moxies

Earls

Lot 88

Olive Garden

Frankie's

Chipotle

Stella's

A lot of people have had some swing for the fences hopes for restaurants such as:

Cheesecake Factory

Ruth's Chris Steakhouse

Texas Roadhouse

These restaurants don't have locations in Canada presently so seems unlikely they come now.

There are many in Winnipeg who probably have hopes of an American chain coming to the city that we don't have. It is possible. We have had a few come that eventually closed such as Earl of Sandwich, Royal Fork and Longhorn Steakhouse Winnipeg. Some like Famous Dave's just keep rolling along.

It is possible that some independent local restaurants opens on the site too.

One thing that is clear is that the huge amount of traffic is going to attract a lot of restaurants and retail to the area.

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.

Winnipeg Unicity Shooting 2024

The above is the final moments of a video posted Sunday, November 24 at Unicity of a suspect in a stabbing of a Winnipeg Police officer. The officer survived and was hospitalized but the suspect was shot multiple times. Audio has officers shouting for suspect to drop what is in their hand.

The acting police chief asked public not to judge based on the videos that were shot outside the Walmart at Unicity. Fair enough. There is likely video at Walmart inside and out as well. The Independent Investigation Unit has been called in for officer involved shooting. 

The deceased has not been named yet. It is likely we hear who they are soon but also if there has been past involvement with police. It can be a painfully slow process and sometimes very little information is given out. The information we might get initially is usually family who are feeling the loss and bewildered how it came to this.

There won't be a lot of sympathy in some quarters to the death of someone who may have been responsible for store shoplifting and an attack on police. Some will declare more of this is necessary. Still, keep in mind police don't want to be shooting people every day. Most want their job to be about deescalating things and not having to face people with weapons aimed at hurting them.

The province already as this week another police shooting in Norway House where an armed youth was killed by RCMP. It is under investigation as well. The community there is brokenhearted. Even when stun guns are used, the community has responded that they feel other methods would be better. It was a bad week with another homicide just days earlier. The Cree of the area are hurting.

There is a group of people who wish to eliminate the police or redirect their spending elsewhere. To be sure, there has to more done on mental health, addictions and poverty that can contribute to issues involving crime and violence. It is often a slow process and many do not want any of those three things in their neighbourhood. But even police say they cannot fight poverty, mental health or addictions. That is, unless we want a prison system that has hundreds of thousands in it.

As for those wanting police eliminated or defunded, I have not heard too many alternatives for many of the areas law enforcement works in. However, like the medical system, there is room for evolution. In medicine, doctors no longer need to be writing some prescriptions that pharmacists can write. Testing of blood and other samples are done offsite. Vaccines have been revolutionized in that they are available everywhere and tracked centrally. They don't have to be given by doctors which can save time in outbreaks.

Police were at Unicity as part of the retail theft initiative. Some police are at shops as part of voluntary overtime to deter crime while others are there as part of teams intended to stop shoplifting/violence and take people into custody. The police briefing noted that there were undercover officers present Sunday night. It entirely likely undercover officers did not have Taser or other less lethal weapons. Neither officer had bodycam video which is being introduced as a tool in Manitoba but not presently being used in Winnipeg.

There have been several police involved shootings in Winnipeg over the last few years. Many are still under investigation. It is a difficult time for Winnipeg but this is happening all over Canada. A lot of people have been feeling very sad and often scared that things have gotten this bad. Many things will have to change over the next while to turn things around.

Planet Fitness to Move into SportChek Unicity

The SportChek wasn't closed for long at Unicity. The location seemed destined to be split up into two spaces since it seemed too large for an easy replacement of the same size. That turned out to be wrong. Planet Fitness has indicated they will be opening soon in the old spot.

In very recent weeks Orange Theory closed nearby and SpecSavers opened in the space. This means there is no other gym super nearby. Portage Avenue does have Fit4Less by Goodlife, the Y, Shapes and some boutique gyms. Most malls are quickly discovering that if you want to have people in hours before or after mall hours you need a grocery, pharmacy, gym or restaurants.

As mentioned in a previous post about Unicity Smart Complex, it is a number of box stores with a few anchors. Restaurants are out more to Portage Avenue although a few are mixed in with the other retailers. It is bleak and and not very green compared to newer developments. However, having more people at a Planet Fitness will make that area of the mall far busier than it has been in recent years.

Portage has had some empty storefronts along it for a few years. Things have been very slowly filling up and malls like Unicity are in need of upgrades. Recent closures on Portage Avenue have been RnR Restaurants and Pets 101 and Crystal Clear Water Centre. The restaurant will be converted to apartments, some affordable housing. The pet store will become massage therapy business and the building was sold to the owner of that business.

The post-pandemic recovery has had many retailers think about what businesses are in the mix. In the past, restaurants were always sought to give a retail complex earlier morning and later day activities adjacent to stores. However, many restaurants are simply closing earlier because traffic patterns have changed. In recent weeks restaurants like Sushi Park in Charleswood and Earl of Sandwich have closed at Seasons Tuxedo.

Many gyms like Snap and Anytime Fitness closed as well during the pandemic. Some that have opened like Crunch Fitness in the old Goodlife location have struggled with getting out the gate. As mentioned, the Unicity mall area had an Orange Theory that recently closed.

The new Planet Fitness opens soon according to their website. It will be interesting to see if it attracts the growing population of apartment residents nearby.  St. James is going through changes where it will attract more density along Portage Avenue. We have not the seen the final development around Unicity. I suspect we will see more in 2025.

Specsavers Opens in Winnipeg

Specsavers, a corrective lenses store has entered the Winnipeg market in a big way. They have opened two stores in CF Polo Park and St. Vital Centre and a third one will open in SmartCenters Winnipeg West also known as Unicity. The one in Unicity was formerly Orange Theory gym. Above is work being done to meet their September 12 opening.

Glasses are incredibly expensive even when purchased from Costco or Walmart. Specsavers will be offering glasses at $39 for single lens until September 22. Progressive lenses are every day priced at $149. Seniors 65 and over get 50% off starting September 9 for lens upgrades.

Specsavers started 40 years ago in the UK and entered the Canadian market in 2021. They have a 125 locations in Alberta, B.C. and Ontario. These will be the first Manitoba locations. Worldwide they have 2,700 locations run by optometrist owners. That is roughly 44 million customers.

Competition in the glasses businesses has been difficult to come by. It comes as a shock to many Canadians that many of the optical shops out there have the same corporate owner. There used to be a lot more competition out there. Specsavers should help in this regard. And the fact that they are opening in large malls is welcome as so many shops over the decades have closed in those locations.

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.

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.