Qdoba Mexican Grill Kenaston Now Open

Located in vacated The Source location in Walmart Parking Lot

Qdoba Mexican Grill has opened their second location along Kenaston in a former The Source location in the Walmart parking lot. Umi Sushi is right next door.

The original location for Qdoba on Ellice remains open.

In the next two years expect a flurry of restaurant openings in the area around the outlet mall now under construction on Sterling Lyon. There were also be thousands of new residents due to the apartment and condo construction going on in the area.

Target Shutting Down All Canadian Stores

Target Canada announced today that their expansion into Canada has been a total failure and they will be shutting down all stores.

The 133 stores and over 17,000 employees will be affected.

In Winnipeg, the Polo Park location just barely opened.

It has been known for some time that Target was struggling in Canada. The losses have mounted to over $2 billion. The liquidation of the stores will cost upwards of $600 million.

The reasons for Target's failure is numerous but high prices, empty shelves, poor locations and comparing poorly to their American cousin are generally accepted as being the top complaints.

Target was initially welcomed in Canada with huge enthusiasm but soon disappointment set in. The company's response was that they were competitive in Canada and it was unfair to compare Canada's Target to America's stores. The problem is that Canadians didn't think they were competitive and it was hard not to believe that they couldn't get what was seen in U.S. stores.

Job growth in Canada in 2014 was very slow. And with oil prices dropping, there is some indication the economy is going to be tough in 2015 for some provinces. The massive failure of Target will be just added salt to an economy still not recovered from one slide after another since 2008.

It is difficult to imagine just what will happen to all the closed stores. It is possible Walmart might pick up some of the best locations. But then again, why would they if there were bad spots to begin with.

Target might not be the only daprtment store to die in  2015. By all accounts, Sears Canada is also circling the drain. The U.S. Sears shuttered a large amount of Kmarts and Sears just in the last days. This is on top of all the other closures.

Another store in Canada announced their liquidation this week as well. Mexx will begin the process of selling off all their stock.

What did it all mean? This is hard to tell. However, any sense of triumph about the Canadian economy going forward is sure to be muted.

Fear is now replacing confidence in many regions and many sectors.

Walmart and Grant Park Pavilions

New Walmart on Taylor Avenue

Work has already begun an the Walmart Supercentre in the Grant Park Pavilions site along Taylor behind the Grant Park Shopping Mall.  It is familiar territory for Walmart since they once occupied the spot presently held by Target in the mall back in 1994. At that time, the 9 Woolco stores across the province were taken over and re-made as Walmarts.

Grant Park Pavillions

Shindico is the developer of Grant Park Pavillions and they have been shepherding a variety of projects along Taylor Avenue for decades. The site near the Manitoba Hydro building has probably been on a wish list for future development for years but it has been held back by the fact that major hydro lines cross crossed the land.

The hydro lines that had to be buried

A perfect storm of events conspired to make the land near Hydro ever more valuable. First, the land around Grant Park has a higher density than many areas due to many apartment blocks nearby. The proximity to River Heights and Fort Rogue has ensured that a number of stores in the area do well. This is turn has led to a decades long expansion of retail along Taylor Avenue. Sports, health and recreation including Reh-Fit and racquet sports clubs was the street's reputation in the past.

24 hectare, 60 acre site

Pembina Highway is very close by and for people looking to pick up something before heading home to For Garry and St. Norbert, a diversion midway to their neighbourhoods along Taylor is workable.

900 townhouses on park right behind mall

The dogear of the rapid transit goes right past the site of the new development and towards the new Park lands development still in the inception phase.

Even more traffic problems on Pembina?

All in all...so much promises to be perfect in terms of location of this development. Big concern though has to be the traffic flows on to Taylor off Pembina Highway. Is the city ready for this? My guess is no.

So much new housing going up nearby

There appears to be a race for several shopping sites across the city. Most seem to be incorporating some form of multi-unit housing in their site plans and Grant Park Pavillions is no different.

Housing on site

 Some critics might think that no one will want to live on a site with so much shopping. They should perhaps look to the Superstore on Bison Drive to realize those mutli-unit homes are rapidly selling.

At some point this massive retail build is going to have to slow down. I am not sure when or how but I suspect a development past, present or future will founder.

It is interesting to note that Fairweather, the development of Seasons of Tuxedo has passed on the work of bringing the next phase of the Sterling Lyon retail project to others. They won't be putting together the factory outlet mall. Did they just think it was a good time to cash out?

The south side of Sterling Lyon continues to fill in but no new big box has been announced and built since last May with Cabela's.

One thing is certain that Winnipeg will see more multi-unit housing go up in many retail developments. A captive audience for those stores is the possible reason. Perhaps one day, we may see residential towers built atop of existing malls like Polo Park.

Scheels Superstore to Open in Columbia Mall Grand Forks

Scheels Sports

It isn't new news for those in Grand Forks, North Dakota but it might not be known by Winnipeg people who go to Columbia Mall in the U.S. The announcement really was made in 2011 and it was about the disposition of the old Target store at Columbia.

The old Target closed in 2001 in favour of the SuperTarget across the street on 32nd Avenue South. And thereafter, it has sat empty. The four screen movie theatre and Office Depot were also shut and that side of the mall became a sad reminder of how vital that area had been.

The mall built a new Sears in 2000 when the old location at the South Forks Plaza closed.

Columbia has been a favourite of Canadians since 1978 when it opened. However, the closure of the Target was a major hit. Not even the the 2005 renovation that added a 430 seat food court was enough to undo the fact that one part of the mall ended in a dead end.

For more and more people, the trip farther south to Fargo and then again to Albertville and Minneapolis too. For many people, West Acres in Fargo and the surrounding retail area has been sufficient attraction for many people to bypass Grand Forks.

Despite the attractions of a Super Walmart and a SuperTarget as well as the Grand Forks Marketplace across the street from Columbia Mall that has Kohl's,  Best Buy, Lowe's Home Improvement, Ashely Furniture, Gorman's and Old Navy ... it still didn't match the heyday when Grand Forks was the destination to go for Winnipeg shoppers.

Well, the days of the empty and blocked off Target store will be coming to an end next year. In 2014, Scheel's Sports will be opening a 120,000 square foot location at Columbia. It will coincide with the closure coming at the end of their lease at their Columbia Road location across from the hospital.

The giant location of Scheels won't be the same size as Fargo's world beater 200,000 square foot  and two floor colossus but it will very big and roughly double the employees. It won't have a Ferris wheel but it is likely to have the shooting simulators plus a large selection of stock.

The arrival of Scheels's will likely kickstart the mall a great deal. Interest by movie theatre companies and other retailers will be piqued.

And a revived Columbia Mall will make more Winnipeg travellers south stick.

Now...I wonder if we can ever get Scheel's here in Winnipeg. We get excited about a 17,000 square foot sports retailer opening up. Imagine something as big as a Scheel's.

Sears in Winnipeg to Close?

Sears Winnipeg in 2003 after $16 million Renovation

The rumours have been flying so much in the last weeks but there may be something to it. Sears many be looking to sell off the lease on their Polo Park location.

Sears department stores have been in free fall for a few years now. They had an absolutely terrible Christmas and Target is opening stores across Canada in only a couple of more months.

Manitoba doesn't figure too large in the grand scheme of things for Sears. There are only four department stores in the province all within Winnipeg. The company also runs Sears Home and Sears Hometown stores and have numerous catalogue pick up locations.

It is a pretty light covering of Manitoba compared to rivals such as Walmart and now Target.

By all accounts Sears Polo Park is a flagship store. It has done very well for Sears over the years. I have not see store breakdowns from this December but I suspect it has been a challenge this year compared to the glory years of past. However, this store was only just renovated in 2003 for $16 million. Can it still be successful in years to come?

Sears has already closed locations in Vancouver, Calgary and Ottawa to allow for the opening of Canada's first Nordstrom stores. These lease buy backs netted Sears $170 million.

The head office of Sears has indicated they are prepared to close even more stores, particularly under performing ones. But what about ones that perform well?

There have been whispers about Nordstrom's coming to Winnipeg. One store's downfall can be another's opportunity. Look at Woolco's sale to Walmart for that in 1994 and Zellers closing to make way for Target in 2012 and 2013. Could Sears be next?

To be frank, the only Sears location in a mall Nortstrom's might be interested in would be Polo Park. The store there is between 250,000 and 300,000 feet and anchors the largest and most profitable mall in Manitoba

Sears has already indicated they are struggling with apparel and home decor but do well with "hero" categories of appliances, mattresses and baby goods. Is this enough for them to hang on to such a large location in Polo Park? Probably not.

A better strategy might be to retreat from the mall and use the money to build on the Sears Home brand in Manitoba. The company already has a location close to Polo Park. They could stand to have more in the city and the province.

Polo Park owner already has a 97,000 square feet of space to fill with Zellers closing. The mall is already in a knock down drag out battle for U.S. retailers with St. Vital Centre and Cadillac Fairview, owner of Polo Park, might be looking to grab Sears space as well.

The retail landscape is changing quickly and Sears is struggling badly. They still have some options compared to Zellers laying down and dying. The time to execute those option is quickly coming.

Perhaps we really will hear that the rumours of Sears at Polo Park is closing are true.

The Polo Park Traffic Congestion

St. Matthews at Polo Park. Blocked by a dance school

St. Matthews is not a direct intersection

I have written a lot about Polo Park over the years. It has become in my lifetime the central shopping district so much so that it has squeezed out its entertainment neighbours of hockey and football.

There has been some sullenness about consumerism and moving people from box store to box store and I get that. However, the city was started as a trading area and remains a commercial city to this day. How soon we forget that Portage and Main began when one merchant tramped his way to that road corner thumbing his nose at convention and damned the fact that the infrastructure was elsewhere.

 City planning can be organic or a technical and political process. Wrong decisions by the public or the private sector can prove costly. And it doesn't always have to be about commercial losses or tax revenue. It can be about disease and fire as we have seen from the great cities of London and Chicago.

The Bartley Kives article on what is happening in Polo Park  on improving traffic points out that Sam Katz has put a lot of stock into moving cars around the city. He is correct. The amount of time spent on synchronizing traffic lights is $12 million. The amount on Polo Park traffic enhancement will be $30 million.

And the sad thing is that on streets where we want faster flow as motorists, more traffic lights are going up. The example for this is Kenaston where there are a many more intersections and traffic lights.

For purely self interested reasons, most people want to be able to step out of their house when they want, go where they want and do it as fast as they want. Faster is better.

Many cities have tried to accommodate that and have built infrastructure to achieve that. However, like healthcare, it can break the budget if we don't control ourselves. In other words, if we don't take some responsibility for our own decisions, we can expect it may cost us more time and money in the end.

By way of example: If you move to Waverley West, don't be surprised if there isn't a school or daycare right away and that you are caught in traffic. Despite tens of millions being spent, the roads still can't handle the cars and budgets for building several schools.

Politicians and city planners satisfy this demand will never be able to keep up. And like Sim City, riots and fires will erupt.

That is not to say that infrastructure changed around Polo Park are not necessary.  While the Free Press mentions that the route from downtown to Transcona and downtown to University of Manitoba are listed as higher priorities, the area around Polo Park has remained pretty much as we see it now for decades aside from Silver Avenue being extended and a center turning lane on St. James Street.

I think we can say safely that tens of millions more have been spent on Regent and Pembina Highway.

But that is neither here nor there. The city has infrastructure needs all over the place as a result of low density, low investment and poor planning. And as much blame lays with the city, the province is just as much guilty as they pick and choose their own projects and act as developer as they are in Waverly West.

I do want the city to invest in rapid transit. We have waited far too long to do anything and have let valuable rail lands be bought up for various of developments rather that grabbing them even if it was future use as bus or light rail corridor. At the very least they should have been used as pedestrian and bike corridors. The Oak Bank line through Polo Park and River Heights comes to mind.

But as I said, recriminations can wait.

The question was: Does Polo Park warrant $30 million in infrastructure improvements? The answer is yes.

One big change mentioned was to extend St. Matthews Avenue. This is good except for the fact that like Silver Avenue's extension, it doesn't meet up in a true intersection. A retail strip blocks a true connection. Now, I am not a traffic engineer but it doesn't take a genius to think that a solution might be to curve the street through the stadium site and the retail building. However, that seems unlikely as the city usually takes the past of least resistance.

In short, it will be a Route 90 to St. James extension and a bit of a mash up with poor turning lanes and a pile up at the new Target. That is my guess.

There is talk about Ellice at St. James and changes there. The lack of turning lanes means left and right lanes are blocked through a few light cycles.

One thing I considered might be an interesting possibility is making Empress one way from St. Matthews north to Sargent and Milt Stegall Drive one way from Sargent south to St. Matthews. If you look at what it might entail, I am sure most people might find it intriguing.

In principle, I am not huge on one way streets. I think we have far too many of them downtown and many should be turned back to two way. However, they do have their place and this might be one case as Empress is very narrow and cars turning left at Ellice or into Walmart cause chaos.

So some the stores along Empress such as Walmart are not nice to be around a lot of the time because the two way traffic along the street is brutal.

The city must start taking a principled stand on developers creating turning lanes on their property, landscaping and burying hydro poles on their streets before getting their approvals.

To the people who say this can't be done without driving away business, the argument is bogus. Look at Grand Forks and Fargo to see how the malls there have managed traffic.

The city already has a policy about drive-thrus to prevent places like Tim Horton's having traffic lined up 20 cars deep on Kenaston. The line-ups must take place on the restaurant's property.

It is early stages on what will happen with traffic at Polo Park. At the very least, I want it to be less dangerous.

As far as other traffic issues and rapid transit, I suggest the province of Manitoba get off their butts and take ownership of the rapid transit issue. The University of Manitoba is a provincial institution. They province chose to put it at the tail end of the city. They ought to build the rapid connection to it or at least a large share of it.

And for God's sake, stop letting abandoned rail lands get taken up for development. If Burlington Northern or CP ever give up their rail lines or land, buy the property! If not now, it will be sometime soon that it serves the interest of city and province.

The best development in the city of Winnipeg has been The Forks and that was federally driven with the province and the city along as partners. I think that success can be duplicated. Might be good to see what sort of transportation plan might originate from such a partnership.

However, back to Polo Park: There is without question good reasons to work on the road in the area. We just have to ensure the developers are paying a lot of the freight in terms of traffic so that turning lanes and service roads are part of the solution.

Two Story Target Polo Park

2 Story Target in Minneapolis

2 story Target in East Liberty, Pittsburgh

It seemed obvious that the 97,000 square feet on second floor occupied by Zellers in Polo Park was a poor choice for a Target store. The site was too small and poor for carts laden with groceries and goods to move about on a snow packed and crowded upper parking deck.

As much as Polo Park might have loved to have them to be in the mall, owners Cadillac Fairfiew probably saw the problems it might pose for for the store and for them. With that in mind, Cadillac Fairview partnered with Shindico for Plan B.

This plan entailed offering to buy the Canad Inns Stadium following the end of this season, demolishing it and trying to entice Target to build a Super Target on the site. A purchase offer was agreed upon and a initial plans were drawn up but no firm commitment was made until now.

Target has now confirmed they are the anchor tenant on the old Winnipeg Stadium site. However, since the initial design was introduced, Target has now changed things up and adopted a style that has been used for more urban locations.

Back in June, I said Target had abandoned Polo Park for the stadium site and in August, I mentioned how Target was developing an urban design. In many cases, the new stores were re-developments of older buildings for a particular type of shopper that needed certain things. The stores were smaller, often a few stories and geared to take Target to markets it had not been in before.

What I wasn't aware of was that Target had created another little pilot project in retailing that was suitable for northern climates and melded some of the ideas it was using in its urban stores.

In 2011, Target created a new concept store in Pittsburgh's East Liberty district. Since the 1960s, city planners and local business developers failed in a plan to support the area with catastrophic choices that destroyed a million square feet of local businesses, re-routed roads, turned many one way and then to added unattractive and low income housing complexes rising 20 stories high.

The largely black neighbourhood of East Liberty was a logistical nightmare of roads that were difficult to navigate, devoid of businesses needed in the community and with housing complexes that were both ugly and dangerous. The area was blighted.

It is not surprising that the Pittsburgh neighbourhood welcomed a new concept Target that the retailer proposed for the area. Local officials first had to offer subsidies, building loans and revert one way roads back to two way.

And what Target built in East Liberty was a two story building with parking tucked under its footprint and something that their suburban stores didn't have: windows on all four sides. They also made a commitment that the store would have fresh produce, a welcome addition for those making the store one of their primary grocers. At 144,000 square feet and around 250 jobs, the store was large enough to serve the needs of the community as a whole.

Now, let's be clear: Polo Park is no East Liberty. For the last 50 years Polo Park has a going concern and the most successful retail area in Manitoba. The location at one point may have been considered a suburb but now it sits sort of at the halfway point between the downtown and city limits. It is close to two major roads: Portage Avenue and Kenaston Route 90. The mall is also surrounded on three sides by residential development and occupies the southern tip of an airport industrial area.

As most will attest, the roads that generally support the airport industrial area are narrower as befitting a business park. The commercialization of St. James as a retail centre has accelerated in recent years and the traffic has gotten to be a headache. The old Winnipeg Arena is gones as is the old CKY building. Both have been swallowed up by Polo Park extending its reach to Maroons Road. The area is now being developed as a mix of retailing and offices.

The Canad Inn Stadium is not long for this world. Two more games remain of the Blue Bomber season and the play-offs this year is not in the cards. As soon as everything is packed up in the dressing rooms, the site will be demolished to make way for the the sale of the site for Target and two other stores. The $30 million dollar price tag will pay for $20 million of road upgrades. Other money will be allocated to the Active Living Centre at the University of Manitoba.

So what will this Target look like? Well, it won't look like any of the other thus far planned in Canada. The retailer has decided that Polo Park is an "urban" location and as such in need of a more urban design. Although East Liberty, Pittsburgh and Polo Park, Winnipeg are far removed in many circumstances, they share the fact that they are in established neighbourhoods, in northern climate and with only so much space to work. The above pictures of East Liberty's Target are what we will see in Winnipeg.

There will be some differences. The store will use red brick in construction and feature a Target logo on the roof which will be easy to spot for air traffic. However, the design will be essentially the same: 145,000 square feet, windows on all sides and parking tucked under the footprint of the store.

SuperTargets are generally around 175,000 square feet. However, regular Targets are around 126,000 feet. This will be a different animal and probably be one of the first of this new breed of stores for Canada in established neighbourhoods.

In terms of size comparison to other future Target sites like Grant Park mall, the size of the Zellers there is 116,000 square feet.

There are a number of hurdles to cross yet not the least of which is what to do with the roads. The road in front of Canad Inn Stadium now is a rutted mess. Empress and Milt Steagall Drive and good candidates for making one way streets. However, making one ways all over the place will create its own problems of accessing businesses and the like.

There will be many who complain about are car-centric country. It is hard to disagree with what is being said. However, change does not happen in a vacuum. Try to force people what to do and they will vote with their feet. Vancouver prevented Wal-Mart from locating in the the city and residents there simply went to suburbs and beyond.

The best thing to do is to keep working to improve areas a bit at a time. Mass transit connections, bike paths, density, mixed use buildings and trying to use a smaller footprint. Cars are not going to disappear because we want them to but because they have become too expensive or less convenient.

The new Target at Polo Park addresses a few things in design and footprint that might make it a lot better retailing experience. To be sure, it will be welcomed by consumers in this city who have long not been overly impressed with Zellers over the years.

The city has to do its part on infrastructure and roads and to push more strongly for design improvements and service roads inside a major development. All in all, a good development this far. And let's not forget, the space in Polo Park that Zellers vacates might be ideal for H&M to finally come to the city.

CityTarget

CityTarget in Chicago

Target stores in recent weeks have opened their new urban concept store in Chicago to great fanfare. It is along a major transit corridor and built inside a beloved historic building. The store is smaller than their regular store and much smaller than the 180,000 square foot SuperTarget. Stores are scheduled for Los Angeles, Seattle, Portland.

Target already had two regular Targets in Minneapolis and Harlem, New York. The regular stores are not easily built or always suitable in large urban centres though. Also they are too large for the purposes of the company.

So what does a CityTarget have? It has food and quick service items for urban dwellers. Speed is what the store wants to offer cutomers. Get your milk and bread and oh, rain out...get an umbrella and light jacket. Quick, handy, urbane and needed.

With Zellers shutting downs its downtown store in the next little while and The Bay hanging by a thread along Memorial, one wonders if Target could be attracted to the location. And if not Target, one of the other retailers from the U.S. who are pushing hard for downtown locations such as Walmart.

The next big crisis downtown is The Bay.

In 2013, it is very likely the store will shutter the doors. If there is a retail chance in hell of saving the place, it will come from approaching companies like Target and seeing if it fits in their long view for Canada.

Westport Festival

Plans and Location for Westport Festival

The Westport Festival is a new development being promoted by Shindico. It seems festival has replaced Centre, Plaza, Court, Common and Village.

I guess the developer thought a retailing concept called The Downs was too sad.

In any event, this development near the Assiniboia Downs is very large. How big? Well, bigger than the lot where Unicity Fashion Square used to be before being converted to a WalMart big box concept in 2000.

The Westport follows that same big box line with two very large box store locations with one unique difference. There is a listing for a large movie theatre complex on the site.

We have already seen that we are losing one discount movie theatre chain with the conversion Cinema City on McGillivray. What could this theatre be? First run movies, second run?

One thing is clear: The people of St. James and Charleswood have been under-served for years in the movie theatre department. The only real theatre in St. James was the King's Theatre and it closed decades ago. And the Polo Park Theatre in the deep dark recesses of the basement of Polo Park Mall was not worthy of the place.

Silver City Polo Park has been serving the west part of the city since it was built in the 1990s.

That is a large section of the city where kids faced a very long bus ride in some case or difficult to impossible access if they lived in Charleswood to any movie theatre. It was one reason that for a very long time, there was a lot of video rental places along Portage Avenue.

The 450 acre Red River Exhibition Park is immediately north of the site. The eight auto dealers of Pointe West Autopark is right next door on an equally large piece of land.

In short order, things are getting busy in this area. It is easy to see the streets serving a mall, Red River Ex and the autopark are not up to snuff. Work will have to be done to avoid a three ring circus there.

So what big stores might be looking at those retail boxes? Well, a good bet is Lowe's. However, could not Target be a possibility? Kohl's would be the next dream store for Winnipeggers but there are others coming like J. Crew, Brooks Brothers and Crate & Barrel.

Only time will tell but fully leased signs are up in a lot of the city malls and some retail street strips.

The other interesting element of the Westport Festival is a hotel. Like a lot of others, Shindico hopes to capitalize on the nearby MTS Iceplex and the need for hotel space for the teams going to tournaments. It is obvious that there seemed to be no need just to serve the Red River Ex and Assiniboia Downs.

There has been a flurry of hotels built in that area after years of nothing.

The stretching out of our infrastructure and the traffic chaos in Headlingley is a debate that should happen as this project starts to take shape. Nevertheless, the increasing fully leased signs all over the city means that if we are ever to get certain stores, they will have to have a place to go.

To that end, the city continues to expand outward. Perhaps city council will continue to try and backfill spaces without some of the NIMBY-ism we have seen in recent weeks.

Grant Park Shopping Mall 2

Old commercial for Grant Park Shopping Mall.

I wrote back several weeks that something was afoot at Grant Park Shopping Mall.

I speculated initially some of the store closures and moves might be as a result of Target taking over Zellers spot.

The mall made some changes when Walmart took over in 1994 with McNally Robinson and the movie theatres all expanding. Other major anchors moved or were renovated such as the Liquor Mart and Safeway.

It was easy to see say that a few changes might be coming as a result of the Zellers re-branding. Alas though, it the Liquor Mart that is responsible for some of the shuffling going on.

Once the flagship of the Manitoba Liquor Mart chain of stores, the Grant Park location although largest is now second highest in volume after the Dakota location.

The Liquor Mart plans a 1500 square renovation which will see 6 stores moved from the western to central area of the mall. This will result in some closures of some month to month renters. The overall change should help Grant Park reclaim unchallenged leadership as flagship store.

It is heady times for the Liquor Marts. They are are expanding in two locations in the south now after chasing Salisbury House out of the Tuxedo Park Mall. In addition, Manitoba government changes to the liquor laws will make it possible for kiosks of the Liquor Mart to open in stores. This is quite the expansion of the MLCC's reach.

It is an election year and for the NDP government, it is probably looking to kill two birds with one stone: Expand a unionized workplace to further areas and to loosen liquor laws. The greater discussion of liquor laws in general and whether to allow other private vendors in or to sell off or end the Liquor Mart remains to be had.

The government is fairly risk adverse and probably hopes this will be enough to get kudos.

The Liquor Marts do a good job at what they do. However, the question has to be asked if a government needs to own the retailer anymore. Further, a discussion of liquor laws on a wider scale should be undertaken to provide responsible Manitobans with choices and to ensure that issues related to crime, zoning, noise, addiction, FASD, advertising, police enforcement and things as simple as tailgate parties all are discussed.

For Grant Park Shopping Centre, the trick will be to try and keep Target in the mall and not have them decamp like Walmart did before. To do this, it may be necessary for the store to push westward even more so that the location can be larger. However, even that might not suffice given the size of a Super Target.

Lots of changes in the face of Canadian retailing none more-so than how Target transforms the landscape. The importance of smaller regional malls in adapting will be a large factor. Even smaller malls such as the Charleswood Mall opted to ditch the enclosed route and go for box strip mall to great success. Grant Park could find this is the way to go but the presence of so many offices in the mall as well as the movie theatres has probably kept them from going forward thus far.

The End of the Music Store

Winnipeg never really had the competitive next door music stores like Toronto did.

The retreat of the music store happened even before the advent of downloading. I worked at A&A Records at Madison Square during school in 1988. By 1993, the national chain collapsed. At the time, the company's demise could hardly be blamed on the Internet, Walmart (which entered Canada in 1994) or any of the factors facing today's music stores.

It is with sadness that CD Plus has announced that they are closing their last Manitoba stores. The company has existed in one form or another since 1962 in Winnipeg and was headquartered here.

Aside from the mall-based HMV stores and some specialized regional music stores, the days of the music chain are gone. The acceleration to online downloading has spelled the demise of the brick and mortar stores.

I can remember for a time from the very late 1980s into the 1990s when HMV and Musiplex on Portage along with A&B Music created for a time the sense of excitement that Toronto had with Sam's and A&A Records.

The music industry has been under siege for a long while now. In some cases, it is hard to have sympathy since people felt thoroughly gouged when CDs came out and they industry charged over $20 for those looking to update their library. It is easy to see why many figured the industry could go to hell when the Internet made it possible to download for free.

However, everywhere the industry and way of doing things gets more complicated. The Internet Service Providers are looking to charge heavily for those who download. Apple Computer with their Apps store is making subscription services for music even more expensive.

One wonders if the Internet will make it worthwhile to go a store again. However, if all access points to the Internet are going to be cash cows for cable and telephone companies, the stores might not be able to use the technology to allow for people to download in stores without paying just as much. At some point, as some experts have indicated, there may be a case for taking certain gatekeepers to various world-wide monopolies commissions.

For decades, the music store has been a gathering place for people, especially the young. The mall might be a lot of things but if bookstores and music places continue to disappear even there, many will stop going. We have already seen for the downtown that a lot of the compelling reasons for going such as music stores and bookstores have slowly disappeared (although some used book stores have helped ensure that culture hasn't completely disappeared).

So, here is a tip of the hat to Sam's, the Record Baron, A&A Records, CD Plus, Mother's and all the others that have fallen.

Walmart Supercenters Come to Winnipeg

It was inevitable once that Target made its announcement that Walmart would have to respond and fast. The supercenter format that they have only really used in Ontario so far will be unrolled to the rest of the country, Manitoba and Quebec first.

There will be some cheering this move while others will be horrified.

Competitive retailing should always be applauded. The winner is the consumer. What would the The Bay been without Eaton's over the years? Price and product were competed for by those department stores at every turn. Canadian consumers benefited.

When Walmart bought the tired Woolco stores in Canada, they created a competition on price on a wide variety of products. However, it has taken more than ten years for that competition to fully encompass food. Real Canadian Superstore has had a long time to get ready for this move. Safeway has taken a while longer to realize that price and size of their stores have to improve or they will lose market.

Few people remember that Grand Forks, North Dakota had an Albertson's grocery store in the Columbia Mall parking lot but that small format lost favour with the arrival of Walmart in that community.

Walmart and Target are going to battle it out as they do all over the U.S. and only nimble Canadian companies will do well against them. And yes, it is possible to succeed even with that competition. If we look once more to Grand Forks, we see local and regional groceries holding their own such as Hugo's and Super One Foods.

Cheers to the competition we can expect in the next while on price and product.

Okay, so now that we are done cheering, let's address the horrors aspect that other people are likely to focus on.

Some of the biggest complaints will be how the large size of the stores contributes to sprawl. From a local perspective this is starting to be a big problem as municipal services are continued to be stretched to the limit. The lower prices at these superstores has to be measured against how much extra tax might end up being paid to pay for roads. I don't know that we have ever really addressed in a meaningful way.

Still, the emergence of the superstores in Winnipeg appears to be more of an expansion of the footprint of the stores rather than a move to further out into the suburbs.

While the issue of sprawl and Walmart cannot be denied, the expansion of the present stores is a harder case to hang one's hat in opposition.

Generally, the arguments against Walmart supercenters is a more generalized one. The issue of employment standards, foreign products, quality and the like is where some naysayers have legitimate arguments.

Choice and price usually rule the day in Canada.

The battle of sprawl will part of a larger debate on car culture and land use that Canadians will only confront when costs become to difficult to ignore.

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As an add on, the Free Press reported that a company in Canada plans a factory outlet mall for the city. The story falls slightly short of an announcement that shovels are in the ground.

The factory outlet concept in the U.S. often places these mall outside a large city. One example is Albertville in Minnesota.

A few locations were mentioned within city limits for this development. I wouldn't be surprised if this mall is developed outside the city in a place such as Headingley.

If such a mall is to be built, it hard to argue that outside city limits would be better for Winnipeg.

Free Press Story - Target

Bartley Kives is a pretty good writer for the Free Press. His coverage of City Hall is always to be read. However, it looks like he not a big fan of Target. His story titled Taking aim at TARGET published on Sunday was fairly critical.

I think the first thing he points out in his criticism is that Walmart and Target in the U.S. are alike but somehow that Target doesn't get the mud flung at it that Walmart does in terms of how people feel about the store.

Well, clearly if that is happening then it is because the two stores have been doing something differently over the years.

Kives might be far too dismissive of one of the reasons women shop at Target.

More significantly, Target sells clothing middle-class women are willing to wear. Or at least that's what I'm told.

The prices might be slightly higher but affordable and fashionable clothes is a lot harder for women to achieve than for men in general. In this area, Target clearly does something different.

One of the things that Kives says about Walmart's arrival in 1994 is not necessarily true.

Few people cheered when Walmart came to Canada in 1994, when the chain was expected to wipe out independent businesses with the ruthless efficiency of The Borg, to use a pop-culture reference relevant at the time.

Actually, there were quite a few people who cheered. Woolco had become tired and had not kept up with the competition over the years. There was a strong possibility that if Woolco had not been bought over that they might have just shut down. There certainly seemed to be no willing buyers in Canada.

Walmart was a major factor in cross border shopping as well. The company's arrival in Canada slowed travel south considerably along with a weak dollar.

Also appreciated was a push to more competitive pricing. As Canadians are frequently reminded, the prices in Canada for many products even when the currency is high is often steep. Real Canadian Superstore and its parent company Loblaw's became a lot more price competitive.

By 1998, another weak U.S. retailer in Canada faltered in Kmart and Zellers felt the need to act and bought the company and shut down a lot of the stores and took over the best locations elsewhere. Four years earlier, they didn't seem to be interested in Woolco.

There was certainly some people in Canada who feared the presence of Walmart and big box stores, sprawl and a whole host of other issues that went with being a large company. But there were just as many who were happy that a weaker U.S. retailer was out and a stronger competitor in retailing was in.

Zellers has struggled for a few decades for some love. It has improved a bit but still hasn't found its feet like say...Canadian Tire. The improvements it has made came through two different U.S. owners over the last years.

When Target was looking to make a big splash in the market, there was a lot that Zellers had to offer. That thing was location. While Target might want to have some big stores in the future, Zellers has locations that will work for it now and could be strong in the future. Zellers also has a customer base that could be loyal to the new store as well.

Lastly, Kives has this to say:

Above all else, the end result is more homogeneity. And you can add that to the existing homogeneity that already makes Winnipeg's outskirts just as bland and ugly as the edges of every other major metropolitan area in North America.

A couple of years down the road, we'll have an Ikea store and a couple of Targets to go along with the Walmarts on suburban arteries clogged with McDonald's, Tim Hortons and Subway.

I understand the utter pointlessness of being upset about this. Just don't be offended if I decline to cheer on the process.

I think this is an entirely separate issue. If Kives is upset about car culture, suburbs, corporatism and large stores then he has far bigger concerns than just about Target coming to town.

In the end it comes down to this: A U.S. owned retailer called Zellers has been bought by a U.S. owned retailer called Target. The buyer has a reputation for success in price and product and an overall better marketing strategy than the seller.

Canadians will likely appreciate such a company.

Changes to Winnipeg's Grocery Landscape Part 1

Price Choppers on Stafford Street.



Sobey's.



Urban Fresh store in Edmonton, Alberta.

It sometimes takes a while for things to happen in Winnipeg. Price Choppers could be changing. At present Price Choppers only has one location on Stafford Street but sometime in the new year, the name could change as well as the store format.

There is a conversion taking place at many Price Choppers across Canada to a new store format called FreshCo. It would be a shame if Winnipeg was bypassed during the next year.

FreshCo stores are starting to appear in Ontario. The new stores offer multicultural and ethnic foods.

The present Price Choppers are known for produce. That will not change according to what Sobey's officials are saying. Sobey's is the parent company of Price Choppers and FreshCo.

Customers entering a FreshCo store will first encounter fruit and vegetables in a great hall immediately inside that flows into a deli area, a bakery market, and a local cheese and meat market.

Fingers crossed that the Winnipeg Price Choppers will be converted.

I think more Winnipeg people would be interested if one of Sobey's other store formats came to the city. It is called Urban Fresh. Their format is fresh food and ready-made meals. Some call them mini-Sobey's but for people living downtown, they are a welcome addition.

The grocery war is coming to Winnipeg as Wal-Mart upgrades their stores to sell more grocery items. I expect we'll see even greater changes in store formats in the coming months.



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McNally Robinson

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

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

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

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

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

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

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



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What happened to summer?

School is back after the Labour Day long weekend. I can well imagine that the streets are going to be choked with parents, students and teachers. This problem is likely to be compounded by delayed road construction this year. The wet months early in the summer saw quite a few days of cancelled infrastructure repair.

City councillor Scott Fielding has been championing longer hours for the workers involved in construction but has run into resistance at City Hall. It seems Calgary can do it but Winnipeg can't for whatever reason.

It seems there is a lack of imagination at city hall.

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Winnipeg is to have the first 24 Wal-Mart in Canada. The big retailer has been experimenting with the concept over the last two years in Canada over Christmas holidays. I'm not surprised they picked Winnipeg as the first city to try it and it has always been something of a test market for new concepts.

There are only a few 24 places in the city. There are a couple of restaurants, a Shoppers Drug Mart or two but to date, no major retailer has taken the plunge. By contrast, travellers to North Dakota will find a number of 24 hour Wal-Marts.

Some will say this is a bad thing for people. I don't. Stores like Superstore and Wal-Mart already stock shelves all night. Now, they can simply open the doors and let people shop at the same time.

There are thousands of shift workers in Winnipeg. They are ones who will benefit most from this.




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