Winnipeg Sun Believes Removal of Covenants Has No Effect on Competition

The December 13 editorial of the Winnipeg Sun believes competitive food prices only come from tax cuts. Removal of gas tax, business tax, property tax and income taxes. There is no mention of price fixing. Even if all those thing happened, the grocery and suppliers have fixed prices for bread and other items to that point that companies like Aldi believe the game is fixed here. And it is.

Large grocery stores have agreements to keep empty store faces or other competitors from setting up anywhere near them. Such actions with surely have U.S. authorities such as FBI kicking down the doors were it to happen in the States. The Sun says the Competition Bureau says the restrictive covenants don't restrict competition. In fact this is what the Canada's agency says:

A restriction on land that prevents a purchaser or owner of a commercial property from using the location to operate or lease to operators of certain types of businesses that compete with a previous owner.

The UK and New Zealand have restrictions on grocery stores from hoarding land and forbidding others from buying or using it to compete with them. This has NOTHING to do with taxes. Nothing. 

In Brandon a Sobeys was closed in 2017 and Sobeys has leased the property twice for five years terms to prevent competition. Above is a picture of that store. The Sun believes this is the result of overtaxing? Shindico said this was to prevent competition. Does the Sun believe this property should be restricted from sale or use? Do they even think this is a good idea? Why would Sobeys do this if they thought it didn't limit competition?

Antitrust is a real thing. It is private enterprise manipulating prices and competition. It happened with bread and it happens with property. The Sun says this doesn't exist? 

Prices are indeed affected by many things. But it just isn't government taxes. It is sometimes companies inflating prices, putting the thumb on the scales (or the packages) and they have been caught red handed. However, an empty storefront leased for years doesn't raise any eyebrows. It is the government's fault. 

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.

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.

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.

Costco Finally Gets a Fourth Store

 

We saw plans in 2018 for a Costco by Assiniboia Downs and were told by their chief executive in a visit that a fourth store was coming but then the pandemic came in 2020 and all plans were off the table. It is now 2023 and similar plans are back for the same site. Same size Costco at 166,000+ feet and more parking than the original plan had. Keep in mind that Kenaston's Costco has had to parking expansions since it was built in 2007 and still barely has space each and every day. Regent also added parking as it too reached capacity. St. James doesn't have that option as the smallest location and doesn't even have a gas station. 

The new location appears to be larger than Kenaston and Regent. Those were built to a standard 150,000+ square feet. Same size as what is in Fargo, North Dakota. I found no records they ever expanded beyond original building. The first two Costcos at St. James/Polo Park and Regent were built in 1990 and 1992.  The third at Kenaston came, as mentioned, in 1992. The first Walmarts in Canada came in 1994 when Woolco was taken over by the big U.S. chain. It would take another six years or so for Walmarts to move to better locations. The original Costco in Burnaby, B.C. came in 1985 and this head start over other U.S. retailer gave it a strong advantage. The largest Costco in Canada is the recently completely one in St. John's at 182,000 square feet. That's pretty big but there largest in the States is 230,000 square feet.

Early arrivals and adapting have helped the Costcos and the Walmarts survive in Canada while the Targets and Nordstrom's have failed. If Costco is adding a fourth store, it is certainly because the demand warrants it. The Facebook and Reddit discussions mention the issues with crowds in Winnipeg and no doubt there is joy in the city that a new location is coming.

The one thing a Costco does in an area is create some competition. In terms of gas sales, Costco has an effect on pricing downwards for a few blocks surrounding it. Likewise, car maintenance places have to keep an eye on the warehouse store lest they lose business to it. A fourth Costco is good for consumers. Costco pharmacies have impacts on dispensing fees, optical purchases, meat, bakery and produce and third party business purchases.

Interviews with some business leaders like Foodfare in Winnipeg have shown they don't fear Costco. They have carved out a business operation that has worked well although everyone has been re-thinking supply chain issues, reliability and inflation. As the pandemic showed, overseas supply chain worked insofar as cheaper products only when fuel costs were low, world trade stability in check and interest rates down. Inflation means cost controls will come from supplies closer to home, sharing more costs of warehousing and shipping, more automation in logistics and if Costco's example is any indication, an army of people on the floor to assist in the human to human element of running a shop.

The development that Costco is in is called Westport Festival. There will be two traffic lights leading into it. The Red River Ex and Assiniboia Downs are located north of. The Iceplex is east of it as well as the car dealerships. It has been a busy area at times and it could get busier. It could very well be that this leads to more lanes on that section of road. The stretch to Headingley has been notorious for years for speeding and collisions.

It is difficult to say if Costco will make it easier along the section by the Kenaston location. The development of the Kapyong area into 2024 and the growth of Bridgwater and communities beyond make it seem like no relief is coming soon to the area. However, for many in the west part of the city, they can choose to use the new Costco.

No timeline exists for the opening but 2024 seems reasonable. A big question is whether Portage West Walmart will upgrade to compete. It doesn't have the grocery of other Walmarts and might lose business without doing something. We might see a few businesses along the street look to improve because it is not only Costco going up in that retail area.

For Winnipeggers, is the chance of more competition for these high inflation times.

Chilli Chutney Brings Street East Indian Kitchen to Kenaston

Twice now Swiss Chalet, one of Canada's major chains, has come to Winnipeg to great fanfare and twice it has died. The closure on Kenaston and on Corydon was a quiet quitting. Perhaps it was the pandemic that did in Swiss Chalet this time or maybe the changing tastes of those in the city.

All of the Kelsey's closed in the city as well. It is and has been a tough business being a restaurateur. For Swiss Chalet though, it seems when the going gets tough, they pull out of Winnipeg. Could it be third time lucky some day? Who knows.

One thing is certain is that prime spaces have opened up and big chains are not all jumping in for their chance to claim those spots. And so it is with Swiss Chalet.

They have left a place with a relatively new kitchen and the former imprint of their name on the wall.

What has come to replace it is far different than just another chicken restaurant. Chilli Chutney will be the new place in front of big Walmart. They arrive in Winnipeg via Brandon where a location has existed there since 2005. The present owner has owned it since 2011. It is another example of Brandon-based restauranteurs opening locations in Winnipeg.

It also shows a move to more diverse food choices which have sometimes been slow to hit the suburbs. More often the best of the world is found in more central parts of the city. However, a lot of new immigrants are in the suburbs and so Ontario-based chains may not have as great appeal.

Restaurants like Chilli Chutney though will find success through a wide audience who are new to East Indian street food. And like Chinese food restaurants spread across North America over the last century, they become unique in many ways from the source country. Just like Italian food in Canada is much different than what you might get in Italy itself.

The corporate franchise system can be relentlessly the same. This can be a boon for places like McDonald's or Subway which try to be consistent on product taste, look and price. Travelling to any city in any country should be instantly familiar. And the abundance of these restaurants means you don't have to travel far to get that comfort food from that comfort place. In many cases, a community can say they have arrived when they get their first McDonald's. Likewise, people seem to want to have Tim's on both sides of the road and often a block away from each other.

Winnipeg has been lucky over the years to have such a wide variety of local restaurants and it has been the most frequent way for new immigrant families to start a business in Canada. Travelling to the U.S. usually gives you an idea of how spoiled we are in Manitoba by the variety of restaurant offerings. The relentlessness homogenous nature down in the U.S. means you have to look beyond suburbia most times to find neighbourhood treasures.

In this case, a unique offering has come to suburbia. The shopping around south Kenaston has had to pivot post pandemic. As a number of stores have closed or moved to other areas, a long line up national replacement stores is not in the cards. And so it goes with restaurants too. Across the road from Chilli Chutney is a Sobeys and a Costco and in the same parking lot is a large Walmart.

Traffic is not really a problem with three grocery stores, two home improvement store and a Canadian Tire in the area. But that wasn't enough for a Swiss Chalet to survive. It will be interesting to see a Manitoba-grown restaurant take on this spot and introduce a new concept. 

Winnipeg Comeback 2022 Part 1

Above is Market Avenue, home of the Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre. 

In 2019 it seemed that Winnipeg and much of the province was on the cusp of a sustained economic growth period. Sure, weather was and always a possible factor but the diversified provincial economy seemed solid and several businesses were in expansion mode. Approvals for several buildings were made and construction was starting. And all this built on top of a stable economy already. Manitoba looked poised to enter its 150th birthday with a confidence not seen in some time.

It was not to be. By March of 2020, all of North America was shutdown with Covid 19. The brief celebratory time at the beginning of the year quickly turned to a sense of dread with the type of worldwide shutdown the likes the world have rarely seen. At the height of it, we saw our dystopic future of empty streets, office buildings and schools.

Above is Winnipeg City Hall. The city's 150th birthday comes soon.

Many families lost people as a result of Covid or because of what it has done to our health system. My family suffered horribly. My dad never recovered from Covid and we lost him in July. My mom hasn't walked since her release. And now she is in lockdown again. It is down to primary caregiver now. 

It wasn't a secret my parents had Covid. For too many the disease was something you only whispered at a family dinner like "cancer" as if that alone would make it go away. It was too easy for people to dismiss it by saying they had never heard of anyone getting it. It is awful in January of 2022 and it is spreading at a rate that is hitting everywhere.

Above is the empty space where city parkade and Public Safety Building once stood. Red River College downtown campus in background. The space could transform the area and further enhance Princess as well as King as a dynamic area of the Exchange and Chinatown.

But this isn't looking at how bad the last 18 months have been or how 2022 feels like a continuation of what has passed. This is about the comeback for Winnipeg and Manitoba in 2022. While there is no doubt that that many small businesses have taken it repeatedly on the chin, some developments and business start-ups continued through the pandemic. The tallest tower in the city has been under construction through the entire time and should be open to new residents soon.

Likewise, towers on on Assiniboine were finally completed for lease or purchase. The Medical Arts converted to residential, the former United Grain Growers on Main converted and industrial conversions to residential on Waterfront are in progress. It is easy to lose track of the projects whether they be on Princess, on Broadway or near the art gallery. And those are the ones just downtown. 

The above is Chinese Cultural Centre which now overlooks a piece of prime property where the parkade and Public Safety Building Stand.

Driving down Sterling Lyon by Seasons has been non-stop multi-unit construction on industrial land. Seasons of Tuxedo and surrounding area have seen a huge spike in commercial and residential building. Hotel construction took place even as the pandemic continued. And Kapyong is now cleared of all buildings and awaiting the next step. One thing it won't be is a big mall. There is no market for another. It will have some retail but will feature more residential, recreational and cultural buildings. It will likely have a hotel as well. 

For the entire pandemic there were either brand new or re-furbished grocery stores built. Two new Red River Co-Ops on Sterling Lyon and Pembina Highway. New Save on Foods on Pembina. Every Safeway re-done. And No Frills and Freshco conversions from other grocery stores. Tens of millions spent in short order. The above pictures show Red River Co-Op shortly before they opened. Visible are the new apartments and condos coming as well.

Shopping malls were also getting additions from Kildonan to Polo Park or refreshes like Garden City and Grant Park. Tens of million spent again even as some of these buildings were at reduced capacity or even closed at some point. The reason: A bet on the future.

The pictures below are the recently completely Save on Foods and the still under construction movie theatres for Famous Players at Kildonan Place. Each hit over the last years has via department store closures has been responded to by a multi-million investment by its owners.

Princess Avenue has been particularly busy throughout the pandemic with building activity. The above pictures are old and new residential construction. Many of the new conversions are leaving room for commercial activity. In this case, the first floor window show another location for Harrisons Coffee. Given the amount of multi-unit housing in the area plus Red River Polytech, this could be a busier street than it has been in years. And in the 1970s and 80s, there were a number of businesses that operated in the area. Industrial, retail and restaurant. The thing that was spotty was residential. That has all changed now.

How it all connects is not known yet. The new campus building for Red River along with residential/retail still doesn't have a fully returned to work and school crowd back. And no one knows what the return to arts and festivals will be like. Has their been any permanent change to pattern of behaviour previous to 2020? If we are lucky, no. And by that I mean, will people return downtown for work and entertainment?

The new Innovation Campus Manitou a bi Bii dazigae has just been built off Princess and really hasn't had a chance to shine after in person learning was halted again. It may really only be in September of 2022 where we see attendance near normal in schools. And from there, we could see activity along Princess quite different from 2019.

As a car dominated city, it can be intimidating just getting out of the car to go get groceries. It is for this reason that some new developments are literally built beside a grocery and a pharmacy. In the case of the new luxury Taylor Residences, it built between a Sobeys and a Walmart. It is probably easier to walk than to find a parking space a hundred meters. away.

In front of the Walmart on Taylor itself more multi-unit residences are going up. It is hard to imagine someone needing their cars to drive the distance you would often park away from the store entrance on a busy day. Alas, some older neighbourhoods used to have grocery and pharmacy options that were walkable but those have since closed. Some suburban places never had them at all and it is a few kilometers hike.

River Heights has a few specialty grocers and convenience store but a senior would be hard pressed to be able live without transport compared to say...Osborne. It wasn't always that way. Up till the 1990s, there were three or four grocers along Academy Road. Now, one specialty shop. My parents, like a lot of seniors, had few options to move to a multi-unit place for senior assisted living in the area. Once you can't live in your house or need to downsize, you have to move out of the neighbourhood. This has to change.

According to census data, Winnipeg's population growth slowed even before during the pandemic. Immigration from outside Canada kept it from going into free fall. There was sturdy growth 2016/17 of 2%. It triggered a building boom of office, apartments and housing and the feeling was that 2020, Manitoba's 150, it would culminate in a period of growth and prosperity. The pandemic of Covid 19 changed that for Winnipeg. 

In fairness Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver have also seen population declines during this time but the fact that Winnipeg's started earlier is concerning. Brian Pallister became premier in 2016 and while Winnipeg was experiencing robust growth that year, the relationship between mayor and premier was frosty over the direction of the city. Much of the time communication channels were simply closed as the Progressive Conservative pursued health, education and other reforms while cutting service and as well as taxes.

A look down Fort Street as a crane dismantles another crane as Winnipeg's tallest building reaches completion.

The cuts to universities and healthcare have led to faculty and doctors leaving Manitoba. The cancellation of the CancerCare addition, multiple programs in health and wage freezes in post secondary education made it easy for professionals to shop their skills somewhere else. And they did. The pursuit of ending the deficit made health care particularly vulnerable to the pandemic. The ER and Urgent Care closures came just as the need for them could not be greater.

The Conservatives did see some big investments ushered in on agriculture and a few other areas but the austerity measures and tax cuts hurt both Winnipeg and the province because it is people that will help bring back a measure of prosperity. And if they leave they are not investing, not paying taxes and not helping the economy here.

A change in leadership has come with a flurry of announcements of policy shifts and investments in healthcare provincially. But these will take time and the pandemic is still hurting meaningful change till then. With an election in two years, the PCs have never been more unpopular. But will the NDP be ready to run the shop? There was a reason they were defeated in 2016. They purged five cabinet ministers who were seeking to change the directions of the party on policy. And when that didn't happen, the electorate purged the party.

We don't have the same advantages of other provinces with oil like Alberta and Saskatchewan. Now do we have the port and resources as well as climate of B.C. Ontario and Quebec have the industrial base. Manitoba has only one sizeable city compared to other provinces who usually have two or more fair sized cities. Even with all that, we punch above our weight with head offices and family businesses and diversified economy. 

Original Stores in St. Vital Centre 1979

I often get asked what the original stores were in St. Vital Shopping Centre were and where was the foodcourt before. Here it is.

Some of this information is available but not easily searchable so I'm posting because then people will be able to find easier. It will tun up in Google searches better.

Posting about Woolco opening in St. Vital Centre. It remained there till Walmart took them over in 1994.