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.

Hugo Boss to Open at Outlet Collection

Hugo Boss is a German luxury designer of menswear. In Winnipeg, they have sold through other retailers such as HBC. Polo Park has a full time salesperson just for Hugo Boss in the Bay store. It has generally been considered a harder market to sell women and men's fashions in Manitoba because such power suits often are seen in places with larger corporate worlds related to trading that employ thousands.

Winnipeg has a handful of independent menswear companies and tailors. Harry Rosen's has been a longtime store in Polo Park and Tip Top and Moore's have handled much of the city's general business, sports jacket and suit needs for those required jacket and tie business and occasion needs.

Hugo Boss in the post-war period went from making uniforms to men's suits and in the last decades has been associated with luxury.

Outlet Collection still has a few holes to fill but clearly is in a battle royale for stores that would in the past have landed at Polo Park. Many, many apartments are soon to be completed by Outlet Collection so I expect when the pandemic is over, the mall will have a population that can walk right over for anything.

Also opening is a nail shop. You are seeing more open in malls when in the past they were limited to strip malls. Shopping outlets need a variety of things that bring people in. It can't all be high fashion stores as much the developers would love that. There just enough of those around to fill every space nor give people a reason to come to the area often enough.

Both Outlet Collection Mall and Polo park have new stores comes. Expect competition to be tight and for other malls in the city to try to follow suit with some innovative steps.

Vimy Ridge Park Area at Portage Avenue

Right across from Vimy Ridge Park the Commissionaires have moved into their new office on Portage Avenue where Klinic was for years. Klinic has moved from their former locations here and on Broadway to Sherbrook to a building that recently housed a software company.

Both moves are good for both organizations.

Klinic gets a larger building along one of the most dynamic streets on Sherbrook and the Commissionaires get a larger headquarter fronting on the city's busiest street of Portage Avenue with enough parking for their fleet of vehicles.

The Commissionaires continue to retired military and police in their service and therefore play a major role in returning veterans to civilian service for good working years.

Over the last 60 years many office buildings along Portage Avenue have hosted provincial or federal government or non-governmental organizations in them. 

Even before the pandemic there was some indications that the city was about to take off. Doesn't mean it is without a problems. This stretch of retail across from The Commissionaires offices has had a few empty spots for some time. Still do. I generally believe at some point landlord either won't lower their leases or have let their place deteriorate so much that it lacks appeal.

Just past Commissionaires office are union offices. You can find several offices along Portage Avenue. This one also houses the Manitoba NDP headquarters which shows how close unions and NDP are.

Food Fare on Portage Avenue ensure this end of Wolseley and the West End are not a food desert. The foot traffic generated to the store means this bus station is also busy and a good draw for the bank. In short, they feed off each other's success.

A look east down Portage Avenue to downtown.

Vimy Ridge Memorial Park just off Portage Avenue was originally St. James Park from 1894 to 1926 when it was re-dedicated and the World War I memorial was added. Just goes to show name changes can happen in Winnipeg and do.

The park has received a lot of love recently after many years of neglect. Memorials have been upgraded, trails as well, garden beds and recreation. Parks and recreation as well as forestry always seems to take the brunt of cutbacks.

The street borders of Vimy Ridge are Portage Avenue and running down east side in Canora Street and on west side is Home Street. The south side if backed by Preston Avenue. It is mostly a park in the Wolseley residential area but the proximity to downtown and West End as well as the memorial nature of the park attracts and wider use.

Looking down Home Street.

Cherry blossom season seemed to last a long time this year whereas poof, you missed it last year.

First Presbyterian Church is a gorgeous stone church that overlooks Vimy Ridge Park. As with many churches nowadays, the congregations come from all over the city rather than just local residents.

Older homes along Picardy opposite the church so signs of families and restorations.

There is evidence of a lot of green thumbs as gardens proliferate.

In the 1990s the chance that Wolseley could be lost to creeping neglect migrating in from absent landlords, rooming houses and a decline in prices not seen since the Depression. Suffice to say that the area has had a 20 year sustained comeback. It is helping Sherbrook and Maryland transform every year.

As Broadway begins at Portage and curves its way east, it passed by the Gordon's Bell's newer field. It is worth noting that politicians only moved when the post office indicated they were going to build a sorting station there. Just an indication of the lack of foresight about the needs the high school had for a very long time with a concrete playground.

Local politicians were asleep at the wheel earlier when the care dealership across the street moved and made no attempt to grab the large site for a space that did not have to be pigeon-holed. Nevertheless, the new field attracts young people all the time. Even in a pandemic (as you can see here) during a no gathering mandate.

Don't want to point fingers at all. Experts are saying that young people are more resilient and suffering terribly from remote learning. But we also have 350 to 500 people a day getting infected, What a time. 

In non-pandemic times this field is filled all the time. And will be again. One wonders if there will ever be a school division fieldhouse and rink to support several school programs in the future. The money is not there now. But what if it could be? The University of Winnipeg could not imagine the fieldhouse it has now. Today it is top notch.

At Picardy and Broadway there are a series of small multi-unit apartments. This is the evolution of the area. On major bus routes, we will see density increase and this helps the vitality of the area using existing infrastructure.

Trees were planted on the property as it should be. I will explore this area a bit more in the future. There is a lot happening.

Across from Gordon Bell High is one of the numerous regional health offices. Provincial government offices are all over the place.

If I have complaint about government offices is that almost never have retail or other offices on the first floor. They can take up an entire block or more and nary a convenience store or coffee shop. Heck, some of them could go further and have apartments above them and retail on the first floor. Instead we always get non-descript, zero street presence anonymous government offices.

The pictures kind of speak for themselves. Gray or concrete. No life on them on evenings or weekends. Barely a name on them most of the time. Street killers.

The former Italian restaurant Paradise didn't remain empty for long. Garden House, East Indian restaurant took over even in a pandemic. The building beside it show classic mixed use. A longtime dental office with apartments above it. Street life. Just not enough of it with dead provincial government offices next door.

And yet another empty provincial government office with nary a sign on it. And their empty parking lot. I think this one at least has a daycare in it. Why do the bunkers get built?

When provincial government offices get too old they hand them to child and family services.

The East Portage Entrance of Vimy Ridge Memorial Park. Still awaiting their flowers. Notice the tree stump. Many never get replaced.

The memorials are worth stopping and looking. The sacrifices from this province's men and women have been painful.

Overall a beautiful park and residential area and worth looking at.

And if government wants to be helpful, more mixed development and less bunkers on Portage Avenue.