Calgary Openings, Closings, and Developments

[Hack&Lube]

I went through the Core for the first time in awhile and saw the changes at The Bay.

The entire basement escalator has just been walled off with drywall to pretend it doesn't exist. Who knows what is down there now. A lot of clothing has been moved to ground floor and the 2nd floor isn't dedicated to menswear any longer, it's been split in half and women's has moved from the 3rd floor to join the +15 level for clothing. All the home goods and furniture now inhabit the 3rd floor where the women's floor used to be. 4th and 5th are accessible by escalator for now (they are still running and not blocked) but they are just completely empty and bare and employees/security give you stares if you to try to go there.

So basically they lost 50% of the floorspace for clothing and consolidated everything else down first/ground floor, 2nd floor, and 3rd floor. More than half the building is now empty.

Strangely the only thing I think I will really miss is that old furniture floor on the 5th floor had these really awesome art deco bathrooms that looked like they were straight out of a 1930s gangster move.

[Hack&Lube]

https://calgaryherald.com/news/local...t-says-analyst

Calgary Herald - Bay's downtown store downsizing and survival in doubt, says analyst

[Calgary14]

I'm actually surprised the Bay has lasted this long

[Nufy]

Originally Posted by CliffFletcher

Three for one nights. Grabbing three Old Stocks (shudder) at a time and taking them to a table in the back courtyard.

Wilco at the Republik in 97 was maybe the best live show I’ve been to.

Great Big Sea...1996 I think...

[timun]

I have to admit I'm part of the "problem" in that I haven't shipped at the downtown Bay in a while, but I deeply, desperately hope that the building is saved. I would love to see the façades "re-opened"; the retail floors have blocked all the windows from the inside for decades, and I wish they'd open it back up. The building is covered in windows that don't get used! Imagine the things you could do with bright, "airy" space in that building...

[Bunk]

I shopped at the Downtown Bay today (support your downtown businesses, please!), with the new set up. It was quite busy, actually. Stephen Ave also picking up more and more, including a big convention helping fill up restaurants.

[DoubleF]

I think the issue with the downtown Bay is what they are selling. They should sell specific things rather than a motley paired down collection of what they normally sell at any The Bay stores. Kinda like the choice select stuff they sell in a sort of flag ship situation.

For instance, more higher end/business formal and casual clothes/shoes and perhaps jewelry and accessories or repair and cleaning, group gifts that people actually may need in a pinch for business stuff (especially since their hours are a little more tailored towards a working hours time)... less pans, luggage, kitchen stuff and lower end business casual stuff which you can get at other nearby stores like Winners, Simons etc.

Something specific like better filling the specific gap between Nordstrom and Simons.

[Slava]

I guess there is going to be an LL Bean opening in Deerfoot Meadows this fall, near the Michaels.

[JD]

Originally Posted by DoubleF

less pans, luggage, kitchen stuff and lower end business casual stuff which you can get at other nearby stores like Winners, Simons etc.

I don't know about that last one, I think low end casual business stuff is the only thing I've ever bought there. You know, somehow a belt "fails" or you don't have a tie and a sudden meeting comes up, those kinds of things. You need something quick but you don't wanna spend more than $30 or $40.

Agree on all the other stuff. Who would go downtown to buy a couch?

[Fuzz]

Originally Posted by JD

I don't know about that last one, I think low end casual business stuff is the only thing I've ever bought there. You know, somehow a belt "fails" or you don't have a tie and a sudden meeting comes up, those kinds of things. You need something quick but you don't wanna spend more than $30 or $40.

Agree on all the other stuff. Who would go downtown to buy a couch?

I did. Got a fantastic deal on them, was able to meet my wife to look at them at lunch break, and they delivered it. Same with a mattress. Super convenient.

[Regular_John]

Originally Posted by JD

I don't know about that last one, I think low end casual business stuff is the only thing I've ever bought there. You know, somehow a belt "fails" or you don't have a tie and a sudden meeting comes up, those kinds of things. You need something quick but you don't wanna spend more than $30 or $40.

Agree on all the other stuff. Who would go downtown to buy a couch?

…people who live downtown or within 5km?

[jayswin]

The weird thing about the Bay is so many claim it's dying a brutal death and no one shops there and can't survive. I don't know if it's coincidence but every time I'm in there it's seemed really busy, even annoyingly so a few times, with line ups at tills and all that.

[Sr. Mints]

Originally Posted by Slava

I guess there is going to be an LL Bean opening in Deerfoot Meadows this fall, near the Michaels.

The world needs more cozy New England Donegal sweaters

I still have stuff from LL Bean from late 90s. Their quality seems to have become somewhat hit and miss, but I'm still a fan

[getbak]

Originally Posted by Sr. Mints

The world needs more cozy New England Donegal sweaters

Not just this world.

[The Familia]

I wish the downtown Bay store would get a massive renovation. I’d keep the restaurant on the ground floor along with floors 1-3 still being The Bay department store as they have currently done. Floors 4 and up should be converted to either cool office lofts, a club, or an art hub of some type. Residential would be amazing but not sure if it’s feasible. The exterior though needs a good cleaning, replace windows, and redo all the concrete walkway surrounding the building as it’s become pretty haggard on some spots.

[DoubleK]

Poked my head in Fiddler's Courtyard on Edmonton Trail to see how the renos are coming along.

Place looks completely overhauled and appeared to be in the final stages of completion.

Probably open towards the end of the month? They has originally said end of July.

[para transit fellow]

Originally Posted by The Familia

I wish the downtown Bay store would get a massive renovation. I’d keep the restaurant on the ground floor along with floors 1-3 still being The Bay department store as they have currently done. Floors 4 and up should be converted to either cool office lofts, a club, or an art hub of some type. Residential would be amazing but not sure if it’s feasible. The exterior though needs a good cleaning, replace windows, and redo all the concrete walkway surrounding the building as it’s become pretty haggard on some spots.

unimportant trivia facts: when the building was created, there was an apartment built in for the manager's family.

The manager's apartment for the Banff store still exists although it is a general rental property these days

[nieuwy-89]

Whenever I’m in Toronto or Montreal on business, I make a point to walk past their downtown Bay stores, gaze at the lavish displays in the store windows, and browse through the stores. It makes me severely nostalgic, not just for my childhood, but for another era before American big box stores and now American online stores dominated our retail landscape.

On the other hand, I’ve heard from friends who work for national developers and property management companies that HBC is one of the cheapest, penny-pinching anchor tenants and the opposite of a good corporate citizen. So I always feel a bit sleazy shopping there.

[calgarywinning]

Originally Posted by nieuwy-89

Whenever I’m in Toronto or Montreal on business, I make a point to walk past their downtown Bay stores, gaze at the lavish displays in the store windows, and browse through the stores. It makes me severely nostalgic, not just for my childhood, but for another era before American big box stores and now American online stores dominated our retail landscape.

On the other hand, I’ve heard from friends who work for national developers and property management companies that HBC is one of the cheapest, penny-pinching anchor tenants and the opposite of a good corporate citizen. So I always feel a bit sleazy shopping there.

My vision for the Hudson Bay Trading company is this re-imagined company that centralizes around an experience of being a Canadian. Where people are invited into spaces, such as restaurants and cuisine that is outstanding and the product is completely curated. No more junk. That they have their core products and have local vendors and/or Canadian vendors. Kind of like a high end farmers market in furniture, cuisine, home decor. Get rid of all the stuff you can buy everywhere else.

[bob-loblaw]

Originally Posted by Sr. Mints

The world needs more cozy New England Donegal sweaters

I still have stuff from LL Bean from late 90s. Their quality seems to have become somewhat hit and miss, but I'm still a fan

The LL Bean is open now in the old Pier 1 location.