New Horizons Mall open... and empty

[jayswin]

Originally Posted by Calgary14

Other than a full refund on your membership fee, not much

You get a full refund? Wow, didn't know that.

[Calgary14]

Yep, full refund on your membership fee at any point in the year. It's almost pure profit for Costco so not a big deal

[powderjunkie]

Originally Posted by jayswin

What do you get out of cancelling your costco membership? Is there an incentive there? That would seem weird on their part.

Also never having to step foot in a Costco again...

[Wormius]

Originally Posted by Calgary14

Yep, full refund on your membership fee at any point in the year. It's almost pure profit for Costco so not a big deal

So, technically... how often could one cancel / renew membership? Cancel before renewal and then sign up again next time you need to go there?

[jayswin]

Yeah, the obvious loophole is to cancel near the end of a year and then sign up again the next time you go. I'm sure they've got something to protect against that, though.

[Calgary14]

They have a record of the membership and when each person cancels/renews. At customer service while returning something I overheard one guy cancelling his membership (for a full refund) one week before it expired. I would think you could only do that once though.

The other loophole is to just buy Costco gift cards on costco.ca as a "gift" without ever actually having a membership. I've heard of people doing that but I just pay the annual fee.

[troutman]

Sky Castle, a massive family entertainment centre, to open in New Horizon Mall


https://calgary.ctvnews.ca/sky-castl...5KxXu6eOM1m0DA

[Hot_Flatus]

Originally Posted by Calgary14

They have a record of the membership and when each person cancels/renews. At customer service while returning something I overheard one guy cancelling his membership (for a full refund) one week before it expired. I would think you could only do that once though.

Holy crap that takes extreme cheapskate to a whole new level.

I find that if you actually use your membership, it pays for itself in spades. The bulk groceries are one thing that add up, but if you fill with gasoline regularly and handle your BBQ propane tank refills there as well, you can save close to $100 a year compared to doing so at random gas stations.

[Fuzz]

Originally Posted by troutman

Sky Castle, a massive family entertainment centre, to open in New Horizon Mall


https://calgary.ctvnews.ca/sky-castl...5KxXu6eOM1m0DA

I'm nor sure that is going to be much help...

[Nufy]

Originally Posted by troutman

Sky Castle, a massive family entertainment centre, to open in New Horizon Mall


https://calgary.ctvnews.ca/sky-castl...5KxXu6eOM1m0DA

I'm sure we were all wondering how Redford was spending her time these days...

[topfiverecords]

Game changer?
ya...no.

[DoubleF]

Originally Posted by Hot_Flatus

Holy crap that takes extreme cheapskate to a whole new level.

I find that if you actually use your membership, it pays for itself in spades. The bulk groceries are one thing that add up, but if you fill with gasoline regularly and handle your BBQ propane tank refills there as well, you can save close to $100 a year compared to doing so at random gas stations.

I always get the executive card for $60 more. Break even for a regular card is $3K spending per year or $250 per month. I volunteer to acquire things for big parties/people and people reimburse me all the time so I hit this number pretty easily. This isn't even include Costco travel and car rentals which can add up quickly too.

Gasoline and prescriptions and a few other things don't qualify for 2% back, but you're already benefiting from some solid savings at Costco already.

The gift card loophole doesn't work as well anymore. You cannot make huge purchases as a non-member/gift card payment differential any more. Furthermore, I seem to recall they track who is using gift cards by asking for a postal code or something so if you use too many gift cards, they'll clue in and tell you that you need to get a membership.


The full refund for cancellation thing I think is once per lifetime. The other way I've heard is cycling through friends and family members with the card on a 11 month cycle. This way you get the $10-20 cash cards for new applications/referrals at the end of a membership for a referral but a bunch of people are just sharing the same membership and e-transferring each other for the purchases.

[tvp2003]

I was curious how this place was doing... anyone visit recently?

Found this article from last month: https://calgary.ctvnews.ca/pandemic-...mall-1.5437465

Troubles for some business owners at New Horizon Mall started prior to the pandemic.

The sprawling 320,000 sq. ft. international-themed shopping centre located in Balzac has space for 500 stores, but three years after opening, only about 120 units are open. Of the 120 units, about 50 per cent are occupied on a regular and frequent basis during mall hours.

The owner of Smart Tech Deals, Sohail Khan, says like many people he had big dreams at New Horizon Mall when it first opened.

“It’s a huge mall which was initially sold with lots of promises and lots of positivity for the investors and for the business owners,” said Khan.

“But due to bad planning and bad management for this mall the past three years by the developer this looks like a sinking ship.”

Coincidentally, this was just posted today: https://calgary.ctvnews.ca/new-horiz...play-1.5486841

The owners of a new indoor playground at a southern Alberta mall are hoping their business will offer children a safe place to play for hours as well as conquer their own limits.

SkyCastle, a 34,000-square-foot facility, has recently opened to the public.

It is located inside New Horizon Mall, a shopping centre just outside Calgary city limits right next to the QEII Highway.

Can't imagine what their AC bills are going to look like this upcoming week...

[OldDutch]

Lets hope vaxx cones through as my kids won’t be going to any of these indoor playgrounds until that happens.

I used to call them Flu Land for a reason.

[Wormius]

I went to give my son some driving practice in the mostly empty parking lot.

[Minnie]

A farmer's market moved in on the west end (facing the highway) and I finally stopped in to check it out and it's barely occupied. I think they've been open since the fall of 2019. 23,000 square feet of pretty much emptiness. I imagine the pandemic didn't help things out any, but I would have thought they'd do much better for occupation than they have - it's the same people who had the Symon's Valley market. I think that mall is cursed, figuratively speaking. Everyone must just be losing their shirts. The only place I ever see sort of busy is that other store on the west end, The Best Shop. I've been in it a couple of times now, picked up some odds & ends.

[Acey]

Surely this building is operating at a massive loss, who is taking the hit and how long is it sustainable?

[malcolmk14]

Originally Posted by Acey

Surely this building is operating at a massive loss, who is taking the hit and how long is it sustainable?

You know whoever it is is going to blame the economic downturn - when really it was just a ####ty idea in the first place!

[topfiverecords]

Originally Posted by Acey

Surely this building is operating at a massive loss, who is taking the hit and how long is it sustainable?

All of the individual unit owners are taking the hit. There must be monthly utility/maintenance fees like a condo fee.

[Cecil Terwilliger]

Originally Posted by topfiverecords

All of the individual unit owners are taking the hit. There must be monthly utility/maintenance fees like a condo fee.

Well they should have leases that would have fixed payments, that should limit their losses.

But since there are 500 stalls and only 120 are rented, I’d say the owners of the project are bleeding money. They can’t even raise rent on new leases, who would pay it?

I figure there are several companies watching with interest for the inevitable demise of this failure if a mall and will scoop it up when it goes belly up.