Calgary Openings, Closings, and Developments

[browna]

Originally Posted by Hack&Lube

https://retail-insider.com/retail-in...banff-alberta/

Historic Banff Hudson's Bay to be closed. The Bay certainly feels like its on its last legs in Canada.

I wouldn't say thats the case because of this closure.

I cant imagine the Bay in Banff has ever been close to profitable for the last 70 years. Sure, Bay Blankets and other heritage merchandise sold, and locals needing some basics it was handy, same with tourists needing a shirt, dress socks or a jacket for a Christmas party or something, but its real purpose in Banff was to be a slice of pure Canadiana for tourists.

I recall the toy department used to be in comically low ceiling basement as kids, with the electronics department right there too...and it's still open down there. One of the last places in Banff I can remember from childhood that still is the same as the 80s. It was bland and felt pretty low end, but all department stores felt like that...something about that tackiness was soothing in Banff.

It's too bad that it is closing in that current format, though as the article suggests, my guess is that the Bay opens up a small storefront somewhere to only sell the Bay Blankets, robes and other unique and high margin items for souvenirs...but not the same vibe, for worse.

[Shazam]

You can't do any renos in Banff without federal approval.

My bil worked on the new Husky there, it took about five years to get past all the regulatory hurdles.

[DownInFlames]

Bed Bath & Bankrupt

https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/bed...ores-1.6745092

[Jimmy Stang]

Originally Posted by DownInFlames

Bed Bath & Bankrupt

The name “Buybuy Baby” always annoyed me. I’ll take that silver lining, but still feel badly for the employees.

[Locke]

Thats gotta be among one of the slowest Corporate deaths of all time.

[bizaro86]

Originally Posted by Locke

Thats gotta be among one of the slowest Corporate deaths of all time.

It's just a flesh wound.

The whole firm isn't bankrupt, just the Canadian subsidiary. They did a huge death spiral convertible capital raise recently that will keep them going a little while longer.

[Slava]

Originally Posted by bizaro86

It's just a flesh wound.

The whole firm isn't bankrupt, just the Canadian subsidiary. They did a huge death spiral convertible capital raise recently that will keep them going a little while longer.

Which was panned by investors. I haven’t followed the saga that close, but the investors enacted them to restructure and get things sorted, but they found a way to get a pile of cash instead. The stock chart is amusing with the spike and subsequent crash.

[topfiverecords]

Went in there at Christmas because they had a bottle of Torani Gingerbread syrup my wife wanted that couldn’t be found locally anywhere else.

No wonder they went under. Just a collection of bland overpriced product with more square footage dedicated to circulation than product. Who’s buying $100 decorative pillows and double priced kitchen gadgets you can literally get anywhere else.

[bizaro86]

Originally Posted by Slava

Which was panned by investors. I haven’t followed the saga that close, but the investors enacted them to restructure and get things sorted, but they found a way to get a pile of cash instead. The stock chart is amusing with the spike and subsequent crash.

I mean, the company is fundamentally worthless, they had huge losses even during their Christmas quarter. Taking the money was the right choice - even if they file it'll give them more options. DIP financing has gotten really expensive, and they don't have any unencumbered assets they could use to secure it, so there would have been a priming fight, which drives up the legal costs of chapter 11. Converting a bunch of debt to equity and closing stores won't fix the business - it very may well be unfixable either way.

But when a firm is insolvent (and BBBY is) the relevant corporate law requires directors take a fiduciary duty to debtholders as well, which almost certainly obligates them to sell equity in this situation. As a meme stock they have a unique ability to sell equity while insolvent (which isn't common when you're on the edge of bankruptcy, even though the terms are very onerous). Plus the way its structured allows them to raise money when in possession of material non-public information, which is presumably why they weren't using their at-the-market offering during the recent short squeeze. The SEC set a precedent in the Hertz case that they won't allow firms to raise equity after filing Chp 11 even if there's demand for it, so they had to do so prior to filing. Whether they file will depend on the stock performance - if the price holds up they could end up with $1B which would last awhile.

For full disclosure, I'm short a meaningful amount of call options here, as I felt the possibilities were bankruptcy or dilutive financing and implied volatility was very, very high.

[jg13]

Originally Posted by jg13

Jane Bond BBQ second location opening where Grumans downtown was.

Great option for dinner before heading to the dome.

Starting Feb 14 they will officially be opened for dine in 11AM-9PM Tues-Sat

[jg13]

Apparently Beavertails is opening next to Analog Coffee on 17th ave!

https://www.reddit.com/r/Calgary/com...g_to_17th_ave/

[troutman]

milktiger_yyc has decided to close

[Cecil Terwilliger]

Too bad. I liked that place. But it was never busy when I went so I’m not entirely surprised. That location lacks a good summer patio and I think that hurt them too.

[manwiches]

https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/nor...nada-1.6766073

Not surprising at all. But that leaves a sizeable hole in Chinook at least. I actually liked the store too.

[Sr. Mints]

Yikes. Who's even left to fill a hole the size of Nordstrom?

I noticed yesterday a Nike store will be going into Chinook.

[Hack&Lube]

Originally Posted by manwiches

https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/nor...nada-1.6766073

Not surprising at all. But that leaves a sizeable hole in Chinook at least. I actually liked the store too.

That's pretty crazy, I can't think of any tenants that could fit into Nordstrom's footprint unless Saks (who is losing even more money, wants to move).

Department stores are going the way of the dodo. I think Chinook would have to move to redo that old southern end and break it up into multiple stores.

Market Mall broke down Zellers/Target into spaces for Winners, Zara, Sporting Life, and Sportchek. Sunridge turned Zellers/Target into a mall expansion with more interior space and Dollarama and Winners. Southcenter turned Sears into Winners, Dollarama, Petsmart, and Decathlon.

I guess Chinook will get a Winners? Last week I was in a few Winners and they looked threadbare like they were struggling as well in terms of no stock on the floor.

[Johnny Makarov]

3 Dollaramas will slot right in.

[you&me]

It's hard to find a time when Nordstrom isn't packed at Chinook, so I think it's likely more a casualty of Nordstrom exiting Canada entirely, rather than a cause.

That said, I've noticed and had conversations with staff there about the changes in their merchandising over the years and there's no doubt that the Calgary market isn't what it was when they opened.

[cam_wmh]

Originally Posted by Cecil Terwilliger

Too bad. I liked that place. But it was never busy when I went so I’m not entirely surprised. That location lacks a good summer patio and I think that hurt them too.

I loved the old spot, new one not so much.

[calgarywinning]

The US companies struggle with distribution, high taxation at the border along with broker fee's that are applied to them but not the consumers.

For example; if Nordstrom imports clothing from China to America they pay 11% on wholesale to the government. They then ship from their distribution centre our tariff is 18% plus brokerage fee + GST.

A consumer orders from the internet Canada post likely brings it with close to zero fee's aside from GST.

Then you take all the layers of taxation, like Carbon Tax etc. This is the hardest on small business.

Secondly, the Nordstrom and Target thing underestimate how large our country is and beyond weird things, like thousands of Canada Goose jackets, they rarely had replenished inventory and were unable to move product from market to market where it may have sold.