405 replies to this topic

[Mike K.]

I think the Victoria Costco lot, together with the gas station, is about 12-acres.

[spanky123]

i've heard people speculate.. home depot moving there(but would that be a conflict with canadian tire?), cabelas, bass pro fishing store as ideas of what could move in there.. it can't be a grocery store (i do remember hearing thriftys wants more space but not sure they would want to move to the back of the mall or a space that large) people want an ikea but ikea will never come back to the island, i think it's too small for a costco (the current one is already on the small side compared to the average costco)

 

i think it would be great for some sort of activity to move in there.. like a bowling alley (there currently isn't one in town)

 

I would think that CT and Thrifty's would have negotiated an exclusive for certain product segments that would conflict with Costco.

Edited by spanky123, 21 January 2018 - 10:32 AM.

[VicHockeyFan]

I would think that CT would have negotiated an exclusive for certain product segments that would conflict with Costco.

 

I'm not too sure.  They both knew at the time that Sears was a wildcard to survive.

[Mike K.]

Are Superstore and the West Shore Town Centre commercial areas all one shopping centre or are they owned by separate orgs?

[VicHockeyFan]

I would think that CT and Thrifty's would have negotiated an exclusive for certain product segments that would conflict with Costco.

 

You assume though that CT and Thrifty's had some type of upper hand though to write that in.  The mall owner might just negotiate them away just as easily, knowing he has a failing Sears on his hands for maybe not much longer. 

 

It also comes down to money in the end.  "We are not interested in no-competes, but for that consideration we will adjust this price/term".

 

Hey, and Costco might not be super crazy about moving in with Thrifty's and CT.   But you might find a way to lure them.

 

Hey, look, some stuff works out, some does not.  Target, Zellers, whatever.  

Edited by VicHockeyFan, 21 January 2018 - 10:46 AM.

[Cats4Hire]

I would think that CT and Thrifty's would have negotiated an exclusive for certain product segments that would conflict with Costco.

Target sold groceries didn't it? If they can't put any groceries or variety of outdoor/DIY stuff CT sells in there I think they'll be empty for a long time. Chapters is the only store I can think of that wouldn't conflict with those 2 and does conflict with Bolens and I doubt they're looking to put a new store relatively close to their new Mayfair location.

[sdwright.vic]

The mall got permission from Thrifty's to allow Target to have the grocery section.

Its like Uptown.... a high end grocery store was the only option with Wal-Marts lease.

[Nparker]

...Costco... might look at Sears and say "this is the only place left, let's make it work". And the Hillside Mall owner might also say, cor blimey, we need something, let's make a deal..

But only if Hillside's owner wears a funny costume for the negotiations and chooses what's behind door # 3   

Seriously though, physically I can see there being enough space for a Costco at Hillside, if the old Sears store were torn down and something at least twice the footprint were built in its place. There would have to be multi levels of underground parking to make up for the lost surface stalls, so that might make the built prohibitively expensive. The biggest hurdle would likely be the Hillside-Oaklands neighbourhood who would be alarmed at the increase of vehicle traffic in their area. Costco is not really a pedestrian/bicycle/transit shopping destination after all.

[VicHockeyFan]

Why does the parking have to be underground?  It can be in a parkade or on the roof.

[Cats4Hire]

The mall got permission from Thrifty's to allow Target to have the grocery section.

Its like Uptown.... a high end grocery store was the only option with Wal-Marts lease.

I don't really see how Costco and Thrifty's are direct competition anyway. Lately whenever I go to or near Thrifty's I only see people with like a day or 2 most of groceries. No one is going to go to Costco for that. I personally think they're just going to split the area up into smaller stores (maybe try getting some clothing stores or something? They have some but Mayfair and Bay Center have far more) over trying to fill it with a big store anyway.

[Nparker]

Why does the parking have to be underground?  It can be in a parkade or on the roof.

A separate surface parking garage would have to be pretty big and take up even more of the land. It's possible of course, but I think a residential component at Hillside would be a better use of the land. I suppose residences could be built on top of a multi-level parkade, but there isn't much precedent for that in our area.

Costcos are pretty tall, are there any that have roof-top parking?

[spanky123]

I don't really see how Costco and Thrifty's are direct competition anyway. Lately whenever I go to or near Thrifty's I only see people with like a day or 2 most of groceries. No one is going to go to Costco for that. I personally think they're just going to split the area up into smaller stores (maybe try getting some clothing stores or something? They have some but Mayfair and Bay Center have far more) over trying to fill it with a big store anyway.

 

There is a lot of overlap on products. Costco sells in bulk but they have a lot of items in similar sizes and packaging as Thrifty's. Imagine the blowback when there is no bag charge at Costco (ie they don't have them), yet Thrifty's would be require by the City to charge up to $2 a bag to their customers.

[RFS]

Why not residential? Condos make the most sense here. There is plenty of vacant retail inside the mall and its too far from highways for serious big box like ikea or Costco

[JohnN]

I recall discussions at Victoria Chamber meetings in the early 1980s about what should go into the empty BCFP property (now Selkirk Waterfront) and Costco seemed very popular choice. However it got too much neighbourhood and municipal opposition because of the traffic it would generate. 

[sebberry]

Why not residential? Condos make the most sense here. There is plenty of vacant retail inside the mall and its too far from highways for serious big box like ikea or Costco

 

Just think - the condo tower where the Sears building is could have ground level retail!  Pretty easy access to the mall, too.  No more excuses "Sorry, I couldn't find parking at the mall so I didn't get you a Christmas present this year"

[Nparker]

I recall discussions at Victoria Chamber meetings in the early 1980s about what should go into the empty BCFP property (now Selkirk Waterfront) and Costco seemed very popular choice. However it got too much neighbourhood and municipal opposition because of the traffic it would generate. 

Guaranteed, the opposition would be even more fierce at Hillside.

[grantpalin]

Ya the traffic around Hillside mall would get pretty bad. I think that's a factor that hurts the prospect of IKEA or Costco happening there. I'm in agreement with other suggestions to convert the Sears space, or replace it, to add a residential complex. Or a movie theater to take that issue away from the University Heights redevelopment proposal.

[VicHockeyFan]

Ya the traffic around Hillside mall would get pretty bad. I think that's a factor that hurts the prospect of IKEA or Costco happening there. I'm in agreement with other suggestions to convert the Sears space, or replace it, to add a residential complex. Or a movie theater to take that issue away from the University Heights redevelopment proposal.

 

It's a bit funny though, right.  If they make no substantial change to it, it can become any retailer that's allowed by the zoning.  But neighbours are like, "we liked this size of parking lot and building when the store sucked and the traffic was not high, the hours not long".  But make it a successful, busy store, and we want to complain.

Edited by VicHockeyFan, 21 January 2018 - 02:29 PM.

[Bingo]

Why does the parking have to be underground?  It can be in a parkade or on the roof.

 

Plenty of roof top parking was added at Hillside Mall during the last expansion. It has six charging stations, but but hardly anyone goes up there.

 

[rjag]

The store itself is 127k square feet, or 2.9-acres. Even if its two levels of parking were also 2.9-acres that’s less than 9-acres.

A typical Costco is 140k square feet or 3.2 acres.

 

But the 127k sq ft is 2 floors at 16' in height (or so) Costco needs 32' clear with rack so its really only 60k sq ft as a footprint