Globe article on how big-box stores are trying to "modify their big-box model to squeeze into the high-density Toronto core":
The Little Big-Box Stores That Could
SIRI AGRELL — URBAN AFFAIRS REPORTER
From Saturday's Globe and Mail
Published Friday, Feb. 18, 2011 7:26PM EST
Last updated Saturday, Feb. 19, 2011 9:55PM EST
...The new Dollarama on 96 Spadina is 9,700 sq. ft. below sidewalk level, marked with three relatively demure signs. But even with its low-profile look, the store’s midday lineups have demonstrated a surprising downtown demand for paper plates and party supplies...
...In 2009, Leon’s moved into the Roundhouse and this summer, Crate & Barrel offshoot CB2 will open in the former Big Bop building at Queen and Bathurst, bringing young condo dwellers into a space that was once the sole domain of disaffected punks and underage drinkers.
Even the club district is being considered retail friendly, with the U.S. department store Marshalls reportedly eyeing the former location of Circa nightclub on John Street.
But because existing buildings can be hard to modify for a large-scale retailer, many brands are focusing instead on the opportunities of new build condominiums.
At Queen Street West and Portland, Mr. Sonshine’s RioCan is building a development that will house a 45,000-sq.-ft. Loblaws, an 8,000-sq.-ft. Joe Fresh and a 29,000-sq.-ft. Winners outlet in the base of a condo tower.
And in the Avalon condo being built at Yonge and Gerrard Streets, a 40,000-sq.-ft. Bed, Bath & Beyond will move in, along with a large-format Alice Fazooli’s...
To read more:
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news...-stores-that-could/article1913912/?cmpid=rss1
But probably just retiring, as the strip is changing.
