Connect Centre | 56.3m | 16s | ONE Properties | DIALOG

[ADob]

I think whatever we do have/have had is in food courts.

 

[Gus Haynes]

They didn't lease to the banks because there was a long line up of other good potential tenants during and after COVID. Before they tried to attract a new movie theatre here, but that fell through.

The wasted potential here is mostly related to timing and Edmonton's general neglect of its downtown.

We're also sadly at a point where new movie theatres just aren't getting built anymore, almost anywhere. So, yeah, timing was a big negative here.

 

[thommyjo]

Why does downtown not have any fast food spots? I never understood

Drive thru culture is my guess. The amount of walk up traffic you need to hit metrics anywhere close to drive through locations would be substantial.

And the fast food giants are used to evenings and late night traffic that an area like ice district just won’t provide outside of office hours and events.

 

[Avenuer]

Drive thru culture is my guess. The amount of walk up traffic you need to hit metrics anywhere close to drive through locations would be substantial.

And the fast food giants are used to evenings and late night traffic that an area like ice district just won’t provide outside of office hours and events.

Yup, that's why Starbucks closed a bunch of stores a few years ago because none of them had drive-thrus.

 

[northlands]

Drive thru culture is my guess. The amount of walk up traffic you need to hit metrics anywhere close to drive through locations would be substantial.

And the fast food giants are used to evenings and late night traffic that an area like ice district just won’t provide outside of office hours and events.

This + social disorder of street facing fast food locations.

Look at the issues Tim's in Commerce Place faces as a street facing store: Staff harassment, loitering, ODs, vandalism, smashed windows, sanitary issues, etc.

 

[ADob]

I'm actually astonished they're still open. It's a little better now that there are more people in the streets, but I always think the staff there deserve a medal.

 

[David A]

Drive thru culture is my guess. The amount of walk up traffic you need to hit metrics anywhere close to drive through locations would be substantial.

And the fast food giants are used to evenings and late night traffic that an area like ice district just won’t provide outside of office hours and events.

It seems other cities do have more of these in their downtowns. Edmonton seems somewhat unique (and not in a good way IMO) in its over exuberant suburban embrace of having to drive through everything.

 

[Greenspace]

The Tim's at Commerce has gotten better imo. Still a challenge for businesses for sure but Jasper Avenue in general doesn't seem to have as much disorder as it used to a few years ago. Most of it has move north.

 

[Avenuer]

This + social disorder of street facing fast food locations.

Look at the issues Tim's in Commerce Place faces as a street facing store: Staff harassment, loitering, ODs, vandalism, smashed windows, sanitary issues, etc.

Not uncommon, unfortunately, for social disorder to be prevalent at downtown fast food joints:

https://www.cbc.ca/player/play/video/9.7018039

 

[Mesopotamia]

I used to work at commerce place and I remember my coworker telling me there was a massive human turd in the hallway between commerce place and the Tim’s lmao

 

[IanO]

I spoke with the owner of the previous McD in Commerce/ECC and it was a REAL problem.

 

[MacLac]

Not uncommon, unfortunately, for social disorder to be prevalent at downtown fast food joints:

https://www.cbc.ca/player/play/video/9.7018039

Same reason there are ZERO.ZERO fast food outlets in DT Seattle, nary for a few in their DT Pacific Place Mall akin to our CC Mall….but no others. I reckon to say that DT San Fran is in the same boat….heck, let’s throw DT LA into this conversation……

 

[David A]

Same reason there are ZERO.ZERO fast food outlets in DT Seattle, nary for a few in their DT Pacific Place Mall akin to our CC Mall….but no others. I reckon to say that DT San Fran is in the same boat….heck, let’s throw DT LA into this conversation……

We probably really do not want to follow the examples of some US cities. Other Canadian cities seem better than US ones for downtown activity

 

[David A]

The Tim's at Commerce has gotten better imo. Still a challenge for businesses for sure but Jasper Avenue in general doesn't seem to have as much disorder as it used to a few years ago. Most of it has move north.

The vacuum that downtown became during parts of COVID did seem to draw in a lot of disorder for a while, now that it has become busier again it seems some of it went (back?) elsewhere

 

[Edmcowboy11]

You know one thing that at first seemed strange to me seems to now make a lot of sense. While I was in the Philippines, one of the things that I noticed is that there was a security guard at the front door of pretty well every fast food restaurants no matter where I went to whether it was in a smaller city or in a place like Manila. The security guard would also act as a doorman and as I said was a normal fixture wherever I went to. It makes me wonder that what would be so wrong if we had the same things here in Edmonton/ Canada. One of the biggest problems we keep talking about is individuals coming in and loitering in the restaurants. Would it be so wrong if we had a security guard at a fast food restaurant?