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Edmonton City Centre Mall (Renovations) | ?m | 2s | LaSalle Investment Management

Just as an update on RH -- the company now looks for centrally located City-oriented flagship stores, always with a high end restaurant as part of the venture and a household panoply of custom designed furniture, fixtures and equipment -- usually about three or four floors -- if realized, Edmonton would be one of the first with a residential tower attached, likely part condo and part rental.
 
archited said:
Just for a little inside info Restoration Hardware (now simply known as RH) is looking at another downtown Edmonton location and the possibility of adding housing to their game -- a high-rise venture.
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That's quite the long game if they're willing to wait for a new high-rise project to be built, if it's a new build you're speaking of.
 
Gronk! said:
A downtown Restoration Hardware store would be a license to print money. However, I'm content with a Home Hardware or a Crappy Tire. Downtown needs at least one hardware store to serve not just the residents but also the office workers and the post-secondary students. I for one am getting a bit tired of being forced to drive to places such as the Home Depot in Westmount Mall for my hardware needs.
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RH doesn't sell hardware.

https://rh.com/us/en/
 
Offworld said:
That's quite the long game if they're willing to wait for a new high-rise project to be built, if it's a new build you're speaking of.
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They are not planning on waiting for a developer -- they would be the developer. RH in recent years has been building their own buildings (and quite a few of them I might add). Thematically the buildings have a retro feel to them -- very high architectural standards. The look at Edmonton's downtown is extremely serious! They are aware that major department stores have vacated the City's core or have gone out of business -- the Bay, Eatons, Woodwards, etc.-- they see an opening for themselves, bucking the trend. The new store would have as I mentioned an upper end restaurant that would occupy an entire floor; they are also looking strongly at two retail trends that they feel would apply to Edmonton (particularly in a downtown setting) -- the Pet Industry ($140 Billion Industry in the U.S -- blossomed during COVID) and the Houseplant Industry which also boomed in the COVID days and is particularly strong in colder climates. I will update this info when I see the time is right for an RH thread under the "Buildings" Category.
 
Gronk! said:
A downtown Restoration Hardware store would be a license to print money. However, I'm content with a Home Hardware or a Crappy Tire. Downtown needs at least one hardware store to serve not just the residents but also the office workers and the post-secondary students. I for one am getting a bit tired of being forced to drive to places such as the Home Depot in Westmount Mall for my hardware needs.
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Well no reason we can't want both. Our expectations have become so low. Restoration Hardware's name is a bit misleading, they wouldn't compete with Home Hardware or Canadian Tire. They would fit in nicely in the somewhat still upscale Manulife, as would something like an Apple Store.

On the other hand, something like Home Hardware would be great in a smaller less expensive, but still central space, such as a street front space in an older smaller retail building. Canadian Tire could use a space such as one of the empty corner spaces in City Centre Mall.

I suppose one of the few advantages of having so much empty space downtown is there is room to accommodate all of these in suitable spaces.
 
archited said:
They are not planning on waiting for a developer -- they would be the developer. RH in recent years has been building their own buildings (and quite a few of them I might add). Thematically the buildings have a retro feel to them -- very high architectural standards. The look at Edmonton's downtown is extremely serious! They are aware that major department stores have vacated the City's core or have gone out of business -- the Bay, Eatons, Woodwards, etc.-- they see an opening for themselves, bucking the trend. The new store would have as I mentioned an upper end restaurant that would occupy an entire floor; they are also looking strongly at two retail trends that they feel would apply to Edmonton (particularly in a downtown setting) -- the Pet Industry ($140 Billion Industry in the U.S -- blossomed during COVID) and the Houseplant Industry which also boomed in the COVID days and is particularly strong in colder climates. I will update this info when I see the time is right for an RH thread under the "Buildings" Category.
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If they want a retro feel, they could bring back elements of the Tegler Building and of course the lot where it stood is now empty. It is a good location to connect into the downtown pedway system, close to other retail and LRT.
 
IanO said:
Are some of you on the same street drug many are? Man-o-man.

It's embarrassing and appalling where things are at from a retail and 'where do we explore at lunch' standpoint.

Maybe a few of you need to get of out dodge more often; 104st is fine, but not much to write home about.
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I used to have to go to Calgary regularly from time to time for business and events, but haven't for a long time. My impression of Stephen Ave then was mixed - parts of it were great, other parts were run down. It was uneven.

The only thing that consistently impressed me about it was the character of the all the older smaller commercial buildings, which we unfortunately don't have here much downtown and I don't think we can replicate. But I do still get out from time to time and there is more to the world than just Calgary.

I had more recently went to Montreal and saw St. Catherine's street, which IMO is far superior to what Calgary has. I don't know how we would replicate that either, but that would be a model I would like to try follow somehow.
 
So that furniture/decor store is finally open. It's called "Dreamscape Designs". I wasn't able to grab a pic while walking but it seems to have furniture, decor and gifts. It also says it does interior design consultancy. I'm not sure how in demand this is, but hopefully they do well. They're in a decent spot on the west side of the mall where foot traffic from Commerce Place/Manulife come in so they've got some visibility I guess.

That's at least two retailers opening up in City Centre this month alone. Curious if this trend continues.
 
Kosy123 said:
So that furniture/decor store is finally open. It's called "Dreamscape Designs". I wasn't able to grab a pic while walking but it seems to have furniture, decor and gifts. It also says it does interior design consultancy. I'm not sure how in demand this is, but hopefully they do well. They're in a decent spot on the west side of the mall where foot traffic from Commerce Place/Manulife come in so they've got some visibility I guess.

That's at least two retailers opening up in City Centre this month alone. Curious if this trend continues.
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Yes, it looks very nice. I would have expected something like this in Manulife, but perhaps with the bank moving in they are busy dealing with the space for that. However, it is close by in an area with good visibility and traffic.
 
David A said:
Yes, it looks very nice. I would have expected something like this in Manulife, but perhaps with the bank moving in they are busy dealing with the space for that. However, it is close by in an area with good visibility and traffic.
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Yeah, full agreement with you there, I was surprised at how nice it is. I'm hoping it's a success and a few more "upscale" or boutique retailers take a chance on this portion of the mall.
 
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