Miscellaneous

[IanO]

Very little deterrence.

 

[_urbanite]

Deploy a security guard at the entrance/exit of Shoppers, Atmosphere or Winners.

Doesn't matter because the "guards" they would hire don't have any power to stop or apprehend anyone

 

[JaayJR]

Regardless im sure alot of these businesses are still shortfalling.
We need more supportive housing for the vulnerable, and ECC needs to create a reason or attraction for people to even want to go there. Hopefully the redevelopment will help.

More on that first point tho

https://twitter.com/x/status/1461062540448841731

 

[CplKlinger]

The King’s University receives anonymous $20-million donation for new state-of-the-art science centre

The King’s University has received a $20-million donation to help build a new 40,000-square-foot science centre.

edmontonjournal.com

 

[_urbanite]

The King’s University receives anonymous $20-million donation for new state-of-the-art science centre

The King’s University has received a $20-million donation to help build a new 40,000-square-foot science centre.

edmontonjournal.com

@God was that you?

 

[God]

@God was that you?

You think I answer prayers?!

 

[IanO]

Don't encourage

 

[David A]

Deploy a security guard at the entrance/exit of Shoppers, Atmosphere or Winners.

The Shoppers on 104 St and Jasper has a security guard. I suspect the stores in the mall are to rely on roving mall security staff instead, which they already pay for through their rent, but may not be as effective for various reasons.

Many years ago I went to a poorer country and was surprised to see guards at the entrance to many stores and hotels, never saw that before. Now it is becoming common place here too. Perhaps its a solution, but not a good sign of the direction we are headed in.

 

[Greenspace]

Deploy a security guard at the entrance/exit of Shoppers, Atmosphere or Winners.

They all do this. Particularly in the morning when they first open it's a 'rush' into the stores, particularly Shoppers. The Bay had plain clothed security throughout the store and still lost merch.

 

[Vacs]

^^^^ more likely Amazon will be super busy.

I finished my christmas shopping already and bought nothing on amazon I did buy almost everything online though

 

[Vacs]

at the same time, drive thrus keep a lot of these business alive during covid

This North American obsession with drive-thru is SO BLOODY ANNOYING! And this here is one of those cases of "the chicken and the egg", when I don't know which one is going on: the companies adapting to consumer behaviour or is it the companies leading such change.
The one thing I know is that a restaurant only has, or heavily prioritizes, drive-thru service, it won't have my business, just out of spite (and you can call me petty, I'll wear that hat happily)i

 

[archited]

A relevant article by strongtowns.org summarizes the situation quite clearly:
“What we should do is recognize the fragile condition that we're in; our dependence on forces beyond our control not only threatens our ability to shop for clothes. It threatens everything. We rely on national retailers and their high debt/low equity business models for almost everything we buy. This should create a sense of urgency for us and an obsession with becoming more resilient.”

“And we should also recognize where our wealth really comes from. It comes from our downtown and our core neighborhoods (those within walking distance). It certainly doesn't come from people driving through those places. It doesn't come from people commuting in. It doesn't come from tourists or developers or the potential of land development out on the edge. Our wealth — the wealth built slowly over generations — is slowly seeping away in our downtown and its surrounding neighborhoods.”

“Put these things together — the need to build resilience and the historic wealth that still remains in our core — and the strategy becomes too obvious to ignore: We need to piece our economic ecosystem back together. We shouldn't spend a penny on the mall — we should be willing to let it fall apart and collapse if the market can't support it. But we should support those investments in the core that are already paying our bills.”
— Charles Marohn, AICP, Founder and President of Strong Towns (named one of the 10 Most Influential Urbanists of all time by Planetizen)

Here is a listing of some of the retail carnage from the year 2018 and 2019 (pre-COVID):
- Sears and K-mart have filed for bankruptcy and an additional 40 Sears and K-Mart stores closed in February 2019).
- Lowes closed 51 stores in the U.S. and Canada
- Mattress Firm closed up to 700 stores
- Victoria’s Secret closed 20 stores
- Orchard Supply Hardware closed 99 stores
- Brookstone closed 102 stores
- The Fresh Market closed 15 stores
- Chipotle closed 65 stores
- Toys R Us closed 735 stores
- Starbucks closed 150 stores in 2019
- H&R Block closed 400 locations
- Kroger closed 14 stores
- Lord and Taylor closed 10 stores
- Subway closed 500 locations
- Bon-Ton closed 256 stores
- GNC Live Well closed 200 stores
- J. Crew closed 20 stores
- Abercrombie and Fitch closed 60 stores
- Foot Locker closed 110 stores
- Best Buy closed 250 cell phone stores
- J.C. Penny closed 8 stores
- Sam’s Club closed 63 stores
- Macy’s closed 11 stores
- Gap and Banana Republic closed 200 stores
- Teavana closed 379 stores
- Ascent Retail Group closed 268 stores
(Statistics provided by clark.com)

It is quite obvious that retail is under siege.

 

[ChazYEG]

at the same time, drive thrus keep a lot of these business alive during covid

Pandemics do not dictate good business practices and models. Drive-thrus were good for this and, undeniably, in general they have some utility, but what I despise is the fact that it is becoming the priority over everything else.
It's absolutely preposterous that if you want to eat somewhere, after midnight, you either have to own a vehicle or pay for delivery, in most places that claim to be " 24h", for example. And the safety argument doesn't work with me. Stuff still works, safely, through the night, in cities much dangerous than Edmonton will EVER be (yes, Rio, I am looking at you).

 

[Vacs]

Pandemics do not dictate good business practices and models. Drive-thrus were good for this and, undeniably, in general they have some utility, but what I despise is the fact that it is becoming the priority over everything else.
It's absolutely preposterous that if you want to eat somewhere, after midnight, you either have to own a vehicle or pay for delivery, in most places that claim to be " 24h", for example. And the safety argument doesn't work with me. Stuff still works, safely, through the night, in cities much dangerous than Edmonton will EVER be (yes, Rio, I am looking at you).

I can agree with that. I think drive thrus have their place, such as pandemic, people with mobility issues or if you are whipping through a drive thru to grab a coffee on the go, great.

I for one go in if I have a large order when I can. which I think everyone should do. nothing is worse than when you just ordered a coffee and the car infront of you ordered lunch for the entire office

 

[ChazYEG]

I can agree with that. I think drive thrus have their place, such as pandemic, people with mobility issues or if you are whipping through a drive thru to grab a coffee on the go, great.

I for one go in if I have a large order when I can. which I think everyone should do. nothing is worse than when you just ordered a coffee and the car infront of you ordered lunch for the entire office

I'll go in whenever possible, except when I am really on the go.
For once, I don't like eating inside my car (as shocking as it might be, I don't hate cars... I actually cherish mine enough to want to keep it safe from food spills). I also believe that stopping to have a meal, whenever possible, is actually healthy for your body and mind, instead of feeling somewhat rushed/guilty, like I do when I grab anything from a Drive Thru and eat in the car.