What do you think of this project?

  • Total voters
    61
Personally, I’d be offended if there wasn’t a weed and liquor store in an entertainment district. So far the cannabis and liquor store are the only thing that could entertain me in that district. The ice house and bowling are the only other entertaining additions. You could make the argument that a liquor store isn’t needed as there’s bars around but I think it’s more so for the residents convenience, which means when phase 2 rolls out they’d probably just relocate the store and switch the plaza location to something better. A cannabis store is great for the area and a flagship one is even better. You have to change your perception to understand the addition better. Restaurants attract people to the district but they won’t always attract the right crowd. A lot of the times it’s just people grabbing a bite or having a business meeting over lunch. A cannabis store however is drawing the right crowd. Walk in the store grab yourself a joint rolled by the devil (fuck that guy) and get high af and play a round of bowling with friends or go play some ping pong high as shit. Casino is opening soon. Spark up your grass roll and 20 minutes later you’re on the moon, the only other thing on there happens to be the grand villa casino. Boom you just had a fun night and you’d probably tell a few people and word would get around. The power of weed. You know how many high people are hitting up those slot machines just for the fucking colours spinning and the noises? Me, I am “people”. It just connects everything in a nice way.
 
thommyjo said:
popular fashion brands will do way more for our DT and city image than cannabis stores with covered windows…
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Not for weed smokers, and there’s a lot of them. Cannabis equals entertainment and fun to me, which is what I plan to go to the district regularly for. Name brand clothes equals WEM or Amazon Prime to me, not a pathway to enhancing an experience
 
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IanO said:
Could you not use one of the many dispensaries in the near proximity and permit this to be something different?
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Why would I inconvenience myself when I am happy that space is being used for cannabis. I am sure a lot of residents that live in the district will also be happy it’s there.
 
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^ This is my primary issue with this. Apart from the dark, unappealing storefronts (and the fact that there is already a handful of these within a few blocks), it seems to only be a certain type of entertainment for this district and doesn't feel particularly inclusive.

These stores are dime a dozen across the city, feels like such a waste to have this take up a prime spot in an allegedly premiere district meant to be a unique draw to the city. Might as well add some more cash moneys, dental offices, and pawn shops and make this the most premiere strip mall in the city.
 
As much as I don't like the weed and liquor stores (and to a much lesser extent the banks) the Oilers are opening their (first ever??) dedicated team store right on the plaza very soon with the ICE House, Banquet and Loblaws soon to follow. So not all is doom and gloom. Having said that, One Properties needs to ensure that the remaining retail spaces facing the plaza (of which there still a number remaining, both on the main and second floors) are filled with type of tenants that will help make this the exciting entertainment district that is envisioned and that we are all hoping for. So no more banks, weed and liquor stores and NO dollar or cash stores!!! Please and thanks.
 
In their defense, they can't force high end fashion boutiques that don't exist or don't want to lease take space there. Also, this city has a very suburban mentality and history that is difficult to change and the last few years with COVID shutting much of downtown and the economic downturn (before and after that) didn't help.

Even the new Rexall drug store could not survive in this area over the last few years. It will take time to build a more upscale entertainment and retail area, probably several years. In the meantime the developers have to lease out at least a significant portion of the space.

I'm not fan of casino's or buds stores myself, but at this point I doubt there is a line up of better options.
 
Glenco said:
Reminds me of WEM when it first opened which was a massive overbuild for the market with 4 MacDonalds and 2 Mr. Big and Tall The market grew into it and they don’t have that problem anymore.
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An interesting observation. As a customer, I really didn't mind the duplication. If one Bay was out of stock, a person could go to the one at the other end without going outside or driving, so at times it was very handy. However, I'm not sure it made great business sense for the stores.

However, I do agree the market will eventually adjust. I don't understand all the ins and outs of WEM strategy, but they seemed to keep the mall fairly full while transitioning to more variety and high end stores which was probably no easy task. At first you may have to take what you can get and later you can become more choosy.
 
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