Hopefully it generates a lot of foot traffic, but yes, it looks miserable. Ikea cares a lot about their brand and I would have thought they'd make an effort for such a high profile location.
 
The outside is really disappointing and drab so far. Barely anything has changed from how it looked when those Sircorp restaurants and Bed Bath & Beyond were there. Hopefully inside will be somewhat better, though it is Ikea we're talking about.
Are the city and condo corp rules so strict regarding the exteriors that Ikea is hamstrung in terms of what changes they can make?

Since Ingka Centres now owns the majority of the podium, could they be waiting for the Marshalls lease to expire, then take it over and revamp the whole thing with an extra floor? (I can only dream that they'd also buy out the haunted basement.)
 
It might end up being garish, but I'd be ok with Ikea re-cladding the podium to match the brand. Even if they replaced those limestone (?) panels with blue-painted aluminum and replaced the grey snap caps with yellow, the colours would at least pop.

It'd also be great to see them buy up some of the basement units. Maybe they could set up vending machines with spare parts down there, or set up the units as elaborate window displays, or they could tuck some of their marketplace food items... anything to give that failed mall a purpose
 
This Homesense signage is new, right? Perhaps Marshall's will brand part of their space as a "Homesense" to draw IKEA shoppers upstairs.
Homesense.jpg
 
Winners, Marshalls and Home Sense are all parts of the same company. It's common to have Winners and Home Sense in the same store (eg. the Bloor St store), so why not Marshalls and Home Sense?
 
Rascacielo said:
Winners, Marshalls and Home Sense are all parts of the same company. It's common to have Winners and Home Sense in the same store (eg. the Bloor St store), so why not Marshalls and Home Sense?
Click to expand...
Not saying that it's not appropriate for Marshalls and Homesense to be branded together. Just saying i've never seen it before and it's rare.

Winners and HomeSense together i've seen before.
 
Marshalls have always had a section of home decor products in that store anyway (I think I bought some cushions there) which probably come from Home Sense, even if they weren’t branded as such.

On another topic, I’m curious what’s become of Aura’s basement, including the food court. It was a ghost town even before the pandemic, can’t imagine what it’s like these days. I’ll check it out soon and will post an update here if I’m not eaten by zombies or carnivorous spiders ...
 
Rascacielo said:
Marshalls have always had a section of home decor products in that store anyway (I think I bought some cushions there) which probably come from Home Sense, even if they weren’t branded as such.

On another topic, I’m curious what’s become of Aura’s basement, including the food court. It was a ghost town even before the pandemic, can’t imagine what it’s like these days. I’ll check it out soon and will post an update here if I’m not eaten by zombies or carnivorous spiders ...
Click to expand...
I walked through it last week... it's desolate and rather messy. Several locations look abandoned; I doubt the others are making lots of money.
 
Rascacielo said:
On another topic, I’m curious what’s become of Aura’s basement, including the food court. It was a ghost town even before the pandemic, can’t imagine what it’s like these days. I’ll check it out soon and will post an update here if I’m not eaten by zombies or carnivorous spiders ...
Click to expand...

Given how dead it is, they would have starved to death by now. The basement always struck me as an ideal location for illlicit businesses though. Anyways, since the units are sold, not leased - it could be a challenge for any potential buyout.

AoD
 
AlvinofDiaspar said:
Given how dead it is, they would have starved to death by now. The basement always struck me as an ideal location for illlicit businesses though. Anyways, since the units are sold, not leased - it could be a challenge for any potential buyout.

AoD
Click to expand...
I guess if the buyers are desperate enough they could decide to table some sort of collective sale. Maybe offer it to Ikea for potential expansion if the new store is a hit?
 
Rascacielo said:
I guess if the buyers are desperate enough they could decide to table some sort of collective sale. Maybe offer it to Ikea for potential expansion if the new store is a hit?
Click to expand...

That would be ideal - especially since Ikea's real estate arm already owns a good chunk of the retail space. It only takes one holdout though...

AoD
 
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