The addition of staircases connecting to the south-side entrance is the most promising part of this whole project.
 
warrens said:
The addition of staircases connecting to the south-side entrance is the most promising part of this whole project.
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Probably more to do with fire code than anything else. That end has always made me wonder who approved of escalators only.
 
Northern Light said:
I remember it this way; but I have the vaguest childhood memories of a different iteration here, before there were elevators at this end, a tree perhaps? A water feature, I can't quite remember....... can we dig up photos of this section from the 70s?
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Oh yeah, by this time the greenery and water features had been removed. But you are right, they used to have a cool set up here.
 
Edward Skira said:
Nordstrom is leaving Canada apparently so a big hole about to appear here.
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Just posted this over in the applicable retail thread!

Retail-Insider has the story:

retail-insider.com

Nordstrom and Nordstrom Rack to Exit Canada and Shut All Stores

The Seattle-based large format retailer has been in Canada for almost a decade and is said to have never made a profit.
retail-insider.com retail-insider.com

R-I speculates and I concur; that Maison Simons is about to be having a close look at some newly available real estate.
 
Just a side note, Dolce & Gabbana (moving to Yorkdale), Hakim Optical (non-payment of rent) and H&M (low sales) have all closed or about to close on Bloor Street. Covid + inflation have changed shopping habits, probably for good.
 
condovo said:
Just a side note, Dolce & Gabbana (moving to Yorkdale), Hakim Optical (non-payment of rent) and H&M (low sales) have all closed or about to close on Bloor Street. Covid + inflation have changed shopping habits, probably for good.
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The death of retail has been greatly exaggerated.

That's not to suggest there has not been and will not continue to be change.

That's always been a thing though. The five-and-dime stores, Kresge and Woolworth morphed into K-Mart and Woolco (the former selling its Canadian division to HBC/Zellers, the latter being bought out by Walmart when it came to Canada); yet; the concept made a form of a return with 'Dollar stores', as department stores began to wane.

Everything old is new again.

I think we can certainly concede that online shopping is up; particularly for predictable goods you don't need to try on or see in person. That could be the book you know you want or more of the same socks you like.

Beyond that, high inflation (and mortgage servicing costs and rents) have left some people more squeezed, which strikes at the upper-middle and luxury segments a bit more than consumer staples.

However, we also need to note, that the speculation in various articles is that Nordstrom didn't turn an overall profit in Canada in a single quarter from the time it arrived. That was a problem before the pandemic or any recent issues. Indeed, government supports may have delayed some tough choices.

Sometimes the problem isn't the market per se but the retailer.

Also, we need to add the luxury department store market is over-saturated everywhere. Far too many Sak's opened (in the U.S. too); far too many Nordstrom's, far too many other luxury brands were over extended. Cheap capital made the decision to grow easy, but expensive capital means the need to retrench.
 
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