constructo said:
STATE OF THE MALL:
Riocan may take decades to recoup their more than $200 million investment. Currently, there are 21 units available for leasing and there may be more store closures if foot traffic and sales don't increase. It does not look good.
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Riocan will do fine.

Longos was a big part of the reno, they never closed, they are paying rent.

Lots of small businesses are hurt, Riocan will underperform on the site in the near term.

But I would expect (barring a serious second wave and more lockdowns) to see recovery within 18 months.

The office workers will be back, the school kids will be back.

This will simply push back break-even by 12-18mos.
 
constructo said:
STATE OF THE MALL:

As the city eases restrictions and stores re-open, I'm seeing the effects of poor sales from low foot traffic pre-Covid and the lengthy Covid closure. The following stores are closed permanently; GNC health products, Ricki's ladies wear, Flock chicken and IQ Foods. Most food court operators have returned and limited seating is available. These food court units have not re-opened; Freshii salads, Potatopia and Wiki Hut oriental. The minimum franchise fee for Potatopia was $150,000. Good luck to those owners. Some food units were doomed from the start with high menu prices, small portions and lack of sales or specials like Flock's $39. whole chicken and 2 sides.
Riocan received government rent subsidy support which allowed lease holders to pay only 25% of their total monthly lease, but if your monthly rent was $10,000. you were paying $2,500. per month for about 4 months with no income; not easy for "mom and pop" owners. Winners is open but sales are down. A new food outlet is going to take a chance at being profitable; Omni Palace Noodles and Grill (994 sq. ft.) between Basil Box and Five Guys Burgers. "The Shoe Company" is due to move into the old Dollarama space. Dollarama went from a cramped 6,745 sq. ft. space to a new 14,514 sq. ft. unit that's clean, bright, wide aisles, larger inventory and entrance from inside the mall or Sheppard Ave.
Riocan may take decades to recoup their more than $200 million investment. Currently, there are 21 units available for leasing and there may be more store closures if foot traffic and sales don't increase. It does not look good.
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This is unbelievably infuriating. I worked at FLOCK for the better part of a year and got laid off due to the pandemic. Throughout the pandemic they have not emailed anyone, coworker or store manager about what's going on.The fact that I'm finding out that my job won't come back on an urban development forum instead of having corporate say anything to me has me enraged right now.
 
Listing for FLOCK - whereas some of the others focus on selling the franchise,... this one is "Suit Any Type Of Concept". Of the Yonge frontage sites, FLOCK site is odd in that it still has the "moat" - still have to climb up stairs (inside) to get to store level.
IMG_5228.JPG

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Check out this listing on REALTOR.ca

4841 YONGE ST, Toronto, Ontario M2N5X2
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List of other commercial for sale at Sheppard Centre
 
Deadpool X said:
People don't realize that communication is the basis of trust. I am sure karma will hit them back one day.
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sunnyraytoronto said:
Listing for FLOCK - whereas some of the others focus on selling the franchise,... this one is "Suit Any Type Of Concept". Of the Yonge frontage sites, FLOCK site is odd in that it still has the "moat" - still have to climb up stairs (inside) to get to store level.
View attachment 261760
www.realtor.ca

Check out this listing on REALTOR.ca

4841 YONGE ST, Toronto, Ontario M2N5X2
www.realtor.ca www.realtor.ca

List of other commercial for sale at Sheppard Centre
Click to expand...
Half my job was helping families up those steps with their strollers. It was such a dysfunctional location.
 
Silly question, I assume that lease rate is per year, or is it per month ? That would be $60 * 2230 = ~ $134,000.
 
That's $11,000. per month for the Flock lease plus food cost, labor, insurance and utilities. Got to sell a lot of chicken to cover that, but Flock never had the foot traffic or sales from day one. Has anyone read the glowing reports for the other MLS listings? Ridiculous, such as Tacorrito's self reported weekly sales of $14,000. Be lucky if they did $5,000. per week from what I've seen.
 
Anyone know how the Longo's is doing? I never see that many people in there especially compared to the Loblaws at Empress
 
Customer counts are low but steady. On average, Longo's has 2 main checkouts open, sometimes 3, 1 express counter and 4 self checkouts. Foot traffic is low throughout the mall and Longo's mostly serves the Forest Laneway residents. Sales should increase in the fall when the Pivot building opens. There are rarely more than 2 or 3 people waiting at the main checkouts and a staff member keeps people spaced apart and directs them to different checkouts depending on their item count. At times like mid afternoon, It appears that there are more staff in the store than customers which is not profitable. Hopefully, they're here for the long haul. They do have an excellent line of products.
 
Little things like having to pay for parking turn a lot of people off. I don't count Shoppers and Winners as attractive anchor stores and they serve a very local clientele, mostly Forest Laneway residents. No sporting goods, no electronics like a Best Buy, no men's wear for suits or quality casual clothing, no travel agency, no beer store, no LCBO. Covid shut down the entire mall in mid-march with the exception of Shoppers Drug and a few food court units and it's going to take a long time to get decent foot traffic back. Local schools closed and office buildings had most staff working from home. The 10,000 sq. ft. Cactus Club restaurant has stopped all construction due to Covid and may not open until next summer. The opening of the "Pivot" rental building in the Fall will help a bit. The mall is not a "destination" like Fairview, Promenade or Yorkdale.
Riocan spent more than $200 million putting "lipstick on a pig" but the mix of stores just doesn't work. As seen in recent entries, several stores have closed and left and many more units are for sale trying to cut their losses and dump expensive 10 year leases. A recent count showed 21 units available for lease . There are a couple new stores willing to take a chance. The "Shoe Company" is moving into the former 6745 sq. ft. Dollarama location and "Omni Palace Noodle and Grill" is going into 994 sq.ft. between Basil Box and Five Guys Burgers on Yonge St.
 
constructo said:
...no beer store, no LCBO...
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IMO, this was a huge missed opportunity. That would have provided a bit more of a spark to the YSC mall, and they would easily have picked up more customers due to subway and grocery (Whole Foods, Longos) activity.

It's too bad the new LCBO chose (or was contractually bound) to locate across the street in the Emerald complex.
 
I would say the “Retail Mix” before this “redevelopment” was actually better for the mall the Cineplex, Boston Pizza, Spring Rolls. Those were strong tenants and when they were advertising the redevelopment online and all over the mall. RioCan’s goal was to make YSC a destination mall and “why go downtown when you can shop uptown” they failed in many ways now the retail mix is cheap and doesn’t suit the area. An LCBO or a Sport Check would really boost the mall clientele.
 
Why do you think it's riocan's fault though, I'm sure they would have loved some of the aforementioned tenants but I doubt there was interest. Cineplex leaving had nothing to do with them, I'm surprised it lasted so long given how empty the empress cineplex is even today (prior to covid) !
 
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