General Retail News

[panamaniac]

This is something that merits support, should you find yourself downtown during the week.

I shall have to wander over there at lunchtime on Monday!  Maybe I can get some decent carrots instead of the monster ones sold by most supermarkets.

But this is good news for the downtown-dwellers, to be sure.

She had purple carrots!

[panamaniac]

The TBS sign at the former Woolworths building on King St E has been replaced by a Dollarama sign. I don't know why I thought it was going to be a Dollar Tree.

[panamaniac]

It's not really about retail, but I was pleasantly surprised to see people staging the windows of the old Kabel's store Downtown (most recently Artisan Zone). It's done up as a clothing store and it looks a hundred times better than the empty display space. It would be good to see more of this downtown, at least for the window spaces that are sitting empty or covered with kraft paper.

[tomh009]

The Legacy Greens pop-up shop at 10 King St E is now open.  Modest selection of fresh, mostly local fruit and veg, a few packaged foods.  The owner, told me that still to come are a weekly fresh soup-in-a-jar (Wednesday's), frozen ices and ice-cream, and some local pasture-fed beef and pork.  Pricing seems fair - I noticed "Elmira's Own" grape tomatoes at $3.49 per box, which is 50 cents below what a well-known central supermarket sells them for.

This is something that merits support, should you find yourself downtown during the week.

I finally made it there today.  Very nice selection and presentation, clearly done on a budget but done well.  Prices are quite reasonable, and most of the food is local (or fairly local). 

They're committed to running until Christmas, but will continue if they have enough business.  Let's make sure they do, I think Legacy Greens is a great addition to the downtown!

[KevinL]

As Waterloo loses a Dollarama (temporarily) to fire, Kitchener looks set to soon open the downtown location - signage and window treatments are in place, there's a brand new entry vestibule, the ceiling is coming together and the walls look done. A bit more here and there, then shelves and stock can move in.

[panamaniac]

Budds has announced that it will be closing in the New Year.

http://www.therecord.com/news-story/5961...-business/

[MidTowner]

Oh no! Maybe inevitably, I guess, but very sad news...

[panamaniac]

Budds is wasting no time with their closing - the "For Lease" signs are already in the window.  The space seems too big for Downtown retail, so I wonder if it might not be yet another conversion to office space?  I've always assumed that the Budd brothers owned the building, but I really don't know.

[tomh009]

Budds has announced that it will be closing in the New Year.  

http://www.therecord.com/news-story/5961...-business/

And the story in The Record has the usual doom-and-gloom comments about downtown.

[Viewfromthe42]

Two new (to me) shops in UpTown. One is on Princess, in the old Loop Clothing space next to the now-defunct McMullen's space. Called "UpTown Woods," it seems like men's clothing of a not small enough to be hipster variety.

In the cottage-y building at the northeast of Regina and Erb, a store called "Funhouse" seems to be a clothing/lifestyle shop similar to what Sanction was.

[Quiet One]

Hatashita Diamonds in Uptown is closing due to retirement - their closing sale started yesterday.
http://www.therecord.com/news-story/6062...-waterloo/

[panamaniac]

Legacy Greens on King St E at Queen has signed a one year lease for its space - it may close for a while in January but will be open the rest of the coming year.

[tomh009]

Legacy Greens on King St E at Queen has signed a one year lease for its space - it may close for a while in January but will be open the rest of the coming year.

Excellent!  We're moving downtown next week, so I'll plan to be a regular customer!

[panamaniac]

The new Downtown Dollarama will open on November 11th.

[JoeKW]

A new Juice Bar is opening up soon in downtown Kitchener: