Population and Housing

[tomh009]

I think things like hardware stores will struggle to ever regain the main street experience. A few reasons, they are primarily destinations, not browsable, so they don't benefit from main street as some businesses do. They are a more occasional shopping destination for most people...they go when they need to do work. They are the kind of place that you often will more often need a vehicle to transport items from anyway.

For other retail, electronics stores, various clothing, etc. I think it is still a very hard sell. The main advantage businesses see of those locations is the proximity of people. So businesses which benefit most from that are the ones that will locate there--convenience stores, restaurants, etc. I think it won't make economic sense for a more "complete" commercial profile to exist until we have regulations which address the externalities to other businesses. I.e., an electronics retailer will always prefer to locate in a big box development because they will always benefit from scale and parking etc. because they don't have to pay for the roads or environmental damage or sit in traffic etc.

Cell phone repair probably. Others are trickier as you say. Though the Home Hardware on King St in Waterloo kind of works.

Specialist shops that don't have a huge footprint can succeed. Not only phone repair but also phone sales -- maybe even a Samsung or Microsoft store. Specialized clothing. Specialized sports stores (running, skateboarding, bicycles). Niche bookstores. Pet shops. Rogers, Bell or Telus store. Flower/plant shops. Shops like Flying Tiger or Muji.

There are lots of possible retailers that are not big box stores. Hopefully some of those will start to appear soon.