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(05-06-2017, 09:15 AM)Canard Wrote: What is Shoppfy, and why would it be amazing for the Region if they take the whole building?
Shopify is a Canadian e-commerce tech company that powers a about 400k websites and helped sell over $15 billion worth of goods. Their plan to grow their sales and engineering team here shows what kind of talent we have in this region.
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They also like to shop local; Pierogi House on Sportsworld got a big office-wide lunch order from them a while back. They like making friends with their neighbours.
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But if it's not really a "shop", it's just an office that doesn't need valuable UpTown frontage, why would it be good to have something like Shopify downtown? Wouldn't it be better for that kind of business to be in some office tower somewhere, not using up all those valuable frontage spaces?
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05-06-2017, 06:17 PM
(This post was last modified: 05-06-2017, 06:17 PM by KevinL.)
They're not taking the frontage here, they're taking the upper storeys' office space, like their neighbours RBC and PWC. The downstairs will have other, street-facing retail.
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(05-06-2017, 06:05 PM)Canard Wrote: But if it's not really a "shop", it's just an office that doesn't need valuable UpTown frontage, why would it be good to have something like Shopify downtown? Wouldn't it be better for that kind of business to be in some office tower somewhere, not using up all those valuable frontage spaces?
I would agree with you on the streetfront level concerns. The LCBO-to-Scotiabank stretch in Uptown is not especially pleasant, and in Kitchener you have Manulife, the Igloo building, Scotiabank-to-THEMUSEUM, Pinpoint, and absences elsewhere. I believe Kitchener is trying to prevent this but I don't know that they have much ability to do so. But just like how every homeowner saying they don't want people to live near them, which prevents people from changing development patterns everywhere, these companies enjoy the downtown vibe and think that it's no big deal that just they take up a storefront, but when Pinpoint, Netsuite, Vidyard (albeit sidestreet and accommodating J&P) and others start doing it, eventually there's not much street vibrancy left, which is what I hear of places in San Francisco.
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At this point in time the percentage of street-level retail frontage that's occupied by offices in DTK is still quite reasonable in my opinion. It'd be nice to have less but while there is still a substantial amount of retail space vacant, I'll gladly take office space over vacant space.
Scotiabank is very much retail, and I do consider the Conrad Centre for Performing Arts and THEMUSEUM both as valid a street presence as, say, a night club would be.
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(05-07-2017, 09:49 AM)Viewfromthe42 Wrote: ...eventually there's not much street vibrancy left, which is what I hear of places in San Francisco.
I'm not really sure what this references.
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I would say that KPMG (that's the "LCBO-to-Scotiabank stretch") in Uptown is an example of how an office need not be unpleasant. The little portico is pleasant to walk alongside- of course, because LCBO and Starbucks are such strong attractions, there's a good chance other people will be walking, too, which is always nice.
But I agree with you, Viewfromthe42, that generally offices setting up in storefronts is not a positive development. I don't think it's seriously out of hand in either downtown or uptown, but it's not something desirable.
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05-07-2017, 09:57 PM
(This post was last modified: 05-07-2017, 09:58 PM by MacBerry.)
(05-06-2017, 09:15 AM)Canard Wrote: What is Shoppfy, and why would it be amazing for the Region if they take the whole building?
Beta-Kit Canadian Start-up News and Tech Innovation - January 23, 2017
NEW OFFICES IN TORONTO AND WATERLOO HELP SHOPIFY SUPPORT GROWING VERTICALS AND CANADIAN TECH
"In September (2016), Shopify opened a new Waterloo office focused on its Shopify Plus product, targeted to faster-growing consumers that need enterprise-grade capabilities (Shopify also acquired a Waterloo-based product design and development firm to support this aspect of its business). At the time, the company said that it was looking to hire 200 people at this office."
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Everyone move to the back of the bus and we all get home faster.
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It looks acceptable from the front, but the ugliness of the back defies explanation.
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(05-24-2017, 09:29 AM)panamaniac Wrote: It looks acceptable from the front, but the ugliness of the back defies explanation.
Agreed, but there may be behind the scenes discussion that led to that. In the future, the back of that building may butt up against another one or a parking structure... just a hunch.
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05-24-2017, 01:31 PM
(This post was last modified: 05-24-2017, 01:31 PM by panamaniac.)
(05-24-2017, 12:47 PM)Watdot Wrote: (05-24-2017, 09:29 AM)panamaniac Wrote: It looks acceptable from the front, but the ugliness of the back defies explanation.
Agreed, but there may be behind the scenes discussion that led to that. In the future, the back of that building may butt up against another one or a parking structure... just a hunch.
One certainly hopes so. It deserves to be hidden behind something!
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Are the upper levels of this complete? Just trying to do some housekeeping with thread titles.
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