08-13-2015, 09:05 AM
(This post was last modified: 08-13-2015, 09:07 AM by DHLawrence.)
A lot of those closures can be chalked up to conditions beyond the area itself. PetSmart acquired SuperPet and ended up with a surplus of stores in the area; with a former SuperPet on Hespeler Road and a PetSmart on Fairway Road, one of them had to give. Staples is down to change in market trends; people are buying their tech online more and more nowadays. Same with Future Shop (which is now a Value Village, and not an empty building like the lead photo suggests). If they hadn't closed it two years ago, they would have closed this spring. Marble Slab was probably a case of over-expansion; I think they've pulled out of a lot of places that opened at once. There was talk of Home Depot closing or becoming a warehouse for the other stores a while back, but they put a lot of money into the place so it looks like they're here to stay.
The Sportsworld people made a mistake in removing the mini-golf when the rest of the park closed. If they'd left that they'd have a guaranteed moneymaker.
What the area really needs is a grocery store. Right now there isn't one between the Stanley Park Zehrs and the Zehrs on Holiday Inn Drive (or the No Frills at King and Bishop), and Costco doesn't count.
The Sportsworld people made a mistake in removing the mini-golf when the rest of the park closed. If they'd left that they'd have a guaranteed moneymaker.
What the area really needs is a grocery store. Right now there isn't one between the Stanley Park Zehrs and the Zehrs on Holiday Inn Drive (or the No Frills at King and Bishop), and Costco doesn't count.