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Shopping Centers Today -> December 2002
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RETAIL SALES MAY COOL, ANALYSTS TELL CANADIANS
By Susan Thorne
Canadian retail sales have ridden high in 2002. But the coming months are likely to see less growth, attendees of the 2002 ICSC Canadian Convention were told. The meeting was held at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre on Oct. 8.
“Canada is the strongest of the [Group of Seven] nations,” said Sherry Cooper, chief economist at Toronto investment firm BMO Nesbitt Burns. Speaking at the opening session, titled “Partners for the Future,” Cooper explained that high output in manufacturing and national resources combined with low unemployment, low inflation and low mortgage rates have kept Canada’s retail sales ahead of America’s.
ICSC President and CEO Michael P. Kercheval made similar comparisons between the two countries in his State of the Industry message. While the United States had virtually no job growth in 2002, Canada, with one-tenth the U.S. population, managed to create more jobs (59,000) in August than the United States in the same month. Housing starts in Canada also rose 27 percent year-over-year as of August. These factors helped fuel a 6.1 percent year-to-date growth rate for retail sales, almost double the U.S. rate of 3.7 percent.
Purchases of such big-ticket items as houses, appliances and furnishings, and automobiles boosted retail sales, L. Peter Sharpe, president and CEO of Toronto regional mall developer Cadillac Fairview Corp., told attendees. But demand for these will slow in the coming months, he predicted, and Canadian consumer spending will level off.
Cooper agreed.
“Unfortunately, I do not believe we can count on the consumer for sustained activity,” she said, pointing out that Canadian housing starts have already dipped, even as uncertainty about oil prices, Iraq-related tensions and the state of the U.S. economy could hold spending down.
Other speakers outlined broader trends. Mike Pelyk, co-chairman of the planning committee, emphasized the strong role in retail development of pension funds and REITs, which have controlling interests in the country’s two leading regional mall players, Cadillac Fairview and Ivanhoe Cambridge. A growing share of shopping center development today is in the form of power centers, Pelyk indicated, but no new regional malls have been built for 10 years.
Sharpe pointed out that regional mall developers are redeveloping and expanding many of their centers, “but it’s tough to rationalize a regional mall investment today.” He and others at the conference observed that there is no widespread affluence in Canada to support mall tenants. Sharpe sees the Canadian shopping center sector as healthy overall, however. “I think we will be able to withstand a slowdown that is probably inevitable,” he summed up.
A total of 1,800 attendees participated in the conference, and there were 258 booths and 102 exhibitors at the concurrent trade exposition.
Following are the 2002 Canadian Shopping Centre Awards presented by ICSC as part of the 2002 Canadian Convention.
RENOVATION/EXPANSION OF AN EXISTING CENTER
50,000-400,000 square feetMaple Leaf: North Hill Centre, TGS Harvard Management Services
Merit: Bedford Place Mall, Dorchester Oaks Corp.; Prairie Mall Shopping Centre, Warrington Property Group
400,001-750,000 square feet
Maple Leaf: Les Rivieres Shopping Centre, Ivanhoe Cambridge
Merit: Les Galeries de Granby, Westcliff Group
750,001-1 million square feet
Maple Leaf: Coquitlam Centre, Morguard Investments
Merit: Lime Ridge Mall, Cadillac Fairview Corp.; Shoppers World Brampton, RioCan Property Services
RETAIL STORE DESIGN
Under 1,000 square feetMerit: Freyja Collection, Tecumseh Mall, Watt IDG
1,001-2,500 square feet
Merit: LCBO Vintages, Manulife Centre, Watt IDG
2,501-5,000 square feet
Maple Leaf: St. Phillips, Rutherford Shopping Centre, DLB Design
5,001-10,000 square feet
Merit: Oxford Advantage Centre, Richmond Adelaide Centre, Watt IDG
Over 10,000 square feet
Maple Leaf: Coast Mountain Sports, Markville Shopping Centre, Parchoma & Jones Design
Merit: Loblaws, Loblaws Supercenter, Perennial; La Maison Simons, Promenade St. Bruno, Watt IDG
MARKETING CATEGORIES
COMMUNITY SERVICE
150,001-400,000 square feetMaple Leaf: Twoony Trail, RioCan Northumberland Mall, RioCan Property Services
Merit: Story Fair in the Square, Gerrard Square, O&Y Enterprise
400,001-750,000 square feet
Maple Leaf: The Playground Project, Dufferin Mall, Oxford Retail Group
Merit: Art Against Youth Violence, Halifax Shopping Centre, 20 Vic Management; Spirit of Giving, Victoria Eaton Centre, Cadillac Fairview
750,001-1 million square feet
Merit: Xtreme Lounge, Place d’Orleans, Oxford Retail Group; The Giving Booth/Community Service, Market Mall, Cadillac Fairview
Over 1 million square feet
Maple Leaf: Yorkdale Plants Itself in the Community, Yorkdale Shopping Centre, 20 Vic Management
Merit: Bullying Bites, Lougheed Mall, 20 Vic Management
PUBLIC RELATIONS
Over 1 million square feetMaple Leaf: The Pleasure of Giving for 40 Years, Place Laurier, Ivanhoe Cambridge; Hazel’s Walk Festival, Square One Shopping Centre, OMERS Realty Management Corp.
CONSUMER ADVERTISING
400,001-750,000 square feetMaple Leaf: Outside’s Scary — You’re Better Off in Here, Metropolis at Metrotown, Ivanhoe Cambridge
Merit: Choices Campaign, Mapleview Shopping Centre; Stand Out, Resist the Ordinary, Dufferin Mall, Oxford Retail Group
750,001-1 million square feet
Maple Leaf: Go Shopping. Go Guildford, Guildford Town Centre, Ivanhoe Cambridge
Merit: The Reasons Campaign, Upper Canada Mall, Ivanhoe Cambridge; Fashion First, Southgate Centre, Edmonton, Alberta, Ivanhoe Cambridge
Over 1 million square feet
Merit: Celebrating 25 years of Great Shopping, Toronto Eaton Centre, Cadillac Fairview; Glimpses Magazine, Polo Park Shopping Centre, Cadillac Fairview
CORPORATE, COMPANY/JOINT CENTER EFFORT
Merit: The Fashion Centres, Cadillac Fairview; All in the Family, Cadillac FairviewSALES PROMOTION/MARKETING
400,001-750,000 square feetMaple Leaf: Taste of the Okanagan, Orchard Park Shopping Centre, Oxford Retail Group Merit: Camp Metropolis, Metropolis at Metrotown, Ivanhoe Cambridge; FORE, Park Place, Oxford Retail Group
OVER 1 MILLION SQUARE FEET
Merit: Edmonton City Centre Welcomes the World, Edmonton City Centre, Oxford Properties Group; Kool Kidz Club, Scarborough Town Centre, 20 Vic Management CORPORATE, COMPANY/JOINT CENTER EFFORTMerit: National Gift Certificate Program, Cadillac Fairview
GRAND OPENING, RENOVATION AND EXPANSION
750,001-1 million square feetMerit: The New Shoppers World Brampton, Shoppers World Brampton, RioCan Property Services
RETAILER DEVELOPMENT
750,001-1 million square feetMaple Leaf: Hooked on Fish! Merchant Motivation Program, Pacific Centre, Cadillac Fairview
CORPORATE, COMPANY/JOINT CENTER EFFORT
Merit: School of Retail Wizardry, Ivanhoe Cambridge; The O.S.C.A.R.S. (Outstanding Service Can Achieve Record Sales), Ivanhoe CambridgeOVERALL MARKETING
400,001-750,000 square feetMaple Leaf: Rediscover Bayshore, Bayshore Shopping Centre, Ivanhoe Cambridge
Over 1 million square feet
Maple Leaf: Fashion Influence, Yorkdale Shoppng Centre, 20 Vic Management
CORPORATE, COMPANY/JOINT CENTER EFFORT
Maple Leaf: Some Things You’ll Only Find Downtown, Calgary Eaton Centre/TD Square, Oxford Properties GroupLEASING SUPPORT
Over 1 million square feetMaple Leaf: Awaken your Senses, Edmonton City Centre, Oxford Properties Group
PARTNERSHIP MARKETING/SPONSORSHIP
400,001-750,000 square feetMerit: Champlain Mall Goes Wild, Mall Champlain, Brossard, Québec City, Ivanhoe Cambridge
750,001-1 million square feet
Merit: Fairview/Rogers Television Partnership, Fairview, Cadillac Fairview
CORPORATE, COMPANY/JOINT CENTER EFFORT
Merit: VISA Shop for Your Chance to Win, Ivanhoe Cambridge; Just Say Interac Scratch and Win, Ivanhoe Cambridge | Current Issue December 2008 |