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General Retail News
Household China and Gifts is closing and apparently the building has been sold and is going to be transformed into high tech office space.

https://www.therecord.com/opinion-story/...g-goodbye/
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(03-17-2018, 12:24 PM)rangersfan Wrote: Household China and Gifts is closing and apparently the building has been sold and is going to be transformed into high tech office space.

https://www.therecord.com/opinion-story/...g-goodbye/

They announced a "slow closing" a long time ago, at least one year ago.
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(03-17-2018, 08:32 AM)panamaniac Wrote: I see in the Record that Fritsch Fragrances (201 King W) will be closing next week.  The family owns the building and is apparently looking at renovating the space for a new business venture.

If I'm not mistaken, Fritsch's would be the last of the old time Downtown retailers.

Petsche's will probably out last them by a few weeks or maybe a few months, they are selling their inventory very slowly.

Pfeifer's Show Repair has been around since 1961, though it's more repair than retail.
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356 King St W (page 26):
   

   
Everyone move to the back of the bus and we all get home faster.
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"2 storey" - is the second floor real or faux?
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What's that on the eastern third? Looks like a decked area or something.
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The eastern side of the building has an entrance, so presumably this is a way to get people into the building from the parking at rear, without having to give up the rear bit of the site as storage.
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My first link was incorrect. Here is the correct link, an application for encroachment in the City council agenda page 26.

It looks like set of stairs to the side of the building.

A separate application in the committee of adjustment agenda page 112, from McCabe's, the Beer Store, and a number company indicates that it is a real 2nd floor (page 114):
"The Site Plan proposes to construct a 2 storey building with a LCBO retail store on the ground floor and office space on the second storey."

The best part of the application is that planning staff refer to it as the Block that Rocks.
Everyone move to the back of the bus and we all get home faster.
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(03-19-2018, 10:25 PM)Pheidippides Wrote: The best part of the application is that planning staff refer to it as the Block that Rocks.

I wouldn't be surprised if the BIA codified that 20 years ago or something, and it's still on the books.
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I would much prefer the LCBO to anchor the retail unit of a larger and significant development Downtown. This seems hurried like the Beer Store that went up a couple of years ago.

That being said at least they are proposing a second floor.
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(03-20-2018, 05:30 AM)rangersfan Wrote: I would much prefer  the LCBO to anchor the retail unit of a larger and significant development Downtown. This seems hurried like the Beer Store that went up a couple of years ago. 

Sure, that would have been nice. But there is currently no such space available that meets LCBO's requirements, and occupancy in any of the new projects (such as Charlie West or 345) is still several years away. In the meantime, LCBO needs to vacate their current space in order for the SIXO construction to proceed.

The proposed building fits in nicely with the rest of the buildings on the block, and provides much-improved LCBO service to downtown, so I'm fully supportive of it.
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How will the size of this LCBO compare to others in town? I'm thinking it will be about half the size of the Uptown LCBO? The old one on the SIXO site was pathetic, so I'm hoping that this will represent a significant upgrade.
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(03-20-2018, 11:01 AM)panamaniac Wrote: How will the size of this LCBO compare to others in town?  I'm thinking it will be about half the size of the Uptown LCBO?   The old one on the SIXO site was pathetic, so I'm hoping that this will represent a significant upgrade.

The drawing shows the ground floor area as 12,600 sq ft, but that includes the glassed-in area. I think the actual interior space (including the warehouse area) will be maybe 8-9,000 sq ft, which is probably more than double the size of the current store. I don't know how big the Waterloo location is, but not many LCBO locations are much over 10,000 sq ft.
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Per the management, this store will be a 'B' store, as opposed to 'C' at the current location, and 'A' Uptown. Those are classifications for administrative purposes, obviously (how many hours, how many SKUs can be ordered, whatever), but I would imagine that the square footage would correlate.

10,000 square feet actually seems to be a standard size for new LCBO stores. They can be bigger, but you're right that it's not very common.
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I only saw briefly, through a partially obscured GRT window, but it looks like demolition fence is up already around the future LCBO site.
Everyone move to the back of the bus and we all get home faster.
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