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IKEA to anchor high-end retail complex

Sod turned for huge Seasons of Tuxedo development

By: Bartley Kives

21/11/2009 7:50 AM | Comments: 45

Seasons of Tuxedo, shown in drawings, is touted as ‘unique’ shopping centre.

DORSKY HODGSON PARRISH YUE ARCHITECTS Enlarge Image

Seasons of Tuxedo, shown in drawings, is touted as ‘unique’ shopping centre.

ALTHOUGH Winnipeg won't be getting a domed stadium, the city can look forward to a mall beneath some form of dome.

The latest site design for the IKEA-led Sea­sons of Tuxedo development diverges slightly from the big-box norm, as a high-concept mall with 150,000 square feet of space protected from the elements is planned for the north side of Sterling Lyon Parkway.

Enlarge Image

(DORSKY HODGSON PARRISH YUE ARCHITECTS)

The mall is part of a 1.5-million-square-foot commercial development that formally got underway at a Friday-morning sod-turning ceremony attended by Premier Greg Selinger, Mayor Sam Katz and co-developers IKEA Can­ada and Fairweather Properties.

Michael Nozick, Fairweather's president, said the shopping centre is being designed with landscaping and other features to minimize the effects of a Winnipeg winter.

"If I used the word 'dome,' that would be a little bit of an exaggeration. That's close, (as) it will be out of the effects of winter," he said.

Just like David Asper's Creswin Properties, which is trying to assemble tenants for an up­scale mall called The Elms at Polo Park, Fair­weather wants to create some form of shopping destination that will be unique in the Winnipeg market and draw in tourists from across Mani­toba and neighbouring states and provinces.

"This won't be just a strip mall. This will be something far more exciting," Nozick said. "It will be a form of mall unique to anywhere. I don't think it's in North America, what we're planning."

But he also claimed Seasons of Tuxedo is not competing directly with The Elms, a smaller project whose success hinges on Creswin's abil­ity to land higher-end department stores as an­chor tenants.

"If they can get that upper-end retail seg­ment to come to Winnipeg, that's tremendous­ly beneficial for our city. We're not talking to Nordstrom or Nieman Marcus. They're not on our agenda at all," Nozick said.

"I don't see us as competitive. Their project has its issues and they'll have to deal with those. We have IKEA."

The 350,000-square-foot IKEA store that will serve as the anchor tenant at Seasons of Tux­edo is now slated to open no earlier than 2012, Nozick said. Retailers in other components of the development may open sooner, he added.

He declined to name any specific retailers, but pledged to announce some names in 2010.

Mayor Katz, however, has one name on his wish list.

"It's called Justice. They make children's clothing," said the father of two.

Water and sewer work on the Seasons of Tux­edo development will begin next week, followed by roadwork in 2010.

bartley.kives@freepress.mb.ca

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45 Commentscomment icon

A wise man once said to me...Look at all the traffic on St. Mary's Rd back in the early 80's...I was working at a Submarine Sandwich Restaurant that he had just recently built a store and expanded his franchise business on the premises that lots of the traffic would be stopping etc...Well he sold it because it was deader than a doornail...No matter how much traffic surrounds you as a business...If no one stops and shops because as an example are just driving/walking by your establishment/business because they perhaps have spent all their money at IKEA...The little guy loses...While the big guys like IKEA have that all figured out...They even charge more for rent in malls they participate in to the little guy when the little guy wants to open up next to them as a result of them being the draw to the little guy...The moral here is don't be fooled by illusions and common deceptions...

On a diffeent note...I can't figure out people who will not park their vehicles in a downtown and walk a block or so but wont mind walking several more blocks in a relatively open area with high wind chills etc...Just because they went shopping at IKEA...I understand the part about crime downtown etc...and simply want to raise the following point...Parking lot security at IKEA...and how long do any of you think it will take our criminals to move to IKEA with thousands of cars there waiting for one of them?...The point here..Dealing with our criminals should be more important than shopping...GGF

WHOOO, its made from particle board!! big deal! Its made out of material that is affordable for people who aren't in the high income level bracket. And I have seen $1000 pieces of furniture made from particle board too. I have also seen higher income people buy Ikea stuff because they like it! I think people know going in that this isn't the best quality stuff.

I don't understand why some people find it nescessary to kick down something that might not be something they would buy. Why do you even care? I would bet you have been into Dollarama or or Buck or Two or whatever cheap store there is on one or more occasions.

As for a rapid transit to the area, come on, if they are trying to attract high end retailers, then the people who are shopping at these places are not hopping on a bus to go shopping. They are getting into their BMW's and Mercedes and Lexus' to go shopping.

The city has been trying to revitalze downtown for decades now, Portage Place, the Aren and a what ever else, and still people don't want to go down there. WHy would people want to drive downtown and park their cars there and possibly be mugged, robbed, car stolen? We all know the kind of local cliental that frequents the downtown area, and building a new store or two is not going to drive them out. People will always be afraid of going to downtown Wpg. WHat are we going to do? Give every bum and ne'er do well down there a bus ticket back to whatever place they came from, like Vancouver?

I just wanted to say the comments made me laugh quite a bit. Keyboard warriors / whiners are hilarious!

Without IKEA this whole project in my opinion would be a waste... but with Ikea that place WILL be booming. Retailers will be fighting for those locations as Ikea will easily fill up that parking lot on weekends.

As for Ikea itself, they sell high quality low end particle board products :D

Sure it's not solid wood, but the furniture that I've purchased has lasted 3 moves across Canada and they still look fresh and new just as they came out of the box.

I feel bad for the competitors (Ashley, Kern Hill, Dufresne, Brick) because they will be absolutely killed by Ikea.

Why pay ten times the price at the Brick for something that's near equal in quality and that comes in way more styles/colors.

What downtown development? You are really talking about our now infamous drive by zone with plenty of pan handlers and criminals to look at while we drive to get to this new IKEA complex right...Here's an idea...Let's call this new IKEA our downtown...Heck just the parking lot alone is big enough to be a downtown somewhere...Why not Winnipeg...There is nothing like a place where you can have a cheap breakfast and the added bonus of having worked off all your breakfast calories just getting back to your vehicle so on your return trip you can once again drive through that no man's land to get back home...gotta love Wpg...Don't forget to invite all your friends and family just to come out and visit and share some time spending money with you at IKEA and make sure you take the perimeter to get back home so you can avoid our downtown...Maybe our mayor or IKEA have a few trees that could be planted along your way home while going around the perimeter...They can use the same shovel they used to turn a bit of sod for this IKEA opening...Nah...Our mayor will have to buy a new shovel at taxpayers expenses as always...And don't ever forget about the cost to one establishment/business recieving your dollar instead of a different establishment/business...After your dollar has been spent...One will thrive while the other will starve...That's called shifting your dollar around..Happy shopping Wpg...Sorry but I simply don't get what the big fuss is about this IKEA thing...GGF

where is the whistle blower when we really need one at city hall.

The city will fork over 20 million to the suburbs but not downtown. hmm, Is our winnipeg new city plan going to have any balls to deliver in making downtown a true destination place full of vibrancy where offices, housing, and commercial coexist?

Some of the people kvetching on here about cheap furniture, particleboard construction, etc. seriously need to arrange a tour of a millwork (cabinet) shop and see for themselves just how, where and why solid wood, plywood, veneers and particleboard are actually used in the cabinet and furniture industries. IKEA is NOT the only retailer using particleboard, and solid wood is not the be all, end all either. Veneers have been used for centuries.

And "exotic woods" do not include cherry, birch or oak (assuming the reference is to industry standard species). Try ebony, zebra wood, sapeli mahogany, merbau or lacewood, to name a few. Again, a little research and savoir-faire would serve many posters well before they go ragging on people for (gasp!!) daring to purchase pine!

Fascinating how a story about a retail development has become so skewed!

I can only hope that 'out west' was employing some form of hard to detect sarcasm.

I understand that a "luxury" mall like this would be a nice addition to the city, but the people who will actually shop at these stores, other than IKEA, are also the ones who have the money to drive to Minneapolis and get the same products at a cheaper price. I'm not sure how necessary it really is in Winnipeg

Also, we wouldn't have to worry about an 8,000 stall monstrosity of a parking lot if we had some other effective modes of transportation in this city. I think its called rapid transit? I guess this is a better use of our resources though.

I enjoy reading the comments in this paper but lately people are so negative, the city is crap, violence/crime only exists in Wpg., council is stupid, etc... Who would anyone want to move there with such a bad attitude and your constant complaining and blaming,! Get over the perimeter-ittis and read news from other major cities, they also have stupid councils, violence/crime, and had a IKEA store with “cheap” furniture long before Wpg did. But just wait until you have to listen to the annoying IKEA commercials on the radio/TV every 5 minutes all day long! Now all Manitoba men will have something in common to complain about, that and spending 3-4 hours following their significant others through the overcrowded isles and tills.

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I love Ikea!

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