Future looks bright for old Future Shop store

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This article was published 31/12/2015 (3597 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The pending arrival of Save-On-Foods on St. James Street is giving the Polo Park area back some of its moxie.

The Vancouver-based grocery chain will get the keys to the former Future Shop store Friday and plans to unveil a unique shopping experience to Winnipeggers in the fall when it cuts the ribbon on a trio of stores.

The other two are the former Zellers space in the Northgate Mall and a new location in the south Winnipeg neighbourhood of Bridgwater.

But it’s in the city’s busiest retail area where the impact will likely be the most profound. Both the 35,000-square-foot Future Shop and the 107,000-sq.-ft. Target store across the street closed within weeks of each other last spring, leaving a gaping hole in the retail landscape.

John Prall, Winnipeg-based vice-president of retail services for Colliers International, which leased out the Future Shop space, said he and neighbouring businesses are looking forward to the arrival of Save-On-Foods.

“They’re a great anchor to replace Future Shop. Future Shop was just a duplicate of Best Buy (to the south on the same property). Now we’ll have a whole different customer group and different demographic (shopping there),” he said.

The recently completed extension of St. Matthews Avenue from Century Street to St. James will enable Colliers to build a 20,000-sq.-ft. building to the north of Pro Hockey Life and another 35,000-sq.-ft. building on the north side of the extension. A small strip mall will also be built nearby to house a relocated Subway restaurant and two other small-scale tenants.

Once a new tenant is found for the old Target space, the Polo Park area will once again be on a roll. A spokesman for Shindico said there is nothing new to report on the space, which was only used for a few months before Target pulled out of Canada.

Darrell Jones, president of Save-On-Foods, said he’s excited about the company’s expansion into Winnipeg.

“This is the first time we’ve ever attempted to open up three stores on the same day. We think it’s going to bring a new type of grocery-store experience to Winnipeg. We’re hoping great prices, great selection and a great atmosphere will resonate with customers,” he said.

“We were fortunate to get the (Future Shop) site. That’s a nice part of town. We’re going to need another five or six more stores within the next three years, if we can (find the right space). This is a good start.”

Jones said the Northgate outlet will be one of the finest in the entire company — it already has more than 100 in B.C. and Alberta — and will include “foods of the world,” a yogurt bar and kitchens where customers can take cooking classes.

‘We want to give people stores that have more international flavour, a little more panache’

— Darrell Jones

The Bridgwater location, meanwhile, will be a new build. The multimillion-dollar store is already under construction.

Jones said the grocery market is as competitive as it has ever been, with traditional players feeling the heat from a multitude of big-box players.

“You have to have the best grocery store in the marketplace. Value is more than just price; it’s having the offering and the mix that customers want. We’d like to bring some things Winnipeggers haven’t seen before,” he said.

That includes a perogy machine, making your own flat bread and sausages made in-store.

“We want to give people stores that have more international flavour, a little more panache and have a little more upscale feel, with the same pricing as you’d find at Superstore,” he said.

geoff.kirbyson@freepress.mb.ca