LEGO Brand Stores in Canada - Calgary ????

[timtosino]

http://www.retailgigs.com/job.asp?id=23 ... C08E9AE4E6

Looks like LEGO branded stores are finally making their way to Canada. No official annoucement on the LEGO.com site but they are looking for a store manager now for Chinook Centre. Chinook Centre is owned by Cadillac Fairview which owns Pacific Centre and Richmond Centre, so could those be some potential locations in the Lower Mainland? ninjakid you're gonna have to change your signature soon!

-edit 9:46, looks like LEGO posted it to their site, might've been annouced in the past week or so.

[Andrew]

Ya ,John ,some lego company rep.was saying last year that toronto /calgary 1st,montreal 3rd,vancouver 4th.They typically needed 4 million people in a city center.but in calgary's corner they have oil,and all those rich calgarians are spending money on lego,more than Vancouver.
Some year will get one .

,Andrew .

[timtosino]

Half of Richmond Centre is boarded up right now so who knows what the new tenants might be. But I personally think Pacific Centre or Metrotown would make more sense. Their reasoning of a 4 million people threshold isn't true because there are stores in Honolulu (not even 900k), Birmingham AL, (1.1 mil) and Oklahoma City. If you take into consideration the Lower Mainland and Vancouver Island that's well over a market of 3.3 million people. I have a feeling we are getting one pretty soon though, perhaps even this year or 2011.

[beethead]

Having a Lego store in Vancouver would be great but I only have one problem, the pricing. With the dollar close to parity the differences you see on Lego S&H just don't make sense. Just look at the Taj Mahal on sale right now, US price is $249 while the CDN price is $349. Even the new PoP Battle of Alamut is US $79 compared to CDN $109. I know some of you would say you need to support your Canadian companies but when it comes to spending my my cash, I like to get the most bang for my buck. I'd still rather drive down to Seattle/Bellevue for a day trip and bring back the bigger sets.

On a side note, having a PAB wall nearby would be nice but I'm scared to think about what they'd charge for that small and large cup.

[timtosino]

True Paul but the average parent wouldn't sit the the car 3 hours to bellevue. Unless tru opens back up in bellingham hopefully people who are willing to pay msrp will support the store enough to keep a good pab wall for us. Tru Canada would also be screwed with their markup over msrp.

[smachine]

It is official....


http://www.calgaryherald.com/business/L ... story.html

[timtosino]

Lego’s opening in Chinook Centre is further proof the Calgary market is the new “beachhead” for international retail brands entering the Canadian market, said Michael Kehoe, an Alberta-based retail specialist with Fairfield Commercial Real Estate Inc.

LOL yes 2100 sq feet of retail is a major tenant

[chump]

Half of Richmond Centre is boarded up right now so who knows what the new tenants might be.

Apparently it's an Apple store, so no Lego for you!

[timtosino]

I knew that already but I think there are still some places to rent after the Reno is done when the relocated stores move back hope we hear something about one in Vancouver soon.

[chump]

I don't get to Richmond Centre very often and I just found out today, so the novelty is still there for me. But yeah, it would be neat to have one here.

[AC]

Look at Pierre, so eager to stomp on Tim's hopes.

[chump]

STOMP. STOMP. STOMP!

[timtosino]

Ok now I know how David felt when I told him about the minifigs in the states : p

Funny though how all the apple stores will be on the Canada line! Not that I even shopped there for my phone, elsewhere online is a better deal.

[Gumby]

Not that I even shopped there for my phone, elsewhere online is a better deal.

Elsewhere online is a better deal for LEGO too!

[timtosino]

Yup but no VIP points

[chump]

Whoops... didn't really mean to resurrect this somewhat dead thread. Sorry.

[AC]

Way to go Pierre. Way to go.