September 2020
CONSUMER REAL ESTATE CANADA
The Takeaways & Trends - Cross-Canada Consumer Real Estate Market Conditions Conference Call

FROM MAIN STREET TO THE MAIN MALL AND ANYWHERE THAT RETAIL HAPPENS IN CANADA…KEEPING RETAILERS, FOOD SERVICE SPECIALISTS, E-COMMERCE PROFESSIONALS, RETAIL SPACE BROKERS, BUILDING OWNERS & DEVELOPERS AND INDUSTRY SUPPLIERS CONNECTED!

Hello fellow Canadian consumer real estate professionals, we hope you enjoyed the recent CREC update on Canadian consumer real estate market conditions. Here are the takeaways and trends from our call on Sept. 17, 2020, complied by the call moderator Michael L. Kehoe…

• Atlantic Canada is being referred to as the “Taiwan” of North America with its low rate of COVID-19. Of the 6871 active cases in Canada (14/09/20) Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, PEI, and Newfoundland & Labrador have only 17 active cases. Of the 9158 COVID-19 deaths in Canada, the Atlantic region has had only 70.
• Tourist oriented markets and destinations with a recreational focus are performing well on the retail and consumer traffic fronts.
• In Winnipeg, several prominent office buildings are on the market for sale. Financial firms are tightening up their lending criteria. It is a ‘cash buyers’ market.
• In Montreal, the downtown was described as ‘eerie’. This was echoed by Vancouver and Calgary with Vancouver seeing increased numbers of homeless people visible in the downtown core.
• In Southern Ontario tenant fixturing periods are extending as long as 120 days and increasing COVID-19 cases are a concern.

Special guest on the call was Phil Lichtsztral a partner with Richter Consulting Services based in Montreal. PLichtsztral@richter.ca.

Phil provides advise to retailers, wholesalers and distributors on corporate reorganizations, restructuring, mergers and acquisitions, retail organization structure and insolvency. Phil advised the call participants that back to school sales were average at best and that does not bode well for the holiday sales season this year. Hard good and home goods sales are strong while soft goods such as fashion and footwear are down in the 20-40% range. Downtown retail is non-existent in Canada. Industry rumours about Hudson Bay and Moore’s persist. Most days at his office resemble a ‘trauma centre’.

The student question was from Landon King a recent grad in Real Estate Studies at the Haskayne School of Business, University of Calgary. “Prospecting for new business is a vital part of the industry. In a period of time when physical distancing is encouraged and people are less comfortable getting out and meeting new people, how are the participants on the call continuing to prospect and cold call while making sure everyone feels safe and comfortable?

The response to Landon’s question was from Monika Blachut at Fairfield Commercial Real Estate.

Sept 29, 2020
CONSUMER REAL ESTATE CANADA
The Takeaways & Trends - Cross-Canada Consumer Real Estate Market Conditions Conference Call

FROM MAIN STREET TO THE MAIN MALL AND ANYWHERE THAT RETAIL HAPPENS IN CANADA…KEEPING RETAILERS, FOOD SERVICE SPECIALISTS, E-COMMERCE PROFESSIONALS, RETAIL SPACE BROKERS, BUILDING OWNERS & DEVELOPERS AND INDUSTRY SUPPLIERS CONNECTED!

Hello fellow Canadian consumer real estate professionals, we hope you enjoyed the recent CREC update on Canadian consumer real estate market conditions. Here are the takeaways and trends from our call on Sept. 29, 2020, complied by the call moderator Michael L. Kehoe…

• In Southern Ontario - retail spaces over 1500 square feet more difficult to lease.
• In Montreal – in-room dinning is closed, and restaurant sales limited to take away & delivery.
• Victoria’s Secret Canadian store count down to 25 from 38.
• In Saskatoon - the MEC leaving a large vacancy at Midtown, the City’s largest shopping centre.
• In Alberta - restaurant tenants operating at fractions of their capacity can’t support traditional lease obligations. Gross and percentage-only rents are being discussed for the next six or even up to 18 months.

Our special guest was the President of Zenergy Communications, Linda Farha. The firm has offices in Montreal, Toronto and New York and Linda is the founder and chief connector of pop-up go a division of Zenergy. pop-up go provides turnkey solutions for brands and landlords looking to capitalize on digital and physical pop-up opportunities. Linda informed us on current trends in pop-up retail in Canada. Linda Farha linda@zenergycom.com

The call participants were advised by the Moderator that an in-person event is being planned for the industry in January 2021 in Banff, Alberta. Details will be announced later in October.