Downtown Yonge

[DSC]

Though I also find it unfortunate that there are two street-level banks in Aura I am not sure I want the City to be the people who select tenants. I certainly think that having a strong streetscape and interesting retail enhances a building but I bet banks are the kinds of stable tenants who pay their rent regularly that most developers or building owners prefer. There is no doubt that having a restaurant (especially one with a patio) at the base of a condo building can lead to complaints about noise, smell etc from residents living above. (Look at how the condo residents above the proposed Real Jerk at Queen and the Don River are trying to stop them getting an alcohol permit.)

 

[Thernan]

Personally, I would prefer a bank to many other businesses were I on the Board of the condo. They bring in constant revenue, are unlikely to move when you hike the rent and you don't have dangers/problems inherent with other types of businesses like bars and restaurants, like drunks, fires, noise etc...

I admit teh coffee shop/chain restaurant thing is dreadfully overdone. The problem is, what do you replace it with? More of the low-end shoddy retail we see along the YOnge? Another Zanzibar or Remington's? Would it be nice if Aura had a nice restaurant (maybe a nice Greek once since there hasn't been a good one in the area since Knossos shut down 10 years ago or maybe another Crown Price/Princess with their high end Dim SUm)? Yes, it would be great...but there are already tons of restaurants close by.

 

[dt_toronto_geek]

Rarely do Boards have to deal with or have any involvement with the retail spaces, they are most often retained and managed by the developer or sold off to outside management groups.

 

[Thernan]

The Sobeys jut south of Wellesley will close in two weeks because the new one at College Park is taking away business. It will be interesting to see what goes there or if a developer picks up the property given it has a decent square footage.

 

[snyberTO]

sometime today, coffeezone at the holiday inn on carlton street closed up.
hello starbucks :\

 

[mgl]

That's too bad about that Sobeys. I shop there frequently but I'd never go to the College Park location as there are other stores closer to me, such as Metro, Loblaws, and Pusateri. I agree it hasn't been as crowded recently, but I think that has more to do with Loblaws than with the College Park Sobeys.

They should have been patient. There are enough condos under construction and planned for the area that the location will become more valuable in the future. However, that building could be a site for a condo itself.

 

[Thernan]

sometime today, coffeezone at the holiday inn on carlton street closed up.
hello starbucks :\

This is a true shame. Really..there is another stupid Starbucks about a two minute walk away at the corner of Yonge and College. How much you bet the Holiday Inn wanted to charge teh Coffee Zone stupid rent that only a Starbucks can afford.

 

[bleu]

This is a true shame. Really..there is another stupid Starbucks about a two minute walk away at the corner of Yonge and College. How much you bet the Holiday Inn wanted to charge teh Coffee Zone stupid rent that only a Starbucks can afford.

if you can't afford the market rent, you are out of the game, what's it to complain here? It is a fair game.
I never buy Starbucks, but honestly we have way too many more Timmies than Starbucks.

 

[RC8]

if you can't afford the market rent, you are out of the game, what's it to complain here? It is a fair game.
I never buy Starbucks, but honestly we have way too many more Timmies than Starbucks.

There's nothing 'fair' about it.

 

[devjohnson]

sometime today, coffeezone at the holiday inn on carlton street closed up.
hello starbucks :\

My friend works at the Yonge/College Starbucks. The Holiday Inn location has been in the works for about three months now! I don't think Holiday Inn raised the rent, I just think Starbucks was looking to expand and convinced the current leasers at Coffee Zone to give it to them. Most of the folks at his location are quite happy, as it will probably lift the heavy load off the Starbucks at Yonge/College. Have you seen it at 9am on a weekday?!

 

[bleu]

There's nothing 'fair' about it.

sure. just because you say so.
it is what it is. rent is determined by market and whoever can afford it get the property. it is how the entire world works. if you don't like it, you can always move to Cuba.

 

[RC8]

sure. just because you say so.
it is what it is. rent is determined by market and whoever can afford it get the property. it is how the entire world works. if you don't like it, you can always move to Cuba.

Nonsense. You could say the same thing about healthcare, pensions, and education. The market works how we collectively decide it should work and that's that.

Starbucks is a marketing trick that gets away with selling sub-par products at inflated prices. It drains money out of the local economy while providing a lesser service. Products like Starbucks and Coca-Cola would be described by Adam Smith as destructive influences eroding capitalism.

 

[bleu]

Nonsense. You could say the same thing about healthcare, pensions, and education. The market works how we collectively decide it should work and that's that.

Starbucks is a marketing trick that gets away with selling sub-par products at inflated prices. It drains money out of the local economy while providing a lesser service. Products like Starbucks and Coca-Cola would be described by Adam Smith as destructive influences eroding capitalism.

still it is just your irrational opinion.
The truth is people around the world likes them and buy them, and that's more than enough. They generate revenue and create jobs, isn't that enough? Or YOU have to personally like it?
Speaking of sub-par coffee, I think there are far more Tim Horton's than Starbucks in Toronto, no?

 

[nfitz]

Speaking of sub-par coffee, I think there are far more Tim Horton's than Starbucks in Toronto, no?

Advantage bleu!

I don't see anything wrong with letting the market govern simple things like coffee shops and bank locations in dense urban areas.

 

[RC8]

still it is just your irrational opinion.
The truth is people around the world likes them and buy them, and that's more than enough. They generate revenue and create jobs, isn't that enough? Or YOU have to personally like it?
Speaking of sub-par coffee, I think there are far more Tim Horton's than Starbucks in Toronto, no?

Revenue and jobs create themselves in a city like Toronto, we don't need starbucks. To suggest otherwise verges on indoctrination.

I would much rather see local independent retailers meeting our demand for things like coffee, burgers, and sandwiches rather than multi-national corporations. This would lead to better quality jobs, a stronger more resilient local economy, and less of our pocket money heading overseas unnecessarily.

I don't particularly mind starbucks or tim hortons et al that much, but to say that it is 'fair' for a giant corporation to push a local retailer away regardless of whether they offer a higher quality product or not is disrespectful.

This is not what actually happened and for all I know coffee zone was awful, but businesses should only be forcefully displaced by better businesses, not by bigger businesses.