Toronto Eaton Centre

[ILuvTO]

Nortstroms, Bloomingdales's, Neiman Marcus, Saks's are high end department stores. Sears already tried the high-end department store when they relaunched Eaton's and it failed. I think a mid level department store is more suited for the Eaton Centre. Macy's J.C. Penny, Lord & Taylor, Dillard's would all make a great replacement for Sears.

It didn't fail. They barely gave the new Eatons a chance. As soon as Paul Walters left the company the new guy decided to switch banners. Had they kept Eatons (and Paul Walters) things would be so different today. Paul leaving was the beginning of the end for Sears.

Edit: And I'll just add that I think the best fit for the whole Seas chain would be federated department stores (owner of Bloomingdales and Macy's). They could place the Bloomingdales banners in the downtown locations across the country and the Macy's banners in the suburban locations.

With that said, I personally like Neiman Marcus and Saks.

 

[Skeezix]

Everyone assumes that if Sears decamped, the space would get occupied by a department store. It might be far more profitable to subdivide the space among several retailers, and perhaps keep the upper floors as office.

 

[Bayer]

Everyone assumes that if Sears decamped, the space would get occupied by a department store. It might be far more profitable to subdivide the space among several retailers, and perhaps keep the upper floors as office.

As was done before with what used to be the bottom floor of the old Eaton's store.

 

[Long Island Mike]

Everyone: I was thinking that these days since the Eaton Centre no longer contains an Eaton's store I wonder if a name change (Sears Centre?) or
a naming rights deal has ever been proposed here or is the name "Eaton Centre" so well established that any name change would result in any
backlash from Torontonians?

LI MIKE

 

[grey]

Yeah, I would expect backlash.

The mall is a historical landmark, although I'm not sure if there's anything official protecting its status, and even less certain as to whether the name itself would be subject to any such protection.

1905 quote from The Globe: "There is hardly a name in Canada, with the possible exception of the Prime Minister, so well known to the people at large as that of Mr. Timothy Eaton."

 

[officedweller]

It's been discussed in the retail thread at SSP Vancouver that Nordstrom is rumoured to be negotiating a sublease of part of the (600,000 sq ft) Pacific Centre Sears store. Typical Nordstrom stores are apparently 200,000 sq ft or so (flagships maybe a bit bigger).

Since Eaton's was a co-developer of Pacific Centre (as it also was for Toronto Eaton Centre several years later), it got a sweetheart deal on rent - which Sears has inherited. The lease rate has been published in the press (Business in Vancouver) at $1.00 per sq ft and supposedly expires in 2068 or thereabouts. i.e. Sears ain't going to vacate (and is currently carrying carrying the cost of 2 "closed" (office/empty?) floors in Vancouver).

Presumably, Sears has a similar lease rate in Toronto.
So if another department store is to enter the market, it would likely be via subleasing a part of the store rather than Sears vacating (surprising, though that Sears "gave up" the two lower mall levels, unless there was a lease-back to Cadillac Fairview?)

 

[FAC33]

Presumably, Sears has a similar lease rate in Toronto.
So if another department store is to enter the market, it would likely be via subleasing a part of the store rather than Sears vacating (surprising, though that Sears "gave up" the two lower mall levels, unless there was a lease-back to Cadillac Fairview?)

If you're talking about the Toronto store, they only gave up one level. The bottom level with the food court was never part of Eaton's.

 

[Skeezix]

If you're talking about the Toronto store, they only gave up one level. The bottom level with the food court was never part of Eaton's.

There was a discussion here on Urban Toronto several years ago, and the general consensus was that the bottom level with food court was once part of Eaton's, but had been given up in some deal many years before Eaton's went bankrupt the first time.

 

[FAC33]

There was a discussion here on Urban Toronto several years ago, and the general consensus was that the bottom level with food court was once part of Eaton's, but had been given up in some deal many years before Eaton's went bankrupt the first time.

Wow, that must go back pretty far. I don't remember it ever being part of Eaton's, or even looking like it had ever been part of Eaton's.

 

[Mississauga Slim]

As I recall, part of the bottom level was Eaton's, but the food court portion was always a food court. When you got past (i.e. South) of that, it was Eaton's. I remember this from buying clothes there and the taking the escalator from that point up to the higher floors of Eatons. This would have been in the late 1980s.

 

[adma]

The food court beneath Eaton's was only created circa 1990--but it definitely was Eaton's originally: the "youth department", Three Below...

 

[canmark]

Toronto Eaton Centre Retail

Saw hoardings for a VS Pink store where Tristan used to be at the Eaton Centre.

 

[prosperegal]

Saw hoardings for a VS Pink store where Tristan used to be at the Eaton Centre.

I didn't even know Tristan closed until I saw the hoarding today. Or did the store move? Looks like Juicy Couture is moving in (on the third floor)

 

[DTowner]

I didn't even know Tristan closed until I saw the hoarding today. Or did the store move? Looks like Juicy Couture is moving in (on the third floor)

Ugh. Juicy Couture. More trash.

 

[Bayer]

Don't know if it will be part of Harry Rosen, but signage at the Disney Store states they will close "on or before December 26th".

Indeed the Disney Store has closed, and the space will be part of Harry Rosen.