Anglais

A year after Sears, the mall is not dead

Published

5 années ago

janvier 26, 2019

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At a time when they were already suffering from Target’s failed Canadian expansion and the seemingly unstoppable growth of online shopping, the loss of the once-mighty Sears chain felt like yet another body blow for shopping malls in this country.

After all, the departure of an iconic brand — and its large stores in prime spots — would surely mean fewer customers wandering the malls and less money being spent.

The country’s biggest malls are still a hive of activity, with all but a handful seeing sales rise in 2018, compared to 2017. (Rick Madonik / Toronto Star File Photo)

But a year after the last Sears stores in Canada were finally shuttered, the picture is a lot less grim than anyone expected – and the future’s looking comparatively sparkly.

“The apocalypse hasn’t happened,” said Diane Brisebois, president of the Retail Council of Canada (RCC), which recently released a study of the 30 biggest malls in the country.

While the loss of Sears hit the bottom line of mall owners, the country’s biggest malls are still a hive of activity, with all but a handful seeing sales rise in 2018, compared to 2017.

Experts point to a variety of reasons, including that Sears had already been drifting away for a few years anyway – selling leases back to mall owners a handful at a time and simply not renewing others. At Yorkdale, which topped the RCC’s rankings with sales of $1,905 per square foot in 2018 (a 15 per cent rise from $1,653 in 2017), Sears left in 2014, after being bought out of its lease by mall owner Oxford Properties.

Other reasons the departure didn’t hit particularly hard? The mall business model has been evolving, and, well, Sears really hadn’t been a big draw in years anyway.

“The Sears store could have been in a parking lot by itself somewhere, and it would have drawn as much foot traffic for the mall,” said Queen’s University real estate professor John Andrew. “Especially over the last few years, the type of customers they were attracting weren’t people who’d be spending the day shopping. You’d be at home and say ‘Oh geez, my washing machine just died.’ Then you’d pull up outside Sears at the mall, pick it up, and walk back out again.”

The nature of malls is also changing, said Andrew, whether it’s the size of the stores, or even what people come to the mall to do.

By the time its final stores closed last January, Sears had been drifting away for a few years anyway – selling leases back to mall owners a handful at a time and simply not renewing others. (Richard Lautens/Toronto Star file photo)

“The whole model of a big anchor store at one end of the mall attracting people is breaking down,” said Andrew.

At Toronto’s Eaton Centre, Sears left in 2014. Its lease had been bought out, at least partly because big-box leases aren’t particularly lucrative anyway, said Sal Iacono, executive vice-president of operations for mall owner Cadillac Fairview.

“I’m not going to say Sears not being around is a good thing. But the kind of rents they were paying were not as large as you’d expect,” said Iacono. “Anchor leases by their nature are volume discounts.”

At the Eaton Centre, the gigantic Sears space was renovated into a few different spaces, with the biggest one occupied by high-end U.S. department store Nordstrom’s. Smaller spaces typically means higher rents per square foot. It also means more flexibility in the types and size of tenants who can be brought in, often including high-end boutiques, said Andrew.

As malls reconfigure their spaces, they’re also trying to find entirely new revenue streams. Think hotels, think fancy restaurants and more interesting food courts. And think homes.

“There’s a tremendous potential for office space, for condo space, for apartments,” said Andrew.

The sky, quite literally, is the limit.

“Shopping centres realized they had a lot of airspace they weren’t using,” said the retail council’s Brisebois.

Cadillac Fairview already has approval to add 2,000 residential units as part of a 27-acre development centred around its mall in Richmond, B.C., said Iacono. Just as in the retail world, a large part of living beside (or above) a mall — in Richmond or other potential spots — is location, location, location.

“If you think about where malls are, particularly urban ones, they tend to be located centrally, close to transit and closer to where people work,” Iacono noted.

The biggest challenges in building upwards, Iacono said, tend to be engineering ones, rather than philosophical or legal.

“In a retail space, you want as few pillars as possible, to maximize space. So you can’t just drop 50 storeys on top of a retail area. You’d need to add more support, and that means cutting down on retail space, which means less retail revenue. You do a cost-benefit analysis and figure out if it’s viable,” said Iacono. “Everything is possible at a certain cost.”

With those types of developments running tens or even hundreds of millions of dollars and taking years to plan, it’s no coincidence that the companies with the two biggest collections of malls in the country — Cadillac Fairview and Oxford — are controlled by pension companies (the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan and the Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System respectively), said Andrew.

“They’ve got a much longer term perspective,” added Andrew. “If reconfiguring the space means retail suffers a bit for five years, but it means a better long-term future, they can do it. And they’ve got a lot of capital.”

Josh Rubin is a Toronto-based business reporter. Follow him on Twitter: @starbeer

Anglais

Nostalgia and much more with Starburst XXXtreme

Published

3 années ago

août 10, 2021

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Get a taste of adventure with Starburst XXXtreme based on the legendary NetEnt Game. The nostalgic themes are sure to capture fans of the classic version as they get treated to higher intensity, better visuals, and features. The most significant element of the game is its volatility. Patience will not be an essential virtue considering the insane gameplay, and there is a lot of win potential involved. It retains the original makeup of the previous game while adding a healthy dose of adrenaline.

Starburst Visuals and Symbols

The game is definitely more conspicuous than before. The setting happens over a 5-reel, 3-row game grid with nine fixed win lines, which function if a succession from the left to the right reel is present. Only those players that that attain the highest win per bet line are paid. From a visual standpoint, the Starburst XXXtreme slots illustrates lightning effects behind the reels, which is not surprising as it is inherited from the original version. Available themes include Classic, Jewels, and Space. The game is also available in both desktop and mobile versions, which is advantageous for players considering the global pandemic. According to Techguide, American gamers are increasingly having more engaging gaming experiences to socialize to fill the gap of in-person interaction. Starburst XXXtreme allows them to fill the social void at a time when there is so much time to be had indoors.

Starburst XXXTreme Features

Players get to alternate on three features which are Starburst Wilds, XXXtreme Spins, and Random Wilds. The first appears on reels 2,3, or 4. When these land, they expand to cover all positions while also calculating the wins. They are also locked for a respin. If a new one hits, it also becomes locked while awarding another respin. Starburst XXXtreme offers a choice between two scenarios for a higher stake. In one scenario with a ten times stake, the Starburst Wild is set on random on reels 2,3, or 4, and a multiplier starts the respin. The second scenario, which has a 95 times stake, starts with two guaranteed starburst wilds on reels 2,3, or 4. it also plays out using respin game sequence and features. The game also increases the potential with the Random Wilds feature to add Starburst Wilds to a vacant reel at the end of a spin. Every Starburst Wild gives a random multiplier with potential wins of x2, x3, x5, x10, x25, x50, x100, or even x150.

The new feature is sure to be a big hit with the gaming market as online gambling has shown significant growth during the lockdown. AdAge indicates the current casino customer base is an estimated one in five Americans, so Starburst XXXtreme’s additional features will achieve considerable popularity.

What We Think About The Game

The gambling market has continued to diversify post-pandemic, so it is one of the most opportune times to release an online casino-based game. Thankfully Starburst XXXtreme features eye-catching visuals, including the jewels and space themes. These attract audience participation and make the gameplay inviting. The game also has a nostalgic edge. The previous NetEnt iteration featured similar visuals and gameplay, so the audience has some familiarity with it. The producers have revamped this version by tweaking the features to improve the volatility and engagement.

That is characterized by the potential win cap of 200,000 times the bet. Starburst XXXtreme does not just give betting alternatives for players that want to go big. The increase of multipliers also provides a great experience. If the respins in the previous version were great, knowing that multipliers can go hundreds of times overtakes the game to a new level.

Players should get excited about this offering. All of the features can be triggered within a single spin. Whether one plays the standard game or takes the XXXtreme spin route, it is possible to activate all of the features. Of course, the potential 200,000 times potential is a huge carrot. However, the bet size is probably going to be restricted and vary depending on the casino. It is also worth pointing out that a malfunction during the gameplay will void all of the payouts and progress. Overall, the game itself has been designed to provide a capped win of 200,000 times the original bet.

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Anglais

‘We’re back’: Montreal festival promoters happy to return but looking to next year

Published

3 années ago

juillet 23, 2021

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In downtown Montreal, it’s festival season.

In the city’s entertainment district, a musical act was conducting a sound check on stage Friday evening — the second day of the French-language version of the renowned Just For Laughs comedy festival. Tickets for many of the festival’s free outdoor shows — limited by COVID-19 regulations — were sold out.

Two blocks away, more than 100 people were watching an acoustic performance by the Isaac Neto Trio — part of the last weekend of the Festival International Nuits d’Afrique, a celebration of music from the African continent and the African diaspora.

With COVID-19 restrictions continuing to limit capacity, festival organizers say they’re glad to be back but looking forward to next year when they hope border restrictions and capacity limits won’t affect their plans.

Charles Décarie, Just For Laughs’ CEO and president, said this is a “transition year.”

“Even though we have major constraints from the public health group in Montreal, we’ve managed to design a festival that can navigate through those constraints,” Décarie said.

The French-language Juste pour rire festival began on July 15 and is followed by the English-language festival until July 31.

When planning began in February and March, Décarie said, organizers came up with a variety of scenarios for different crowd sizes, ranging from no spectators to 50 per cent of usual capacity.

“You’ve got to build scenarios,” he said. “You do have to plan a little bit more than usual because you have to have alternatives.”

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Anglais

MELS new major movie studio to be built in Montreal

Published

3 années ago

juillet 23, 2021

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MONTREAL — MELS Studios will build a new film studio in Montreal, filling some of the gap in supply to meet the demand of Hollywood productions.

MELS president Martin Carrier said on Friday that MELS 4 studio construction will begin « as soon as possible », either in the fall or winter of next year. The studio could host productions as early as spring 2023.

The total investment for the project is $76 million, with the Quebec government contributing a $25 million loan. The project will create 110 jobs, according to the company.

The TVA Group subsidiary’s project will enable it to stand out « even more » internationally, according to Quebecor president and CEO Pierre Karl Péladeau. In the past, MELS Studios has hosted several major productions, including chapters of the X-Men franchise. The next Transformers movie is shooting this summer in Montreal.

Péladeau insisted that local cultural productions would also benefit from the new facility, adding that the studio ensures foreign revenues and to showcase talent and maintain an industry of Quebec producers.

STUDIO SHORTAGE

The film industry is cramped in Montreal.

According to a report published last May by the Bureau du cinéma et de la télévision du Québec (BCTQ), there is a shortage of nearly 400,000 square feet of studio space.

With the addition of MELS 4, which will be 160,000 square feet, the company is filling part of the gap.

Carrier admitted that he has had to turn down contracts because of the lack of space, representing missed opportunities of « tens of millions of dollars, not only for MELS, but also for the Quebec economy. »

« Montreal’s expertise is in high demand, » said Montreal Mayor Valérie Plante, who was present at the announcement.

She said she received great testimonials from « Netflix, Disney, HBO and company » during an economic mission to Los Angeles in 2019.

« What stands out is that they love Montreal because of its expertise, knowledge and beauty. We need more space, like MELS 4, » she said.

There is still not enough capacity in Quebec, acknowledged Minister of Finance, the Economy and Innovation Eric Girard.

« It is certain that the government is concerned about fairness and balance, so if other requests come in, we will study them with the same seriousness as we have studied this one, » he said.

Grandé Studios is the second-largest player in the industry. Last May, the company said it had expansion plans that should begin in 2022. Investissement Québec and Bell are minority shareholders in the company.

For its part, MELS will have 400,000 square feet of production space once MELS 4 is completed. The company employs 450 people in Quebec and offers a range of services including studio and equipment rentals, image and sound postproduction, visual effects and a virtual production platform.