Shortly after Hudson's Bay Calgary celebrated its 100 year anniversary, an announcement was made that its retail floor space would be decreased significantly in favor of a restaurant on the ground floor and an event space on the top floor. The downtown Hudson's Bay location will soon house a 75,000 square foot eatery with an additional 4,000 square feet devoted to a new lounge in the basement. This results in a 15% loss of total ground floor retail area.
Hudson's Bay Calgary is leasing this space, which is something other locations across Canada are doing as well. In Toronto, for example, Hudson's Bay is renting part of its 7th floor to Kleinfeld Bridal. Another Kleinfeld could also open in the same Calgary store.
The upcoming restaurant in Calgary will be the city's biggest outdoor dining patio.
Retail Patio Spaces
Hudson's Bay Calgary is Leasing a Significant Portion to a New Restaurant
Trend Themes
1. Decrease in Retail Floor Space - Hudson's Bay's move to decrease retail floor space in favor of food and event spaces is a trend that is seen in other retail locations in Canada as well, providing opportunities for businesses to take advantage of this vacant space for various purposes.
2. Leasing Space to Restaurants and Event Spaces - Leasing retail space to restaurants and event spaces is a growing trend that is becoming popular among retailers, presenting opportunities for businesses in the restaurant and events industries to expand their reach into previously untapped markets.
3. Largest Outdoor Dining Patio in Calgary - The upcoming restaurant in Hudson's Bay Calgary property is set to feature the city's largest outdoor dining patio, showing a trend of retailers utilizing their outdoor spaces in creative ways to draw in more customers and increase revenue.
Industry Implications
1. Retail - The retail industry can benefit from the decreasing trend of in-store floor space by exploring alternative revenue streams such as leasing space to restaurants and event spaces.
2. Restaurant - The growing trend of leasing retail space to restaurants presents an opportunity for restaurant businesses to expand their customer base and raise their brand profile by utilizing new retail locations in prime shopping areas.
3. Events - The emerging trend of leasing retail space to event spaces presents opportunities for events businesses to reach new audiences and offer customers unique experiences in non-traditional venues.