The former Sears Home store has been transformed over the last year. First Staples re-located to the shopping to the building at 1450 Ellice Avenue and now Giant Tiger has announced that they will be opening August 4 of this year. In July of 2017, construction began and Staples and Spirit Halloween shared the space side by side. The seasonal store was only a temporary resident though and work has been done to accommodate Giant Tiger which has been looking for a spot near Polo Park for some time.
Many surrounding properties near Polo Park have changed hands and there is considerable investment to keep the area the premiere retail area in the city. Jollibee’s restaurant chose the 1450 Ellice site for its first location in Canada.
Giant Tiger has a master franchise agreement in the west with the North West Company and has been rapidly expanding. It took over the old Price Chopper site off Pembina Highway.
The last two years has also seen some large scale roadwork being done on St. James Street and surrounding streets although much work is still needed.
The question of the remaining Sears properties in Winnipeg remains undecided.
This has been a editorial by John Dobbin.
To read more from John, visit his blog Observations, Reservations, Conversations
