10-cent pom poms and $5 single shoes: What’s left at Nordstrom liquidation sale, as rumours swirl about its replacement

The Nordstrom flagship retailer in downtown Vancouver that opened with a lot fanfare in 2015 will shut its doorways for good on Tuesday. The months-long liquidation sale is lastly coming to an finish, and because the hours tick down, buyers are discovering little or no left on the cabinets.

“(It’s) mostly furnishings,” stated Lina Thompson, who got here to take a look at the sale Monday.

“Single shoes, if you need one shoe, but yeah, tomorrow is the last day, so it’s pretty sparse.”

The discount hunter did handle to seek out a number of objects throughout her closing go to to the three-level division retailer.

“A Karl Lagerfeld dress, it was already on sale for $200 and I got it today for $39,” Thompson stated. “I bought a Top Shop dress for $7.98, which is incredible. And I bought a body suit that was regularly $400 for $17.”

But she acknowledges most of what’s left is slightly unusual. CTV News discovered many single footwear on the market for $5, and bins of small pom poms for 10 cents that had been marked down from $12 every.

The closing days of the liquidation sale are paying homage to when Sears vacated the big Pacific Centre area and Nordstrom moved in practically eight years in the past.

“There was so much anticipation and excitement when this opened and people were lined up, so it is the end of an era,” stated metropolis Coun. Peter Meiszner.

“But I am really confident this space will be leased out quickly. I’ve been hearing there is a lot of interest from retailers that are looking for space downtown.”

One of the businesses rumoured to have an interest is Ikea, which opened a smaller downtown retailer in Toronto final May.

“Yeah, I have heard that rumour, and I did have a chance to go to the urban Ikea in Toronto just a few weeks (ago) while I was there for a conference,” stated Meiszner. “I think it would work really well in downtown Vancouver. People wouldn’t need to go to Coquitlam or Richmond to pick up something from Ikea. What you do, it’s more of a showroom, you go and see the furniture that they have, and then you can pick it up at one of several pick up points through the city.”

Thompson thinks Ikea can be a improbable addition to downtown Vancouver.

“As long as there is parking somewhere, that would be great. It’s always a challenge to get to Richmond, so that would be wonderful,” she stated.

Another retailer rumoured to be trying on the Nordstrom area? Eataly, an Italian meals market that opened its first worldwide location in Toronto in 2019.

“Eataly has been looking for space in Vancouver for some time,” stated retail analyst David Ian Grey.

“The other one I’m hearing about, a little bit of a rumour, is Restoration Hardware, because in other markets they have massive beautiful flagship stores that are showrooms, and they don’t have that here in Vancouver.”

Other contenders may embrace Simons division retailer and clothes retailer Uniqlo. Grey additionally believes it’s potential not one of the rumoured shops will find yourself changing into the tenant.

“I think it may also be something none of us has speculated about. I mean, there are so many wildcards in this,” he stated.

Both males consider it is unlikely anyone retailer would need the complete 230,000-square-foot area.

“I think we might see the space repurposed and maybe cut up into a few different pieces to allow maybe more than one large retailer in here,” stated Meiszner.

While the town councillor and the retail analyst don’t assume discovering tenants might be a giant problem, they consider will probably be not less than a 12 months earlier than any new business opens its doorways.

“They will need to reconfigure and repurpose the space I imagine,” stated Meiszner.

“It’s a unique space in all of Canada right now, and it would be impossible to move in its intact form,” stated Grey. “It’s going to transform to a little degree or drastically. We don’t know right now, we can just speculate.”

Whatever strikes in to the big Pacific Centre area, Thompson hopes it occurs quickly.

“It’s kind of a touristy area and it’s sad when buildings sit empty, so I hope they do something fairly quick,” she stated.