Waiting lists for top retail locations
Report describes Kelowna as a retail hotspot, but retailers may have to wait to find their ideal space
The mall and big-box power centres are still important. But neighbourhood strips are a reoccurring trend.
Highway 97 frontage may still be king. However, nodes nowhere near the thoroughfare have their place, too.
All this, and more, is outlined in the just-released Spark Retail Report by Colliers International, the diversified real estate company that also does a lot of retail leasing.
“There are more than 600 retailers in the Central Okanagan, so the region is well served by virtually every retailer, wholesaler and franchise,” said Colliers leasing and sales associate vice-president Chris Wills, who co-authored the report with Colliers market intelligence co-ordinator Gillian Satherstrom.
“However, great retail opportunities are scarce in the Central Okanagan. Lots of retailers are on waiting lists for the best locations.”
What qualifies as best location varies depending on who the retailer is and what customer base they want to tap into.
Kelowna’s 170-store Orchard Park is by far the best-known and mostshopped mall because of its size and selection and status as a regional shopping centre that attracts customers from throughout the Southern Interior.
And so-called power centres anchored by big-box retailers such as Walmart, Home Depot and Real Canadian Superstore are always busy.
But the Spark Report identifies smaller neighbourhood strip malls anchored by a moderately-sized grocery store as the new trend.
For example, in the Kelowna airport-UBC Okanagan area, the new Airport Village has a Nesters grocery store and a Dairy Queen.
Nesters also saw potential in the West Kelowna neighbourhood of Lakeview Heights and opened a store in Lakeview Village.
Besides Lakeview Heights and the airport-UBCO areas, the report identifies North Glenmore and Rose Valley-West Kelowna Estates as prime regions for neighbourhood commercial development and leasing.
The six main urban centres for retail in the Central Okanagan are midtown-Highway 97 (where Orchard Park, Spall Plaza, Central Park, Kelowna Crossing, Orchard Plaza and Dilworth Shopping Centre are); Capri Centre MallLandmark (with its six office towers); South Pandosy; downtown Kelowna; Rutland along Highway 33 between Hollywood and Rutland roads; and the Westbank First Nation Economic Centre along Highway 97 where six power centres have big-box tenants.
“The Westside retail development along 97 over the past 10 years is interesting in that it brought in anchors and really over-retailed the area to start with,” said Wills.
“But those anchors attracted other retailers to locate around them and attracted shoppers, too, proving if you build for five, 10 and 15 years down the road it can work.”
Wills is particularly proud of Centre 97, the strip mall at the southwest corner of Highway 97 and Burtch Road that he’s helping lease out.
The strip used to house Buffet King and Swiss Chalet restaurants and a Blockbuster Video.
With those three all long gone now, Centre 97 was renovated and the standalone former Buffet King building was torn down to open up the property, create more parking and increase visibility from highway.
Bulk Barn and Dollar Tree now anchor the property, and Wills says he has five pending offers from tenants to take more space, including a dentist, Hear Canada and other national brands he couldn’t name at this point.