Speaking Of Retail...

As Nick says, new entrants to the retail game in Canada face challenges when it comes to available space. A new CBRE study confirms it—Canada faces stiffer competition when it comes to retailer expansion dollars from foreign players, especially since global markets have largely recovered from the recession. According to the report, which analyzed the operations of 334 leading retailers in 61 countries, Canada recorded fewer new entrants last year. CBRE director of research Ross Moore points to Yorkdale Shopping Centre (below) as a rare example of successful retail expansion of existing space. (At least we beat them in Sochi?) Ross is snapped next to CBRE's John O'Bryan.

"All the best retail space is full," he tells us. Vancouver's Pacific Centre is another example of prime space that has undergone expansion, accommodating a new Nordstrom in that particular case. On the demand side, the market needs to see a more "robust" Canadian economy than we've seen, especially over the past three years, Ross says. Others point to the impact that Target's rough launch has had on retail expansion into Canada by other brands but Ross thinks that excuse is over-played. "When Walmart came up here, that wasn't a clean run either," he says. "Now they are well established." According to the study, Canada ranked sixth in the world for the most new foreign entrants into the retail market. In 2013, Canada no longer ranked among the countries attracting the most new retailers and didn't have a city ranked among the top 20 most-targeted markets.