Big shopping news is afoot in Vancouver, Calgary and Ottawa -- Sears is closing three stores (one in each city) and rumour has it that Nordstrom is opening in their place. Nordstrom is an upscale American-owned department store that's been around since 1901. They've been shipping to Canada for a few years now and although shipping/duties can be a bit steep, they carry a huge variety of apparel and accessories and their sale section is almost always worth checking out. If they open, it will be interesting to see how the Canadian retail prices and sales compare with those in the US!
Sears sold the leases for its Pacific Centre (Vancouver), Chinook Centre (Calgary) and Rideau Centre (Ottawa) back to the Cadillac Fairview Corporation for $170 million CAD, presumably to generate revenue. In recent months they have suffered layoffs, dropping stock price and poor press.
