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Back in the Hammer
Ah, Hamilton. The more things change...
I haven't done that much poking around yet, but I usually go visit some old haunts here and there when I'm back in town.
Centre Mall is a mess. The mall itself is still mostly there but functioning in no real sense. The banks, Rogers and EB are still in there. But most of the old booths are gone, making the mall seem larger inside. I'll probably bring a camera again. It's like watching an slow death of place that I spent waaaay too much time in.
The new Zellers is now up and open. I'm rather pleased with it. The old Zellers was put in the past home of a Robinsons and opened to a ton a fanfare in the early 1990s. It rapidly went downhill, becoming one of the most slummy Zellers in the city. With the new "mall" came a new Zellers. I was rather impressed with it. While it's not prefect, it's bright, clean and decently stocked and a huge step up. Both Kate and I got a smile out of the family restaurant that was included, since it's the first time we've seen a new style one. We used to eat at Zellers restaurants all the time as kids with our grandmother.
The Zellers seems to have some sort of carbon share thing going on. There's windmills on the roof and information implying there's solar panels up there too.
The Barn is now branded as a Metro, which is really, really stupid. Because of the area, this Metro never got a reno. Let it be know that there was NO effort put into the rebranding, but the costs? Exactly the same prices as the Metro (Dominion, DAMN IT) at my local one at Bayview in Eg. That's fine, for the Toronto store, but this area does not deserve to eat the price jump when their local store when that store has MUCH lower rent, has had NO upgrades except for a sign and the average income in much lower.
I'm not sure how I feel about the future of Centre Mall. While I appreciate that my community is getting nice, clean places to shop without having to take a bus across the city (a problem in pockets of inner city Hamilton), outdoor shopping centres in Canada still seem like a waste. At least this one is just functional and not a "lifestyle centre" like Don Mills Centre.
And I've heard that CHCH is in it's death throes. I know in my gut that the E! rebranding would be it. The station was all but dead. The idea of E! is everything I hate about modern culture. Dan McLean is gone:
http://www.thespec.com/News/Local/article/480943
And according to some local friends, the general feeling about the station is grim. :(
I haven't done that much poking around yet, but I usually go visit some old haunts here and there when I'm back in town.
Centre Mall is a mess. The mall itself is still mostly there but functioning in no real sense. The banks, Rogers and EB are still in there. But most of the old booths are gone, making the mall seem larger inside. I'll probably bring a camera again. It's like watching an slow death of place that I spent waaaay too much time in.
The new Zellers is now up and open. I'm rather pleased with it. The old Zellers was put in the past home of a Robinsons and opened to a ton a fanfare in the early 1990s. It rapidly went downhill, becoming one of the most slummy Zellers in the city. With the new "mall" came a new Zellers. I was rather impressed with it. While it's not prefect, it's bright, clean and decently stocked and a huge step up. Both Kate and I got a smile out of the family restaurant that was included, since it's the first time we've seen a new style one. We used to eat at Zellers restaurants all the time as kids with our grandmother.
The Zellers seems to have some sort of carbon share thing going on. There's windmills on the roof and information implying there's solar panels up there too.
The Barn is now branded as a Metro, which is really, really stupid. Because of the area, this Metro never got a reno. Let it be know that there was NO effort put into the rebranding, but the costs? Exactly the same prices as the Metro (Dominion, DAMN IT) at my local one at Bayview in Eg. That's fine, for the Toronto store, but this area does not deserve to eat the price jump when their local store when that store has MUCH lower rent, has had NO upgrades except for a sign and the average income in much lower.
I'm not sure how I feel about the future of Centre Mall. While I appreciate that my community is getting nice, clean places to shop without having to take a bus across the city (a problem in pockets of inner city Hamilton), outdoor shopping centres in Canada still seem like a waste. At least this one is just functional and not a "lifestyle centre" like Don Mills Centre.
And I've heard that CHCH is in it's death throes. I know in my gut that the E! rebranding would be it. The station was all but dead. The idea of E! is everything I hate about modern culture. Dan McLean is gone:
http://www.thespec.com/News/Local/article/480943
And according to some local friends, the general feeling about the station is grim. :(
no subject
I also noticed all Dominions are now called Metro... Was The Barn owned by the same company too? I thought it was just Dominions that were getting changed over but I guess it makes more sense if the head company wants to change them all to the same name; makes it easier for people to know I guess. It'll be interesting to see if the A&P in Thunder Bay has been renamed too. :D Though, I don't think I want to go to them, considering Steve spent 4 years working as a stock boy and probably went right back to that position when he moved back there. :P I'd rather not run into him... but not saying I couldn't just pass by the place to see. XDD
BTW, sorry I never replied to your message on the weekend; we had an xmas party at Jer's that night and I was busy making peanut butter cookies. XD Then I sort of felt sick and took a nap in the afternoon... slept right until people started arriving and then crashed shortly after people started leaving. x_x
We should get together in the new year. :D I was going to get you an Xmas present from One Million Comix... maybe a gift certificate so you could go crazy but I wasn't sure how much I should give you so I decided we'll have to go out together and I'll get you something you really want (anime, a bunch of manga, whatever). XD
no subject
From what I can figure, at least the Dominions, Barns and A&Ps are all Metros now. I think it was a case in that the different brands lost their original meaning and it didn't matter anymore. That said, it kinda hurts because I grew up with Dominion.
No prob about not getting back to me. Oooo... wanna see The Spirit when it comes out, thought? I've been looking for movies to see since my boss gave us movie passes for Christmas this year. :D
::coughs:: I was going to say... uh... could we delay the exchange until mid-January? The change in payroll is making it so that I'm going to be living on fumes in the first week of January. Thankfully, mom is going to help a little with her food storage, but that, the fact I that I had to buy boots made this month really tight for me.