Re: LV Retail Tour
thomd
>I've been to quite a few of the LV stores, Vancouver, Ottawa, London, and the Toronto stores, though not the new downtown store yet, Halifax.
My local store is on the East side of Toronto, about 10 minutes form where I live. Toronto is crossed east west by a major HWY the 401, and one takes the Morningside exit north a short distance to the LV store, which shares a newish brown brick building with a Ballet school, among other tenants.
LV has a wide glass front that reveals the retail space and the workshop area. Entering the retail store through a vestibule that keeps the cold weather at bay, one is immediately confronted with a wooden bar area that runs away from the door, and has two sides with catalogues and order forms. To the left are the new computer terminals that make direct order placement possible as well as a number of searches. The ordering bar also divides the store, whereby the left side is mostly devoted to the woodworking while the right side has products from the gardening catalogue. Indeed the introduction of the gardening line has pretty much made it impossible to get all the wood working tools on the floor, in the average sized store. The gardening side of the store also has sections for washrooms, children to play in, and end of line items.
The left side of the store from the window forward has a lot of the LV hardware on display, the next zone is kitchen hardware over by the wall, and finishing and safety gear central. About 1/4 of this side is devoted to books of all kinds, and plans. Scattered about the remaining part of the show room are cases showing various verities tools, newly arrived products, turning tools, etc... Much of what is in the catalogue is not on display, it feels like maybe half of the stuff isn't out,a pretty good ratio all things considered.
About 2/3rds of the back wall of the store is consumed by the orders in and check out areas. To buy something you fill out an order form (or use the computer). In the former case you get a paper ticket with your number on it and wait until your number comes up and you can place your order. The store is relatively heavily staffed both in front and in the back office, considering the order execution format that is in use. Staff is very friendly and helpful.
It's not an exciting place to visit for those of us who have it as a neighbourhood store. It's set up mostly efficiently, and familiarity tends to lead to complacency over how lucky we are to have such a good source of supply in the neighbourhood.
