Ahead of its Spring 2025 opening, Oakridge Park in Vancouver is revealing the names of several luxury watch and jewellery brands that will be opening stores in the retail component of the development. The announcements follow a February 2024 article in Retail Insider where QuadReal released names of several notable luxury brands that will also be opening at Oakridge next year.
The list of luxury watch and jewellery brands set to open standalone stores next year at Oakridge is impressive, and includes the world’s third-largest Rolex storefront as well as two first-to-Canada brands. Oakridge is positioned to be one of the top high-end jewellery nodes in North America, with a roster of brands that are expected to do very high sales numbers.
QuadReal SVP of Leasing for Oakridge Park, Tara Brockelmann, said that the landlord expects jewellery brands to perform very strongly at the new Oakridge Park, given the strength of the jewellery retailers in the former Oakridge Centre that occupied the site until its temporary closure for redevelopment in 2020.
She noted that seven jewellery brands will cluster at the south end of the mall’s luxury wing, while Tiffany & Co. will be further northward near the mall’s new Hudson’s Bay store.
New York City-based Tiffany & Co. will return to Oakridge in a new 5,000 square foot location. Tiffany also had a store in the former Oakridge Centre on the site, and is said to have had high sales. The new Oakridge store is expected to also be a success, while also operating two stores in Downtown Vancouver (on Burrard Street and a concession at Holt Renfrew). The next 12 or so months will see Tiffany & Co. make record-breaking investments in the Canadian market, with new and renovated stores in Vancouver, Toronto and Montreal.
The seven jewellery brands announced that will open standalone stores at Oakridge, clustered at the south atrium near Harry Rosen, will be discussed individually in detail below.
Swiss watch brand Rolex, via local licensee Global Watch Company, will see a 6,000 square foot storefront open at Oakridge Park next year. The Oakridge Rolex will become the third largest globally for the well-known brand which often has a waiting list for various styles. The largest Rolex store in the world spans almost 10,000 square feet in Dubai, and in 2025 Rolex will open a 7,200 square foot store on Old Bond Street in London via licensee Watches of Switzerland. Global Watch Company also operates a Rolex store at 1119 Alberni Street in downtown Vancouver that opened in 2016 — the 2,000 square foot store is currently the largest Rolex location in North America, and the Oakridge store, being triple the size, will take things to a whole new level.
Global Watch Company will also operate a standalone storefront at Oakridge for pricey Swiss watch brand Tudor, to be located next to Rolex. Global Watch Company also operates a standalone Tudor store on Alberni Street in downtown Vancovuer which opened in the spring of 2021.
LVMH-owned Italian jewellery brand Bulgari will open its largest store in Canada at Oakridge, spanning more than 4,000 square feet. Bulgari is investing heavily into the Canadian market and is currently building a 2,969 square foot store at 131 Bloor Street West, its second in the city (Yorkdale’s opened in 2014). Bulgari will keep its small concession at Holt Renfrew in downtown Vancouver, which opened in 2018.
Prestigious and pricey jewellery and watch brand Jacob & Company will have a standalone store at Oakridge, which will be a first in Canada and be one of only a handful globally. Vancouver-based Lugaro Jewellers, which currently carries the Jacob brand, will operate the new standalone Jacob & Company store at Oakridge.
Swiss watch brand TAG Heuer will open its first store in Vancovuer at Oakridge, and will be operated directly by the brand. TAG Heuer is expanding its corporate store presence in Canada — this August it will open at Royalmount in Montreal, following the opening of a store at Yorkdale in Toronto in 2019.
The first standalone location in North America for jewellery brand Chaumet will open at Oakridge, and will be operated by Montreal-based jeweller Birks. It’s a significant brand to be opening at Oakridge, and will catch the attention of global luxury shoppers. Birks has a unique situation in the Vancouver market, operating a multi-brand flagship store in downtown Vancovuer at the corner of Hastings and Granville Street, as well as two mono-brand boutiques on West Georgia Street (Graff and Patek Philippe).
American luxury jewellery brand David Yurman will open its first standalone Vancouver store at Oakridge, marking a second retail presence in the city. The store will be one of a few locations that house Yurman’s high jewellery collections, with some pieces costing into the six figures. David Yurman opened a concession at the downtown Holt Renfrew store in the fall of 2016. David Yurman will be opening this August at Royalmount in Montreal as well, and the brand has a standalone store in Toronto at Yorkdale and concessions at Holt Renfrew in Toronto, Mississauga and Montreal.
Chinese jewellery Chow Tai Fook will open a storefront at Oakridge, as part of an expansion for the brand which currently has stores in the Vancovuer and Toronto markets.
In February, QuadReal announced its first batch of retailers for Oakridge, which included an impressive roster of luxury brands including Louis Vuitton, Prada, Brunello Cucinelli, Moncler, Versace, Max Mara, Maison Margiela, Miu Miu, Christian Louboutin, and Alexander Wang. Retail Insider provided an analysis of this brand selection, including its relationship to retail downtown.
Brockelmann said that it’s expected that the Vancouver market can handle at least two locations for some luxury brands, being in the Oakridge and downtown luxury nodes. She noted that Vancouver sees more than 10 million tourists annually, with this year expected to see a record-breaking number of cruise ship visitors (who spend when on land). The clustering of luxury brands, along with the elevated environment that Oakridge Park will provide, is expected to be a draw for global tourists seeking luxury brands. Oakridge will also specifically target visitors to Vancouver with marketing as well, to create awareness to drive visitor traffic.
Chrystal Burns, Executive Vice President, Canadian Retail at QuadReal, noted in an interview that about 20% of the retail mix at Oakridge will be luxury brands, and that the centre will target locals with its roster of retailers and amenities ranging from a park to a public library. Oakridge Centre is located on the West Side of Vancouver at 41st Street and Cambie Street — the area is densifying quickly, with the City of Vancouver upzoning the immediate area in order to facilitate population growth along a transit line. Included at Oakridge Park are several high-end residential towers that are being developed in partnership with Westbank.
More than 100 retailers will be part of the new Oakridge Park retail component, which will span about 650,000 square feet and will include a mix of luxury stores, big-brand retailers, two anchors (including a 140,000 square foot Hudson’s Bay) and various food and beverage options including a Time Out Market food hall.
Flagship-sized luxury stores will be part of the mix, with some big brands said to have secured large spaces near Oakridge’s new 140,000 square foot Hudson’s Bay store. Leasing manager Tara Brockelmann said that brands were asked to bring something a bit ‘extra special’ when designing spaces at Oakridge, given the significance and positioning of the centre as a destination.
In an earlier interview, Chrystal Burns confirmed that a Safeway grocery store would be returning to Oakridge Park, and that Crate & Barrel, which has been open all along with a standalone retail space, will continue to operate. She also noted that the outdoor high street of Oakridge will be completed as part of a second phase in 2028 after the indoor portion of Oakridge Park is unveiled in the spring of next year.
The retail component of Oakridge Park could become the most productive shopping centre in Canada, given its heavy focus on top luxury brands and its potential to pull consumer dollars from the region and beyond. Given sales numbers at downtown stores such as Chanel (said to be about $60mill annually), the region can support major luxury brands.
Oakridge Centre closed in 2020 for the transformation of the site into a mixed-use development unlike anything in Canada. QuadReal Property Group partnered with developer Westbank on the Oakridge Park project, which will include upscale residential towers, offices, a public library, park space, indoor and outdoor performance venues, and a ballet school among other uses.
Oakridge Centre was formerly an upscale but rather unremarkable shopping centre surrounded by surface parking lots. The mall was developed by department store retailer Woodward’s and opened in 1959 as an open-air centre. In 1993, the 260,000 square foot Woodward’s store was rebranded by new owner HBC, which divided the store to create separate Hudson’s Bay and Zellers department stores. Over the years, affluent demographics on Vancouver’s West Side also resulted in Oakridge securing upscale retail tenants such as Tiffany & Co., Harry Rosen, and Max Mara among others.
Ivanhoé Cambridge owned Oakridge Centre until QuadReal acquired the property in early 2017. Ivanhoé Cambridge had already intended to develop the property, which had been through various stages of applications and studies for redevelopment.
Oakridge Centre maintained its position as one of Canada’s most productive shopping centres for years, in terms of sales per square foot, until its temporary closure in 2020. The high sales were due partly to highly productive jewellery retailers as well as an Apple Store. And while Apple hasn’t been technically confirmed in recent public announcements, Retail Insider was told before the pandemic in an on-the-record interview that it would be returning to Oakridge Park as a tenant.
