Canadian lifestyle brand Medium The Story Shop has returned to retail with its first standalone store, opening a 1,600-square-foot location at CF Chinook Centre in Calgary as founder Darren Bondar looks to rebuild the watch brand he originally developed about a decade ago.
The store, which is operating through the end of December, represents the first retail showcase for Medium since Bondar bought back the brand about six months ago. The initial location will serve as a test for the relaunched business, with the possibility of further expansion in 2027 depending on customer response.
Medium will sell watches alongside jewellery, accessories and a limited selection of clothing. Bondar said the new concept is intended to move beyond traditional watch retail by building on the personal connections customers associate with their timepieces.
A return to the retail business
Bondar developed Medium with his team while operating Watch It, a Canadian watch retailer that grew to 30 locations across the country. When Watch It was sold in 2017, Medium went with the business.
Although the Watch It brand continues to operate, Bondar said little had been done with Medium in the years since the sale. He eventually decided to reacquire the brand and restart its watch design and manufacturing operations.
“At the end of the day, Medium’s a Canadian lifestyle brand that leads with watches. It was a brand that I built with my team, and we developed about 10 years ago when I owned Watch It,” Bondar said.
He said the original Medium offering was primarily focused on watches, but the relaunch includes a broader product mix intended to position the business as a lifestyle brand.
“The whole premise behind the brand is that everybody’s got a story when they look at their watch. You generally tell more than just the time,” he said.
Bondar said watches often carry personal significance, whether connected to a milestone, a gift from someone important or another memorable experience. The company wants customers to associate its products with those stories rather than view them solely as functional accessories.
That approach is also reflected in the store experience through a feature called the story studio, where customers can share the background behind a meaningful watch.
Storytelling becomes part of the retail concept
The story studio is designed to give customers an opportunity to document the personal significance of their timepieces. Medium has storytellers who conduct short interviews with customers and produce what the company calls a Medium storyboard, which customers can take home at no charge.
Bondar said the concept reflects what he learned during his two decades in the watch business: customers frequently have personal stories associated with the watches they wear.
The initiative gives the retailer another way to engage customers beyond product selection and purchasing, incorporating a personal experience into the store’s offering.
The Calgary location is approximately 1,600 square feet on the second level of the newer section of CF Chinook Centre, beside Oakley and across from Sephora.
Bondar said the shopping centre was a natural choice for the brand, given his longstanding connection to the property and its retail environment.
“Why Chinook? Well, Chinook’s been my home mall. I’ve been hanging out here since I was a kid, for over 40 years,” he said.
Watch It previously operated a store at the shopping centre, opening in 2008 when the newer section was developed.
Expansion plans remain cautious
Despite the return to physical retail, Bondar is not committing to a broader store rollout. The Chinook Centre location is initially guaranteed to operate through the Christmas season, with the company expected to assess its next steps in 2027.
He said the immediate objective is to establish a showcase location and develop the direct-to-consumer side of the business before considering additional stores.
“Yeah, I think ultimately we’d be happy with a single showcase store to start. I think it’s a great opportunity for direct-to-consumer as well,” Bondar said.
“But if it’s successful and customers want more, I could see additional stores in the future, but I’m not signing any new leases today.”
The approach allows Medium to test its retail concept without making longer-term real estate commitments before assessing customer demand.
Entrepreneur returns to familiar territory
Medium marks another return to retail for Bondar, whose previous ventures include Watch It and Spirit Leaf.
He said Watch It began in 1999 and grew to 30 stores before he exited the business in 2017. He also helped build Spirit Leaf to 116 locations before exiting in 2021.
Bondar described the decisions to leave the two businesses differently, saying the Watch It exit was driven partly by circumstances, while the Spirit Leaf sale represented an opportunity at the time.
Despite moving on from both companies, he said he maintained an attachment to the brands and the work involved in building them.
“Well, I think Watch It was a bit of a circumstance. Spirit Leaf was opportunity, and it made sense at the time and at the height of the cannabis industry,” he said.
“But I certainly always loved both of those brands and have a passion for them. They’re very much my creative babies, if you will.”
Bondar said he had not necessarily expected to return to retail after leaving his previous ventures, but the opportunity to reacquire Medium brought him back into the business.
“You know, third-generation retailer. It’s in the blood. I didn’t think after I exited Watch It, then exited Spirit Leaf, that I’d be back in the retail game, but you just can’t keep a retailer away from retail, I guess.”
For now, Medium’s future will depend on how the Calgary showcase performs and whether customers respond to its combination of watches, lifestyle products and personalized storytelling. Bondar said he is looking forward to developing the brand again, with additional locations remaining a possibility rather than a confirmed growth plan.
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