Retail Insider continues its Photo Tour series of Canadian malls to provide a glimpse into shopping centres which may be less frequented lately due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
This edition takes us to CF Chinook Centre in Calgary, Alberta, which is owned and managed by Cadillac Fairview. Retail Insider also published a video tour of Chinook Centre during Black Friday in November 2020 and this retail profile builds upon it.
CF Chinook Centre is an indoor shopping centre with approximately 217 retail stores over 1.38 million square feet of retail floor space. For the vehicular-inclined, the shopping centre has 5,500 parking spots and the centre is a 10 minute walk from the Chinook Ctrain light rail station. The shopping centre’s three retail anchors include Hudson’s Bay, Nordstrom which opened in the fall of 2014 and Saks Fifth Avenue which opened in early 2018.
History of CF Chinook Centre Mall
Initially built in 1960, the mall has gone through a number of expansions and renovations. A competing mall was built across the street in the 1960s and both merged after coming under common ownership in 1974. A new wing was added in the 1980s for specialty retailers, the entire complex was rebuilt in three phases in 2000, and an expansion adding 180,000 square feet opened in 2010. CF Chinook Centre recently completed a major $101 million redevelopment project that included the new 61 Avenue S.W. pedestrian bridge, the $17 million revitalization of the centre’s Dining Hall to include 835 seats and feature 20 dining retailers (by GH+A Design), and the south property redevelopment. The centre, which featured 45 stores on opening day, now offers more than 250 stores and services.
Breaking Up CF Chinook Centre
In order to make this photo tour manageable, the shopping centre needed to be divided by each floor/level as well as into additional zones.
Lower Level Tour Zones at CF Chinook Centre
The lower level at CF Chinook Centre is very long, stretching north-south in direction with a loop on the northern end.
The tour zones for CF Chinook Centre’s lower level include:
- South End (highlighted in Red)
- Central Zone (highlighted in Purple)
- Northwest End (highlighted in Orange)
- Northeast End (highlighted in Green)
Upper Level Tour Zones at CF Chinook Centre
The upper level at CF Chinook Centre does not stretch as long as the lower level and it is home to a substantial food court and various retail stores.
The tour zones for CF Chinook Centre’s upper level include:
- Food Court and Central Zone (highlighted in Red)
- Northwest End (highlighted in Purple)
- Northeast End (highlighted in Green)
Retail Profile of CF Chinook Centre’s Lower Level
The lower level is the largest retail runway for CF Chinook Centre. A non-retail anchor, Cineplex, is on the south end of the shopping centre and continues to the retail loop on its north end.
South End of CF Chinook Centre’s Lower Level
The uncontested major tenant on the south end of CF Chinook Centre is Hudson’s Bay. It comes in at 206,514 square feet of retail space stretching across two levels. The store has the most comprehensive selection of designer brands of any Hudson’s Bay store in Alberta.
Select CF Chinook retailers previously featured in Retail Insider include:
- TopShop: The British multinational fashion retailer, purchased by ASOS in February 2021, opened the 15,000-square-foot store in CF Chinook Centre in November 2013, located adjacent to its franchise owner, Hudson’s Bay. Retail Insider will be discussing the future of TopShop Canada this month in an article.
- Chapters/Indigo: Although Canadian bookstore chain Indigo bought Chapters in 2001, it continues to operate some locations under the Chapters banner like the 26,203-square-foot CF Chinook Centre location. Indigo announced in May 2015 that it would overhaul the CF Chinook Centre location and open an American Girl doll shop-in-store.
- Victoria’s Secret: American lingerie, clothing, and beauty retailer Victoria’s Secret opened the 12,762-square-foot location in CF Chinook Centre in May 2011.
Other select retailers in the south end of the mall’s lower level include Old Navy, H&M, Lammie’s Western Wear, Zara, Pottery Barn, Jewels by Maximes, Call It Spring, Bentley, Ricki’s, The Gap, Nature Collection, Garage, Dynamite, Melanie Lyne, Aldo, and la Vie En Rose.
Central Zone of CF Chinook Centre’s Lower Level
The main attraction for this section of the lower level is the main entrance from the east as well as the circular viewpoint that allows visitors to look upwards to the second level. Before we head up to the second level, the tour proceeded around the escalators to continue on the lower level behind the escalators.
Select CF Chinook retailers previously featured in Retail Insider include:
- Hugo Boss: The German fashion house opened a 3,538-square-foot store at CF Chinook Centre in August 2013.
- Nespresso: Nestlé-owned Swiss coffee brand Nespresso opened a permanent, 3,933-square-foot retail space in CF Chinook Centre in December 2017. This was Nespresso’s second Alberta location following a West Edmonton Mall storefront.
- Indochino: The Vancouver-based retailer offering made-to-measure menswear opened a 2,351-square-foot retail shop in April 2017.
Other select retailers in the centre zone of the mall on the lower level include American Eagle Outfitters, La Senza, Banana Republic, Sunglass Hut, L’Occitane, Chapel Hats, Ecco Shoes, Purdy’s Chocolatier, Club Monaco, Williams-Sonoma, Lululemon, Wilfred, Shoppers Drug Mart, Aritzia, Steve Madden, TNA, Ever New Melbourne, and RW&CO.
Northwest End of CF Chinook Centre’s Lower Level
The feather in CF Chinook Centre’s hat would be the two anchor retailers in this section of the mall. CF Chinook Centre proudly opened Canada’s first Nordstrom store spanning 135,636 square feet in September 2014, additionally the centre opened western Canada’s first Saks Fifth Avenue spanning 115,425 square feet in February 2018.
Select CF Chinook retailers previously featured in Retail Insider include:
- Louis Vuitton: The Paris-based luxury brand opened its first standalone store in Calgary spanning 4,450 square feet at CF Chinook Centre in October 2018.
- Moose Knuckles: The Canadian outerwear announced the opening of its 2,283-square-foot store in CF Chinook Centre in October 2020.
- Clearly: The Vancouver-based eyewear retailer opened its fourth retail location spanning 1,494 square feet at CF Chinook Centre in December 2020.
- Aesop: The upscale Australian skincare retailer opened its 770-square-foot CF Chinook Centre location in February 2021.
- Casper: The New York City-based sleep brand opened its fourth standalone Canadian store spanning 2,202 square feet in June 2019.
- Birks: The upscale Montreal-based jeweller opened next to Canada’s first Nordstrom store in CF Chinook Centre measuring 3,657 square feet and replacing a 2,340-square-foot location in the same mall in January 2015.
- Dyson: The UK-based household and technology ‘reinvention’ brand opened its third standalone Canadian 2,336-square-foot location at CF Chinook Centre in September 2020.
- Tumi: The high-end suitcase and travel bag retailer opened its its third Canadian location spanning 1,198 square feet in 2014.
Other retailers include MAC Cosmetics, The Alley, GNC (General Nutrition Centre), Claire’s, The Source, Ardene, and Zumiez.
Northeast End of Chinook Centre’s Lower Level
The northeast side of the retail loop on the north end doesn’t have any retail anchors over 10,000 square feet in size. Select CF Chinook retailers previously featured in Retail Insider include:
- Le Creuset: The French cookware brand opened the 1,828-square-foot boutique at CF Chinook Centre — the first for the brand in Canada — in October 2010.
- Kate Spade New York: The American luxury fashion design house opened its first Calgary location spanning 2,269 square feet at CF Chinook Centre in May 2015.
- Ted Baker: The British fashion brand opened the company’s sixth freestanding Canadian location at CF Chinook Centre spanning 2,939 square feet in September 2016.
- Tory Burch: The upscale American women’s fashion brand opened at CF Chinook Centre in October 2012, measuring 2,885 square feet.
- Eileen Fisher: The American womenswear designer opened its second Canadian location spanning 2,001 square feet at CF Chinook Centre in July 2013.
- Canada Goose: The Toronto-based outerwear and fashion brand opened its second standalone Canadian store spanning 3,959 square feet at CF Chinook Centre in November 2017.
Upscale Monaco-based jeweller APM Monaco announced the leasing of the 1,147-square-foot boutique at CF Chinook Centre in January 2021 and was under construction during our retail photo tour.
Other retailers include Mackage, Apple, Tiffany & Co., Harry Rosen, A|X Armani Exchange, Oak + Fort, Freddy, Abercrombie & Fitch, Urban Outfitters, Plus, Peloton, Icebreaker, Kiehl’s, Coach, Burberry, October’s Very Own, Arc’teryx, and Michael Kors. This would be considered the most upscale section of CF Chinook Centre overall.
Retail Profile of CF Chinook Centre’s Upper Level
The upper level is home to CF Chinook Centre’s renovated food court and is accessible from parking to the west. While there isn’t any additional retail anchors on this level, all of them have a second floor which we won’t go into detail a second time.
Central Zone and Food Court on CF Chinook Centre’s Upper Level
Hudson’s Bay is the main anchor for the central zone which is across from Sport Chek — however, the food court is the main attraction for this section of the shopping centre.
Cadillac Fairview made a $17-million investment to revitalize the food court at CF Chinook Centre in 2018 to elevate the shopping experience for Calgary consumers by modernizing the area and transforming the space into a CF Dining Hall.
Other retailers include Sport Chek, Foot Locker Kids, DavidsTea, Soft Moc, Mountain Warehouse, Torrid, HotTopic, Sunrise Records, Bath & Body Works, Lego, Volcom, Vans, Champs Sports, Journeys, Bootlegger, Lids, Levi’s, and House of Hoops.
Northwest End of CF Chinook Centre’s Upper Level
The retail loop on the north end of the shopping centre has the second level entrances for both Saks Fifth Avenue and Nordstrom.
Select CF Chinook retailers previously featured in Retail Insider include:
- Sport Chek Women: The FGL Sports-owned sporting retailer launched a new 16,675-square-foot women-only store concept in March 2017. It was a first for the retailer and remains so.
- Bailey Nelson: The Australian eyewear retailer opened its 985-square-foot CF Chinook Centre location in 2018.
Other retailers include The Body Shop, Below the Belt, Skechers, Ben Moss Jewellers, Maggie’s Diamond Boutique, West 49, Nutrition House, QE Home, Shefield & Sons, EBX, The Children’s Place, Jersey City, Le Chateau, and The Discovery Hut.
Northeast End of CF Chinook Centre’s Upper Level
Select CF Chinook retailers previously featured in Retail Insider include:
- Sleep Country Canada: The Toronto-based mattress retailer expanded into main shopping centres by opening its first 3,574-square-foot location in CF Chinook Centre in 2015.
- Matt & Nat: The Montreal-based eco-friendly accessory fashion brand opened its 1,460-square-foot CF Chinook Centre location in April 2019.
- Tommy Bahama: The Seattle-based fashion brand opened its 3,794-square-foot CF Chinook Centre location in June 2016.
- Bikini Village: The Montreal-based swim brand retailer opened its 1,887-square-foot CF Chinook Centre location in August 2018.
- Free People: The American womenswear brand opened its second Canadian location in 2012 at CF Chinook Centre spanning 2,046 square feet.
- Plenty: Vancouver based Plenty opened its first store outside of British Columbia spanning 2,387-square-feet at CF Chinook Centre in September 2013.
- Rocky Mountain Soap Company: Canmore-based natural bath and beauty brand opened its 11th brick-and-mortar, spanning 563 square feet at Calgary’s CF Chinook Centre in October 2017 after a pre-Christmas pop-up in 2014.
- BonLook: The Omnichannel eyewear company opened its 1,095-square-foot CF Chinook Centre in October 2018.
While onsite, we noticed the 1,077 square foot Sunglass Hut was currently under renovation and reopening soon.
Select retailers include Roots, Swarovski, Little Burgundy, Oakley, Sephora, Jack & Jones, Boathouse, Guess, VVS Jewellers, Eddie Bauer, Hakim Optical, Hollister, Anthropologie, LUSH Cosmetics, Caposhie, Build-A-Bear Workshop, Saje Natural Wellness, Bluenotes and CaseLogix.
We had a very interesting photo walk around CF Chinook Centre Mall in southern Calgary and we hope you enjoyed coming along with us. Don’t forget to check out our other retail photo tours over the past few months. Thank you for taking this tour with us.
Discover More Related Retail Photo Tours From Retail Insider:
- Retail Profile: Southcentre Mall in Calgary (Spring 2021)
- Retail Profile: The CORE Shopping Centre in Downtown Calgary (Spring 2021)
- Retail Profile: CrossIron Mills in Calgary (March 2021)
- Retail Photo Tour: Retail at The Distillery Historic District in Toronto and What’s to Come
- Retail Photo Tour: Sainte-Catherine Street in Montreal During COVID-19
- Retail Photo Tour: McArthurGlen Designer Outlet Vancouver (February 20201)
- Photo Tour: The Ever-Changing Sherwood Park Mall in Sherwood Park, Alberta (February 2021)
- Photo Tour: Big Changes and New Retailers at Avalon Mall in St. John’s, Newfoundland (January 2021)
- Photo Tour: West Edmonton Mall Phase 1 and Phase 2 During COVID-19 (December 2020)
- Photo Tour: West Edmonton Mall Phase 3 and Phase 4 During COVID-19 (December 2020)
- Photo Tour: Guildford Town Centre in Surrey During COVID-19 (December 2020)
- Metropolis at Metrotown Photo Tour (December 2020)
- The Amazing Brentwood Photo Tour (December 2020)
- Yorkville Photo Tour (November 2020)
- Bloor Photo Tour (December 2020)
- The PATH Holiday Photo Tour (December 2020)
You left out the entirety of the professional centre, which has numerous service providers spanning 7 floors.
Correct. This was a ‘retail profile’ focusing on retail aspects of the mall; hence the professional centre omission as the tenants were predominantly medical services (dentists, chiropractors, massage therapists, physicians, optometrists, naturopaths, etc.), accounting services, brokerages and other professional services which aren’t retail-related but yes, they are at the property as well.
I’m shocked this mall doesn’t have a Uniqlo? Of all the malls in Calgary I figured this one would seeing that it seems it has more high end retailers.
I’m guessing the mall will be the first in Calgary to get a Uniqlo — timelines are uncertain at the moment.