Retail stores need more than just good product to back up their sales. This is apparent with the announcement of Forever 21 closing all Canadian stores as it looks to restructure and refocus the business in the United States as well as Mexico and Latin America.
Recently, Canadian retail sales have gone down. This can be attributed to various reasons – the increase in consumer debt leading people to spend less, or consumers being more environmentally conscious has resulted in their holding on to clothes longer – but the efforts of retailers cannot go unnoticed. In a study done by Statistics Canada, retail sales are only up 1.8 per cent compared to last year, which is among the lowest gains in a decade. Retailers must look outside the box in non-traditional spaces to attract and retain customers.
Shoppers have a different expectation of retailers and how their spaces inspire brand interaction. This has led to the rise of experiential retail – the convergence of experiential marketing within the retail environment. Shoppers are looking for an experience that brings them closer and connects them to brands in a more immersive way. They are looking to touch, feel, and be educated on brands in a more personal way than is possible in other channels. This has changed how retailers are visualizing the shopper experience within their storefronts from functional to brand experience centres. Forever 21 struggled with this, having no existence of an immersive or differentiated shopper experience present in their stores.
Experiential marketing creates human connection between brands and their consumers in ways that are personal and drive influence. This influence comes from experiencing moments that revolve around things people value. Whether it’s creating a sense of community for shoppers, or building spaces for creativity and innovation, or turning retail stores into education centres – the face of retail is changing. Many retailers are turning this channel into an avenue for their brand experience to come to life in order to deepen their connection with their shoppers and their communities. Ultimately, it creates that trust and loyalty between brands and consumers which has a positive impact on sales.
Massive new Lululemon store in Chicago.
Look at Lululemon. The Canadian brand has become much more than just a place to pick up high-end leggings; its overall experience leaves consumers feeling satisfied. Lululemon’s new 20,000 square foot Chicago megastore is two storeys and provides customers the opportunity to work out like at a traditional gym, while also shopping for product. The retail space boast two exercise rooms, a meditation area, and a smoothie bar – everything to fill up a couple hours in a person’s day.
If visitors forget their own workout gear, they can borrow from the store, with the ultimate goal of a purchase if the customer likes it enough. You can’t do that with online shopping! This store was an experiment and if successful, 10 per cent of stores will follow this new format by 2023.
Roots
Roots, another Canadian brand, is working within the same mindset. Now even a pair of socks you purchase can be personalized. Back in the summer of 2017, Roots launched a sensory store experience at Toronto’s Yorkdale Shopping Centre (featured in Retail Insider) that allows customers to see, touch and live the brand throughout its different seasons. You can personalize and customize different products and this allowed Roots to break into the U.S. market in a memorable way. Roots has since expanded its concept store to other markets both in Canada as well as in the United States.
Brand experiences, done well, have the opportunity to create deep connections and engage communities in a way unlike ever before. While Forever21 looks to refocus its business goals in its remaining markets that will include the United States, Mexico and Latin America, the retailer should maximize the customer experience by finding ways to give shoppers more personal, impactful, one-of-a-kind, and curated experiences to bring them closer to the brand. The divide between retailers who are thinking shopper first and are evolving to an experiential retail model, and those who aren’t, is becoming increasingly clear. The time for retail evolution is now.
If Canadian apparel retailer Le Chateau has any thoughts of expanding into the American market, an international retail expert has some simple advice for the company: Don’t.
Randy Harris, president and owner of Trendex North America, a marketing research and consulting firm, said Le Chateau is really one of the very first apparel chains in Canada.
“It was founded in 1959 and while other companies, retailers, have come and gone, they’ve managed to survive. The problem that they had is they were always viewed as selling disco disposable type of clothing and they recognized that when H&M came into the market, and Zara, that they had to change their model. They just could not compete directly, if you will, with H&M,” said Harris.
“So they did the logical thing and they went upscale. And they improved their merchandise. They launched an ecommerce site and they focused at the same time on increasing their profitability by closing their under-performing stores. Those are the three or four things they have been doing the last couple of years. So they closed a lot of stores – the majority of which have been their outlet stores. And it seems as if the whole process of closing non-profitable stores is pretty much coming to an end. They seem to have pretty much stabilized on their store count.
PHOTO: LE CHATEAU VIA FACEBOOK
“The inherent problem though is they have not been able to increase their profitability. So even though they’ve closed under-performing stores and they’ve upgraded the quality of their merchandise, their comp store sales have not increased for over a five-year period. Nor has their profitability over the last two or three years. The problem that the company has today I believe is that it is under-capitalized in the sense that it has not spent the money on upgrading its stores to match the merchandise.”
Harris said the retailer started out doing that but that process has come to a stop in terms of really doing a significant number of renovations.
“There has become a disconnect between the merchandise in the store which is nice and has been upgraded and the store itself,” he said.
Harris said the company has also not been able to undertake a marketing campaign to really get their message out to consumers that the retailer is something new – that it has improved what it’s doing.
PHOTO: LE CHATEAU VIA FACEBOOK
The one positive, he said, is that Le Chateau’s ecommerce platform has proven to be successful.
In his August newsletter Canadian Apparel Insights, Harris wrote that there are a number of reasons for Le Chateau to forsake thoughts of expansion south of the border including:
Le Chateau’s own sales history – In just the period 2014-2018, Le Chateau’s sales fell in large part because it closed 82 stores. But, it should also be noted that only twice during the period did the retailer report an increase in its annual comp store sales;
Le Chateau’s financial situation – In 2018 Le Chateau lost C$23.8 million and during the period 2014-2018 the retailer lost C$143.6 million. If Le Chateau has any extra cash it could better be spent improving its position in the Canadian market; and
History of Canadian retailers in the U.S. market.
“The historical track record for Canadian apparel retailers and brands has been terrible with the exception of those retailers recently who offer a higher-priced differentiated product. One only has to look at Joe Fresh’s U.S. initiative, including operating its own U.S. stores and opening shop-in-shops in JC Penney as an example of offering a brand that competed with international fast-fashion retailers and had zero awareness in the U.S.market,” wrote Harris in the newsletter.
“The U.S. niche Le Chateau would be targeting, is shrinking. Sales in U.S. department stores have gone down every year this decade. This leaves discount stores and off-price stores as possible target channels for Le Chateau branded products. Both Walmart and Target already have strong private label programs and would certainly not start carrying a brand whose recognition is almost nil in the United States. From this publication’s perspective, Le Chateau is looking to jumpstart its performance by going for a “Hail Mary” and as is the case with similar plays, the odds against its success are somewhere between horrible and bad.
“Instead of targeting the U.S. market, this publication would suggest that Le Chateau take the monies it would have spent on developing a U.S. business and consider: Launching a major advertising campaign similar to its very successful 2015 Le Chateau of Montreal brand refreshing initiative; Upgrading more of its stores to ensure that there does not continue to be a disconnect between the merchandise it sells and the store’s environment; and Re-evaluating its loyalty program to differentiate it in a unique way from its direct competitors (e.g. loyalty points equal concert tickets).
Regardless of Le Chateau’s recent track record, it is still a viable retailer, added Harris. Unfortunately, its niche has been the focus of international fast-fashion retailers including H&M. Undercapitalized, Le Chateau is probably doing the best it can, he said.
Editor’s note: La Presse first ran a French language report in early September about Mr. Harris’ opinions on Le Chateau expanding into the US, and Retail Insider reached out to him for the purposes of this English language article.
Online furniture brand, Article, which is based in Vancouver, has seen phenomenal growth in recent years and has launched an in-house delivery program in Canada.
It has also expanded its leadership team to enable the company’s next phase of growth.
Recently the company was ranked No. 1 on the 2019 Growth 500 list of Canada’s Fastest-Growing Companies for a second consecutive year.
“Being named Canada’s Fastest-Growing Company for a second year in a row validates the team’s efforts to make it easy for customers to create beautiful spaces,” said Aamir Baig, Article’s CEO. “Our tremendous growth has been fuelled by customer obsession. We seek direct customer input to create a remarkable end-to-end furniture experience, and this approach has led to projects that have made an immediate, positive impact on customers.”
PHOTO: ARTICLE FURNITURE VIA FACEBOOK
The online furniture and home decor brand topped the annual ranking with five-year revenue growth of 24,182 per cent.
“Business has grown a whole lot more wilder than I would have ever dreamed . We’ve had north of 50,000 per cent growth until the year ending 2017 and the 24,000 per cent growth in the year ending 2018. So growth has been brilliant. Been great. It’s really a validation of the underlying proposition and the focus that we brought in delivering an end-to-end customer experience that’s a lot more convenient, a lot more valuable to the end customer. That’s given us a lot of confidence to continue going forward,” said Baig.
“The industry is massive. So I think we’re just the tip of the iceberg here of what the opportunity is. So far we’re certainly proud of the growth we’ve been able to achieve.”
The company started in October 2011 and launched its website in May 2013. There are operations in the United States as well in four different places – Seattle, Los Angeles, New Jersey and Jacksonville.
“We sell you great furniture and make sure you’re going to have an experience that you’re not going to go anywhere else,” said Baig.
PHOTO: ARTICLE FURNITURE VIA FACEBOOK
“We’re a digitally native, vertically integrated online furniture brand. So basically what that means is we design, manufacture, distribute and ship directly to the consumer modern furniture. And we do it all through article.com. There’s only one place where you can buy our furniture. By going direct and eliminating the physical showrooming needs to sell furniture, we’re able to unlock a lot of value that we package back to customers either in the form of better product, better price, faster delivery, more convenience. A combination of it all.”
Baig said 85 per cent of the company’s business comes from the United States. It ships and delivers to hundreds of cities across Canada and the U.S.
“We’re focused on the discerning customer that wants a good product. So higher quality looking for good material, looking for designs that will last,” he said.
“Our mission is to create the easiest way for people to make their space look beautiful. So that includes living rooms, dining rooms, bedrooms, hallways, home office, office spaces. Across the board. And we’re constantly expanding our coverage of those categories.”
PHOTO: ARTICLE FURNITURE VIA FACEBOOK
“Everything that we do is around delivering on a vision of how do we create the easiest way for people to make their space look beautiful. The amount of time people have to go through getting their space looking and functioning like they want at the core Article is about transforming that and making that as simple and as easy as possible,” said Baig.
“With that context, there’s many, many projects and initiatives that we have been working and will continue to work on towards the realization of that vision. The final-mile delivery experience is one of those aspects because the thing about furniture is that you can’t FedEx/UPS this stuff. It’s big products. The product typically needs to be put together. Stuff needs to be moved around in people’s homes and product needs to be put and installed in the right places. So there’s a strong service element to it to getting your place furnished. And what we realized as we went along this journey and studying over thousands of reviews from customers the final-mile delivery is where we were falling short. Most of the time the issues, the reasons, were not of our doing. We were working with third-party carriers. But nevertheless it was still our problem.”
So the company started its own delivery program taking control and ownership of the whole process to make it as smooth, seamless and convenient for customers as possible.
PHOTO: ARTICLE FURNITURE VIA FACEBOOK
“We’re highly encouraged by the program. Our negative complaint ratio in the final-mile delivery reviews is down by 80 per cent in areas we’re doing our own delivery. Our speed to deliver is two days faster. The convenience of scheduling is higher. That program has become quite strategically important for us,” said Baig.
Article also added the company’s first VP of Human Resources and Senior VP of Supply Chain to support growth. Caroline Schein joined Article in the spring with previous roles at Boston Pizza, Best Buy Canada and Vancity, and is responsible for building Article’s people and culture practices across North America. Joining Article from Finning International, Cristian Chavez is Article’s Senior VP of Supply Chain, responsible for developing key supply chain strategies that will directly support the company’s ability to deliver unbeatable value on high-quality furniture and home decor.
The company, which employs more than 350 staff across North America, has been profitable since 2015.
An off-schedule podcast focusing on Craig’s attendance and related news coming out of the ICSC Toronto that happened on September 23-25, 2019.
The Weekly podcast by Retail Insider Canada is available on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, TuneIn, Google Play, or through our dedicated RSS feed for Overcast and other podcast players.
More about ICSC (International Council of Shopping Centers): ICSC serves the global retail real estate industry providing its 70,000+ member network in over 100 countries with invaluable resources, connections and industry insights and actively work together to shape public policy. For more information about ICSC visit ICSC.com.
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Los Angeles-based fast fashion retailer Forever 21 announced Sunday evening that it would close its 45* Canadian stores as the struggling company fights for survival. New tenants will have to be found for almost 899,000* square feet of retail space in Canada at a time when other retailers have shuttered Canadian storefronts, leaving a glut of retail space for landlords to backfill. Other retailers will also be hit as Forever 21 holds clearance sales during the busy winter Holiday Season. *(Article updated to include Outlet Collection Winnipeg store).
The Canadian subsidiary of Forever 21 was granted protection under the Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act (the “CCAA”) by the Ontario Superior Court of Justice (Commercial List) in Toronto on Sunday. PricewaterhouseCoopers Inc. was appointed as Monitor in the CCAA proceedings to oversee a full liquidation and the wind-down process.
“After considering numerous options, we have made the difficult decision to discontinue operations in Canada. While this decision was not easy to make, we believe it is the right one for Forever 21 Canada. We had hoped for a different outcome, but after years of poor performance and challenges set forth by the headwinds facing the retail industry today, our Canadian operations are simply no longer economically viable,” said Bradley Sell, Chief Financial Officer of Forever 21 Canada.
FOREVER 21 INTERIOR. PHOTO: PINTEREST
Forever 21 Canada currently operates 45 stores in Alberta, B.C., Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec and Nova Scotia and employs approximately 2,000 people, according to the company’s press release. Forever 21 Canada stores will remain open during the liquidation process which will no doubt affect other retailers as the busy shopping winter holiday shopping season approaches.
A separate application by Forever 21 in the US saw the retailer gain protection under Chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code to enable a reorganization of its business. Forever 21 says that its intention is to continue to operate the majority of its U.S. and Latin American locations “as usual”. The retailer will close up to 178 stores in the United States and up to 350 over all. Stores in Mexico and Latin America will remain open.
“This restructuring will enable the Company to become a stronger, more competitive enterprise, and a more viable company that is better positioned to prosper for years to come,” says the Forever 21 press release.
E-commerce made up 16% of Forever 21’s sales, and the retailer saw its revenue drop to US $3.3 billion last year, down from US $4.4 billion in 2016. The restructured company is expected to bring in US $2.5 billion in annual sales. The company employs about 32,800 people, which is down from 43,000 in 2016.
Forever 21 was not performing well in Canada overall, according to sources. Despite some stores being in the 12,000-18,000 square foot range, many were selling less than $3 million annually according to some landlords wishing not to be named in this article. In one prominent mall, a landlord said that Forever 21’s sales were less than $2 million annually, and that the landlord was actively looking for a tenant to replace it.
PHOTO: FOREVER 21
Forever 21 entered Canada in 2002 when it opened its first store at West Edmonton Mall in Edmonton. Several years later the retailer began expanding into other markets coast-to-coast.
An industry source provided Retail Insider with information on Forever 21 in Canada including locations, store sizes, and landlords housing the retailer. In total, Forever 21 occupies almost 899,000 square feet in Canada with an average store size just under 20,000 square feet. According to the document supplied, several major landlords will see considerable vacancies with the exit of Forever 21. Ivanhoé Cambridge, Cadillac Fairview and Oxford Properties will be the most exposed in terms of having to re-tenant Forever 21 spaces.
According to a research document supplied to Retail Insider by a source on Sunday night, landlord Ivanhoé Cambridge will see the most vacated space of any Canadian landlord when Forever 21 closes its 13 stores in Ivanhoé Cambridge’s malls. The total square footage vacated will amount to 279,729 square feet, according to the document. Forever 21’s presence in Ivanhoé Cambridge properties include Edmonton Outlet Collection near Edmonton, CrossIron Mills near Calgary, Metropolis at Metrotown in suburban Vancouver, Guildford Town Centre in suburban Vancouver, Tsawwassen Mills in suburban Vancouver, Mic Mac Mall in suburban Halifax, Mapleview Centre in Burlington Ontario, Bayshore Centre in suburban Ottawa, Niagara Outlet Collections near Niagara Falls, Oshawa Centre near Toronto, Vaughan Mills near Toronto, Montreal Eaton Centre (which was recently relocated to make way for a soon-to-be-announced competitor; Forever 21 is currently housed in the retail component of Place Montreal Trust), and Place Laurier in Quebec City. A reader in the comments below pointed out that the Outlet Collection Winnipeg also has a Forever 21 “RED” store, which wasn’t included in the research document with 18,902 square feet of space.
Landlord Cadillac Fairview houses 11 Forever 21 stores in its shopping centres. In total, Forever 21 occupies 228,557 square feet in Cadillac Fairview malls, which include CF Richmond Centre in suburban Vancouver, CF Polo Park in Winnipeg, CF Limeridge in Hamilton, CF Fairview Park in Kitchener, CF Masonville Place in London Ontario, CF Rideau Centre in Ottawa, CF Sherway Gardens in Toronto, CF Toronto Eaton Centre in Toronto, CF Fairview Mall in Toronto, CF Carrefour Laval in suburban Montreal, and CF Fairview Pte-Claire in suburban Montreal.
Landlord Oxford Properties houses seven Forever 21 locations, totalling 165,782 square feet, according to the document. Forever 21 has stores at Kingsway Shopping Centre in Edmonton, Square One in Mississauga, Upper Canada Mall in Newmarket Ontario, Scarborough Town Centre in Toronto, Yorkdale Shopping Centre in Toronto (the largest in Canada at 39,520 square feet over three levels), Promenades Gatineau near Ottawa, and Galeries de la Capitale in Quebec City, which was already announced for closure.
Landlord Primaris has three Forever 21 stores on its properties, occupying a total of 50,358 square feet. That includes Forever 21 stores at StoneRoad Mall in Guelph Ontario, Place D’Orleans in Ottawa, and Dufferin Mall in Toronto.
Landlord SHAPE Properties has two Forever 21 stores in its centres, including a Forever 21 “RED” High Street in Abbotsford BC and Uptown Plaza in Victoria BC.
Cushman and Wakefield’s Devonshire Mall in Windsor, Ontario has a Forever 21 “RED” store. Landlord RioCan has a Forever 21 “RED” store at Georgian Mall in Barrie, Ontario. Landlord Morguard’s Bramalea Town Centre in suburban Toronto houses a Forever 21 store. Larco-owned Park Royal in West Vancouver has a Forever 21 location, and landlord Harden has a Forever 21 “RED” concept store at its Les Avenues Vaudreuil property in suburban Montreal.
Almost all of Forever 21’s Canadian stores are located within shopping centres. A street front Forever 21 location at 1255 Ste-Catherine St. W. in downtown Montreal spans about 25,000 square feet over three levels.
Several high profile Forever 21 locations have already closed. In early 2018, Forever 21’s Robson Street flagship in Vancouver closed to make way for Indigo, and the standalone Forever 21 at the northwest corner of Yonge Street and Dundas Street closed this spring to make way for a Rogers ‘experience’ store.
Forever 21’s Canadian store closures come at a bad time both for landlords as well as other retailers. Landlords have also recently lost retail chains such as Payless Shoes, Town Shoes, Gymboree, Crabtree & Evelyn, Green Earth and the Hudson’s Bay’s Home Outfitters chain of stores, among others. That follows the colossal failure and exit of Target from Canada in 2015, as well as the more recent shuttering of all Sears Canada stores in early 2018.
At the same time, the Christmas shopping season is about to ramp up as Forever 21 commences clearance sales at its 44 Canadian stores. Some fashion retailers could be hit if shoppers gravitate to Forever 21 stores for apparel and gift purchases, at a time when other chains are already struggling.
Forever 21’s exit from Canada provides other retail chains the opportunity to expand further into Canada. Top malls in the country will have little trouble repurposing Forever 21 spaces. Less productive centres may see vacancies for a while longer, though Forever 21’s Canadian storefronts are considerably smaller than those vacated by Target and Sears in recent years. Nevertheless, landlords at the recent ICSC Conference in Toronto said that it is becoming increasingly more difficult to lease space in many Canadian markets.
By Ken Thrasher, Senior Director, Marketing & Ecommerce, The Brick
During the dawn of online retailing when eBay catapulted onto the scene in the late ’90s, people were already predicting the death of brick-and-mortar stores. This was even before Amazon was a household name.
Yet, despite what some have viewed as a retail apocalypse in the wake of the rise of ecommerce, The Brick believes that physical stores are now more important than ever. As online-born direct-to-consumer brands such as Warby Parker, Indochino, Clearly and online giants like Amazon invest in their own real estate, a clear picture is emerging that brick-and-mortar is the strongest piece of marketing a retailer can invest in. And we’ve positioned ourselves ahead of the curve here in Canada.
Evolving consumer needs
In the past, consumers could only find information about a store’s merchandise through a catalogue or by physically going down to their location to take a look.
Since then, the customer experience in many ways has been recast and consumer needs have changed dramatically. Stores no longer serve as an initial discovery point for consumers, particularly when it comes to product information they can research online themselves. And we’re seeing this manifest in consumer trends. According to information from Forrester, Canadian online retail is expected this year to generate a spend of $39.9 billion, which translates into 9.5 per cent of all retail transactions and is nearly twice the $22.3 billion Canadians spent online in 2014.
Ecommerce has also had a striking impact on brick-and-mortar store traffic, but not necessarily in the way you might expect. Traffic is indeed decreasing year-over-year. However, in-store conversion rates have increased because consumers are becoming more well-informed from online research before they even step foot in stores. Shoppers who visit stores aren’t just casually browsing. Having done their initial research online, their main purpose for coming into a store is to physically check out the merchandise — feel how comfortable a couch is and run their hands over the texture of the fabric or lie on a mattress to determine its firmness. Canadians can’t seem to let go of this sensory experience — they still complete the vast majority of their purchases in brick-and-mortar store locations.
THE BRICK’S NEW STORE AT THE WEST EDMONTON MALL PHOTO: THE BRICK
Reimagining the role of brick-and-mortar
As such, The Brick cannot discount the critical advantage available to us by way of our more than 200 stores across Canada. But to achieve success as consumer needs and demands change, we need to evaluate what purpose those stores must serve.
Typically, a brick-and-mortar store’s success has been measured by sales per square foot. But as the shopping experience moves increasingly toward an omnichannel environment, those traditional measures of in-store success are supplemented with other metrics that allow a more holistic assessment of customer experience across all channels.
Despite the advantages that online retail offers, it can never close that sensory gap. And there is continually increasing competition in the retail space, especially online, so it’s important to find that differentiating factor. Stores can take advantage of this by providing a richer and more immersive in-store experience of their brands. To have someone physically visit your store is the most valuable customer touch point you could have, where you’re able to have their undivided attention while they look at, touch and engage with your products and experience your brand.
A better in-store experience will improve your online sales. And a better online store will improve your brick-and-mortar sales. This shift in retail focus has many starting to consider expenses associated with operating physical store locations to be a portion of their customer acquisition cost (CAC).
THE BRICK’S NEW STORE AT THE WEST EDMONTON MALL PHOTO: THE BRICK
Customizing the in-store experience
A store location needs to be more than just a showroom with an assembly line of 30 sofas positioned next to each other. It needs to provide a more immersive experience for the consumer. To this end, we have incorporated many new features in our new location in West Edmonton Mall to make it a more experiential store.
We’ve created more engaging displays that enable shoppers to visualize their own home spaces. Furniture and accessories have been stylized together within themed sections throughout the store, creating inspirational living rooms, bedrooms and dining areas to help customers imagine how items could be incorporated into their own homes.
Our store not only offers a more holistic customer experience, it also represents our values and commitment to the communities in which we operate. Our new West Edmonton Mall location includes the first-of-its-kind Charity Corner where we have a dedicated in-store footprint of our support of the Stollery Children’s Hospital via the Children’s Miracle Network. Here shoppers can buy Brickley bears, snacks and refreshments in support of the Stollery in Edmonton as well as make donations.
PIECES FROM THE BRICK’S DESIGNED2B RANGE PHOTO: THE BRICK
Capitalizing on digital advancements
The willingness to see opportunity beyond the trends combined with a strong established relationship with West Edmonton Mall has allowed our company to capitalize on an already popular destination and build it into a crucial flagship location. Though The Brick has always been a firm believer in the power of advertising, the real marketing strength we have is in our store locations across Canada where people can experience it all for themselves.
The online experience has advanced in numerous and inconceivable ways, which has made the purchase decision-making process that much easier for shoppers. Given that there’s so much information available at consumers’ fingertips, it’s changed not only how they shop but also how they demand and use information including during the sales transaction. For instance, we’ve equipped our sales team with tablets for helping serve customers as they shop throughout the store to reduce friction points as they go through the checkout process.
In addition, we’ve introduced our Designed2B iOS and Android app that allows customers to build tailored configurations from The Brick’s Designed2B custom upholstered furniture line (e.g., sofas, loveseats and chairs). This app helps bridge the gap for customers in visualizing how they can create specific furniture pieces in real time so they know exactly what it’s going to look like while streamlining the path to purchase.
THE BRICK’S NEW STORE AT THE WEST EDMONTON MALL PHOTO: THE BRICK
Staying ahead of the curve
Without a doubt, traditional retailing has undergone seismic shifts with the growing prevalence and impact of ecommerce retail. As a result, we’ve seen a number of major brick-and-mortar style retailers, such as Sears, close their doors.
So, at a time when the future of brick-and-mortar is under constant scrutiny, The Brick has pivoted in doubling down on our physical presence by moving into the space that Sears formerly occupied in Canada’s most popular shopping centre — West Edmonton Mall.
This new concept, 55,000 square foot location is now our largest store in Edmonton.
THE BRICK’S NEW STORE AT THE WEST EDMONTON MALL PHOTO: THE BRICK
Over the course of our nearly 50-year history, we’ve always strived to stay nimble in how we adapt to the ever-changing face of retail. And in doing so, we’ve helped lead the pack when it comes to introducing new ideas and concepts that have become commonplace now (e.g., gifts with purchase and financing options) in a marketplace that’s always in flux.
We’ve never been comfortable with simply maintaining the status quo. We believe in taking visionary, calculated risks. And that’s why we first made the leap to open a furniture store in West Edmonton Mall in the 1980s when it wasn’t common for this type of store to be in shopping centres.
Our 35-year partnership with a retail pioneer in destination shopping like West Edmonton Mall has reinforced our aim to continue breaking new ground for providing enriched customer experiences through innovation. This mindset has enabled us to become what we are today as a homegrown Canadian retailer that has stood the test of time.
Ken Thrasher
Ken Thrasher is the Senior Director of Marketing & Ecommerce with The Brick, based out of the company’s headquarters in Edmonton, AB. He oversees all of the marketing for The Brick’s more than 220 locations across Canada, in addition to all website operations, providing strategic direction and market insights. Follow The Brick on Facebook @TheBrick and on Instagram @brickwarehouse.
Vancouver-based Native Shoes planted a temporary retail flag in downtown Toronto this weekend with a four-day pop-up shop. From immersive workshops to vibrant green walls and display installations, the marketing activation offered great value for all of its visitors regardless of things like age or areas of interest. The pop-up officially launched on September 26 and was open to the public until 7:00 p.m. on September 29.
The brand, which offers consumers the chance to “Live Lightly” through its lightweight and minimalistic footwear products, offered visitors to the pop-up something unique on the majority of days that it took place. On September 26, the first 50 visitors in line were given coupons for $80 off their choice of Native products, a significant sum considering that the company’s classic shoe, the “Jefferson,” generally starts around $55. On September 27, the first 100 guests were gifted floral bouquets from local Toronto company, The Delicate Flower.
And, on September 29, the pop-up offered kids a chance to participate in a “design-it-yourself” session where they were tasked with colouring and designing their very own Jefferson shoe. Additionally, all Jeffersons were 20 percent off between 1:00 – 3:00 p.m. to coincide with the workshop.
CLICK FOR INTERACTIVE GOOGLE MAP
INSIDE THE NATIVE SHOES POP-U ALL PHOTOS: POP-UP GO
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Native Shoes was originally founded a decade ago by Scott Hawthorn, who remains the company’s CEO. The brand is now available in countries around the world and has reached elevated levels of success as a stylish-yet-practical alternative to stereotypical runners or boat shoes. Made for adventure, Native Shoes can easily be cleaned and are surprisingly durable for a shoe designed for stepping outside of our respective comfort zones.
The Toronto pop-up embraced this brand identity and the entire company ethos with a healthy dose of positive marketing materials relaying the company’s environmentally friendly goals. In line with these goals, the company’s website was shut down for the day on October 27 in support of the Global Climate Strike while the pop-up and its messaging attempted to educate its visitors on Native’s recycling program called “Project Remix” on the street level.
The pop-up took place at 639 Queen St. W., which has become a holy grail of sorts for brands seeking to launch temporary activations of late. Prior to Native Shoes, the space was recently occupied by pop-ups for the National Football League (NFL) and Frank And Oak. Local pop-up incubator, pop-up go, worked with both the NFL and Native on their pop-up planning, and has been a major catalyst for a large number of recent short-term activations across North America.
Dan LeBaron
Dan LeBaron has an extensive background in editing, writing, event management and content creation. He sharpened many of these skills while acquiring a master’s degree in journalism at Ryerson University. He also has significant experience in sports media, legal communications and content creation in the start-up and tech space. When he’s not in the office, he can be found spending time with family or exploring Toronto’s bevvy of outdoor hockey rinks and independent coffee shops.
SITE OF BARRY’TS BOOTCAMP NEW VANCOUVER LOCATION 1035 W PENDER STREET VANCOUVER BC VIA GOOGLE MAPS
California-based high-intensity workout concept Barry’s Bootcamp has secured a space in downtown Vancouver for its first location in British Columbia. It will be the fourth location for Barry’s Bootcamp in Canada after the concept entered the country via Toronto in in late 2017.
The downtown Vancouver Barry’s Bootcamp will be located on the main level of the 1035 West Pender Street ‘Oceanic Plaza’ commercial building in downtown Vancouver, which includes a 25 storey office tower with retail at its base. Barry’s Bootcamp will occupy just over 5,100 square feet. Martin Moriarty and Mario Negris of brokerage CBRE in Vancouver handled the transaction.
Barry’s Bootcamp opened its first Canadian location in Toronto’s Entertainment District at 310 Richmond Street West in late 2017, in an 8,000 square foot two-level space that is the largest in the company. in May of 2019, it opened its second location in Toronto’s affluent Bloor-Yorkville area. The 5,000 square foot Yorkville location is at the back end of the 100 Bloor Street West commercial podium and faces towards Cumberland Street and Village of Yorkville Park.
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This fall, Barry’s Bootcamp will open its first ‘hybrid’ storefront in partnership with Canadian athletic brand Lululemon, which will become Barry’s Bootcamp’s third Canadian location. We previously reported that both brands will share a building in Calgary’s Mission/Cliff Bungalow area at 2308 4 Street SW in the historic Bannerman Block that was built in 1911.
In a previous interview, Barry’s Bootcamp said that it was looking to open approximately 10 locations in Canada. We were told that other potential markets include Montreal and Edmonton, and Toronto could see two or more Barry’s Bootcamp locations open, depending on finding the right spaces.
And finding the right space is critical. Barry’s Bootcamp is a decidedly urban concept that locates in areas featuring an upper-income population that is able to afford its per-class and monthly fees. Toronto’s Entertainment District, for example, is home to thousands of young and upwardly mobile professionals, and is also a significant employment centre. Toronto’s Bloor-Yorkville area is known to be Canada’s wealthiest high-density neighbourhood and it’s growing quickly with several thousand more residents expected to be added over the next five years. Calgary’s Mission/Cliff Bungalow is home to many Millennials in a growing area and is also near affluent areas such as Mount Royal, Roxboro, Rideau Park and Elbow Park. Downtown Vancouver is home to some of the most expensive condominium residences in Canada, including waterfront penthouses in the Coal Harbour area that cost in the tens of millions of dollars each.
BARRY’S BOOTCAMP WILL SHARE SPACE WITH LULULEMON IN THE HISTORIC ‘BANNERMAN BLOCK’ IN CALGARY. RENDERING: CERTUS DEVELOPMENTS
According to its website, Barry’s Bootcamp classes cost $32 per session, with packages also available. A package of five classes cost $155, 10 classes cost $300, 20 classes cost $580, and 50 classes will set one back $1,360. There are also monthly memberships costing $315 (“Barry’s Star”) for 12 sessions and $415 (“Barry’s Legend”) for 30 sessions monthly.
Barry’s Bootcamp locations include a ‘Red Room’ workout space — the soundproof Red Room provides visitors the opportunity to participate in high-intensity interval training workouts, alternating treadmill cardio conditioning with strength training. Thumping music keeps patrons motivated and personal trainers set the tone.
Top-of-the-line Woodway treadmills used at Barry’s Bootcamp are said to lessen the impact on people’s joints. Several dedicated classes throughout the day include a fitness trainer who leads the group classes — the trainer is there to challenge and encourage clients to push beyond their limits and achieve new goals. Barry’s says that the experience combines “the motivation of a personal training session with the energy of a group workout” that can be tailored for all fitness levels.
OUTSIDE THE TORONTO LOCATION AT 310 RICHMOND STREET WEST. PHOTO: BARRY’S BOOTCAMP
As with other locations, Vancouver’s Barry Bootcamp will feature a ‘Fuel Bar’ which serves nutritional items including a range of smoothies. A retail space within will feature various merchandise including Barry’s original workout and athleisure apparel as well as Lululemon workout gear in a wholesale partnership. Upscale change room areas for men and women include high-end post-workout products for guests who have finished their workouts.
A timeline of Barry’s history from its website:
1998: LA based celebrity trainer Barry Jay has the idea for a one-stop cardio and strength training workout that actually works. Barry Jay partners with John and Rachel Mumford to open the first Barry’s Bootcamp in West Hollywood and together they launch the boutique fitness studio revolution;
2004: Barry’s CEO Joey Gonzalez joins the company and becomes a star trainer at Barry’s;
2009: Barry’s expands outside of Los Angeles for the first time, opening in San Diego;
2011: Barry’s takes Manhattan! The first NYC studio opens in Chelsea, which sees the first Fuel Bar launch and first use of its signature Woodway treadmills;
2015: Barry’s goes global! Studios open across the world in Norway, London, Boston, Miami, Nashville, and San Francisco. Expansion continues across New York City and the Hamptons. Barry’s retail hits new levels of success with expansion of the collection to Bloomingdale’s;
2016: Over 40,000 members of Barry’s FitFam take class every week ( celeb clients include Ellie Goulding, Mandy Moore, David Beckham, Harry Styles). The first studio opens in Chicago; and
2017: Barry’s readies for expansion into several new markets — both domestic and international.
We’ll continue to report on Barry’s Bootcamp as it continues to expand into new markets in Canada.
LVMH-owned Swiss luxury watchmaker and accessory brand Hublot will open its first standalone Toronto storefront this year at Toronto’s Yorkdale Shopping Centre. It will be the second store for Hublot in Canada, after the company opened its Canadian flagship in Vancouver in the summer of 2017.
The Yorkdale Hublot boutique, located next to the mall’s Van Cleef & Arpels boutique, will locate in a 700 square foot space formerly occupied by a Purdy’s chocolate store. Other luxury brands are located nearby. Directly across from the new Hublot will be Canada’s first TAG Heuer boutique which is set to open in November, as well as an Oliver Peoples eyewear store, which was the first to open in Canada in October of 2018.
Steps away are boutiques for luxury brands such as Montblanc, Piaget, Panerai, IWC, Vacheron Constantin, David Yurman, Saint Laurent, Burberry and others — Yorkdale has achieved the status of having the highest density of luxury brands of any location in Canada, with even more said to be on the way.
In the summer of 2017, Hublot opened its first standalone Canadian store in Vancouver at 1080 Alberni Street. The impressive two-level store spans about 2,800 square feet and is one of the brand’s largest locations globally. Vancover’s Hublot is located in The Carlyle retail podium that houses luxury retailers including Prada, Saint Laurent, Moncler and Off-White, with a De Beers store (operated by the same local franchisee) located next door. Other luxury retailers can be found nearby on Alberni Street as well as adjacent Thurlow Street, Burrard Street and West Georgia Street. This month we profiled the impressive new Hermes flagship store that opened nearby.
Hublot watches are crafted to precision in a variety of styles, which have proven to be popular by luxury buyers worldwide. Prices are often well into the thousands, and some styles cost in excess of $1 million each.
Hublot was founded in Switzerland in 1980 by Italian Carlo Crocco — a scion of the Italian Binda Group dynasty, best known for making Breil watches. Hublot is named after the French word for “porthole”, and the first watch that he created featured the first natural rubber strap in the history of watchmaking — a feat that took three years of research to create. In 1998, Hublot was acquired by French luxury conglomerate LVMH (Louis Vuitton Moet Hennessy), and it continues to operate as a subsidiary.
Hublot operates freestanding stores in various global cities. On a commercial level, the network of stores currently stands at more than 70 exclusive boutiques around the world. In the United States, Hublot stores are in New York City, Beverly Hills, San Francisco, Las Vegas, Atlanta, Dallas, Houston and Orlando, Florida. The Miami area boasts four Hublot stores — in Bal Harbour, Miami Design District, Boca Raton and in Palm Beach.
Yorkdale is Canada’s most productive shopping centre in terms of annual sales per square foot, according to Retail Council of Canada’s Canadian Shopping Centre Study. A 2019 version of the study will be released this fall (sponsorship opportunities are available).
This week Craig and Lee talk about Dior, Barry’s Bootcamp, Ladurée, Hublot, Midtown Plaza and Oxford’s Omnichannel Platform.
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