How Retail Business Owners Can Negotiate Their Own Commercial Leases

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December 7, 2018

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For many retail business owners, negotiating a good lease or lease renewal against an experienced agent or landlord can be a challenge. While a retailer thinks of marketing, markups, and managing, savvy real estate agents and brokers are specialized sales people. Their job is to sell retail business tenants on leasing their location at the highest possible rental rate.

Retail business tenants may go through the leasing process once or twice in their entire lifetime – yet they have to negotiate against seasoned professionals who negotiate leases every day for a living.

As we explain in our book, Negotiating Commercial Leases & Renewals FOR DUMMIES, there is much to remember whether you are leasing a new location for the first time or negotiating a lease renewal for your retail business. Here are some tips:

Negotiate to Win: All too frequently, retail tenants enter into lease negotiations unprepared and don`t even try winning the negotiations. If you are not even negotiating to win, you won`t. With big commissions at stake, you can be sure the landlord`s agent, on the other hand, is negotiating fiercely to win. Retail tenants should remember that it is okay to negotiate assertively.
Be Prepared to Walk Away: Try to set aside your emotions and make objective decisions. Whoever most needs to make a lease deal will give up the most concessions. A good retail business in a poor location will become a poor business.

Ask the Right Questions: Gathering information about what other tenants are paying for rent or what incentives they received will position you to get a better deal. Consider that your landlord and his agent know what every other tenant in the property is paying in rent, so you must do your homework too.
Brokers … Friend or Foe? Agents and brokers typically work for the landlord who is paying their commission. It is not normally the agent`s role to get the retailer tenant the best deal – it is their job to get the landlord the highest rent, the biggest deposit, etc. Often, the higher the rent you pay, the more commission the agent earns. If you are researching multiple properties, try to deal directly with the listing agent for each property, rather than letting one agent show you around or show you another agent`s listing. Your tenancy is more desirable to the listing agent if he can avoid commission-splitting with other agents.

Never Accept the First Offer: Even if the first offer seems reasonable, or you have no idea of what to negotiate for, never accept the leasing agent`s first offer. In the real estate industry, most things are negotiable and the landlord fully expects you to counter-offer.
Ask for More Than You Want: If you want three months free rent, ask for five months. No one ever gets more than they ask for. Be prepared for the landlord to counter-offer and negotiate with you as well. Don`t be afraid of hearing `no` from the landlord – counter-offers are all part of the game.
Negotiate the Deposit: Large deposits are not legally required in a real estate lease agreement. Deposits are negotiable and, more so than anything else, often serve to compensate the landlord for the real estate commissions he will be paying out to the agent(s). If you are negotiating a lease renewal and your landlord is already holding a deposit of yours, negotiate to get that deposit back. The Lease Coach is frequently successful with negotiating to have the tenant’s deposit returned.
Measure Your Space: Retail business tenants often pay for phantom space. Most retail business tenants are paying their rent per square foot, but often they are not receiving as much space as the lease agreement says.

Negotiate, Negotiate: The leasing process is just that – a process, not an event. The more time you have to put the deal together and make counter-offers, the better the chance you have of getting what you really want. Too often, retail tenants mistakenly try to hammer out the deal in a two- or three-hour marathon session. It is more productive to negotiate in stages over time.
Educate Yourself and Get Help: Unless you have money to throw away, it pays to educate yourself. Taking the time to read about the subject or listen in on a webinar will make a difference. And, don`t forget to have your lease documents professionally reviewed before you sign them. With hundreds of thousands of dollars in rent at stake, personal guarantees and other risks, you can`t afford to gamble. In leasing, retailer tenants don`t get what they deserve, they get what they negotiate.

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Why Buying Local Isn’t a Solution to the Produce Crisis in Canada

By

Sylvain Charlebois

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December 7, 2018

The Food Price Report 2019, recently released by Dalhousie University and the University of Guelph, suggests that vegetable prices will go up by as much as 6% next year. Unlike meat or fish, fewer alternatives exist when it comes to replacing vegetables. According to the report, El Nino will be to blame, since Canada imports a great quantity of vegetables from certain regions prone to drought during El Nino periods. This includes primarily the Western United States and Northern Mexico. And, yes, 2019 is going to be an El Nino year. The 6% increase is in addition to the 4.8% hike that vegetable prices underwent already in 2018. Given that we could experience a second consecutive year of significant price increases, many wonder whether eating local produce is the better option. Well…not quite.

Global supply chains have allowed us to become more efficient and have given consumers more choices and affordable food products, but eating local has its advantages, too. The environmental case for eating local is almost undisputed. You can significantly reduce your carbon footprint just by increasing your locally-grown food consumption. One other advantage of local foods is price consistency. That’s right, prices are perhaps generally higher but much less volatile when short-circuit distribution systems are involved. This makes sense, as the number of intermediaries is limited, compared to global food chains. Global supply chains are exposed to environmental fluctuations, and differing economic conditions, which can all lead to more trouble. Extensive, large-scale networks will always give markets what they need at the right time, at the right place, at a decent price, and with an acceptable level of quality, until something goes terribly wrong. A single failure can lead to a hugely disruptive scenario, affecting many people.

Case in point: the romaine lettuce disaster in November. Grown in California and Arizona, fresh lettuce is delivered to Canadians at a decent price. But with the recent e-coli outbreak in romaine lettuce, not only did some people get sick, but the prices of leafy greens in Canada are now skyrocketing. With the Canadian Food Inspection Agency preventing romaine lettuce from coming into Canada, importers must procure similar products elsewhere, and are likely paying more to get these precious salad greens into our stores. Trying to meet consumer expectations is what drives importers to look for alternatives. Consumers will want their leafy greens, even in winter, no matter what. Eventually, the situation will go back to normal and most will have forgotten about the romaine lettuce crisis. That’s the nature of market failures. Systems adapt and improve over time.

Many envy the stability and sustainability of local food systems. They are easily containable, and frankly, conveniently manageable. Unlike global supply chain systems, transparency is a non-issue, since most producers usually know each other. Buying locally-grown vegetables whenever available can also give some peace of mind to budget-strapped shoppers. You will likely pay more, but at least prices, for the most part, are highly predictable. Simplicity has its virtues, but it also comes at a cost. Local foods are typically 20% to 40% more expensive than the cheapest imported substitutes available in the same marketplace.

Research shows that city dwellers are more likely to favour locally-grown or manufactured food products, for the simple fact that agriculture is often a distant concept to them. In fact, many Canadians have never actually been to a farm. Buying local is the one way to feel a real connection with agriculture and farmers. There is also more wealth in cities versus rural communities, which makes price a secondary factor. Although price remains a consideration for urban dwellers, it is more important to less wealthy consumers living in rural areas. And that is where global supply chains come in.

The fact that Canada is an open economy has both advantages and drawbacks. Given that Canadians have access to the fifth most affordable food basket in the world, relative to household income, global supply chains appear to be serving them well.

*Local Canadian Farmers. Photo:* *Save-On-Foods*

So, don’t despair: getting our vegetable fix from all over the world is not such a bad idea. Our nordic climate does not give us many options. But global supply chains do come with their fair share of risks, which in turn generate price volatility. And buying local produce can be critical to our agrifood economy. In many parts of the country, it is apparent that local vegetable production is a priority, through vertical farms, greenhouses using novel technologies, and other initiatives. Access to more locally-grown vegetables, and striking a balance between local and global, will be key. But price hikes affecting vegetables are a challenge for many right now, especially those with limited means. As such, visiting the freezer aisle may not be such a bad idea. It may not taste the same as the fresh version, but you will get the same nutritional value out of these frozen veggies.

Finally, one piece of good news: authors of the Food Price Report 2019 do suggest that the price of both meat and fish products will drop next year, by up to 3%. This is a first in the study’s nine-year history. So, meat lovers can rejoice and can do their own happy dance around the BBQ come next summer. Just don’t forget to eat your veggies.

MUJI Shifts Strategy with Big Plans for Canada [Feature]

By

Craig Patterson

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December 5, 2018

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Minimalist Japanese retailer Muji has big plans for Canada after opening its first eight stores, including expanding its Toronto flagship to become the largest outside of Asia. Masaaki Kanai, Chairman of Ryohin Keikaku, says that he plans to open larger stores in Canada than initially planned, as well as to introduce Muji groceries, hotels, public realm design, and even residential development to this country.

We sat down with Mr. Kanai after a presentation he gave last month in Toronto called ‘The Philosophy and Design of Muji’, hosted by Muji and Zenergy Communications. Mr. Kanai explained through a translator that he envisions Canada as being a market to test out Muji’s various concepts in Asia, which are all intended to make one’s daily lives ‘comfortable and pleasant’ with products that are ‘simplified and streamlined’. Muji’s aim is to be considerate of environmental issues where it can, and the company is looking to expand beyond simple retail stores to become a comprehensive ‘problem solving’ lifestyle brand.

Muji’s flagship in downtown Toronto was recently expanded to 19,110 square feet on two levels, making it the largest Muji store in the world outside of Asia. Mr. Kanai explained that the store is already ‘too small’ to accommodate his much bigger vision for the brand, including services as well as an expanded product assortment. What might result is the expansion of some existing Muji stores in Canada, as well as new stores in new markets such as Montreal and major cities such as Edmonton and Calgary, if things go as planned. Mr. Kanai says with Muji’s recent strategy shift, that the company does not have a targeted number of stores in Canada but rather, it will identify opportunities in order to best express the brand.

MUJI’S EXPANDED DOWNTOWN TORONTO FLAGSHIP, THE LARGEST OUTSIDE OF ASIA, IS SO LARGE THAT IT’S CHALLENGING TO CAPTURE THE FACADE IN ONE PHOTO (PHOTO: CRAIG PATTERSON)

In Canada, Muji currently operates eight stores with five locations in the greater Toronto area, and another three in the Vancouver region. Muji entered the Canadian market almost five years ago with the downtown Toronto store at the Atrium complex (Dundas Street West and Yonge Street) that, when it opened, was 4,373 square feet on one level. Muji continued its expansion in the Toronto and eventually Vancouver markets with progressively larger retail units.

In the Toronto area, Muji also operates stores at Square One in Mississauga, Yorkdale Shopping Centre in Toronto, CF Markville in Markham, and most recently, at Toronto’s Scarborough Town Centre. Those suburban stores range between 5,525 square feet and 6,800 square feet, the largest being in Scarborough.

In the Vancouver market, Muji opened its first store at Metropolis at Metrotown in August of 2017, followed by a large flagship on Robson Street and in April of this year, a store at CF Richmond Centre. The Vancouver stores, which opened after most of the Toronto locations, are generally larger — the CF Richmond Centre store is the smallest of the three with 6,355 square feet of retail space, and Muji’s largest store in the area is its 14,507 square foot Robson Street flagship which opened to crowds about a year ago.

EXPANDED METROPOLIS AT METROTOWN MUJI STORE. IMAGE VIA MUJI

Muji expanded its 7,770 square foot Metropolis at Metrotown store in September of this year to 12,305 square feet, positioning it as a flagship to bring it in line with the experience, product selection, and footprint of the Robson Street flagship. Mr. Kanai said that more store expansions will likely be in the works as Muji looks to expand its product assortment as well as its overall presence in Canada.

RENDERING OF THE ROBSON STREET FLAGSHIP IN VANCOUVER

The retailer has been progressively introducing new product categories and amenities to its stores in Canada as it grows. The Robson Street flagship was the first in Canada to feature a selection of books as well as a coffee counter, and the expanded Toronto flagship is the first outside of Asia to include a digital fabric printing service as well as a laser engraving service. Muji stores in Canada also offer a variety of other features such as ‘aroma bars’ and customization areas referred to as ‘MUJI YOURSELF’.

Canada has proven to be an important market for Muji and as such, Mr. Kanai said that he is looking to expand the brand’s presence in this country both with larger retail stores with an expanded product assortment, as well as expanding into some non-retail as it has done in Asia. To accommodate Muji’s expanded product assortment that includes food, fashion and home goods, stores will ideally be in excess of 2,000 square meters (about 21,500 square feet), he said. Larger stores will allow for more furniture items to be sold, ranging from storage solutions to chairs and bedding which are on display at the downtown Toronto flagship.

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Muji Grocery stores is one potential concept that Mr. Kanai said could be rolled out into Canada — Muji opened its first grocery store in Tokyo in the summer of 2017, carrying a range of food items including meat and fresh produce. The Osaka Muji flagship, which spans an impressive 46,300 square feet, includes a substantial grocery offering that has proven popular with locals and even tourists seeking out the Muji experience.

In 2017, Muji opened its first ‘Muji Diner’ in Shanghai, and some of its larger flagships feature in-store cafés — such concepts could also be rolled out in Canada, he said.

In January of 2018, Muji opened its first hotel concept in Shenzhen, China, which is “designed to reflect an anti-gorgeous, anti-cheap concept,” according to the company. It includes 79 guest rooms which utilize natural material themes such as ‘earth’ and ‘wood,’ in keeping with Muji products. A second hotel opened in Beijing in June of this year, and a 79-room Tokyo hotel will open as part of its updated global flagship in Ginza that will include a Muji Diner as well as a retail store with groceries, freshly squeezed juice and desserts made from in-store fruit, and other innovations to attract shoppers as the brand expands its offerings. Muji stores in Japan offer about 7,000 different products while its Canadian flagships have about 4,000, so there’s plenty of room for growth.

Mr. Kanai said that Muji was even looking at getting into residential developments in Canada, as the company perfects the art of minimalism in many parts of one’s life. Since 2004, Muji has been offering homes in Japan as an extension of the brand, with each house being a ‘small but highly edit-able ‘empty box’ measuring between 970 square feet and 1,400 square feet. The pre-fabricated homes are flexible, customizable and comfortable with a simplistic square design.

Muji’s goal in Canada is to “bring people together” as well as to be a problem solver. With that in mind, the brand is looking to train its Canadian employees how to identify problems and create solutions, such as how to properly design a senior’s residence, or even design a park. The goal is to also keep Muji relevant at a time when traditional retailers such as Sears Canada have gone under.

Integrating local products into stores will become increasingly important as Muji continues to penetrate the Canadian market. Mr. Kanai explained that the company could introduce ‘Found Muji’ to Canada, which involves locals ‘searching and finding’ durable and long-lasting daily necessities for its stores, which it has been doing in Japan since 2003.

Mr. Kanai explained how Muji will also look to grow its business in the United States by opening bigger stores while also introducing other new concepts, as it plans for Canada. He said that as with in Canada, Muji began its US expansion with stores that are not large enough to house the brand’s expanding product assortment and overall vision.

Muji is innovating at a time when experiential retail is more important than ever, and the retailer seems to be doing well – the expanded downtown Toronto flagship has been crowded with shoppers since it re-opened last month, and the Vancouver stores see a consistent flow of traffic daily. As Muji finds its place and gains fans of the brand in Canada, it could find itself becoming a lifestyle brand which isn’t a stretch, given its almost cult-like following.

Brokerage CBRE has been involved with Muji’s negotiations across Canada, led by Arlin Markowitz, Senior Vice President of CBRE’s Downtown Toronto Urban Retail Team. CBRE Vancouver‘s office, including Martin Moriarty and Mario Negris, were involved in the three Vancouver deals.

Cadillac Fairview Investing Heavily in its Montreal Shopping Centres [Feature]

By

Mario Toneguzzi

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December 5, 2018

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Commercial real estate giant Cadillac Fairview has developed a solid grip on the retail industry in Montreal over the years with its four major shopping centres.

Now the company will be investing millions of dollars in its properties to become even stronger in the marketplace.

Brian Salpeter, senior vice-president of development for Cadillac Fairview’s eastern portfolio office, said the company has the four “pre-eminent shopping centres in the Greater Montreal Area.”

“So we cover the entire territory and the Greater Montreal Area would include the Island of Montreal, Laval and the South Shore. We cover really the four corners.”

Salpeter said the retail sector in Montreal overall is doing quite well.

“There are disruptive forces and challenges to retail. We’re proponents that what you have to offer is a great experience and that includes a great experience at our centres. It includes offering consumers different reasons to go and different access,” he said.

“We continue to invest in our centres. There’s always going to be a place for top retail centres. The footprint of stores in some cases may be reduced where some retailers are going to be looking to perhaps have fewer stores and more flagship stores and because of the centres that we have, not just the location, but because how we invest in them and a big element is also the service we provide . . . sales in our centres continue to grow. Our retailers are continuing to have good success in our centres and it’s also allowing us different opportunities to add to the experience and really change things up a little bit in our centres.”

Cadillac Fairview’s four Montreal properties include:

CF Carrefour Laval which is the premier shopping centre on the North Shore. It has 1.2 million square feet with 235 stores. Anchor tenants are La Maison Simons and Hudson’s Bay. As of November, it’s sales per square foot was $878;
CF Fairview Pointe Claire has 143 stores in 865,000 square feet with anchors being Hudson’s Bay, Best Buy, and Homesense/Winners. Sales per square foot is $775. Cadillac Fairview is partner with Ivanhoe Cambridge in the mall;
CF Galeries d’Anjou is located in the east end and it has 145 stores in 925,000 square feet with anchors being La Maison Simons, Hudson’s Bay and Saks OFF 5TH. Sales per square foot is $632. Cadillac Fairview is partner with Ivanhoe Cambridge in this mall too; and
CF Promenades St-Bruno is the only enclosed superior regional mall on Montreal’s South Shore with 155 stores in 740,000 square feet with La Maison Simons and Hudson’s Bay as the anchors. Sales per square foot is $591.

Salpeter said Cadillac Fairview completed a full renovation and relocation of the dining hall a few years ago at Promenades St-Bruno which was an investment of about $50 million.

“We’ve really seen the benefits of doing that in terms of the quality of the mall, in terms of increased visitation and just the quality of the experience,” he said. “We’re now following that up with a few projects.”

Last year, it announced it was doing an expansion of the La Maison Simons store at Promenades St-Bruno. It is the brand’s only store in the South Shore of Montreal. It will expand into a two-level flagship store. That project will be about $30 million as Simons will be adding about 30,000 square feet for a total store of about 100,000 square feet.

“It will come in two phases. The first phase will be open in 2020 and then it will be fully complete in 2021,” said Salpeter.

A former Sears store in the shopping centre is being re-developed for a flagship Sports Experts store. The brand is already in the mall and it will be moving into the second level, taking 50,000 square feet. A Winners is also being brought into that former Sears space. Three new restaurants will also be added as well as another retailer which can’t be announced just yet. But it’s a Quebec-based retailer coming into the Montreal market for the first time. Investment for the former Sears space is about $30 million.

Sports Experts is looking to open in the spring of 2019. Winners should be opening in the fall. The restaurants will open in the fall or in the winter or spring of 2020.

Promenades St-Bruno also has one of the former Target store boxes and Salpeter said Cadillac Fairview likes to take its time to establish the right fit and what makes sense in those spaces.

“We’ve actually been quite patient with the Target space. We’ve been working on a very exciting project which is to do a real what we call the CF Marché des Promenades. This really is a celebration and a focus of food,” he said. “And when I say food, not just a food hall, because people talk about food very differently. People talk about food courts and dining halls and food halls. And food halls are very nice but food halls are, depending on your definition, perhaps a different type of food court experience. Perhaps some more local operators. Often there will be a component where you can have access to wine or beer. It’s a little bit different than a food court. But much more of a place where if you’re going just to eat.

“What we’re doing is creating really a destination for food. That will include restaurants. It will include a grocery store that is focused on natural foods and bio foods and organic foods. If you look at Quebec and the Eastern Townships . . . that really is the breadbasket of Quebec in terms of the offerings from great local cheeses and duck and maple product. What we’re doing is creating a space that will really be a platform for everything to come together in food. Lots of areas will say that but Montreal in fact is a food culture. People love food. They love friends. They love family. And a lot of it is shared with friends and family. So we’re really creating a destination where we’re bringing in all of these different uses which will be some places where you’ll eat, a lot of kiosks where you can get your speciality items, your specialty cheese shop, your specialty butcher. We have an agreement and we’re going to be opening up a local brew pub which will be brewing on the premises. With a whole exterior area as well where we can activate.”

The 65,000-square-foot indoor food market will include the outside area for events in about 10,000 square feet. The market will include three restaurants, a major grocery store, and a mix of 40 other retailers of different sizes. Plans are being worked on right now for the market. The target is to open in late 2020 or early 2021.

Total investment for that food market area is about $60 million.

Cadillac Fairview recently announced it was proceeding with a full $30-million renovation of CF Fairview Pointe Claire.

Previously it announced and it is advancing with its plans to bring Simons to the former Sears space in Pointe Claire. It will be taking the second and third level in the mall of the former Sears store.

“That brand new store on the West Island will serve that entire market and we’re relocating the dining hall from what is now on the second level down to the first level of the Sears store and adding some restaurants as well to create that vibrancy,” said Salpeter. “And that project is a $70-million project – just the Sears redevelopment.

“The project is very exciting just for the transformation and adding to the experience of CF Fairview Pointe Claire. But it also will be a catalyst for our plans which we continue to work on for the development towards the West which is to create the entire city centre of the West Island.”

A number of years ago Cadillac Fairview acquired a 50-acre site just to the west of Fairview Pointe Claire. Plans are to develop the downtown of the West Island which will be a major mixed-use development of over four million square feet of office, residential, entertainment with the shopping mall being a key amenity which will help service that new community. There’s also a major multi-nodal train and bus station as part of the new light rail transit system.

“We will really be completely transforming the West Island,” said Salpeter.

“The work that we’re now doing at Fairview Pointe Claire by re-doing the Sears, creating the food court, adding the restaurants, adding Simons, creating a beautiful facade, really ends up being the gateway towards the west for the rest of our development.”

In recent years, investments were completed for CF Carrefour Laval and CF Galeries d’Anjou.

There is a former Sears space at Galeries d’Anjou that Cadillac Fairview is looking at different options.

“Rather than just rush into something to backfill space we are taking our time to make sure that we backfill the space with something that is really quite particular and will fit for the property. That’s what we’re working on in Anjou and Laval as well where we always continue to invest,” said Salpeter.

The future for some of Cadillac Fairview’s retail properties it owns in Montreal will include densification initiatives of residential units and possibly hotels.

Ivanhoé Cambridge Launching Pop-Up Retail Spaces at 10 Canadian Shopping Centres

By

Craig Patterson

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December 4, 2018

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Montreal-based landlord Ivanhoé Cambridge is launching pop-up retail spaces in 10 of its malls, and is working with two significant pop-up facilitators to launch the endeavour. Ivanhoé Cambridge is the latest landlord to get on the temporary retail bandwagon, reflecting the trend towards diverse and experiential physical retail at a time when e-commerce is growing.

Ivanhoé Cambridge is launching the pop-up initiative both in its three ‘Mills’ properties as well as in seven of its traditional fashion centres in Canada.

The landlord partnered with Toronto-based pop-up go to secure pop-up retail tenants for Ivanhoé Cambridge’s Vaughan Mills shopping centre north of Toronto, CrossIron Mills near Calgary, and Tsawwassen Mills in suburban Vancouver. The three unique centres feature a mix of full-priced and off-price retailers which International Council of Shopping Centres has dubbed to be ‘hybrid outlet centres’.

Linda Farha, Founder and Chief Connector at pop-up go, said, “Now, more than ever, it’s crucial for brands to innovate and create the experiential shopping experiences that the modern consumer not only wants, but now expects. Ivanhoé Cambridge understands this and we look forward to working with such a forward-thinking company to bring unique shopping experiences to their Mills centres.”

Ivanhoé Cambridge also partnered with US firm Storefront to activate spaces at seven of its properties, which also marks Storefront’s entry into Canada. Those seven malls include:

Bayshore Shopping Centre in Ottawa,
Guildford Town Centre in Surrey, BC
Mapleview Shopping Centre, in Burlington, ON
Mayfair Shopping Centre in Victoria, BC
Place Ste-Foy in Québec City,
Oshawa Centre in Oshawa, ON, and
Southgate Centre in Edmonton.

The pop-up initiatives will feature a rotation of short-term retail tenants with the intention of driving foot traffic, creating a buzz within shopping centres, as well as to offer customers a chance to interact with brands beyond point of sale. Each centre will offer a variety of sizes and layouts, from large spaces and in-line retail units to smaller, common-area set-ups.

Each of the pop-up spaces will be suitable for new product launches, special events, promotions, not to mention experiential activations that showcase brands and increase visibility. Spaces can be booked from one day to several months.

Ivanhoé Cambridge is the latest landlord in Canada to embrace including pop-up retail as part of its shopping centre mix. Oxford Properties launched a permanent pop-up space called CONCEPT in the spring of 2017, which has housed a variety of activations in its purpose-built 3,600 square foot space. Oxford Properties has since rolled-out pop-ups at several other centres. Cadillac Fairview, as well, has housed pop-ups in several of its properties, including its ‘CF Flower Markets’ in the spring of 2017 and most recently as an example, Google and Amazon currently operate pop-ups at CF Toronto Eaton Centre.

Toronto-based beauty brand Flawless by Friday was one of the temporary tenants as part of Cadillac Fairview’s spring 2017 initiative that saw pop-up spaces in 14 of its properties nationally. It was the first time Flawless by Friday went direct-to-consumer in physical retail spaces, and in the spring of 2018 the brand coordinated a ‘Female Founders Market’ at CONCEPT in Yorkdale.

Linda Farha of pop-up go discussed a recent report from International Council of Shopping Centres noting that 70% of survey respondents say malls should focus on “creating engaging experiences for consumers that combine shopping and entertainment and other services/activities.” According to Forrester, 77% of consumers have chosen, recommended, or paid more for a brand that provides a personalized service or experience — the locality of pop-up retail is able to facilitate much of that, contrasting with retail behemoths such as Walmart which are impersonal in comparison.

Pop-up retail also produces proven sales, notes pop-up-go’s Ms. Farha — 65% of brands say their event and experiential programs are directly related to sales, according to EMI & Mosaic.

Despite opinions from some that online retail would overtake brick-and-mortar, retailers are now finding that they can drive sales in both channels synergistically. Some online retailers such as Frank And Oak, Indochino and Warby Parker have gone from being pure-play e-commerce retailers to operating networks of stores, with considerable success. Pop-up retail such as at Ivanhoé Cambridge malls therefore offer the opportunity for more online brands to drive sales through brick-and-mortar interactions, while also providing brick-and-mortar brands the opportunity to test out products and concepts for a limited period of time.

Friendly Stranger Cannabis Culture Shop Plans 50 Store Expansion

By

Patricia Viscount

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December 4, 2018

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For almost 25 years, Friendly Stranger Cannabis Culture Shop (or simply known as Friendly Stranger) has been a mainstay on Queen Street West in Toronto. Known for their customer-centric service, superior cannabis knowledge and focus on community, they have a large, international and loyal following. On October 17, they announced their partnership with Green Acre Capital (GAC). With an infusion of $10 million from the GAC private investment fund, Friendly Stranger is leveraging the strength of their brand to expand across Ontario and hope to open 50 stores across the country in two years.

“While Green Acre Capital is the financial support, we’re steering the brand forward. Each location will be just as authentic as the main store,” promises Robin Ellins, Chief Executive Officer of Friendly Stranger. “We aren’t going to rush. We have lofty goals but we’re making sure we’re on-point and will be connected to our community the way we are now.”

Mr. Ellins and his partner, Joy Jacobsen, are focused on working closely with their new neighbours to become a valued member of the community. In addition to a percentage of sales going back into the local area, they feel it’s important to offer opportunities to learn more about the cannabis industry. They want to show people that it’s not all about making money, it’s also about being part of a larger community.

“We are thrilled to be partnering with Robin and Joy and the executive team behind The Friendly Stranger, who are true pioneers in the industry. With the investment and managerial support from GAC, we believe The Friendly Stranger is positioned to become one of the largest independent cannabis retailers in Ontario, with plans to expand elsewhere in Canada in the coming years,” said GAC Managing Director, Matt Shalhoub.

The search for locations is two tiered:

Friendly Stranger has built their reputation operating in a downtown area, so want to continue in that kind of location. They want to stay close to their roots and open shops in (typically) culturally diverse areas with lots of foot traffic.
But there are many car-centered communities and they want to make sure those customers aren’t overlooked. Locations in these areas that might fit are plazas where other retail exists, like a coffee shop or a liquor store.

They’re looking at shops that are approximately 2000 sq ft. Though, if the space and local vibe fit their needs, they can expand up to 4000 sq ft. While their short-term expansion plans are focused on locations around the GTA (think Oshawa, Orillia and Barrie), they are also keen to investigate places like Kingston and Ottawa.

They aren’t planning to drastically change their business model, but they’ll refine what services they offer and finetune their accessory offering. The end goal is to be a one-stop shop for all things cannabis, which includes retailing actual product, not just the accessories they now offer. But the nascent cannabis industry needs to evolve before that can become a reality. (Currently the only legal sales are online through the Ontario Cannabis Store (OCS).)

When discussing possible competition, Mr. Ellins doesn’t seem very concerned about market share or the plethora of new cannabis companies out there. He says there’s a lot of room for people who do it right.

“There will be many who try and don’t succeed,” he says bluntly. “We have the advantage of 25 years of experience. Our customers come back because they don’t want to go anywhere else. We know the industry intimately and we carry the right products for our clientele.”

Canadian Retail Sales Keep Weakening

By

Ed Strapagiel

-

December 4, 2018

attachment-5c05d2d370a6ade8e754421a — exc-5c05d2d370a6ade8e754421a

By Ed Strapagiel

Total Canadian retail sales increased just 2.9% in Q3 2018, per recently released non-adjusted data from Statistics Canada. This was the weakest Q3 gain since 2015, and far lower than the 7.3% gain recorded for Q3 last year. Also, after 9 months of 2018, year-to-date retail sales growth is up just 3.4%, and is likely to end the year even lower if current trends persist.

The underlying 12 month trend (green line in the above chart) is on a significant downward trajectory. The 3 month trend (orange line) is even weaker still, indicating more decline ahead. Christmas 2018 doesn’t look too merry at this point.

Yet another factor is gasoline prices, which helped to shore up total retail sales growth for much of 2018. That’s starting to change, with pump prices now heading downward. If gasoline station sales are excluded, the 2018 retail sales growth picture looks softer still, and Q3 retail sales growth would be only a thin 1.8%.

Food & Drug

The Food & Drug sector continues to suffer from low to no growth, with some of the lowest retail sales growth rates in 5 years. The sector’s year-over-year increase in retail sales was only 1.2% in Q3 2018, although this was actually an improvement over the dismal 0.3% gain posted for Q2 of the year.

The underlying 12 month trend (green line in the above chart) is suffering a historically steep decline, while the 3 month growth trend (orange line) is even weaker. In short, there’s no relief in sight.

The two big store types in the sector appear to be misfiring on all cylinders. Retail sales at supermarkets and other grocery stores were up just 0.2% in Q3, and health and personal care stores were down 0.7%.

Convenience stores’ retail sales were up 7.2% year-over-year in Q3, while specialty food stores gained 4.1%. These two retailer types however are too small to make a big difference in the Food & Drug sector.

Store Merchandise

Retail sales growth in the Store Merchandise sector is also in decline, although it’s at a higher level than is the case for Food & Drug. The underlying 12 month trend (green line in the chart above) has been cooling off for most of the year, and the 3 month trend is still tracking even lower. For Q3 2018, retail sales increased a modest but semi-respectable 3.1% year-over-year. Current trends don’t look too positive going into Q4 however, and the Christmas sales season could be a struggle for some retailers.

Electronics & appliance stores continue to out-perform other retailer types in this sector, with retail sales increasing 7.9% year-over-year in Q3 2018. Clothing stores gained a respectable 5.5%. The “grab bag” miscellaneous store retailer group gained 9.3% in Q3, but it’s difficult to know just what’s going on there.

There were some losers too. Home furnishings stores’ Q3 retail sales were down 0.8% versus a year ago, and furniture stores declined 0.7%. Shoe stores gained 1.4% in the quarter, but their sales are still off 1.1% year-to-date after 9 months of 2018.

Note that Statistics Canada is now suppressing the breakdown of general merchandise stores for confidentiality reasons. The figures in the table below are estimates based on previous trends.

Automotive & Related

After skyrocketing in the previous 2 years, retail sales gains in Automotive & Related are doing the exact opposite in 2018. Most of this is driven by significantly slower sales at new car dealers, which were down 0.6% year-over-year in Q3 2018. Used car dealers, other motor vehicle dealers, and automotive parts, accessories and tire stores have all out-performed new vehicle sales in Q3 and on 2018 year-to-date sales.

Growing gasoline station retail sales more or less hid the weakness in Automotive & Related (and in Canadian retail overall) for much of 2018. But the bloom is now coming off this rose, as pump prices have declined of late.

By The Numbers

Special Note: Statistics Canada has made updates to 2017 numbers, and has also moved retail storefronts of telecom companies out of electronics & appliance stores and into a non-retail category, Telecommunications (NAICS 513). Retail trade statistics have been revised back to January 2012.

Canadian E-Commerce Sales

StatsCan started providing ecommerce retail sales data in January 2016. While the amount of data is limited, some trends appear to be emerging. Here are some results.

Overall, e-commerce represented about 2.8% of total Canadian retail sales for the 12 months ending September 2018, including both pure play operators as well as the online operations of brick & mortar stores. Canadian consumers however also buy online from foreign websites which is not captured in these numbers.

Canadian e-commerce sales were up 13.9% year-over-year for the 3 months ending September 2018, but this is much less than the 31.3% gain recorded in the same period a year ago. E-commerce retail sales gains are still in double digits, and are still much higher than for location based retail, but growth is slowing down.

Note that location based retail is the same as that in the preceding large “By The Numbers” table. It’s what’s normally reported as Canadian retail sales. Except that it isn’t. Location based retail excludes another section called Non-Store Retailers (NAICS code 454), which includes electronic shopping and mail-order houses, which in turn is where (mostly) pure play e-commerce businesses are. For the 12 months ending September 2018, electronic shopping and mail-order houses had an estimated $9.97 billion in e-commerce sales.

But that’s not the only source of e-commerce, as (mostly) bricks & mortar location-based retailers also sell online. For the 12 months ending August 2018, this group had an estimated $7.31 billion in e-commerce sales. With electronic shopping and mail-order houses, there’s a grand total of $17.28 billion in e-commerce sales by Canadian operators over the year. Note that this does not include foreign e-commerce purchases made by Canadian consumers, but it does include e-commerce purchases made by foreigners at Canadian businesses.

For electronic shopping and mail-order houses, an estimated 83.3% of their sales are allocated to e-commerce. For (mostly) bricks & mortar retailers, it can be estimated that just 1.2% of their total sales come from e-commerce.

In the final section of the above table, (mostly) pure play operators (namely, under electronic shopping and mail-order houses) generated an estimated 57.7% of all e-commerce sales in Canada, while (mostly) bricks & mortar location-based retailers’ share of e-commerce is 42.3%.

For more explanation on the e-commerce numbers, see Statistics Canada: Retail E-commerce in Canada.

This analysis is updated monthly as new numbers are published by Statistics Canada. If you would like notification of when an update becomes available (and you’ve read this far), please connect with Ed Strapagiel on LinkedIn.

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The Opportunities for Canadian Ecommerce Merchants are Rising Latin American Market

By

Retail Insider

-

December 4, 2018

By Nicholas Ghitti, Sales Manager at EBANX

Latin American is on the rise when it comes to ecommerce. Being home to over 30 countries, and more than 650 million people, the region has a market that grows in a fast pace, expected to double in value by 2019, reaching $118 billion US dollars. Over 155 million people are expected to buy online by then.

It is no surprise that two of the three fastest-growing ecommerce markets in the world are Latin American countries – Argentina and Colombia, as reported by Focus Economics.

Internet penetration and mobile penetration are two of the factors leading this growth. Almost 50% of Latin American population have at least one smartphone. In the largest economy of the region, Brazil, this rate is much higher: 80%.

October/November shopping frenzy illustrates the point

The most recent example of this acceptance of online shopping in Latin America is the success of November shopping season around here. Just like many other countries, Latin American ones also have a lot of promotions happening in November.

Either for Christmas shopping, or just to simply enjoy this month’s sales, Latin Americans are all about buying in this time of the year. Let’s take a look at the numbers of October/November shopping seasons in the three largest economies in the region – Brazil, Mexico, and Argentina.

Black Friday online sales in Brazil surpassed 2017’s edition by 23%, reaching $2.6 billion Brazilian reals, over $674.3-million US dollars only on Friday, 23rd. If you consider all four days of the special event in the country, from Thursday to Sunday, the rate goes to $3.5 billion Brazilian reals, which accounts for over $907.7-million US dollars, an increase of 25% in comparison to 2017.

In Mexico, El Buen Fin, a four-day event which is Mexico’s own version of Black Friday, is one of the main shopping dates. This year’s edition happened from November 16 to 19, and generated more than $100 billion Mexican pesos in both brick and mortar and online sales, around $4.8 billion US dollars. This year’s El Buen Fin was expected to enhance online sales in the country is 50% in comparison to 2017’s event.

In comparison to 2017, Argentina saw an inc r ease of 39% on its online sales during CyberMonday, one of the country’s most important shopping dates. This year, it took place in the end of October, from 29th to 31st, and generated over $7.2 billion Argentinian pesos in revenue, which is over $191.5 billion US dollars.

A market of this size and with so much potential, has to be on the international expansion plans of all businesses. Including Canadian ones. Latin America’s second largest economy, Mexico, is one of the top 5 countries to which Canada exported the most in 2016. Bilateral trade with Brazil last year reached $6.4 billion Canadian dollars.

Okay. But, besides the size of the market and the growth pace, what else does Latin America offer as opportunities for Canadian merchants? Many other positive aspects.

Similar purchasing habits

One of them would be the similarity in consumption habits. Despite having differences in the order of the top 10 products to purchase online, Latin American countries and Canada have many of them in common.

Latin Americans like to buy electronics, mobile phones, home appliances, books, fashion & accessories, and clothing on the internet, just as Canadians.

Appetite for imported goods

The other aspect is how open Latin Americans are to imported goods, which points to an open market for Canadian goods. In percentage terms, according to an Inter-American Development Bank (IADB) study, in Latin America there are more online consumers that buy exclusively abroad.

In 2016, 44% of online purchases made in Latin America were imported. And guess what region the majority of these imports came from? North America, with nearly 60%.

Compared to the US, there’s much more room to grow

As I said previously in this article, Latin America’s ecommerce market is expected to reach $118 billion US dollars by 2021. Yes, this is what the US sold online in the first quarter of this year.

Bad news?

No at all. Because whereas in the US almost 69% of the population is shopping online, in Latin America the proportion is 23% – the region is expected to have more than 155 million online consumers by 2019. Considering that there are over 650 million people in Latin America, and 325 million in the US, it is obvious that Latin America has much more room for online consumption growth.

Lower marketing CAC = more reach

Speaking of non saturation, let’s analyze marketing Client Acquisition Cost rate (CAC). At EBANX, we recently conducted a study that showed that the cost to advertise on Google and Facebook in Latin America is much lower than the cost of doing this in the US & Canada and in Europe.

Considering rates in these regions such as cost per click, clicks to visits, order over visits, and others, it was possible to see that marketing CAC is much cheaper around here. To be more precise: in the US & Canada, it is $81.84 US dollars. In Europe, $46.08 US dollars. And in Latin America, $12.26 US dollars. It is more than 6 times cheaper to acquire a client in Latin America through advertising in Google and Facebook than it is in the US & Canada.

Wrapping it all up, next time you think about expanding your business internationally, strongly consider Latin America. The region has an ecommerce market ready and eager to buy from abroad. For countries that already have similar online consumption habits as Canada, it is much easier to adapt products and services to the Latin American market. And, if the cost for advertising is lower, your business will have more room to engage more consumers.

Nicholas Ghitti is a sales and payments specialist with deep knowledge and proven track record on the Latin American market. He already developed and managed inside sales strategies for great Latin American tech companies, besides being a mentor for startups at InovAtiva Brasil.

Ghitti is the head of Inside Sales at EBANX, a global fintech headquartered in Brazil that helps international merchants to increase online sales to the Latin American ecommerce market, by offering end-to-end Latin American local payment solutions. EBANX also provides marketing consultancy to its merchants and a 24/7 local customer support team, ready to answer all questions of its merchants’ clients – in their own language. Differentiations like these elevate EBANX to a complete market entry solution.

BRIEF: Sweet Jesus Ice Cream Sold to Yogen Früz Parent, Baskin-Robbins Opens 100th Location

By

Helen Siwak

-

December 3, 2018

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By Helen Siwak, Retail Insider Brief Editor

Sweet Jesus Ice Cream Sold to Frozen Dessert Conglomerate: The Toronto-based Sweet Jesus ice cream chain has been sold to International Franchising Inc., the parent company of Yogen Früz, Pinkberry, and Yogurty’s. The goal is to continue expanding the Sweet Jesus chain under new ownership with a franchise model.

Sweet Jesus was founded in Toronto in 2015 by restaurant group Monarch & Misfits, and the ice cream chain is now one of the fastest-growing ice cream concepts with 20 locations in Canada, the US and in the Middle East where it operates under the name ‘Sweet Salvation.’ The company has also amassed a massive social media following, and some Christian groups have come out to say that they interpret Sweet Jesus’ marketing as ‘blasphemous.’

International Franchising Inc. has over 1,400 units in over 47 countries under the Yogen Früz, Pinkberry, Swenson’s Ice Cream, Yeh! Yogurt, and Yogurty’s.

Aaron Serruya, President of International Franchising Inc., said, “Sweet Jesus is a powerful brand with a rich social media following that resonates especially with millennials. With this transaction, International Franchising Inc. is adding a brand that has a distinctive position within a compelling segment and strong U.S. and international prospects for growth. We look forward to taking an already very strong brand and accelerating its pace of growth and opening new units in Canada, the U.S., and around the world. As Sweet Jesus becomes part of the International Franchising Inc. family, we believe we can deliver growth and opportunities for all of our stakeholders, including our valued employees and franchisees.”

Jeff Young, former Chief Development Officer of Sweet Jesus and newly appointed President of Sweet Jesus with International Franchising Inc., said, “I am proud of the results the Sweet Jesus team has achieved since its inception, by delighting guests with hand crafted, chef inspired pimped out soft serve treats. The Serruya Family are industry leaders in the frozen dessert category and have recognized the opportunity for exceptional unit growth in the future, particularly in the U.S. and around the world. The outlook of the Sweet Jesus brand has never looked brighter and this transaction will deliver immediate and certain value to all SJ shareholders.”

Mr. Young is the point of contact for franchise information or real estate opportunities: jeff@ifranchiseinc.com or 647.888.8420.

Baskin-Robbins Opens 100th Canadian Location: More ice cream news as we plunge head-on into another chilly Canadian winter — Baskin Robbins opened its 100th location last month at Hamilton’s CF Lime Ridge Mall.

The 459-square-foot Baskin-Robbins is located above the mall’s food court, and is owned and operated by Lori and Frank Malavolta, who also own and operate a Kernels Extraordinary Popcorn shop in the same mall which has been operating for 20 years.

The shop features Baskin-Robbins’ made-in-store customizable cakes, milkshakes, frozen treats, fresh baked waffle cones, warm cookie ice cream sandwiches, not to mention the traditional 31 flavours.

Baskin-Robbins is expanding aggressively in Canada with almost 20 new store development agreements recently announced. The company first opened in Canada in 1971.

Mississauga’s Square One Kicks-Off All-Digital Holiday Program: One of Canada’s biggest and busiest shopping centres, Square One in Mississauga, kicks off the holiday season with some initiatives that are intended to make navigation easy. These include the Search·Find·Shop online service, enhanced Interactive Parking Map, Apple Maps and Google Business View navigation.

Square One’s new Search·Find·Shop online service enables shoppers to search and view products available at participating stores at Square One. This is the first time in Canada that shoppers can search specific products and brands across multiple retailers on a shopping centre website. It’s a true omni-channel experience in a shopping centre environment that enables customers to search, call stores for product information and shop in-store or on-line. This service is available exclusively to Oxford Properties, launching at Square One, Yorkdale and Scarborough Town Centre, with a select assortment of retailers that will expand over time. Website: products.shopSQUAREONE.com

Easy Parking Interactive Parking Map: Launched in 2016, the interactive parking map is the first and only of its kind in Canada, providing an overview of the best places to park and advises of any on-site detours. Guests may access the map from their phone, choose a preferred lot, and the most direct path to their destination is presented. Plan the best route by visiting shopSQUAREONE.com/parking

Apple Maps and Google Business View: You can now ask Siri for gift ideas at Square One — accurate wayfinding through Apple Maps is made possible by following the user’s location inside the shopping centre, where standard GPS systems are not able to trace. With a categorized directory of Square One’s more than 320 stores and Yelp integration, users can “browse” through the shopping centre with ease. As well, the Google Business View feature guides one through the shopping centre with a panoramic virtual tour.

SQ1Podcast: Holiday Edition and SQ1 on Spotify: Introduced earlier in 2018, the SQ1Podcast to-date featured interviews with world-renowned personalities including celebrity chef Bobby Flay, global influencer Stephanie Shepherd, model and designer Georgia May Jagger, and even Retail Insider’s Craig Patterson was recently a guest on the program. Watch for the next special Holiday edition of SQ1Podcast, live on December 10. Square One also has a dedicated account on Spotify, and users can tune in to enjoy the Holiday playlist while shopping.

Retail Insider’s Editor-in-Chief Gives Talks About Malls: Craig Patterson, Founder and Editor-in-Chief of Retail Insider, gave two shopping centre-based lectures in November.

On November 1, Patterson spoke at a lunch for the Northern Alberta Shopping Centre Association in Edmonton, discussing industry trends for enclosed centres as well as power centres. The lecture revolved around how traditional malls are adding entertainment and other non-retail uses to attract shoppers, and in some instances entire mall properties are being redeveloped to create ‘complete communities’. Included was an Alberta focus discussing such properties as entertainment-heavy West Edmonton Mall, ever-upscaling CF Chinook Centre in Calgary, as well as plans to redevelop Edmonton’s Bonnie Doon Shopping Centre into a mixed-use community.

On November 20, Patterson spoke at Retail Council of Canada’s Brick-and-Mortar Forum at Google’s headquarters in Toronto, discussing the upcoming Retail Council of Canada 2018 Canadian Shopping Centre Study, due to be released this month. As a spoiler, Toronto’s Yorkdale Shopping Centre again proved itself to be Canada’s most productive mall in terms of annual sales per square feet, approaching $2,000/square-foot and overall sales nearing $2-billion annually.

Craig Patterson is available to speak to groups and can be reached at: craig@retail-insider.com.

The Holiday Fashion Loop Launches at South Edmonton Common: To alleviate the chill of holiday shopping in the freezing north, as well as to connect the vast outdoor power centre, Edmontonians can now access a free service that will transport shoppers around Canada’s largest open-air retail centre – South Edmonton Common. The massive retail centre is spread over 320-acres and contains more than 2.3M-square-feet of dining, shopping, and entertainment space.

The Holiday Fashion Loop Shuttle hit the snow-packed pavement on Black Friday and moves through seven designated pick-up and drop-off zones in key retail areas of the centre, saving shoppers the time and hassle of driving or walking. A number of shuttles will be wheelchair accessible and stroller-friendly.

Shuttle service was successfully offered for the grand opening of Nordstrom Rack earlier in the fall. The Holiday Fashion Loop will at first be launched as a pilot project, with the potential for a longer-term, mass transportation solution for the centre, based on popularity and visitor feedback.

The shuttles for the Holiday Fashion Loop are being operated by Pacific Western Group of Companies and will operate until January 2, 2019 – just in time for returns!

Hunter x Disney Mary Poppins Returns – Unique Collaboration for Everyone

The Disney x Hunter products for women and kids have launched online and in-store at Toronto’s Yorkdale Shopping Centre!

Hunter is partnering with Disney on a limited-edition lifestyle collection of footwear and accessories in celebration of “Mary Poppins Returns,” and is bringing a lot of joy and happiness to adults and children alike.

Based on The Mary Poppins Stories by PL Travers and scheduled to be released this Christmas, the eagerly anticipated film is directed by Rob Marshall and stars Emily Blunt as Mary Poppins, and co-stars Lin-Manuel Miranda, Colin Firth, and Meryl Streep, with special appearances by Angela Lansbury and Dick Van Dyke.

The collection will include the iconic Original boot and Original Refined boot in both tall and short, alongside backpacks, umbrellas and the exclusive Mary Bag – a unique new design created especially for the launch and based on the carpet bag from the first film.

Hunter, the ironically named vegan boot company, was founded in 1856 by American entrepreneur Henry Lee Norris and holds two Royal Warrants of Appointment to HM The Queen and HRH. Hunter’s first store in North America opened at Yorkdale in November of 2017. As well, if you’ve been in southern Ontario recently, you may have seen a giant Hunter boot hot air balloon flying overhead as part of a promotion.

Canadian Tire Creates Fictional Town of Mount Maple for the Holidays

Canadians have been shopping at Canadian Tire for décor, entertaining essentials, and the must-have gifts for the family for nearly 100 years. To celebrate this relationship, for the 2018 holiday season Canadian Tire has created a fictional town called Mount Maple to spread further the company’s message of being prepared.

The recently launched television and digital ads showcase three stories of the people and the magic of Mount Maple: A giant who helps his neighbour hang lights, a painting whose subjects come to life to play with presents on Christmas Eve, and baking and cooking that – with a touch of magic – brings people together.

Watch and be prepared to have your heart-warmed!

<br />

Helen Siwak is the publisher of EcoLuxLuv.com Magazine, content creator, consultant, and marketing and media strategist in the luxury lifestyle niche. She is a regular content contributor to Retail-Insider and has a vast freelance portfolio including Boulevard English & Chinese editions, Indulge, and Montecristo Magazine. When not attending high-profile events in Vancouver’s ‘Luxury Zone’ or on assignment abroad, she is honing her plant-based cooking skills and caring for her rescues. helen@ecoluxluv.com

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Michael Kors Unveils 1st-in-Canada Yorkdale Flagship [Photos]

By

Craig Patterson

-

December 3, 2018

New York City-based fashion brand Michael Kors has unveiled renovations to its Yorkdale Shopping Centre flagship in Toronto, which is the first in Canada to carry the luxury-priced Michael Kors Collection for women, and the second in Canada to include men’s ready-to-wear. The 5,719 square foot store opened last week and is currently the largest Kors store in Canada to date.

The flagship features the latest store design for Michael Kors, which its says is similar in design to its Regent Street flagship in London. The interior features displays of brushed and polished stainless steel and a spectrum of finishes such as dark oak wood, Venetian plaster, and Calacatta marble. The palette of soft browns and grays is mixed with warm woods. The store is divided into several rooms that include a range of fashion, footwear, bags, fragrances, watches, eyewear and accessories for both genders.

Lines carried include MICHAEL Michael Kors for women as well as the women’s elevated Michael Kors collection, along with a curated selection of menswear in a separate department.

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The Yorkdale location is the second standalone Michael Kors store in Canada to carry the brand’s menswear line, following the opening of a men’s store at West Edmonton Mall in October of 2017. Some of the pieces carried for men are straight off the runway, differentiating the selection from wholesale accounts such as Hudson’s Bay.

The Yorkdale Michael Kors is also the first standalone location in Canada to feature the luxury-priced women’s Michael Kors Collection, which includes some fashion pieces that are priced into the four figures. The Michael Kors Collection was previously carried in selected Holt Renfrew stores and is positioned similar to brands such as Max Mara. The Michael Kors Collection includes fashions as well as footwear, handbags and accessories.

Brokerage Oberfeld Snowcap represents Michael Kors in Canada [Oberfeld Snowcap Michael Kors contact page]

One of the reasons Yorkdale was chosen to be the first store in Canada to include the pricey Michael Kors collection is because the mall is seeing a surge in luxury retail sales. Mono-brand luxury stores continue to open in the mall — Bottega Veneta opened its first standalone Canadian flagship last week, and Valentino will open soon next to it.

More big names are said to be on the way. The mall’s Holt Renfrew store is also highly productive and is in the process of expanding to add larger concessions for Dior, Fendi and Gucci, the latter which will unveil a ‘World of Gucci’ concession in early 2019.

Yorkdale’s Michael Kors relocated several months ago to a temporary space while its location along the mall’s original ‘luxury run’ was renovated to add the new lines. Michael Kors moved into its current retail space, located between Kate Spade and David Yurman, in September of 2014 (replacing Eddie Bauer). Prior to that, Michael Kors occupied a 3,080 square foot space in the mall which was Kors’ third store in Canada when it opened in early 2008.

Michael Kors himself answered a few questions about the new store, as well as his overall impression of Toronto, which is positive. Here are a few question and answer quotes.

Q: Why did you choose Yorkdale Shopping Centre as the first location for Michael Kors Collection in Canada?

A: It’s a great place to shop and we knew that our Michael Kors Collection line would be in good company. We think the Yorkdale shoppers will appreciate the luxury and quality that they find in our store.

Q: How would you describe the Michael Kors Man? And why do you feel it’s the right time to invest in the men’s fashion landscape?

A: Our man is confident and connected, with an easy, modern edge. For us, it felt like the right time to expand our men’s presence because the truth is, men are more interested in fashion than ever before.

Q: What do you think are staple pieces for the Canadian man?

A polished coat—because in a city like Toronto, your coat really becomes your calling card—a cashmere sweater, a great pair of jeans, a standout watch and a pair of aviators.

Q: What do you love about Toronto?

A: I love the multicultural spirit—the mix of people and styles you find on every street is endlessly inspiring. And the art and restaurant scene mean that there’s always something new to do.

We’ll be following up with the brand in 2019 as it will be making a flagship announcement, with details to follow.

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Food & Drug

Store Merchandise

Automotive & Related

By The Numbers

Canadian E-Commerce Sales

The Opportunities for Canadian Ecommerce Merchants are Rising Latin American Market

BRIEF: Sweet Jesus Ice Cream Sold to Yogen Früz Parent, Baskin-Robbins Opens 100th Location

Michael Kors Unveils 1st-in-Canada Yorkdale Flagship [Photos]

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