Comor Sports Goes Big in Kitsilano

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February 22, 2018

The Vancouver-based Comor Sports has as its motto Go Play Outside.

And since 1974 the retailer has been helping a growing number of people do just that as the company continues to grow its footprint in the market.

Carlos Strachan, part owner and general manager, says the company specializes in ski, snowboard and bike.

“We’ve been a ski and snowboard kind of an institution in Vancouver for 41 years. We’re the longest surviving ski and snowboard retailer in Vancouver,” he says.

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The company opened its new flagship store last month in Kitsilano, at the corner of Burrard Street and 4th Avenue, in 6,400 square feet of space.

The new store was designed by Cutler. The contractor was Krown out of Ontario, the subcontractor was Mekanix of Vancouver and millwork was done by Vancouver-based Peregrine, which is the largest retail fabricator in Western Canada and works with some of the country’s leading retailers.

Comor also has stores in Whistler and North Vancouver. The Whistler store has been open since 2002.

The first store was opened in Burnaby and was in operation for 41 years. That building is just being redeveloped so that location was closed and the retailer moved across to North Vancouver in September 2017.

DESIGN: CUTLER. CONTRACTOR KROWN. SUBCONTRACTOR. MEKANIX. SELECTED FIXTURES: PEREGRINE.

“That was a Vancouver institution as far as the ski and snowboard community goes,” says Strachan.

Steve Curell has been the majority owner of Comor for 42 years.

Comor has become a destination for outdoor enthusiasts to come check out all the latest and greatest gear.

*CLOSING OF BURNABY LOCATION. PHOTO: COMOR FACEBOOK*

On its website, the retailer says: “Our team lives the lifestyle that we sell, so whenever you are looking for new gear you can be confident the advice you receive will make sure you have the best day in the mountains or in the city. Comor is very active in the communities we cater to. We support local mountain bike trail associations (WORCA and NSMBA), Bike to Work Week, Whistler Gran Fondo, Vancouver Freestyle Ski Club, Mount Seymour Progression Jam, Globo Surf, as well as many others.”

“We don’t have aspirations to be national. We enjoy doing retail and despite our big footprint we are a fairly small operation. We don’t have aspirations of growing it into a conglomerate by any means. We may add one more store,” says Strachan.

“But we also own Pacific Boarder which is a snowboard and surf shop.”

DESIGN: CUTLER. CONTRACTOR KROWN. SUBCONTRACTOR. MEKANIX. SELECTED FIXTURES: PEREGRINE (INCLUDING BOOT BENCH)

It’s located right next door to the flagship Comor store and has been a fixture there since the late 1970s. The 6,000-square- foot store boasts the largest snowboard wall in Vancouver, and was one of the first Burton dealers in Canada. In addition to a vast selection of snowboard, surf, and skateboard gear, Pacific Boarder stores carry an extensive selection of stand-up paddle boards, casual wear, footwear, and accessories.

Strachan says what separates the company from the bigger sporting goods stores is its hands-on approach.

“I’ve worked for the company for 15 years and have pretty well done every job in our company. The difference with us is that I’m downstairs on the floor selling stuff, interacting with the staff and being the face of the company on the floor as well as doing the back end stuff whereas in bigger companies . . . you don’t see that kind of contact with the customer from the back office people,” he says, adding the majority of the managers have been with the company for at least 10 years.

“So we have some great staff retention and that along with the local appeal and heritage sets us apart from other retailers.”

Flexiti Financial Launches First-of-its-Kind Point-of-Sale Consumer Financing and Payment Technology for E-Commerce

By

Mario Toneguzzi

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February 21, 2018

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Flexiti Financial, a provider of point-of-sale consumer financing and payment technology, is now helping Canadian retailers grow sales through e-commerce – an increasingly critical sales channel.

The Toronto-based company has launched an online consumer financing offering at checkout, the first of its kind in the country.

Peter Kalen, founder and CEO of Flexiti Financial, said the launch levels the playing field with U.S. merchants who have had similar options for years due to innovative new lenders entering the marketplace.

The easy to integrate online lending platform offers credit to customers at a low cost to retailers.

“We have created the most technologically advanced financing platform in Canada to provide merchants better sales financing options to boost their bottom line,” said Kalen. “With our platform, our retail partners have seen up to a 380 per cent increase of in-store financed sales. As Canadians continue to embrace online shopping, Flexiti Financial is thrilled to offer our solution to help merchants achieve the same sales online.”

“The objective is to make the purchase more affordable for the consumer and to help retailers grow their sales.”

And that is important in this day and age as the retail market is increasingly more challenging and competitive.

Flexiti Financial, a sales financing company, launched in 2013. The company helps retailers increase their bottom line by providing a better sales financing option than a standard credit card with lower interest rates, longer payment terms and revolving credit. Using a mobile application process and ID scanning technology, it provides retailers with quick, simple and instant POS financing for customers. The financing application can be completed on any device, anywhere, and provide credit approval within minutes. The company says it has higher than average approval rates and offers retailers’ customers flexible payment options at interest rates significantly below current options in the market.

“Every retailer we talk to says they’re blown away by how much their sales are growing through our point-of-sale financing platform,” said Kalen.

The company says its POS lending platform offers low rates for retailers who want to offer their customers flexible payment options, such as zero per cent interest financing. They can simply select “Flexiti” as a payment method during checkout, apply, and receive approval for Flexiti’s virtual credit card – within seconds. Merchants receive payment in less than two days.

The new online financing product provides customers with access to open credit, with interest rates as low as zero per cent, through its virtual credit card, eliminating the need to re-apply for financing towards future purchases. For merchants utilizing the product, this is a major advantage over instalment loans which require new applications for each purchase. The online lending platform is easily integrated with Flexiti Financial’s existing in-store POS system, allowing retailers to offer the same financing solution across all sales channels to increase revenue and build loyalty through repeat purchases, whether in-store or online.

Flexiti says the potential impact of online financing for retailers in Canada cannot be ignored. In the coming decade, it is estimated that 35 per cent of Canadian retail sales growth will be delivered online, up from seven per cent today.

Kalen said 42 per cent of customers are more likely to shop at an e-retailer that offers financing, and retailers that do have seen a 15 per cent increase in the order value at the point of check out.

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*Partner content. To work with Retail Insider, contact Craig Patterson at: craig@retail-insider.com

Article Unveils 20x Larger Headquarters Amid Explosive Growth [Photos]

By

Mario Toneguzzi

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February 21, 2018

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Vancouver-based ecommerce furniture retailer Article continues to see incredible growth in its operations with more revenue, more staff, more warehouses and a bigger headquarters.

Every aspect of the business is growing for the furniture and home decor brand.

Aamir Baig, co-founder, Director and CEO, says the company was founded in 2011 by himself, twin brothers Andy and Sam Prochazka, and Fraser Hall and it launched its first website in 2013.

“We started Article because we saw an opportunity to make a difference. Furniture-buying was a frustrating, time-consuming, expensive experience. People were paying too much, product quality and customer service were inconsistent, and the whole process took way too long. We knew there had to be a better way,” says Baig.

“We’re engineers by training and started by looking at the inefficiencies that existed in the traditional retail model. We discovered that when it came to furniture, forgoing the brick and mortar experience would allow us to offer a quality of product that is unrivalled for the price, streamline the shipping and delivery process, and deliver a remarkably better experience.

We were confident we could make beautiful, high-quality furniture accessible.”

Just how much growth has the company seen?

In 2016, revenue ballooned by six times and by two times in 2017.

In 2017, Article did $100 million USD in sales and it intends to just about double revenue again this year.

In August 2017, it relocated its headquarters from 5,000 square feet to 115,000 square feet in Vancouver’s industrious Strathcona neighbourhood. It’s now located at 1010 Raymur Avenue.

The number of employees grew from 40 at the end of 2016 to 150 at the end of 2017 and more than 100 were headquarter employees.

The company now has warehouses in Seattle, Los Angeles, New Jersey and Jacksonville.

Baig attributes the company’s growth and success to its obsession of delivering a truly remarkable experience.

“We don’t just aim to be a little bit better, but so much better that people talk about it. As a result our customers don’t hesitate to recommend us to their friends and family – and purchase from us again themselves – which has created a phenomenal foundation of organic growth,” he says.

“For example, the delivery experience and speed is extremely important to our customers, but can be complex when it comes to bulky items like sofas. A traditional retailer could take up to three to four months to deliver a sofa. Today, we deliver more than 10,000 articles of furniture a month. In 2017, more than 80 per cent of our orders were delivered in less than two weeks, and 30 per cent in under a week. We have even begun some same and next-day deliveries in our major markets. When you get that level of service, and you are saving more than 30 per cent on the comparable quality product without sacrificing style, why would you shop anywhere else?”

Baig says the retailer continues to see huge potential for growth in the U.S. and Canada and it plans to stay laser-focused on this market, building a lasting brand that delivers remarkable furniture experiences: high-quality furniture at unrivalled prices, delivered fast through a convenient experience, by taking a digital-first approach.

“For 2018, the delivery experience is going to be a big focus for us. We’ve recently expanded our distribution network and added a fourth warehouse in Jacksonville, Florida to help further drive down delivery times — it is located within an eight-hour drive of 60 million potential customers — which we anticipate will be fully operational by the end of Q1,” he says.

“Also, we will grow new and existing product categories throughout the year to ensure we’re meeting the needs of our customers. We plan to nearly double our existing product range and strengthen our offering in key product categories like bedroom and outdoor.”

Baig says that what makes Article different is that it looks at the furniture industry with a digital-first mindset. It doesn’t think or operate the way a traditional furniture retailer does. It approaches the experience in a new way, applying technology to get high-quality furniture to customers faster.

Baig often uses the word experience because it reflects the company’s commitment to the entire end-to-end process: discovery, inspiration, shopping, delivery, setup, customer support and care.

“Our focus is on building and maintaining relationships instead of processing transactions. This customer-centricity, combined with our ability to unlock efficiency through the application of technology, allows us to create remarkably better furniture experiences,” he says.

“The retail landscape is changing, and this is driven by customer expectations. The demand for convenience, selection, and value is currently being best met by direct-to-consumer ecommerce brands. As long as we continue to create more value for people to shop online, ecommerce will continue to grow. I believe the key is to listen to your customer, observe, understand, and embrace the truth so that you’re always innovating and creating experiences that truly add value. Whoever is able to best fulfill those needs — online, offline, or some mix of the two — will see growth in the years to come.”

Shoppers Drug Mart Expands ‘Wellwise’ Concept for Healthy Aging

By

Mario Toneguzzi

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February 21, 2018

In the fall of 2017, Shoppers Drug Mart launched a pilot project which was a standalone Leaside neighbourhood store in Toronto, providing customers with a new resource to help them take charge of the way they age.

Wellwise, a first-of-its kind retail experience with specialized products and expert advice to help Canadians stay active and well, opened its first location at 65 Wicksteed Avenue, in 2,500 square feet of selling space.

Now the company is building on the success of that bricks and mortar store by launching wellwise.ca – an ecommerce site offering Canadians specialized products to make life healthier, easier and more active.

Scott Wilks, Vice President of Shoppers Home Health Care and Wellwise, said the ecommerce site features a broad product selection and offers direct-to-home deliveries.

“At Wellwise, people can find everything from travel accessories to mobility products to help them stay in their homes longer,” said Wilks. “No matter what stage of life people are in, Wellwise will be an important resource for Canadians looking to take control of how they age.

“What that really does for us is it opens up our offerings to a far greater number of Canadians.”

The ecommerce site will be available to all Canadians, except those in Quebec right now. It will be launched in Quebec later this year.

Offerings include everything from low-impact fitness to compression socks and physiotherapy products to supports and braces, mobility products and tools and gadgets to help Canadians stay active and well.

In addition to single product purchases, the site also offers a subscription service to automatically ship frequently-used items at regular intervals. Customers shopping on wellwise.ca get the added benefit of earning PC Optimum points on their purchases.

Wilks said the ecommerce site opens up an avenue for the caregiver making it much more convenient for them to purchase products for the people they are taking care of.

“In creating Wellwise, we put the focus on wellness, not illness,” said Theresa Firestone, SVP, Healthcare Businesses, Shoppers Drug Mart. “Wellwise offers an enjoyable shopping experience that gives Canadians the tools and advice they need to age powerfully, not just comfortably.”

Wilks said the second bricks and mortar store is a renovation of an existing home health care store in the Etobicoke area and will open in April.

“It’s a larger format. It’s about two and a half times the Leaside store. It comes in about 8,000 square feet,” said Wilks. “It carries a few more of our innovative ideas such as within it we’ll have apartment vignettes that show some of the equipment and how it would look in an apartment, how it would look like in your home.

“We’ll have an innovation corner as well as a community room for lunch and learns and for the community to use as well.”

Wilks said the pilot project for stores will continue to be monitored by the company to see where it goes from these two initial locations. The ecommerce site was always a component of the overall strategy which extends the company’s reach and is a strong complement to the existing Shoppers Drug Mart network.

The first store has seen great response from customers, he said.

“We’ve had overwhelming positive comments just about the experience, the interaction (with products) . . . and a just more pleasant customer experience,” added Wilks.

Starbucks Reserve Expands with 3rd Canadian Location

By

Craig Patterson

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February 20, 2018

Starbucks-Reserve-Don-Mills-Location-Interior — STARBUCKS RESERVE AT CF SHOPS AT DON MILLS. PHOTO: STARBUCKS

Seattle-based coffee concept Starbucks has expanded its Starbucks Reserve concept further into Canada this year with its first location in southern Ontario, and its third in Canada. The interactive, premium coffee concept is proving popular, and currently operates only a handful of locations globally.

Starbucks refers to its Reserve concept as being “a veritable theatre for some of the most exclusive coffees”. That “theatre” is on display even from the outside, where large windows draw customers into the new CF Shops at Don Mills space, which is about 2.5 times the size of a typical Starbucks location. The in-store bar features the Modbar (a first for Starbucks in Canada), a manual Black Eagle espresso machine, Clover® brewing system, Chemex® brewer, and Nitro Cold Brew taps.

“We know our customers are more curious about coffee than ever before and this new experience places coffee craft at the center of the conversation,” said Rossann Williams, president, Starbucks Canada. “We are thrilled to offer our customers an elevated and immersive experience where they can share in our partners’ (employees) passion and expertise,” she said.

The new CF Shops at Don Mills space features a rich walnut wood interior that creates a sense of warmth, punctuated by a large copper light installation that is cantilevered above the bar. Senior designer Erich Mele took inspiration for the design from the flagship Starbucks Reserve® Roastery in Seattle. “When you enter the space, the first thing you see is the Starbucks Reserve coffee bar. It’s a stage for the baristas to interact with coffee-loving customers,” he said, referencing the theatre aspect of the concept.

Design inspiration includes Don Mills itself, which began as a master-planned community designed in the 1950’s. Ms. Williams said, “we envision this store as the center of town, or the center of the community which is really what Starbucks is all about. It’s a place for people to collect ideas, share time and, of course, enjoy a delicious cup of small-lot coffee.”

The selection of coffees will change regularly throughout the year, according to Starbucks, based on harvest schedules around the world.

Canada’s first Starbucks Reserve opened in Ottawa’s ByWard Market (at 62 York Street) in late 2016, and a Vancouver location at 2980 Main Street followed in the spring of 2017.

CF Shops at Don Mills is a unique outdoor lifestyle centre that is owned and operated by Cadillac Fairview. Nick Iozzo, Director of Leasing at Cadillac Fairview/CF Shops at Don Mills said: “CF Shops at Don Mills has prided itself as a centre of first to market concepts: first Starbucks Reserve Bar and McEwan Grocery Market in Toronto, the first JOEY Restaurant and Lorna Jane Athletics store in Ontario, the first Anthropologie, Cineplex VIP Cinema and Salomon stores in Canada, to name a few.

AN ACRE OF COFFEE — A 43,000 SQUARE FOOT STARBUCKS RESERVE WILL OPEN NEXT YEAR AT 646 N. MICHIGAN AVENUE IN CHICAGO, REPLACING A CRATE AND BARREL STORE. RENDERING: STARBUCKS

All three Canadian locations are smaller than some of the larger international Starbucks Reserve locations. The Seattle location, which was also the first Starbucks reserve when it opened in December of 2014, spans about 15,000 square feet.

In December of 2017, Starbucks opened its largest Reserve location to date in Shanghai, spanning an impressive 30,000 square feet. Next year, an even larger location will open in the former four-level Crate & Barrel space on North Michigan Avenue in Chicago — that location will be a whopping 43,000 square feet, or approximately an acre in size.

Brokers are quietly saying that we could eventually see larger locations in Canada, though nothing has been formally confirmed to date.

Still Time to Register for Dx3 Conference, March 7-8

By

Retail Insider

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February 20, 2018

There’s still time to register for the extremely popular Dx3 conference that will be taking place March 7-8 at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre. There are many reasons to attend — there will be extensive networking opportunities, as well as learning opportunities from a remarkable roster of speakers that rarely speak elsewhere.

More than 3,800 people are expected to attend over the two days, and there will be more than 50 exhibitors and 40 speakers. Sessions at the conference range from large-scale keynotes by industry thought-leaders to intimate hands-on deep dives and workshops. [See the full schedule here]

“Dx3 is about innovation, but also inspiration. Nowhere else in Canada will you find such a diverse collection of experts exploring so many unique and creative ways to reach the modern shopper.” says Eric Mercer, Director of Content for Dx3.

We recently profiled a range of speakers who will be attending this year’s Dx3 conference in Toronto, from companies such as Amazon, Twitter, Google, Snapchat, Uber and Element AI. It’s an impressive group and many of them rarely speak at such events. [See the full speaker lineup here]

The Dx3 Show floor will include some unique activations, including Kinetic Commerce, which will showcase a fully-functional connected store with a series of apps that will enable you to experience first-hand how seamless the future of shopping will be. We recently saw the demonstration at Kinetic’s Toronto offices first-hand, and it’s impressive. [See a description of Dx3’s activations here]

Dx3 2018 takes place at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre, North Building Hall A at 255 Front Street West on Wednesday, March 7 and Thursday, March 8, 2018. Dx3 has coordinated hotel and guaranteed parking through Parking Panda. [Link to Hotel/Travel Information]

For a recap of last year’s Dx3, which was its best year yet, click here. Included are several Youtube videos.

For more information on the Dx3 2018 conference, visit: www.Dx3canada.com and as well, below are a few links to specific information pages:

[List of Exhibitors and Sponsors]

[List of Speakers]

[Show Information]

[Dx3 Blog]

Brows by G Plans Western Canadian Expansion

By

Retail Insider

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February 19, 2018

Retail Insider has partnered with leasing newsletter Locations! and we’ll provide periodic update on retailers’ expansions. See the latest listings in Locations! here.

By Peter Morris, founder of Locations!

Brows by G was established in 2015 as a brow bar and permanent makeup clinic by beauty artist Giovanna Minenna.

The beauty concept specializes in microblading, micropigmentation, shaping, tinting, waxing, and makeup services. The first salon opened at 1682 Grant Ave. at Lindsay St. in Winnipeg’s South River Heights area. Director and CFO Scott Russell notes that a second location will open at 160 Provencher Blvd. in Winnipeg shortly. He adds that growth is in the company’s plans with franchised studios and he is looking very closely at the Western Canada market, the Calgary, Edmonton, Saskatoon and Vancouver markets, for the next locations beginning with Calgary.

“Our ideal space is a ground-level, salon-type space with large windows in the front,” he said. “As we would require procedure rooms as well as an open salon area, we would be looking for 1800 to 2200 square foot units. Location would be in a popular area for shops and salons with a fairly affluent population. Ease of parking is an important factor as our procedures can range from a short 20-minute appointment to 3-plus hours for more intensive micro pigmentation/ restoration appointments.”

Brows by G prefers to be near other health/wellness tenants as well as medical, dental, chiropractors, massage services, etc. In addition, being near specialty fashion and upscale home stores is preferred. The units are corporately owned and the unit is staffed by teams of trained specialists and technicians.

Last year, Brows by G associated with MC College Group Inc. to provide its Microblading Technician Training Program in the campuses in Western Canada.

CONTACT:
Michael L Kehoe, Broker
FAIRFIELD COMMERCIAL REAL ESTATE INC.
Phone: 403-263-4100
mike@fairfieldcommercial.com

[Subscribe to Locations. It’s Free]

MUJI Announces 3rd Vancouver-Area Store

By

Craig Patterson

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February 16, 2018

Minimalist Japanese retailer MUJI has just announced that it will open a store in April of this year at CF Richmond Centre in suburban Vancouver. It will be the third store in the Vancouver Area for MUJI, and the eighth in Canada when it opens.

The CF Richmond Centre MUJI will be located next to the mall’s Victoria’s Secret store, in a retail space spanning more than 6,250 square feet on one level. The lease deal was coordinated/negotiated by Martin Moriarty and Mario Negris of CBRE Vancouver, as well as Arlin Markowitz from CBRE Toronto.

CF Richmond Centre is one of Canada’s most productive shopping centres, according to Retail Council of Canada’s 2017 Canadian Shopping Centre Study. Landlord Cadillac Fairview has applied to the City of Richmond to expand the mall at its southern end which formerly housed a Sears store. The redevelopment would include multiple residential towers as well as new retail space.

Japanese retailer UNIQLO also just announced that it will open this spring at CF Richmond Centre in an 8,010 square foot retail space, as per the floor plan above.

MUJI entered Vancouver for the first time last year when it unveiled a 7,770 square foot space to massive crowds in August of 2017 at Metropolis at Metrotown in Burnaby. An impressive 14,507 square foot store opened on Robson Street in Vancouver in December of 2017, making the store MUJI’s largest outside of Asia.

MUJI recently made two major store announcements for Canada, both in Toronto. In March of this year, MUJI will open a 6,800 square foot store at Scarborough Town Centre — its fifth in the Greater Toronto Area. MUJI’s original downtown store also recently relocated to a temporary space while the permanent location is significantly expanded.

That downtown Toronto store, located at the Atrium, was MUJI’s first in Canada when it opened in November 2014. Its second Canadian location, spanning 5,225 square feet, opened at Mississauga’s Square One in November of 2015, followed by the October 2016 opening at Toronto’s Yorkdale Shopping Centre (6,375 square feet) and the Summer 2017 debut of a 6,000 square foot space at CF Markville, north of Toronto.

In an interview last year, MUJI’s Canadian President, Toru Akita, said that he expected MUJI to operate between 15 and 20 stores in Canada by the year 2020. Given its accelerated pace of openings, this goal would appear to be achievable.

Award-Winning Retail Expert Launches Innovative Concept Store

By

Mario Toneguzzi

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February 14, 2018

Award-winning retail and real estate strategist Emily Salsbury-Deveaux has launched a new and unique micro-brand concept in North America’s largest shopping centre.

Salsbury-Deveaux has launched a new fashion line under her own name EMMYDEVEAUX which is being carried in her first retail space – The Geo Collection – located in the new RAAS (Retail as a Service) multi-vendor micro-mall within West Edmonton Mall.

RAAS is a unique permanent pop up location that offers the opportunity to shop and support emerging brands from Canada. Many of the businesses are designers, curators, and unique food concepts.

Salsbury-Deveaux is founder of EMMYDEVEAUX Industries Corp., which owns several different micro-brands including The Geo Collection, Obnoxious Youth, and five others that are in the pipeline. The new fashion label is called EMMYDEVEAUX.

“With the growing vacancy level in shopping centres, I saw it as an opportunity to look at incoming trends and make smaller brands out of it,” said Salsbury-Deveaux.

The Geo Collection is the first in her unique concept of retail. The idea is simple. Open up a store on a short-term lease. See how successful it is. And if it does well then it can potentially go into other vacancies in other malls.

“The whole idea is that they’re short-term trends that will come and go quite quickly but in the meantime they will fill vacancies and attract an audience that’s looking for those products, the collections are well curated and well branded,” said Salsbury-Deveaux, who has been working as a consultant in retail & real estate in Canada for 18 years.

“I believe that brick and mortar is thriving, enough that I’m putting my own money into opening stores. Retailers are still growing, just right now many are closing and that creates a more attractive narrative for the media. RAAS is an opportunity for companies like mine to be able to test the market and these micro-brands. To be able to open a short-term product line where I can test the success of it and then move it into other malls if it does well,” she said.

Salsbury-Deveaux has developed a reputation for her unique strategy and her ability to increase profitability for her clients. Her work includes restructuring, revitalization, expansion, branding, market research, investment, acquisition, and culture/people.

She has worked as a consultant with major retailers around the world and has extensive shopping centre experience.

In 2013, she joined the School of Retailing at the University of Alberta’s School of Business as a consultant. She is currently the school’s Executive Director and is responsible for notable projects like RETAILWEEK and SOR|CG (School of Retailing Consulting Group) — the largest student consulting company in Canada. She is currently planning the upcoming retail conference at West Edmonton Mall on March 9th (website: tlc18.ca)

Salsbury-Deveaux saw RAAS as an opportunity where she could open up a store and sell products and also test her clothing line. She believes strongly in the vision for micro-retail created by Mark Ghermezian. “He has an impressive ability to attract the right community of businesses, meaning that we all help each other grow,” she said.

The Geo Collection focuses on the trend of minimalism, geometric accents, and gold tones. A three-month lease at RAAS was an ideal solution where a limited quantity of items were brought in for sale and over the course of the three months the store will transition to clothing. Longer leases are available for this creative initiative that is both in Mall of America and West Edmonton Mall.

“We have the ability with my global team to bring in short-term brands very quickly,” said Salsbury-Deveaux. “This whole idea of bringing in a short-term brand that’s limited edition, limited quantity and after our three-month lease is up we could change the location into something else. We are just going to keep bringing in short-term brands. In my opinion, that’s how fast retail is going. Products need to turnover quicker to retain customer attention but fast fashion is a dangerous business if you want to do retail long-term.”

All of her other brands are currently in the online testing phase. “It is important that we are also testing the digital space. Emerging brands need to ensure they are able to service customers from every angle,” she said.

“In three months (The Geo Collection) will get changed over to another concept that we’re building. So we’re just going to keep building micro concepts and testing them online and if we think that one has the potential we’re going to open up a store with it,” said Salsbury-Deveaux.

West Edmonton Mall RAAS (PHOTO: WEST EDMONTON MALL)

“The reason RAAS is an important piece of this formula is that I’m able to open there, start building a customer base, build a brand, build the social media, make sales and be able to have sales data and feedback from customers . . . What we’re trying to do is figure out if we can test some of these brands that can potentially fill those vacant spaces for shopping centres while they look for permanent tenants.”

“It’s really important for me to try and find a solution because over the next couple of years, we are going to see significant closures. We’re going to lose a lot of retailers. So if we can build micro-trends based on what’s coming out of other parts of the world but not focused on long-term brands we’re able to capture audiences and to capture traffic for a short amount of time but then able to create that return visitor by changing over the brands constantly.”

“When you come to West Edmonton Mall on a Saturday and don’t have a hard time finding a parking spot….that is when I will start to worry about retail. So far every mall in this city is packed”

West Elm Expands Canadian Footprint with Unique Concept Store [Photos]

By

Craig Patterson

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February 14, 2018

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Popular upscale furniture and housewares retailer West Elm is expanding its Canadian footprint with a new location in Toronto that opens to the public on the morning of Thursday, February 15. The store is West Elm’s sixth in Canada, and second in Toronto, and includes several unique features not found in its other locations.

The two-level, 16,295 square foot store is located at 2434 Yonge Street, about two blocks north of the busy Yonge-Eglinton intersection. The area is seeing several new residential towers being built as thousands more people move into the rapidly changing area. Some of Canada’s wealthiest postal codes are located nearby, in neighbourhoods such as Forest Hill and Lawrence Park.

The store features a range of home furnishings from designers for every room in the home, and also offers Williams-Sonoma’s cross-brand design consultation program Design Crew, which pairs customers with experts who can provide design and installation services.

The store features a range of home furnishings from designers for every room in the home, and also offers Williams-Sonoma’s cross-brand design consultation program Design Crew, which pairs customers with experts who can provide design and installation services.

The new Toronto West Elm includes considerable ‘localization’ in terms of both its product offerings as well as interior design. The store supports seven Toronto-based makers and designers, offering customers an array of locally made products alongside the brand’s assortment of home furnishings and décor. The store’s main-floor cash-wrap area includes a hand-painted art panel of the Toronto skyline as seen from the water, including modern as well as historical buildings. A mirror image of the skyline sits beneath it in front of the cash-wrap, paying homage to Lake Ontario.

West Elm has partnered with American sleep brand Leesa, which now supplies mattresses and related products to West Elm’s Canadian stores. Leesa mattresses include a three-layer construction including memory foam — and the company donates one mattress to a non-profit for every 10 mattresses sold (West Elm also says that they’re very comfortable).

The new West Elm replaces another furniture retailer that previously occupied the site — Restoration Hardware, aka ‘RH’, which operated one of several Toronto locations at 2434 Yonge Street. RH closed the Yonge Street store as well as two other locations when it unveiled a 70,000 square foot, four-level flagship RH Gallery at Toronto’s Yorkdale Shopping Centre in the fall of 2017.

West Elm was founded by parent company Williams-Sonoma in New York City in 2002. It retails a variety of housewares, from large furniture pieces to small gift items. It currently operates more than 100 stores as well as e-commerce websites in the United States as well as in Australia, the United Kingdom and Canada— as well as unaffiliated franchisees that operate stores in the Middle East, Philippines and South Korea, and stores and e-commerce websites in Mexico.

In Canada, West Elm operates a large location in Toronto’s Shops at King Liberty, a store at 995 Rue Wellington in Montreal, and separate West Elm and West Elm Market locations on Vancouver’s tony South Granville strip. The Toronto store opened in October of 2008, Vancouver in September of 2012, and Montreal in June of 2013. Most recently, in the summer of 2015, West Elm opened at Calgary’s Mount Royal Village shopping centre.

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