OVO October's Very Own at Yorkdale Shopping Centre
Musical performer Drake officially opened his 1,600 square foot OVO October’s Very Own flagship at Toronto’s Yorkdale Shopping Centre on Saturday, August 5, and crowds lined up for hours to see the new space, causing a commotion at the centre, according to various sources. It’s the fourth location globally for Drake’s OVO retail concept, as well as its second in Toronto.
Construction signage went up at the end of May, when we first reported that OVO would be opening in Yorkdale’s Nordstrom-anchored expansion wing. Last week, Drake released a video announcing the new store, creating a phenomenal amount of hype for the opening.
The new store features ample use of marble and metal, displaying a variety of OVO products. Gold OVO-branded owls are featured throughout the space, including on the store’s facade as well contained in the store’s marble flooring. Product includes OVO-branded apparel and it will also include capsule collections, collaborations, and exclusives as new products are developed. Drake, who’s actual name is Aubrey Drake Graham, is known to collaborate with various designers and brands for limited edition product roll-outs.
OVO at Yorkdale (CROWDS LINE UP IN ANTICIPATION OF THE STORE’S OPENING ON AUGUST 5, 2017)
OVO’s first location opened in December of 2014 at 899 Dundas Street West in Toronto, followed by the December 2015 opening of a 2,400 square foot location at 130 N. La Brea Avenue in Los Angeles. In December of 2016, OVO’s third store location opened at 54 Bond Street in New York City.
Having an OVO store at Yorkdale is a score for the centre, which is really unlike any mall in North America in terms of its first-to-market offerings. OVO gives Yorkdale a new level of credibility among the younger generation, who will also be exposed to the mall’s ample luxury brand offerings. Several very interesting retail concepts will be announced in Yorkdale in the coming weeks, all of which will be first-to-market and will include well-kn
own fashion, technology and outerwear brands. As well, Hunter Boots has officially announced that it will open its third store in the world, and its first in North America, at Yorkdale in October.
All photos are courtesy of Yorkdale Shopping Centre.
(OVO LOGO OVER THE ENTRANCE TO THE NEW YORKDALE STORE)
The Hudson’s Bay Company’s off-price concept Saks OFF 5TH has opened two more Canadian stores, bringing its current Canadian store count to 16. The company’s goal is to operate about 25 Canadian stores by the end of 2018 and given its momentum, that could very well be achieved.
Crowds lined up for two Saks OFF 5TH locations yesterday, and both were special openings. In Montreal at CF Galeries d’Anjou, Saks OFF 5TH opened its very first location to hundreds of excited shoppers, according to our Montreal correspondent Maxime Frechette. And at West Vancouver’s Park Royal, crowds witnessed the unveiling of a large Saks OFF 5TH which is only a short distance away from downtown Vancouver, and the second in British Columbia’s Lower Mainland.
The CF Galeries d’Anjou store spans about 30,000 square feet on one level, and is located in part of the mall’s former Target space (a 29,000 square foot Winners also just opened in the space, across from Saks OFF 5TH). The d’Anjou OFF 5TH is one of three confirmed locations for the retailer in the greater Montreal area — in the fall of 2018, a 44,840 square foot location will open in downtown Montreal and as well, a location will eventually open at Premium Outlets Montreal.
Crowds gathered at West Vancouver’s Park Royal for the opening of Saks OFF 5TH, which has more than 33,000 square feet of retail space in the mall’s ‘Park Royal North’ component. The unique indoor/outdoor Park Royal serves affluent populations on Vancouver’s North Shore, and it is also a relatively short car or bus ride from downtown Vancouver. With British Columbia’s only La Maison Simons, as well as other retailers not available downtown, Park Royal is a draw for much of the region.
Saks OFF 5TH plans to operate about 25 Canadian stores by the end of next year, and it is an achievable goal — the company’s first Canadian stores opened in March of 2016, growing to 16 stores in only 16 months. Saks OFF 5TH is somewhat unique in its real estate choices — while its American stores are typically located in outlet and freestanding locations, several of Canada’s Saks OFF 5TH stores have opened in mainstream shopping centres (including the Montreal and West Vancouver stores). Saks OFF 5TH is moving into more mainstream malls in the United States as well, as of late, including a location at Honolulu’s Ala Moana centre that opened in the spring.
ENTRANCE TO THE MONTREAL SAKS OFF 5TH. (PHOTO: MAXIME FRECHETTE)INSIDE THE MONTREAL SAKS OFF 5TH STORE A DAY PRIOR TO OPENING. (PHOTO: MAXIME FRECHETTE)
Saks OFF 5TH’s current store locations are overwhelmingly in Ontario at the moment, though it has a location in British Columbia at Tsawwassen Mills as well as two stores in Edmonton, one store in Suburban Calgary, a store in Winnipeg, and a store at Quebec City’s Place Ste-Foy. Ontario locations are in the Greater Toronto Area as well as in Niagara and Ottawa.
Off price retail continues to see growth in Canada — TJX continues to rapidly open Winners and Marshalls locations in Canada, and competition will heat up early next year when Nordstrom Rack opens its first Canadian store in downtown Toronto. Nordstrom Rack plans to open between 15 and 20 stores in Canada over the next several years, providing Canadian consumers even more opportunity to acquire value-priced fashions and other items.
See below for more photos of Canada’s newest Saks OFF 5TH stores.
INSIDE THE MONTREAL SAKS OFF 5TH STORE A DAY PRIOR TO OPENING. (PHOTO: MAXIME FRECHETTE)
INSIDE THE MONTREAL SAKS OFF 5TH STORE A DAY PRIOR TO OPENING. (PHOTO: MAXIME FRECHETTE)
INSIDE THE MONTREAL SAKS OFF 5TH STORE A DAY PRIOR TO OPENING.
Montreal-based footwear company ALDO Group has agreed to acquire Camuto Group’s footwear and accessory businesses. The Camuto family will continue to own and operate the Camuto apparel businesses.
ALDO Group Inc was founded in 1972 by Aldo Bensadoun, now boasting more than 3,000 points of sale in over 100 countries around the world. It operates two signature brands, Aldo and Call it Spring, as well multi-brand retail concept, GLOBO. It also wholesales extensively through third party sources.
Camuto Group designs, develops and distributes women’s fashion footwear, and was founded by the late Vince Camuto (he passed away in January of 2015). Camuto’s brands include Louise et Cie, Imagine Vince Camuto, Sole Society and the recently introduced 1.State and Mercedes Castillo brands. Camuto Group also holds the footwear license for Jessica Simpson and the footwear and handbag licenses for Lucky Brand and ED Ellen DeGeneres. Camuto Group products are sold in more than 5,400 doors worldwide.
According to a press release, “this acquisition will significantly increase both companies’ capabilities and reach, and enhance their ability to offer the widest selection of footwear, handbags, and accessories through all channels, including owned stores, franchise, online and wholesale.”
ALDO Group CEO David Bensadoun said, “We’re thrilled to have found a partner that has the skills and infrastructure required to support our vision. Both of our companies are heavily product oriented, and they each evolved in different ways. While the ALDO Group comes from retail and has focused on international expansion, Camuto Group is an expert in wholesale and a powerful player in the US market. We are very excited about the ways the two organizations can help each other grow, leveraging each other’s strengths.”
Camuto Group, which is based in Greenwich, Connecticut, is privately-owned and was founded by late fashion designer Vince Camuto. “A huge part of our attraction to the Camuto Group is an understanding of their amazing design skills, excellent distribution network, and sourcing capabilities. We also believe the ALDO Group’s broad international and cross-channel experience will unlock Camuto Group’s global potential. This is the perfect combination to drive long-term, sustainable growth and strengthen our overall platform,” said Mr. Bensadoun.
“We are excited to become a part of the ALDO Group family”, said Alex Del Cielo, CEO of Camuto Group (he will remain in that role, reporting to Aldo’s Chief Executive). “After our first meeting, I immediately felt the synergy between the two organizations. Camuto Group and the ALDO Group share the same ethics, values and approach to business. We are strongly committed to our people, our partners, our customers and our product. We look forward to serving the global consumer as a unified team and continuing to grow together.”
The ALDO Group will maintain Camuto’s autonomy, each brand’s identity, as well as retaining key talent in an effort to ensure “a smooth transition,” according to the press release. The transaction is subject to customary closing conditions. The terms of the agreement will not be disclosed publicly.
At no time in Canadian history has there been more luxury-inclusive department stores operating in Canada. For decades, Holt Renfrew & Co. had a virtual monopoly in this country, particularly in womenswear, footwear and accessories (Harry Rosen dominated in menswear). Over the past three years, however, things have changed substantially — Nordstrom opened its first Canadian store in Calgary in the fall of 2014 and now has five (and soon, six) locations, and Saks Fifth Avenue debuted its first Canadian flagship at Toronto’s CF Toronto Eaton Centre in February of 2016. More Canadian stores are confirmed to be on the way for both American retailers.
Brian Winston
It’s not a surprise to see so much luxury in Canada, according to luxury retail consultant Brian Winston (referred to as a ‘Guru of Luxury’ by the hosts of ‘What She Says’). He referred to what he’s witnessing as a ‘department store wars’ in Canada, and he has come up with a ranking of what he considers to be the country’s top luxury-carrying department stores, based on a number of metrics.
In summary, Mr. Winston ranks five large-format Canadian retailers as follows, in terms of luxury offerings:
In a conversation with Mr. Winston, he went through and described each of these stores, including their strong points as well as some challenges. The following is a breakdown of each of the five stores.
SAKS DOWNTOWN TORONTO. PHOTO: BILL WALDORF
Saks Fifth Avenue
Mr. Winston ranked Saks Fifth Avenue as being the top luxury department store in the country, based on several factors. He noted Saks’ breadth and depth of designer product offerings, as well as how its stores buy many collections in multiple product categorizations for some brands that include ready-to-wear, handbags and accessories, and footwear. A number of the world’s top luxury brands are carried at Saks’ downtown Toronto flagship that feature hard-shops for their collections, including Dior, Saint Laurent, Givenchy, Celine, Valentino, and even pricey Azzedine Alaia.
Being able to buy a label head-to-toe is key to Saks’ value proposition, he noted, and Saks stocks a wide variety of sizes from various designers. Holt Renfrew, in comparison, has split size ranges across the country and in some instances, smaller sizes will end up in the Vancouver Holt’s because of the city’s affluent Asian population, he noted. This presents issues when the sizes are not present and customers have to prepay to get their size sent from another city.
Saks is the strongest store in Canada in terms of jewellery offerings, explained Mr. Winston. Boutiques for Chopard, Piaget, De Grisogono, Boucheron and others are present at the downtown Toronto Saks store — competitors such as Holt Renfrew and Nordstrom don’t even come close, he said. Women’s shoes are also a strong point, he noted, with a number of premium brands being carried at both of Saks’ Canadian stores. He thinks Holt Renfrew’s shoe offerings/ availabilities are a step above Saks, however, given the vast boutique-lined shoe halls at Holt’s Vancouver and Yorkdale locations.
SAKS DOWNTOWN TORONTO. PHOTO: BILL WALDORF
Given Saks’ large business in the United States, Mr. Winston figures that a number of top luxury brands carried exclusively in retailers such as Holt Renfrew will eventually transfer allegiance to Saks, if they haven’t already. Saks can control more because it has “a bigger pencil” according to Mr. Winston and ultimately controls larger orders and power.
Mr. Winston notes that Holt Renfrew has an extensive history in Canada, having operated since 1837. “They’ve owned the market for a long time, and they are first-in-mind for luxury for many consumers,” he noted, though he thinks that competitors will change that. Mr. Winston has been involved in Canadian retail since the late 1970’s and he described historically how Holt Renfrew went more upscale after the closure of luxury women’s department store Creed’s at Toronto’s Manulife Centre in 1990 and where it has moved over the time since then.
Holt Renfrew carries some of the world’s top brands, says Mr. Winston, though he explained that the retailer has only seven stores (compared to Saks’ 38 in the United States). Because of its smaller size, he thinks that Holt Renfrew lacks the volume to determine the exclusives that its wants. As a result, a number of brands may choose to jump ship, and a few already have — Tom Ford women’s clothing, The Kooples and Zadig & Voltaire are no longer carried at Holt Renfrew, and luxury Italian brand Giorgio Armani’s womens concessions are no longer open in the Bloor Street, Montreal and Vancouver flagships (a Brunello Cucinelli women’s concession is currently under construction in Armani’s former space at the Bloor St. Holt’s).
One of Mr. Winston’s concerns about Holt Renfrew is its limited stock and styles — he described how Holt’s will buy a few styles each year, and the lack of availability can be aggravating both for customers and sales staff. As a result, stock at some stores appears to be minimal. Additionally there has been an “attitude issue” from both floor and buying staff over the years which has permeated the industry, he said.
(PHOTOS ABOVE AND BELOW: HOLT RENFREW)
Mr. Winston pointed to Holt Renfrew’s “inconsistency” over time, which he attributes to the retailer’s management turnover over the past several years. He did note that a considerable percentage of store space is devoted to leased departments (aka concessions), which guarantee a certain return on square footage regardless of results.
Holt Renfrew is making some changes, however — some brands are being dropped, and new ones are being added. As well, the company continues to renovate and expand its existing stores. The top-selling Vancouver flagship is seeing a substantial expansion/renovation that will make it even more world-class (including the recent unveiling of a new lower-level beauty hall). The Montreal store will eventually merge with sister retailer Ogilvy, resulting in the closure of the existing Holt Renfrew on Sherbrooke Street West. Toronto will also see some changes to its Yorkdale and Bloor Street stores, to be discussed at a later date.
PHOTO: HUDSON’S BAY COMPANY
Hudson’s Bay
Mr. Winston noted that the Hudson’s Bay Company has an extensive history in Canada, and that it has carried luxury offerings at its flagship stores for some time. ‘The Room’ women’s luxury department at the downtown Toronto and Vancouver flagships carry a variety of top luxury brands. He described how Margery Steele was instrumental in curating ‘The St. Regis Room’ as it once was at Simpson’s (Hudson’s Bay discontinued Simpson’s in 1991 and converted Simpson’s downtown Toronto flagship into a Bay store), and when Ms. Steele passed, her replacement “wasn’t the same. Ms. Steele had an intimate equity relationship with her clients and they trusted her sense of style and taste,” he noted.
Mr. Winston went on to discuss Nicholas Mellamphy, who was brought in by Bonnie Brooks to overhaul Hudson’s Bay’s luxury offerings. Mr. Winston described how after Mr. Mellamphy’s boutique ‘Hazel’ went bankrupt and shuttered, Mellamphy worked to pull strings to get brands to go into The Room, despite Hudson’s Bay lacking the customer breadth and depth to support the collections. Mr. Winston also described many of The Room’s brands as being somewhat obscure and requiring large stock commitments. “They would bring in 12 to 14 pieces from Mary Katrantzou,” said Mr. Winston, “and you need 12 to 14 customers who don’t know each other to buy those pieces at full price. There are not that many customers in the two markets.”
Despite its challenges, Brian Winston ranked Hudson’s Bay above Nordstrom in terms of luxury designer offerings, given Hudson’s Bay’s daring assortment of fashions that are among the boldest in the country. Mr. Winston also described The Room’s designer shoes as “being limited and with a lot of newness to the market”. (In Toronto, ’The Room’ shoes are mostly in the women’s footwear department on another floor).
THE ROOM AT HUDSON’S BAY TORONTO [OLDER PHOTO] VIA YABU PUSHELBERG
Regarding menswear, Mr. Winston noted that Hudson’s Bay has amplified its luxury offerings, particularly at the downtown Toronto flagship. Brands such as Balmain, Jil Sander and JW Anderson can be found on the men’s floor, alongside boutiques for brands such as Eleventy, PS Paul Smith, Sandro and The Kooples.
NORDSTROM CF PACIFIC CENTRE IN VANCOUVER. PHOTO: CADILLAC FAIRVIEW
Nordstrom
Mr. Winston noted that while Nordstrom carries a number of luxury labels at its Canadian stores, the selection for each brand is less than that at Saks and Holt’s. He discussed how with brands such as Manolo Blahnik, Nordstrom will carry a handful of ‘classic’ styles, but not the extensive “stylistic” offerings found at some competitors. He explained that Nordstrom is looking to show that they are “in designer” in terms of brands that it carries, but that it lacks the depth to make many collections “meaningful”.
Jimmy Choo was an example that Mr. Winston pointed to — he says that Nordstrom’s Toronto stores carry three women’s styles, whereas a more comprehensive luxury retailer would carry between 15 and 18 styles. He also said that while Nordstrom carries a number of notable luxury brands in Vancouver, the Toronto stores struggled to secure some top labels that were already committed to previous contracts with Saks and Holt’s.
In some respects, as a result, Nordstrom is carrying more innovative brands in its Canadian stores. Mr. Winston pointed to the company’s SPACE departments in Vancouver and Toronto as an example. He also noted that Nordstrom is carrying a selection of evening gowns from designers such as Marchesa and Brandon Maxwell and while beautiful “they are not selling”, he says. He noted that evening gowns are worn infrequently and in a “conservative” market such as Toronto, as he put it, women are looking to want “several wears” from a $7,000 gown or piece of clothing, at the very least.
Mr. Winston also described Nordstrom’s luxury menswear offerings as carrying standard brands and pieces, and that the selection “lacks consistency”. He doesn’t think that Nordstrom is “fashion-forward enough” and that pieces “do not make a statement”. He did note that Nordstrom carries Giuseppe Zanotti footwear — an expensive brand popular with youth willing to shell out for a name brand.
ACCESSORIES HALL AT NORDSTROM, YORKDALE, FEATURING DELVAUX, CELINE, VALENTINO, CHLOÉ AND OTHER BOUTIQUES. PHOTO: CRAIG PATTERSONDRIES VAN NOTEN AT NORDSTROM, YORKDALE. PHOTO: CRAIG PATTERSON
Nordstrom ranked below Hudson’s Bay in Mr. Winston’s mind, though he was referring primarily to the downtown Toronto and Vancouver Hudson’s Bay flagships, which both carry upscale women’s department ‘The Room’, as well as some luxury menswear brands.
La Maison Simons
Brian Winston ranked La Maison Simons in fifth place in terms of its luxury offerings, though he noted that Simons does carry a variety of luxury brands for men and women. “Their focus is on French luxury,” he said, noting that a $150 private-label purse might be found next to a $3,000 style. “Simons has been great at taking European influences and recreating them as private labels,” noted Mr. Winston. Women’s collections such as Balmain and Nina Ricci can be found at Simons, though Mr. Winston noted that there are only a handful of each style.
While Simons lacks extensive offerings in shoes and bags, Mr. Winston explained that the retailer’s hosiery selection is “the best in Canada, unquestionably”. He also says that he “loves” Simons’ home department, including how it is edited and its numerous private label offerings.
PHOTO: SIMONS
SIMONS WEST EDMONTON MALL. PHOTO: SIMONS
Conclusion
Regardless of who’s “best”, Mr. Winston says that Canadian luxury retailers have competition from south of the border. “These customers can and will easily travel to New York City by plane to shop in department stores as well as mono-branded boutiques” he said, “and they can also shop online”. Luxury brands are now available more than ever on various ecommerce sites, adding further competition to local brick-and-mortar retail.
Ultimately, the challenge will be to “convince the shopper to pay full-price for what’s in-season” and as a result, the department store wars in Canada will continue. As a result of competition from Canadian and American retailers, not to mention ecommerce, retailers are upping their customer service in order to best cater to clients. “Special delivery, alterations, and something special,” is key he noted. “It is still a very fickle market,” according to Mr. Winston, “and the retailers that cater to luxury consumers the best are the ones that will come out ahead, and not all of them will survive. The sheer size of the market is an issue.”
Vancouver-based athletic apparel brand Lululemon has renovated its first standalone store location, which opened in Vancouver’s Kitsilano neighbourhood in the year 2000. The company was founded by Chip Wilson in 1998.
The 6,300 square foot space at 2101 West 4th Avenue was Chip Wilson’s first store and at the time, his family lived several blocks away. Seventeen years ago, many wouldn’t have guessed that the quirky-named yoga-themed apparel retailer would become a multibillion dollar operation, with stores spanning the globe.
The Kitsilano Lululemon is considerably larger than it was several months ago — it grew in size by annexing a former Midas automotive service centre at the corner of Arbutus Street. Men’s apparel is now in the former Lululemon space while women’s is contained in the expansion, and both will soon be joined with the removal of a wall.
Lululemon Vancouver-Kitsilano
The store’s exterior is marked with the cheeky phrase “You Always Remember Your First”, and the store’s interior decor references Lululemon’s past, including old photographs, posters and other images on the walls, as well as murals by local artists. The store also features a rooftop patio with a barbecue, seating, and the ability to host gatherings that may range from fitness to community-related activities.
Lululemon’s full range of technical athletic apparel for men and women are carried in the new space, and the men’s store even offers kombucha on tap — taking a page from Lululemon’s first freestanding men’s-only store in Toronto that opened late last year, and serves cold-brewed coffee.
*Photos provided by Lululemon. See below for more.
Vancouver-based Aritzia’s newest retail concept, Babaton is now opening stores in markets across Canada. Babaton’s first location opened at CF Toronto Eaton Centre in December of last year, and another location opened last week at Toronto’s Yorkdale Shopping Centre. Two more Babaton locations are confirmed to be opening soon, as the brand seeks to gain a customer following, as well as gain brand awareness.
The new Yorkdale Babaton spans over 5,000 square feet in the mall’s ‘luxury wing’, adjacent to Van Cleef & Arpels and across from Richemont brands Piaget, IWC Schaffhausen, Vacheron Constantin and Officine Panerai. The boutique features a lit interior garden, custom metal, glass, and stone floor fixtures, a lounge area with a marble coffee table, and curated art and plants throughout. Materials used in the space include a marble cash desk, board formed concrete walls, exposed aggregate concrete, interior partitions with blackened wood and bronze glass, custom stucco walls, and polished concrete floors.
Babaton’s first location opened last December in a 1,777 square foot space on the third floor of CF Toronto Eaton Centre, which formerly housed a Wilfred location (Wilfred relocated in the mall to a considerably larger retail space downstairs). Babaton and Wilfred began as Aritzia exclusive brands, and both have since been spun off to include their own freestanding stores.
Two more Babaton locations are currently under construction. A 4,870 square foot location will open in several months at Square One in Mississauga, marking the third Babaton in the Greater Toronto Area. Babaton will be located near Square One’s Holt Renfrew, across the hall from a recently opened Rolex boutique.
Babaton’s first Vancouver location is also confirmed to be opening in a few months at CF Pacific Centre, measuring just over 3,000 square feet. Aritzia also recently opened a Wilfred location at CF Pacific Centre, and it has operated an Aritzia store in the mall for a number of years.
Aritzia notes that Babaton’s stores “help propel the brand” and that the company views its new Babaton stores as being its “most important marketing tool”. Babaton, as well as other Aritzia brands including Wilfred and TNA, are “generally opened in malls or shopping streets where our established Aritzia store is performing very well, but due to real estate space limitations (such as no other high-profile spaces available, or lack of adjacent store vacancies), we are not able to expand the existing store,” according to Aritzia. The company explained that where it is unable to expand an existing store (often in a very prime location), it finds additional space within the same mall/street to open a banner store. This store strategy allows Aritzia to increase its square footage in the mall/on the street, while still maintaining the optimal location of its established store, given expansion limitations.
To that end, it is likely that Aritzia will open more Babaton stores in Canada (not to mention Wilfred), though the company has not confirmed any more locations as of yet.
The Amazing Brentwood retail centre, just east of Vancouver, will see an overhaul that will reposition it as a premiere shopping centre with the help of a new, notable investor. Landlord SHAPE and co-owner Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan have partnered with the L Catterton group, which is a private equity firm linked with French luxury conglomerate LVMH (Louis Vuitton Moët Hennessy) and Groupe Arnault. The new $2 billion The Amazing Brentwood will become the focal point of a community that will include over a million square feet of retail space, considerable office space, as well as multiple residential towers for thousands of new residents. The first phase is scheduled to open in the spring of 2019.
The Amazing Brentwood is L Catterton’s second North American development project, following its investment in Miami’s luxury retail complex, Miami Design District. L Catterton is also involved in a number of luxury projects in Asia, including the recent unveiling of the magnificent Ginza SIX luxury retail complex in central Tokyo. L Catterton is noted as being the world’s largest consumer-focused private equity fund, with more than US $14 billion in capital.
SHAPE has been working over the past several years on creating an innovative, upscale neighbourhood that would include substantial retail and residential components. L Catterton’s investment and direction will further assist in the goal of making The Amazing Brentwood live up to its name.
(MASTER PLAN FOR THE AMAZING BRENTWOOD)
(‘BRENTWOOD BOULEVARD’)
“L Catterton Real Estate’s partnership is a huge vote of confidence in the project and validation that The Amazing Brentwood will serve as a point of pride for Vancouver and a sought-after destination for visitors world-wide, said John Horton, President of SHAPE.
The Amazing Brentwood will court locals as well as market to visitors — tourists are spending a fortune at luxury retailers in downtown Vancouver, and The Amazing Brentwood stands to gain some of that with the addition of new luxury brands.
“This unique partnership encompasses the vision, passion, unparalleled knowledge and reach to create the next generation of retail experiences for our customers and retailers,” said Mathieu Le Bozec, Managing Partner of L Catterton Real Estate.
The Amazing Brentwood is one of the largest mixed-use projects currently underway in North America. The 28 acre site will include an overhauled shopping centre that will feature over 1.1 million square feet of retail space with over 250 stores, a ‘culinary collection’, offices and a one-acre plaza. As well, more than 6,000 homes in 11 high-rise towers will add more than 10,500 new residents in about 4.5 million square feet.
(‘BRENTWOOD PLAZA’ AND SKYTRAIN CONNECTION)
(‘THE MEWS’)
(‘THE PLAZA’)
In the first phase of development, the new centre will feature the first two residential towers, fashion anchor stores, new upscale restaurants and entertainment options, all in an indoor-outdoor configuration.
According to SHAPE’s Executive Vice President, Development, Darren Kwiatkowski, The Amazing Brentwood will feature a considerable amount of space devoted to restaurants, addressing the trend of malls becoming social and entertainment destinations. As a result, The Amazing Brentwood will feature a variety of food options, ranging from chains to chef-driven concepts which will feature options from a variety of ethnicities.
The entertainment focus will also include the addition of Cineplex VIP Cinemas, as well as The Rec Room entertainment centre, which will no doubt draw from the region.
The Brentwood SkyTrain station will become an integral component of the centre, and Mr. Kwiatkowski explained that transit ridership is expected to grow substantially as the Lower Mainland continues to densify. The Amazing Brentwood is also easily accessible by car, located at the busy corner of Lougheed Highway and Willingdon Avenue. Its catchment will include Burnaby as well as Vancouver, Coquitlam, New Westminster, and even North Vancouver via the Second Narrows Bridge.
(RAPID TRANSIT CONNECTION)
The centre will incorporate both indoor retail space with outdoor retail offerings and according to Mr. Kwiatkowski, luxury brands are expected to be present in both. The centre will feature four distinct retail areas, including:
–Brentwood Interior: the centre’s indoor component will feature over 100 retailers in over 500,000 square feet of space as well as more than 25 restaurants in 36,000 square feet of space. Between one and three anchor retailers are expected to be housed in this part of The Amazing Brentwood.
–Brentwood Boulevard: an outdoor retail street that will feature more than 20 retailers in 70,000 square feet of space, as well as restaurants with ample patio space. Its design is inspired by some of the world’s most iconic high streets.
–West Mews and Grand Lobby: featuring retail and restaurant space, offering one-of-a-kind brands, designer stores, and unique restaurants, and
–The Plaza: a one-acre open-air social hub featuring fashion brands mixed with patios, pubs and casual dining.
Mr. Kwiatkowski explained that the project will be “world class”, with a number of LVMH and Catterton-funded brands included in the centre’s mix. “The best of the best” will be included, including local, national and international retail concepts and brands.
(RESIDENTIAL TOWERS)
Tenants have yet to be announced for The Amazing Brentwood, and Mr. Kwiatkowski noted that tenants will range from the affordable to the luxurious. L Catterton’s six other retail projects are decidedly luxury-heavy, with both the Miami Design District and Ginza SIX boasting a number of large flagship stores for some of the world’s leading luxury brands.
A number of LVMH brands operate stores in downtown Vancouver, including Louis Vuitton, Christian Dior, Sephora and Hublot. Brokers confirm that space is tight in downtown Vancouver, with some brands complaining that they are unable to find the ‘right’ real estate in the city’s ‘luxury zone’ (centred around the 1000 Block of Alberni Street as well as adjacent Burrard and Thurlow Streets). LVMH has a number of important luxury brands under its corporate umbrella that currently do not have freestanding stores in Vancouver, including Bulgari, Céline, Fendi, Givenchy, Loro Piana, Marc Jacobs and several others. L Catterton has investment interests in a number of companies as well, including upscale brands such as Baccarat crystal and John Hardy jewellery, fitness brands such as Equinox and Pure Barre, as well as several restaurant concepts.
The Amazing Brentwood will compete with a number of important regional malls such as Park Royal in West Vancouver, Oakridge Centre on Vancouver’s West Side, and Metropolis at Metrotown in Burnaby. While Park Royal and Oakridge Centre house a number of premium retailers, neither of them offer the extensive variety of luxury brands found at Toronto’s Yorkdale Shopping Centre. It remains to be seen if The Amazing Brentwood could become the Lower Mainland’s answer to Yorkdale, and it will be exciting to see how things progress between now and 2019.
Canadian fast-fashion brand Joe Fresh has announced that it is expanding into extended sizes for women for its Fall 2017 collection. Launching online as well as in stores on August 11th, sizes will range from 0-22 (XS – 3X).
“We are thrilled to expand our womenswear line and now offer a selection of our favourite styles in extended sizes,” said President Ian Freedman. “As our brand continues to evolve, we are committed to providing our customers with products that suit their needs while delivering the same style and value.”
Model Tara Lynn and her infant son are part of Joe Fresh’s Fall 2017 ad campaign, as seen in photos in this article. “Family is at the core of the Fall campaign and collection, delivering wardrobing solutions for women, men, kids and baby at this busy time of year.”
Joe Fresh launched in 2006 and it continues to operate today, primarily through shop-in-stores within Loblaw grocery locations. Joe Fresh also operates 11 freestanding stores in Canada, and has a Canadian ecommerce site — JoeFresh.com. Joe Fresh is also available internationally through local partners in countries such as Mexico, the Philippines and the United States.
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Are you taking marching orders from senior executives who are stuck in 2005? You know!? That top-down focus on the wrong strategic marketing goal for tomorrow. I keep speaking with companies still focused on email acquisition, and resistant to mobile acquisition. It’s 2017!
It’s clear: you are not the only one. Today, I want to arm you with information to help win over your boss.
What’s the problem with email only?
Let’s be honest, when given the chance, people provide fake contact information. A recent study by Verve found that out of a group of 2400 consumers, 60% admitted to intentionally providing some sort of incorrect information when submitting their personal details online.
Focusing on email acquisition alone can create murky data, as everyone has multiple email addresses – university or college email address, hotmail, yahoo, gmail etc. – or people can simply make up a false email address.
Oftentimes when people do provide their real email addresses, spam filters and message categorization, used by free services such as gmail, can hurt the success of your campaign. As a result, email communication alone may not always be timely or may not even be reaching the end users eyeballs amidst the clutter of all the other email newsletters that customers subscribe to.
Therefore, it’s important to create redundancies in your customer database growth strategy by collecting mobile information as well as focusing on email acquisition. Mobile marketing still has the ability to draw a user’s undivided attention, improve your data quality and increase sales conversions.
SMS increases open rates!
Over 95% of text messages are opened and the majority are read within the first few minutes of receipt. There are no filters to doom your message to marketing purgatory: the spam folder.
SMS is Ubiquitous and Universal! It doesn’t matter what phone, browser or software your customers are using. It Gets Delivered and Opened.
Now the hard part is what you are communicating… That’s another topic for later!!
Mobile can improve data quality.
There is mobile technology that can validate registration information via the phone in the customer’s hand. No opportunity to place a fake mobile number.
But more importantly collecting good data is just good business..
SMS increases sales conversions.
Raange recently ran a comparative campaign, wherein we collected 3,000 email and mobile registrations at one brick-and-mortar location for a well-known retailer. We executed a side-by-side campaign with the same offer and unique redemption codes to test and compare attributed sales to email and SMS.
In less than 24 hours, mobile killed it:
● Email: 12 email coupon redemptions at the cash.
● SMS: 192 sms coupon redemptions at the cash.
Campaign Sales Results
● Email: Sales uplift of $480
● SMS: Sales uplift of $7,700
Don’t forget mobile…
Now I trust that you will take this information and push back! You can be focused on email acquisition, but don’t risk missing opportunities to collect valuable mobile information as well.
Do yourself a favour and be prepared. It’s a lot more difficult to play catch up down the road once senior executives shift priorities to mobile; it will happen.
Eric Nykamp is CEO of Raange, Inc., Founder at Mamoth-Group, TAARGA, RAANGE and Mamoth-Labs! Internet Strategist, Entrepreneur, Inventor, Investor, Husband, Father, Insomniac.
My goal is to elevate traditional brick & mortar retailers to quickly and easily transition to the latest marketing concepts and communication channels, so as to rebuild trusted dialogue with past, present, and future customers.
Holt Renfrew’s CF Pacific Centre Vancouver flagship continues to see renovations, including the addition of a new concourse-level beauty hall that opened to the public last week. The new space is impressive, to say the least.
The former beauty hall was in a sun-filled space on the store’s ground floor, facing towards the busy corner of Granville Street and Dunsmuir Street. The new beauty hall has been moved downstairs into space formerly occupied by menswear — the men’s department has moved, now featuring its own Howe Street entrance.
While the new beauty floor lacks external windows, it has grown in size to about 16,000 square feet. The department can be accessed from the store’s dramatic oval atrium which connects the store’s three floors. The beauty hall features 29 distinct brand counters, as well as nine private cabines that provide facial and skincare treatments by appointment.
Natural light infiltrates the new beauty hall from the central atrium skylight and as well, Schwinghammer Lighting amplified the space with its lighting design solutions. The department’s floors are a composite pattern of two European marbles: “Blue de Savoie” and “Ice Marble”, and wall treatments are of Travertine Marble in “Escarpment Light”. The effect is almost surreal.
The new beauty floor was designed by New York City-based Janson Goldstein, which is overseeing the renovation and expansion of the Vancouver Holt Renfrew store. The store annexed about 40,000 square feet of retail space and now measures close to 190,000 square feet, and the store’s overhaul will continue into 2018. Janson Goldstein designed the original flagship that opened in 2007, and is overseeing the latest expansion. The 2007 store replaced a much smaller unit in the mall that opened in 1975.
Premium brands in the store include staples such as Giorgio Armani and Chanel, and new brands such as Darphin, ReVive, and Korean skincare brand Sulwhasoo have been added. Canada’s first Christian Louboutin beauty boutique joins shop-in-stores for brands such as Jo Malone (including a “tasting bar”) and a La Mer boutique carrying some products priced into the four figures. An adjacent fragrance section carries many of the world’s leading brands.
Cosmetic floors in department stores often do high volume sales and as a result, are considered to be destinations. As such, some stores are finding that they can place cosmetic departments into real estate that might be considered ‘less desirable’, such as on the lower level of a store. Bergdorf Goodman in New York City pioneered the idea in 1999 when it sank its cosmetics department into its basement — Barneys New York followed, as have a number of downtown luxury department store flagships globally. And sources say that CF Pacific Centre might not be the last Holt Renfrew store to see a basement-level cosmetics department, as the company initiates more store expansions and renovations this fall.
See below for more photos by our Vancouver correspondent, Ritchie Po.
