Randall Linton, President of ServiceNational Canada
Last week, the Professional Retail Store Maintenance Association (PRSM), presented Randall Linton, President of ServiceNational Canada, with the Canadian Excellence Award. The award was presented during the PRSM Canadian Conference in Toronto, and recognizes Mr. Linton’s leadership and service in the retail facilities management industry and within PRSM Association.
Mr. Linton is a highly regarded facility management leader and has been a key contributor to the worldwide PRSM Community. He is a firm believer in collaborating with others, proven by his extensive involvement in PRSM. Since joining PRSM, he has attended every PRSM National and Canadian Conference, and has served on the Best Practices Committee, presented at conferences, authored white papers, delivered webinars and has had numerous articles published in PRSM Magazine and other industry leading publications.
Leigh Pearson, Chair of the PRSM Board of Directors, and Director, Facility, Environment and Procurement for Staples Canada, presented the prestigious award to Linton and recognized his leadership. “Randall is a natural teacher, and continuously strives to educate, inform and share his valuable experiences with others. He has built a highly successful, national maintenance company based upon competence, confidence, mutual trust and respect for his clients, his employees and the industry. It is an honour to present him with the PRSM Canadian Excellence Award,” said Ms. Pearson.
Upon receiving the PRSM award, Mr. Linton said, “I am extremely honoured to be recognized by my industry peers and by PRSM with this award. It is a privilege to serve our customers and to be a member of PRSM. I want to thank my ServiceNational team for their hard work and dedication and all of the PRSM members who have helped us along the way. We appreciate the opportunity to be a part of this industry and part of PRSM.”
Mr. Linton and his brothers are co-owners of Interior Care Limited, in its 55th year, providing professional maintenance services to commercial offices and condominiums, and ServiceNational Canada, Inc., which provides full contract maintenance of retail stores across Canada.
The Canadian Excellence Award was created to recognize the highest levels of professionalism in retail facilities management. Recipients of the award are innovative leaders in the industry who excel in their company, and they also give back to the profession in terms of sharing their knowledge and experiences with others.
*PRSM has sponsored previous posts on Retail Insider. To partner with Retail Insider, contact craig@retail-insider.com.
Popular Japanese fashion retailer Uniqlo has opened its second Canadian location at Toronto’s Yorkdale Shopping Centre. The 25,500 square foot store opened to the public on Thursday, October 20, 2016. This marks Uniqlo’s second store in the Canadian market, with the first having opened at CF Toronto Eaton Centre last month.
The store is located in Yorkdale’s new 300,000 square foot, $331 million Nordstrom-anchored east wing expansion, which also includes new retail spaces from retailers such as Samsung, Canada Goose, Saje, Williams-Sonoma, Strellson, Lululemon, and Nadege. Fellow Japanese retailer Muji is also found in the new wing, located right next door to Uniqlo.
The company was founded in Japan in 1974, and operates over 800 stores globally. Uniqlo’s simple, affordable, and high quality fashions have proven to be a hit at its first Canadian location. With Yorkdale being a mall with a very different demographic, Uniqlo didn’t skimp out on the grand opening festivities.
A massive crowd of Uniqlo fans came to the grand opening – many who had been waiting in line since the early hours of the morning. The first two customers in line were Max and Hannah, who both arrived at 4:30 am. Uniqlo kept their eager customers happy by providing hot drinks, pastries, and bottled water to those waiting in line.
To kick off the opening of the Yorkdale store, all of those in line were entered in a draw to win a trip to Japan for two. This special prize was given away to Kanako Tschimoto.
The store itself is similar to most Uniqlo stores around the world – featuring men’s, women’s and kid’s fashion items. The facade of most Uniqlo locations are marked by glossy white walls, colourful LED lights, and displays of white mannequins.
Compared to the CF Toronto Eaton Centre location, the Yorkdale store’s finishes and feel are very similar. However, the store is 2,000 square feet smaller, which means a ‘Uniqlo Meets Toronto’ section is not found at this location.
The store’s first floor contains men’s and women’s fashions, and selection of sportswear and jackets. The store’s second floor contains more men’s and women’s fashions, children’s fashion, and undergarments and accessories.
As mentioned in our last article, Uniqlo philosophy is to not separate men’s and women’s collections by floor. The company’s COO says Uniqlo is truly a brand for “all ages and genders” and it is important that presence should be felt on the first floor of the store.
This Uniqlo also features pieces from ‘Uniqlo U’, a special collection from Uniqlo’s global artistic director Christophe Lemaire. This collection was North American exclusive during Uniqlo’s CF Toronto Eaton Centre launch, and has since been launched worldwide.
Multiple cash registers are found on both floors. This weekend only, customers will be seeing major savings. Just to name a few deals, cashmere sweaters are on sale for $89, and vintage chino pants are on for $39. Customers that spend a minimum of $75 will also receive a special, limited edition tote bag with their purchase while quantities last.
Despite massive lineups and positive word-of-mouth, the company’s internal marketing studies have shown Uniqlo’s brand recognition in Canada to be low. Uniqlo confirms that further Canadian expansion will be carefully considered.
(Editor’s note, Jeff Berkowitz of Aurora Realty Consultants represents Uniqlo as Canadian broker, and negotiated both Toronto store deals with their respective landlords).
H&M‘s upscale fashion brand COS (stands for ‘Collection of Style’) opens its third freestanding Canadian store today, as it continues to expand operations across Canada. A fourth location will open early next year in Vancouver, and more are planned, according to sources.
Yorkdale’s COS includes fashion collections for women, men and children, in an open environment featuring minimalist white walls. Furniture from mid-century modern designers accent the space, which houses fall collections as well as a sample selection of Spring/Summer 2017 lines. The store’s exterior includes separate entrances for men’s and women’s departments, with wood doors that slide along the store’s facade.
Vancouver’s COS, opening in early 2017, will be the first in the city. Located at 18 Water Street (former Zientte Interiors space) in Gastown, the 3,024 square foot retail space will be located in a heritage building with a “store interior that will reflect the COS design values and aesthetic of clean-lines and natural elements”. The space housing COS includes a 4,130 square foot ground floor as well as a 2,330 square foot basement level, according to the CBRE Urban Retail Team (Mario Negris and Martin Moriarty) who negotiated the Gastown deal.
COS launched its first Canadian store in September 2015 in Toronto at 85 Bloor Street West (former Tiffany & Co. space), followed by a second store in October 2015 at 1310 Sainte Catherine Street West in Montreal (formerly occupied by Le Chauteau). The store openings at Yorkdale and Vancouver’s Gastown mark the third and fourth locations for COS in Canada.
Parent company H&M launched the COS store concept on London’s Regent Street in March 2007. The brand has a wide product range that is divided into a number of different concepts, incorporating fashion essentials, reinvented classics and modern trends for men and women. COS is created by an in-house team of designers and buyers. It has close to 200 stores in over 30 countries worldwide.
The south expansion wing at Richmond Hill’s Hillcrest Mall opens today (Thursday October 20). The expansion adds a 44,000 square foot Sporting Life and a 21,000 square foot H&M location to the 110 store shopping centre.
Hillcrest Mall’s manager and co-owner Oxford Properties has invested about $90-million dollars into the Richmond Hill property, and has been responsible for attracting and securing big brand tenants such as Sephora, DAVIDsTEA, Sunglass Hut and Chatime, all of which opened in the first half of 2016. More retailers are signed on to open at Hillcrest, including Aritzia, Pandora, Starbucks Coffee, and Rockport.
Hillcrest Mall has been refocusing its retail strategy in what general manager Brian Marentette calls the “small mall renaissance”. “The renaissance of the small mall means that Hillcrest offers the big brands shoppers want in a comfortable local environment. We’ve completely re-set our anchor stores to offer top-tier lifestyle brands, with the service they have come to know from Hillcrest”, he said.
There’s a trend in the Greater Toronto Area, where larger retailers such as H&M and Sporting Life are finding smaller malls an attractive option. Smaller malls such as Hillcrest Mall are easy-to-navigate with a small footprint, and can provide more personalized guest services. This gives smaller malls such as Hillcrest Mall a great way to compete against malls with a larger selection of stores.
Larger retailers might also see the value of being close to families and couples with a higher income. In many of Toronto’s suburban towns and cities, families and couples earn higher incomes than downtown families, with the average Richmond Hill couple making $114,000 per year. The mall also lies in short distance to over a dozen new condominium developments (Xpression Condos, Grand Genesis) and will soon be in proximity to the York Region subway extension.
The south wing expansion isn’t the first major change the mall has seen. Hillcrest Mall formerly housed two separate Hudson’s Bay locations – one location for women’s fashion, and another location for men’s fashion and home furnishings. In 2015, Hudson’s Bay joined all departments into one store by shuttering their “home and men’s store”, and renovating/expanding the “women’s fashion store” by 48,000 square feet.
To celebrate the expansion of Hillcrest Mall, a unique pop-up truck will be hitting the streets of the Richmond Hill area from October 26-28. The truck will feature fall and winter trends from different retailers within Hillcrest Mall. Visitors to the truck will have the chance to win one of the five outfits displayed.
Shoppers can also win a $500 shopping spree through a ‘Snap, Share & Win’ contest, and Richmond Hill residents are eligible to win a ‘Surprise Visit from Hillcrest’ where entrants can win a special prize box valued up to $150.
Toronto-based coffee and clothing retailer Tokyo Smoke is planning on launching a premium line of cannabis. The retailer recently announced a partnership with medical cannabis provider Aphria that will see the launch of 4 proprietary strains of Cannabis; Go, Relax, Relief, and Balance. These strains will be available through legal channels in early 2017.
Tokyo Smoke was founded in 2015 by father and son team, Alan Gertner and Lorne Gertner, with “a strong passion for the Cannabis space, and strong desire to support the Cannabis movement”. Currently, Tokyo Smoke operates two distinct Toronto locations that operate as “high design cultural showrooms”.
The company’s flagship location Tokyo Smoke Found is located at 850 Adelaide Street West in Toronto. The space was designed by architect Steven Fong, with the interior built within a 10’x10′ shipping container. A second location Tokyo Smoke Green is located at 874 College Street West in Toronto’s Little Italy. Both locations feature full-service coffee bars and Tokyo Smoke branded gear that includes clothing, museum quality collectables, and merchandise.
According to Tokyo Smoke’s website, the brand’s four distinct cannabis strains were crafted over the span of 20 years. The company describes cannabis as an “emotive experience” and that the product should match the needs and desires of the consumer. For example, Tokyo Smoke’s ‘Go Blend’ is an “energizing and awaking sativa”, while their ‘Relax Blend’ is an “easing indica”.
Tokyo Smoke’s Head of Operations, Geoffrey Degrasse, says it has always been part of the plan to offer a premium cannabis offering at Tokyo Smoke. “Right now, the current cannabis retail experience is poor. We plan to bring a premium experience to those with interest in cannabis,” he said.
The sale of cannabis in Canada has been a controversial issue. News broke this year that Canadian federal marijuana legislation is to be introduced in Spring 2017.
What does this mean for Canadian retail? As the government decides how to sell cannabis, there is the possibility that cannabis sales could be conducted through private businesses. This could create an untapped market in Canada, resulting in a potentially competitive cannabis retail landscape across the country. If private retailers are able to sell cannabis, Tokyo Smoke would become one of Canada’s first premium cannabis retailers.
The legalization of cannabis in Canada could spark a movement to create compelling retail spaces. Speaking on the topic of cannabis store design, expert Marjorie Mackenzie, VP of Retail at figure3 said: “As we learned when we designed a therapeutic cannabis retail offering in the U.S., the most important step is understanding how your consumers frame and conceptualize the offering. Cannabis is an emerging vertical and for future retailers to get it right, they must first understand the often unconsciously held beliefs the customer has about the product. Without revealing that insight; store design will fail to emotionally connect with your customer at best or actively repel them at worst”.
Mr. Degrasse says Tokyo Smoke is confident in its business strategy. “If the government decides to sell pot under a new government agency, that’s fine because we’re an all-encompassing consumer brand,” referring to the company’s other product offerings such as coffee and branded merchandise. However, the focus still lies around the interest of cannabis. “What our retail shops are great for is consumers can experience more about what the Tokyo Smoke brand is about. We’re an active, social brand that likes to challenge what cannabis is about,” he said.
According to the company, Tokyo Smoke is looking to expand its retail and recreational cannabis presence in Canada, although it has not yet publicly announced any future locations in this country. When asked about a possible American expansion, Mr. Degrasse said that while Tokyo Smoke locations in the U.S. have not yet been finalized, the company is always in discussions with partners in various cities.
Birks at Yorkdale Shopping Centre (PHOTO: BEN RAHN/A-FRAME)
Iconic Montreal-based jeweller Maison Birks has launched a new store targeting younger customers, including a bridal section geared towards Millennials. The concept store opened yesterday in the new Nordstrom-anchored expansion wing at Toronto’s Yorkdale Shopping Centre, and will act as a prototype for future Birks store renovations.
The bright store features natural light from the glass facade, which allows customers to easily see inside of the store. The informality of design also translates to the store’s interior, with barriers between salespersons and customers removed, creating a store layout that “works around various pods and stations, each themed to tell a different story”, according to Birks. The store’s open design is expected to resonate with more youthful shoppers, who may otherwise be intimidated by the look and layout of more traditional retailers.
(PHOTO: BEN RAHN/A-FRAME) (LOOKING FROM THE BACK OF THE STORE TO THE BRIDAL BAR AREA. PHOTO: BEN RAHN/A-FRAME)
The store spans almost 3,000 square feet, and stocks products ranging from the edgier ‘Rock & Pearl’ line to classic Canadian diamond engagement rings. Shop-in-shops are easily visible from within the store as well as the mall, featuring brands such as Breitling, Roberto Coin, Baume & Mercier, Messika, and a Tag Heuer shop-in-store, which is the first to reflect the brand’s new design.
The store’s bridal area offers a high counter with bar stools where customers can browse engagement rings in small groups, or as a couple. This is contrary to the tradition of private ring shopping, where the future husband may make a purchase a surprise for his fiancée, for example. Comfort is key to the new store design, with seating areas designed for casual luxury.
(THE STORE’S BACK WALL FEATURES BIRKS’ ICONIC BLUE BOXES. PHOTO: BEN RAHN/A-FRAME)(A WALL OF PEARLS, WITH THE ROBERTO COIN SHOP BEHIND. PHOTO: BEN RAHN/A-FRAME)Birks at Yorkdale Shopping Centre (PHOTO: BEN RAHN/A-FRAME)
The new Yorkdale store also features a nod to Birks’ past, with a wall of historic photographs paying tribute to the heritage of the brand (founded by Henry Birks in 1879). Birks branding continues with a collection of the brand’s iconic ‘blue boxes’ on one back wall. The store’s entryway, facade design and carpeting also reflect the idea of the company’s gift boxes.
Nordstrom’s new three-level, 199,000 square foot Yorkdale Shopping Centre location in Toronto opens to the public on Friday, October 21. The beautiful store features ample natural light, with more exterior windows than any Nordstrom location. The store is the first newly-built Nordstrom store in Canada (four existing locations are in former Sears spaces), and Yorkdale’s Nordstrom features a number of premium luxury brands unavailable in the downtown flagship which opened last month.
(YORKDALE’S NEW 300,000 SQ FT, $331 MILLION EXPANSION WING IS CIRCLED IN RED)
Nordstrom’s Yorkdale’s first floor features women’s footwear (three departments), a beauty hall, jewellery, handbags, accessories, and coffee concept ‘Ebar’. The store’s second level features women’s fashions, as well as the Habitant bar (also at the downtown CF Toronto Eaton Centre flagship). The store’s third level is devoted primarily to menswear and children’s, as well as the store’s Bazille restaurant (Bazille is also at Nordstrom in Calgary and Ottawa, while Bar Verde is at the downtown Toronto store).
We’ll describe the new store and provide photos, floor-by-floor. We normally provide outbound links for brands mentioned on Retail Insider but due to the number discussed below, we will instead mark them in italics.
Ground Floor
The store’s ground floor features six luxury shop-in-stores for leather goods, including Burberry, Celine, Chloe, Delvaux, Loewe and Valentino. Burberry and Loewe shops are also located at Nordstrom’s downtown flagship. Delvaux is a particularly notable addition — the pricey Belgian luxury leather goods brand is only available in one other Nordstrom store (the Vancouver flagship), and there are only seven Delvaux shop-in-store locations in the Unites States, within Barneys New York locations in Manhattan, Boston, Chicago, Las Vegas, Beverly Hills and San Francisco.
Other handbag designers in the same area include: Altuzarra, Akris, Alexander Wang, Dolce & Gabbana, Ferragamo, Jimmy Choo, Lanvin, Marc Cross, Max Mara, Moschino, Mulberry, Proenza Schouler, Stella McCartney, AllSaints, Coach 1941, Herschel Supply Co., Kate Spade New York, Matt&Nat, Mackage, Marc Jacobs, Rebecca Minkoff, Ted Baker London and Tory Burch, among others.
Three women’s footwear departments span the entire south side of the store’s ground floor. Interestingly, the stock room behind the footwear area features south-facing windows, providing natural light for staff working there (we didn’t take photos of this area). Designers in the pricy ‘Salon Shoes’ department include: Alexander Wang, Celine, Charlotte Olympia, Chloe, Fendi, Ferragamo, Giuseppe Zanotti, Isabel Marant, Jimmy Choo, Manolo Blahnik, Miu Miu, Prada, Proenza Schouler, Rag & Bone, Stella McCartney, Tory Burch, Valentino and Vince. Brands in the ‘Women’s Shoes’ department include: AGL, Born, Camper, Cole Haan, ED by Ellen DeGeneres, Paul Green, Ron White, Sam Edelman, Ted Baker London, UGG Australia and Vince Camuto. The ‘B.P’ shoe department includes brands: Adidas, Converse, Dolce Vita, Frye, Jeffrey Campbell, Nike, Sorel, TOMS and Steve Madden.
The store’s ground floor beauty hall is located at the mall entrance to the store. Brands include: Burberry Beauty, Chanel, Chantecaille, Clé de Peau Beauté, Dior, Diptyque, Guerlain, La Mer, Jo Malone London, Le Labo, MAC, Nars, Hermès Carre, Shiseido, Sisley, Tom Ford Beauty, Trish McEvoy and Yves Saint Laurent.
*Attention: High Profile Sponsorship Opportunity: Retail Council of Canada will soon be launching its first annual research study on Canadian shopping centres, which will be distributed widely and promoted heavily. For information on Sponsorship opportunities, contact: cpatterson@retailcouncil.org*
The store’s ground floor also features departments for fashion accessories, sunglasses and jewellery/watches with a number of premium brands, as well as coffee concept ‘Ebar’ with its own mall entrance to the right of the main mall-accessed entrance.
Second Floor
Nordstrom’s Yorkdale store’s second floor is devoted to women’s fashions, the Habitant bar, and the luxurious JWN Room personal shopping suites. The floor features a wide range of designers, ranging from the affordable to the luxurious.
The store’s priciest women’s designer department, called ‘Collectors’, features six individual designer boutiques: Akris, Burberry, Celine, Chloe, Dries Van Noten and Valentino. A dress we saw in the Valentino boutique cost more than many vehicles (we won’t quote the price here). Akris is a premium Swiss brand with limited distribution globally, and is carried in only a handful of Nordstrom stores. The Dries Van Noten boutique is a first for Nordstrom.
Other luxury brands carried in Collectors include: Belstaff, Brandon Maxwell, Cushnie et Ochs, Etro, Gabriella Hearst, Hervé Léger, Marni, Max Mara, Moschino, Proenza Schouler, Tomas Maier and Victor Alfaro.
Yorkdale’s Nordstrom features the edgy SPACE designer department — the second for Toronto. There are only eight SPACE departments in the chain, and Toronto is the only city in the world boasting two of them. Designers at SPACE Yorkdale include: Acne Studios, Anthony Vaccarello, Brother Vellies, Comme des Garçons, Ellery, Franny E, Junya Watanabe Comme de Garçons, Koche, Marques’Almeida, Mira Mikati, Paskal, Roksanda, Shrimps, Simon Miller, Simone Rocha, Steven Tai, Undercover, Vejas and Wwake.
The store’s second floor features several other women’s departments including Via C. (with brands such as A.L.C., Frame Denim, Helmut Lang, Rag & Bone), Individualist (with Alice & Olivia, Eileen Fisher, Joie, Ted Baker London, Theory, Vince), Point of View (with Nic & Zoe, NYDJ, Vince Camuto) and T.B.D (with Free People, Madewell, Paige, Rag & Bone/Denim). The store’s dress department includes brands such as Eliza J, Teri Jon, Chelsea28 and Dress the Population, while the coats department features Mackage, Max Mara, Mooseknuckles, and Woolrich. There are also departments for lingerie and sleepwear, while women’s ‘Active and Swim’ features a number of popular brands upstairs on the third level.
Third Floor
Nordstrom Yorkdale’s third floor features men’s and children’s departments, as well as a south-facing, sun flooded Bazille restaurant.
Men’s designer brands include names such as: Balenciaga, Dries Van Noten, Moschino, Tim Coppens, and Valentino, with other premium men’s clothing brands such as Canali, Corneliani, Hugo Boss, Pal Zileri and Ted Baker London. Men’s sportswear includes brands such as: Billy Reid, Theory and Vince, while ‘The Rail’ carries Adidas Originals, Fred Perry, G-Star, Naked & Famous, Nudie, and Zanerobe. There’s a men’s ‘performance and activewear’ area with brands such as Nike, Under Armour and Zella, while men’s furnishings brands include Bose, Canali, Eton, Fitbit, Tom Ford Sunglasses, Paul Smith, Ted Baker London and Rimowa Luggage. The men’s shoes department carries a number of premium brands as well, such as: Acne, Adidas by Raf Simons, Church’s, Common Projects, Jimmy Choo, Lanvin, Nike, Prada, Timberland, To Boot New York, UGG Australia and Vince.
The kids fashion department features a fun playhouse with a TV screen to keep kids entertained, and also features fashion brands such as: Burberry, Honest Company, and Mini Boden for clothing, and kid’s footwear by Nike, Hunter, UGG Australia, TOMS and Steve Madden.
The store features a clean, single-surface floor throughout, giving Nordstrom the flexibility to adjust and evolve departments depending on what Toronto customers want over time. The store also includes Canada’s fifth Sugarfina concession — a luxury candy shop featuring 150+ sweets from around the world.
The store employs about 850 staff, and features amenities and services including:
Nordstrom to You
Personal Stylist
JWN Room
Valet Parking (on a level below the store’s ground floor, accessed from elevators as well as a beautiful staircase)
Beauty Concierge
Beauty Stylist
Language Ambassadors Service
Bar/Cell Phone Charging
Alterations & Tailoring
Certified Shoe Fitters
Certified Bra & Prosthesis Fitters
Family Restroom Mother’s Lounge
Complimentary Gift Boxes
Nordstrom Gift Cards
UnionPay
Debut Rewards
Free Wi-Fi
Same-Day Delivery
Nordstrom opens its doors to the public this week at 10:00 am on Friday, October 21. The excitement will continue in the fall of 2017, when Nordstrom opens its third Toronto store at CF Sherway Gardens, measuring about 138,000 square feet.
Nordstrom entered the Canadian market in September of 2014 with a 140,000 square foot CF Chinook Centre location in Calgary. A second Canadian location, measuring 157,000 square feet, opened in March of 2015 at Ottawa’s CF Rideau Centre, and a third 230,000 square foot location opened in September of 2015 at Vancouver’s CF Pacific Centre.
Yorkdale Shopping Centre’s new $331 million, 300,000 square foot Nordstrom-anchored expansion wing opens to the public this week. The impressive space features soaring ceilings and a number of first-to-market retailers. We toured the space ahead of its public opening.
“This is the largest retail expansion in the Greater Toronto Area this year,” said Claire Santamaria, General Manager, Yorkdale Shopping Centre. “Canadian demand for world-class shopping is strong and Yorkdale is a leading centre of style. This new wing expands our assortment of brands in a way that will resonate with diverse consumers and attract shoppers from all over the world.”
*Attention: High Profile Sponsorship Opportunity: Retail Council of Canada will soon be launching its first annual research study on Canadian shopping centres, which will be distributed widely and promoted heavily. For information on Sponsorship opportunities, contact: cpatterson@retailcouncil.org*
The expansion wing also features a new concierge desk as well as a separate ‘Style Concierge’, with stylists available to assist shoppers one-on-one.
We had a peek inside Nordstrom over the weekend and will report more tomorrow. The new store is impressive, featuring a considerable amount of natural light through windows as well as a number of glamorous luxury boutiques for both apparel and accessories.
Yorkdale’s new five-level underground parking garage below the new Nordstrom wing adds about 2,000 spaces to the mall, which now has about 8,000 stalls on-site. The mall is accessible both by highway as well as TTC subway.
Yorkdale kicked off the mall’s fashion offerings yesterday (Sunday, October 16) with a fashion show previewing several of the new wing’s retailers. Some of the photos in this article were taken during that time and, hence, some runway presentation fixtures can be seen in some of our shots. We’ll update this article with more photos as new store facades and interiors are completed by individual retailers.
Vancouver-based multi-discipline performance training and fitness brand RYU Apparel has secured retail space for its first store location outside of British Columbia. The company has announced that its first Toronto store will open in early spring of 2017 at 361 Queen Street West, joining other popular retailers in the area.
RYU’s Toronto store’s retail space will span about 2,200 square feet, with an additional 2,050 square feet of office and meeting space to be located below. Jeri Brodie of Aurora Realty Consultants represented the retailer in a deal with the landlord.
RYU will join a number of strong co-tenants including Arc’teryx, Lululemon, Nobis and Icebreaker, which have all recently opened nearby. Vancouver-based large format outdoor cooperative MEC will also open a flagship nearby at the northwest corner of Queen Street West and Soho Street.
RYU’s first retail location, measuring 5,600 square feet, opened at 1745 W. 4 Avenue in November of 2015 and acts as the brand’s global flagship. Soon, RYU stores will open at 805 Thurlow Street (just south of Robson Street) in downtown Vancouver as well as at Park Royal in West Vancouver and next year, at Metropolis at Metrotown in Burnaby.
“Toronto is a new community for us and we are excited to be expanding outside of Vancouver to our first location in Ontario,” said Marcello Leone, CEO and Chairman of the Board for RYU. “We have received such great feedback from the Toronto fitness community already and we are looking forward to further growing our brand in Eastern Canada. We are excited to introduce the new standard of urban athletics to the Toronto market.”
Founded in Portland, Oregon, RYU or ‘Respect Your Universe’, is an athletic tech-style apparel brand engineered for the fitness, training and performance of the multi-discipline athlete. Marcello Leone, son of the founders of Vancouver-based multi-brand luxury retailer Leone, took the company over in 2014 and spearheaded an overhaul which saw its headquarters moved from the United States to Canada, choosing his hometown of Vancouver to be its new corporate address. RYU’s intention is to become the world’s top multi-discipline performance training and fitness brand, according to Mr. Leone.
New York City-based eyewear retailer Warby Parker will open its second Canadian store later this year in the new expansion wing of Toronto’s Yorkdale Shopping Centre. Warby Parker’s first location opened in August of this year at 684 Queen Street West in Toronto.
Warby Parker is an innovative, value-priced prescription eyewear retailer that was founded in 2010 as a pure play online retailer. Having since expanded into brick-and-mortar, Warby Parker designs its glasses in-house and sells directly to customers, with prices that are generally lower than regular optical stores.
The Yorkdale store will be one of only a handful of enclosed mall locations for Warby Parker, which typically locates on urban street fronts. Warby Parker currently operates 38 locations in the United States, according to its website, and the retailer is expanding quickly as it negotiates leases and announces new stores.
TORONTO QUEEN STREET W. STORE, PHOTOS BY WARBY PARKER
Yorkdale’s 300,000 square foot, $331 million expansion wing opens next week, anchored by a 199,000 square foot Nordstrom store. On Monday we’ll provide an update on the new wing, including photos and a discussion of new retailers that will include Canada Goose’s first location in the world, Sandro/Maje’s first freestanding Canadian locations, and other highly anticipated retailers such as Uniqlo (opening Thursday, Oct. 20), Muji (Canada’s largest to date), Mackage, Nadège, Strellson, Wolford and others. On Tuesday we’ll take you on a tour inside of Yorkdale’s new Nordstrom store, which will feature a variety of designers and shop-in-store luxury boutiques unavailable at the downtown CF Eaton Centre Nordstrom flagship, which opened last month. Yorkdale’s Nordstrom officially opens to the public on Friday, October 21 and there are still tickets available for its massive in-store charity gala on Wednesday, October 19: nordstromrsvp.com/Toronto.
