A new app launching in Toronto this summer is set to shake up the customer rewards business by bringing the benefits of a large-scale rewards program to small businesses in the health, fitness and beauty industry.
Royaltie, a unique new rewards program that enables customers to earn and spend rewards at hundreds of different businesses, has selected Toronto as the first city in which the program will be available.
The company has launched a beta version of its mobile app on an invitation-only basis, and plans to launch to the public in August 2016.
The most unique aspect of the program is the ability for users to accumulate reward points through health, fitness and beauty transactions of all kinds – not only those made at businesses enrolled in the Royaltie program.
“We have built it around the consumer, in that as a consumer, there is no restriction around where I can earn my rewards,” says Justin Belobaba, founder and CEO of Royaltie. “Any purchase, anywhere, health, fitness and beauty related, is eligible.”
Users can simply snap a photo of an eligible receipt and submit it through the Royaltie app in order to earn rewards, called ‘Royalties’, which are credited at a rate of 10% of the value of eligible purchases. Royalties can then be used as a form of store credit at participating businesses, up to certain caps set by each individual business.
The idea, Belobaba says, is that regardless of which specific businesses consumers are frequenting, individuals who earn rewards are the types of consumers who are inclined to spend money on health, fitness and beauty. As a result, they’re considered attractive customers from the perspective of businesses in these industries.
“What we can guarantee is that every single customer has a proven spending history on health, fitness and beauty – that’s how they accumulated these rewards,” Belobaba says.
The health, fitness and beauty sector is an untapped segment of the loyalty market, according to Belobaba. Aside from major retailers such as Shoppers Drug Mart, Rexall Pharma Plus and Sephora, he notes that the industry is largely dominated by small businesses such as salons, spas and yoga studios, and fewer than 2% of those types of businesses offer rewards programs. Small service providers such as those represent Royaltie’s primary market.
“It’s a huge sector,” Belobaba says, “yet the interesting thing about this sector from a retail standpoint is it’s one of the least penetrated sectors by rewards programs.”
As of mid-July, more than 700 Toronto businesses had signed up to participate in the program. The app provides them with a platform for potentially attracting new customers, according to Belobaba, and there is no upfront cost to participate. Instead, businesses pay a flat fee of $4 for each new customer they earn through Royaltie, and they can choose the level of store credit they wish to extend to users redeeming their Royalties. For example, a salon offering haircuts at a cost of $70 might offer users the ability to allocate up to $30 worth of Royalties towards the cost of that service.
Following the Toronto launch, Royaltie plans to expand the program to New York, Miami, Los Angeles, and San Francisco in the fall of 2016.
Interested readers can download the Royaltie app, currently available for the iPhone, using the code: FWS2T2LR.
Pop-ups have experienced a rise in popularity since the early 2000s and have proven to be an effective approach for brands to engage with their consumers in a unique, impactful and measurable way. They are a key tactic in approaching today’s insatiable need for newness and providing a unique customer experience. Many brands have already benefited from bringing pop-ups to the Canadian market with recent examples including Ikea, Indochino and Campbell’s.
Here’s how your brand or business can benefit from a pop-up:
1) Testing a new location: If you are already an active brick and mortar retailer and are looking to expand into a new location, a pop-up is an excellent way to test the waters before committing to a long-term lease. A limited time venture can help with future projected foot traffic, consumer demographics, market interest levels, local spending power and location suitability. In some cases, your test location can actually become a permanent one.
2) Connecting with customers: Based solely online? According to the International Council of Shopping Centres (ICSC), 78% of consumers prefer to shop in store. Opening a pop-up shop can give e-commerce vendors an opportunity to engage with their clientele outside of the virtual world while simultaneously reaching a new demographic who prefers to shop offline. A pop-up is also an ideal opportunity to evaluate whether a physical store is the right direction to take.
3) Build awareness and buzz: As pop-ups are temporary in nature they offer an element of exclusivity. One that is well-promoted can generate a lot of media coverage, leading to increased sales, not only at that pop-up location but across the brand as a whole. Pop-ups can appeal to both local and national media, depending on the stature of the brand and uniqueness of the concept. Holding an opening night and inviting the media can help increase visibility for the brand in question long after the pop-up has closed its doors.
4) Develop brand relationships: Opening a pop-up not only allows new potential consumers to learn about your brand, but it also gives you the opportunity to reward existing customers and increase customer loyalty. By giving an exclusive tour or a voucher discount to loyal customers ahead of a general opening, a brand ambassador is born.
5) Get personal: Encouraging pop-up customers to subscribe to an e-newsletter at point of purchase, or leaving an anonymous survey to be filled out in-store, can also help a company increase their customer data and conduct market research. If this quantitative and/or qualitative data is used effectively, it can lead to improved customer retention and ultimately elevated sales.
Finding your ideal pop-up location
Once you have decided that opening a pop-up is right for your brand, the next and sometimes most difficult step is finding the right location. Questions you should ask yourself about taking the leap can include: What is the minimum square footage you need? Do you want your pop-up to be in an enclosed mall or street location, on its own or within an existing store? Whatever your defined criteria, sites like pop-up go are a great resource to help you find an appropriate space to meet your requirements. Not only that, pop-up go offers personalized marketing services through Make it Pop to fast-track outreach needs and assist in a successful pop-up launch.
Pop-ups are the perfect way for any company whether large or small to promote their brand, reach new consumers and test a location without a long-term commitment.
Welcome to Montreal Friday. Every Friday this summer, I will show you what’s new in Montreal, because Montreal is a fun and wonderful city to discover. Here are my two discoveries of the week. (Follow me on Twitter and Instagram for previews and as well, lets engage on Twitter with hashtag: #FRIDAYMTL).
Discovery of the Week:
Juste Pour Rire/Just For Laughs is not really a new discovery, though it is for me as this is the first year that I’ve lived in Montreal. Founded in 1983, Just For Laughs is now the biggest comedy festival in the world. Much like Cirque du Soleil, Juste pour Rire/Just for Laughs has expanded around the world to cities including Toronto, Vancouver, Sydney Australia, London UK, and Lyon in France.
Outside of the festival itself, Juste pour Rire/Just for Laughs is a positive experience for both family and friends, and its site at the Quartier des Spectacle is open to all. Most of all the activities on the site are free, including the kid zone Le Lait, and Le Mondial des Jeux Loto-Quebec.
This year, the retail side of the festival is particularly innovative. In partnership with Tangerine Bank, visitors may pay for anything on the site with a free RFID bracelet (provided by Tangerine) called Delirius. Just add cash or register a credit card amount on the RFID bracelet, and you’re ready to spend. The partnership is particularly visible in the Kia/Juste pour Rire store, where you get a discount if you pay with Delirius. You also have discount at most of Bouffons MTL on site, as well.
If you don’t use all the money on the bracelet, Tangerine will refund you on August 1 — but Tangerine will keep a $2 fee for use.
Food of the Week : Bouffons MTL
Looking for the best, but on a small budget? If you’re in Montreal, I invite you to Bouffons MTL. This is the culinary side of Juste Pour Rire/Just for Laughs Festival, and I’ll show you why Bouffons is the best place for food in Montreal right now.
Whatever you want food-wise, it’s there. At the corner of Clark Street and Sainte Catherine Street West (called ‘Sainte Poutine’ Street during the event). In an undeveloped corner of the Quartier des Spectacle, you will find the ‘biggest food village’ in North America. I’ll share with you my 4 recommendations for a real taste of Quebec:
1)Mandy’s Salads: Normally if I have the choice between meat or salad, I’d certainly choose something with meat. I don’t know why but when I see the colour and freshness of the salads from Mandy, I could not resist, and I have no regrets. It’s really a must-try! Adress : 5033 Sherbrooke West – 201 Laurier West – 2067 Crescent. Web site: mandys.ca
2)Lacrem Maîtres Glaciers: Do you find commercial ice cream boring? I may have found you your new favourite ice cream. Lacrem is the new ice cream, and it’s 100% vegan. I was hesitant at first, because I expected vegan products to taste different from common commercial varieties, including less flavour and possibly lacking sugar. But not Lacrem — it tastes the same and even better then commercial ice cream, and is worth a try. Various restaurants feature Lacreme, including L’Gros Luxe (article soon). Visit the web site and enjoy: lacrem.ca
3) Route 27 par Marché 27 (bar a Tartare) Food Truck: If you look at my Instagram, you know that steak tartare is my weakness — and a great one at that. Route 27 has the best tartare when you are pressed for time — fast and delicious. The food truck is open for the season on Montreal Island. Address: 27 Prince Arthur West, Montreal. Web site: marche27.com
4) Au Pied de Cochon Food Truck: Quebec is recognized for it’s Poutine, but Au Pied de Cochon is recognized for elevating Poutine — particularly its Fois Gras Poutine. Au pied de Cochon is also known for many other specialities, but if I have one choice in all the menu, it is assuredly the Fois Gras Poutine! Adress: 536 Duluth Est, Montréal, H2L 1A9. The food truck is open for the season on Montreal Island. Web site: aupieddecochon.ca.
There are many more choices as well. Bouffon MTL runs until July 30 but if you can’t make it by then, keep your eyes open for some of my favourites on the streets of Montreal.
Toronto-based beauty company Deciem has just opened its first store location, and it has ambitious plans to expand the concept globally. The company plans to open about 30 stores worldwide within the span of a year, with even more to follow in 2017.
Deciem prides itself on being unique, calling itself “The Abnormal Beauty Company”. It features nine beauty brands under its corporate umbrella, ranging in price-point and focus. The company was founded by Brandon Truaxe in 2013 and has seen remarkable success, with its products being carried at more than 20,000 stores in 18 countries. Remarkably, the United Kingdom is currently Deciem’s largest market, despite the company being Canadian. Global revenues are substantial and are more than twice what they were last year — with only about 3% of those sales being in Canada. Canada will soon represent a higher percentage of sales, however, as the company begins opening freestanding stores.
Deciem recently earmarked about $10 million initially for its global store expansion, after it sold its ‘Grow Gorgeous‘ hair care brand to Britain’s The Hut Group. The company’s first freestanding store location in the world opened this month on Canada’s ‘coolest street‘, at 881 Queen Street West in Toronto. The roughly 1,000 square foot flagship features displays for the company’s nine beauty brands in a bright, friendly environment featuring hardwood flooring, tiled white walls, and simple display racks featuring individual brands. Jackson Turner of CBRE’s Toronto Urban Retail Team represented Deciem in negotiations with the landlord for the Queen Street store.
Deciem plans to open stores globally, and will soon open locations in Australia (Melbourne and Sydney) as well as in Seoul, South Korea. The company is looking to expand globally into the UK, United States, Spain and Mexico, among other countries. Mr. Truaxe said that he’d like to have multiple locations in each major city it enters. “Toronto and all of Canada are high priorities for us in terms of retail expansion partly because Canada is our home and partly because the Canadian retail landscape in beauty is dysfunctionally behind the times” he said.
A second Toronto store will open later this year, and more are expected to follow. David Wedermire and Stan Vyriotes of DWSV Remax Ultimate Realty Inc. are representing Deciem in its Canadian expansion negotiations, as well as selected international markets.
Mr. Truaxe explained that he’s looking to expand the brand “opportunistically”, and that part of the company’s strategy is to gain brand awareness from establishing several store locations in each city, before moving into new markets. He explained that storefronts also act as ‘advertising’ for the brand, as well as providing a comfortable environment for consumers to be educated on products.
We’ll follow up this topic with another article in a few months as Deciem becomes established with stores in Canada, as well as globally. All photos are of the Toronto Queen Street store.
Upscale Toronto-based tabletop and giftware retailer Hopson Grace plans to expand its operations after initial success with its first location in Rosedale. The store opened only last year and even though it’s new, it’s run by two seasoned professionals who bring a wealth of wisdom and experience.
Andrea Hopson (former vice president of Tiffany & Co. Canada) and business partner Martha Grace McKimm (a seasoned public relations executive) opened the store in April of 2015. They both were seeking career changes and had worked together in the past. Their passion for finer things led to a business partnership and when a corner retail space at the southwest corner of Yonge Street and Macpherson Avenue became available, they jumped on the opportunity. The location is ideal, being a short distance from some of Toronto’s wealthiest residential areas, including Rosedale, Moore Park, Summerhill, South Hill, and Forest Hill.
The 1,200 square foot store at 1120 Yonge Street features a wide variety of tabletop items at a variety of price points, all artfully displayed in the jewel box-like setting. The store is simple and beautiful, luxurious yet unpretentious. Interiors are of high quality wood, metal and marbles, showcasing product contained within. Toronto-based Burdifilek designed the store.
Hopson Grace (the store’s name derives from Andrea’s surname ‘Hopson’ and Martha’s middle name ‘Grace’) features a highly curated merchandise offering with many products that are not only exclusive to Toronto, but in some instances are unavailable elsewhere in North America. The store is the only Canadian distribution point for award winning David Mellor‘s flatware line, for example, and its artisanal jams from La Chambre aux Confitures are exclusive in North America. Products from Danish silversmith Georg Jensen are beautiful, and one of the most unique lines carried in the store is Jim Lorriman‘s tableware made from reclaimed wood and cedar from barns in Ontario’s Georgian Bay area — including polished serving plates and salad bowls. Some products tell a unique story, such as Linens from Maison Basque of France, which feature the same stripes and material used in traditional blankets worn by grazing cows.
Ms. Grace and Ms. McKimm take retail one step further with an upstairs event space (also about 1,200 square feet) that can be used for a variety of purposes, from product launches to wine tasting, and can also be rented for private events. They explained how the community has embraced them as a retailer and how engagement helps strengthen these relationships.
Given their backgrounds, Hopson Grace’s founders recognize the importance of strong branding and packaging. Shopping bags and boxes are all simple and elegant, and may negate the need for gift wrapping. It’s the same strong branding that has Ms. Grace and Ms. McKimm thinking about expanding Hopson Grace into new markets, to continue the sales momentum experienced in its Rosedale store. They explained that although retail space hasn’t been chosen, they’re looking at markets in Canada, particularly Vancouver, and could even consider another Toronto store, depending on opportunity.
Markham, Ontario-based bag and luggage retailer Taschen! has shuttered its four Canadian stores amid bankruptcy proceedings. The iconic Canadian retailer operated stores under that name since 1995 and prior to that, it operated under the ‘Bree‘ nameplate, reflecting its then-most prominent in-store brand by German designer Wolf Bree.
The word ‘taschen’ is German for “bags” (taschen being the plural form of tasche), and the company sold many of them — including handbags, luggage, attache cases, briefcases, duffles, backpacks, suitcases, trunks, wallets and key pouches, among other product categories. Brands carried in its stores included Tumi, Rimowa, Bric’s, Bree, Mandarina Duck, Porsche Design, Offermann 1842, Ted Baker, Kipling, Briggs & Riley, LeSportsac and Jack Georges.
The four shuttered Taschen! stores include two Toronto locations: 162 Cumberland Street (unit 8) and at nearby 29 Yorkville Avenue, as well as stores in Calgary at Banker’s Hall and in Montreal, inside of Holt Renfrew-owned Ogilvy.
This is unfortunately the second bankruptcy for the company — it also went bankrupt in October of 1995. At the time, Taschen! had stores in Vancouver (732 Thurlow Street and at Pacific Centre) as well as on Cumberland Street in Toronto, Banker’s Hall in Calgary, and inside of Ogilvy in Montreal. Prior to this, when it operated under the Bree nameplate, the retailer had a number of other locations including at Toronto’s Hazelton Lanes (now ‘Yorkville Village‘), at Toronto’s Queen Quay Terminal, and at Edmonton’s Manulife Place Phase 2. The same franchisee operated a number of ‘Breetique’ stores in the 1980’s, including stores at Toronto Eaton Centre and inside the former Harridge’s stores at Scarborough Town Centre and Bayview Village in Toronto.
AESOP POP-UP AT NORDSTROM, VANCOUVER, IN APRIL OF 2016. PHOTO: AESOP
Short term retail space, sometimes called ‘pop-ups’, have never been more popular in Canada, according to experts. It’s a phenomenon that is drawing consumers to physical stores, in an age where online shopping is becoming increasingly popular. Three experts provide their opinions on why pop-up retail is beneficial, and likely here to stay.
In Canada, pop-up retail spaces are showing up on urban street-fronts, in shopping malls, and even inside of department stores. Ikea recently opened a temporary location in downtown Toronto, with customers lining up to check out homewares contained within. Vancouver-based Kit and Ace has been using temporary store locations as part of its store real estate strategy, prior to opening permanent showrooms. Montreal-based yoga retailer Lolë has also been using pop-up spaces to build brand awareness, working with brokerage Think Retail to open temporary locations nation-wide. An Ottawa pop-up will open in August at CF Rideau Centre, following the retailer opening 12 Canadian pop-up locations in the spring of 2016.
In Toronto, online health-focused retailer Well.ca recently opened its first-ever brick-and-mortar location at CF Shops at Don Mills. The 915 square foot store features some of the company’s most popular products and according to staff, it’s been well-received with some online shoppers choosing to pick up orders in the store. Downtown on Bloor Street West, on the sidewalk in front of Club Monaco, four outdoor vendors are selling edibles, gifts and flowers, creating buzz on the city’s prestigious ‘Mink Mile’.
INSIDE WELL.CA AT CF SHOPS AT DON MILLS IN TORONTO. PHOTO: CADILLAC FAIRVIEW
Department stores are also featuring pop-up shops. Holt Renfrew is currently hosting Italian home furnishings retailer Kartell, which will occupy space on the store’s Bloor Street concourse level for the rest of the summer. Nordstrom‘s Vancouver flagship recently saw an Aesop pop-up that featured stunning wood accents surrounding the display. Nordstrom also features ‘permanent’ rotating pop-ups in its Vancouver store (as it will at the CF Toronto Eaton Centre flagship when it opens this September) called ‘Pop-in@Nordstrom’, run by former Opening Ceremony buyer Olivia Kim.
Outlet malls are even getting in on the action — a Jimmy Choo outlet recently opened at Toronto Premium Outlets, though only until August 30.
Pop-up retail is seeing over $10 billion in North American sales, according to Farla Efros, president of retail consultancy HRC Advisory. Although pop-ups aren’t new, she noted that the “treasure-hunt” phenomenon (Costco is an example) and the fact that a product might be “here today and gone tomorrow” is a draw that can create a sense of urgency for consumers, and success for the pop-up retailer.
Ms Efros explained that some of the world’s largest retailers are getting in on the pop-up trend in order to drive traffic, to create excitement, to test unique services, and to determine the viability of brick-and-mortar in hopes of driving sales and loyalty in an otherwise tough retail market. She went on to explain how brands can use pop-ups to market their brand and products in an innovative way, without spending large sums of cash to secure inventory, retail space, staff and other longer-term fixed costs. Pop-ups also address ‘Generation Z’s demand for newness, innovation and quality, in a tactile physical environment that cannot be replicated online.
Ms. Efros noted that the trend has become so large, a number of businesses have emerged that offer established brands and startups the opportunity to secure temporary retail space to set up shop. One of these companies is Toronto-based pop-up go, which was recently profiled on Retail Insider because of its unique service for retailers seeking short-term spaces.
IKEA POP-UP IN DOWNTOWN TORONTO. PHOTO: BLOG.HUBBA.COM
pop-up go‘s creator Linda Farha, also founder of Zenergy Communications, recognized the pop-up trend and set out to launch an online platform that connects retailers with available short-term retail spaces. The company also makes use of Ms. Farha’s marketing agency background by providing Make It Pop, also a marketing service for pop-ups. She explained how many successful pop-ups include ‘Massclusivity’ (offering many people an ‘exclusive’ product), and an element of surprise (“planned spontaneity”), with many pop-ups also broadening their product offering in order to attract different demographics. “Millennials are increasingly seeking out urban, boutique-styled experiences,” she noted. “Pop-up retailers can provide this through limited time concepts at unique or atypical retail locations. Finding these locations can be a challenge however, and pop-up go was created to help connect the right people with the right spaces across North America.” The website helps enable pop-ups across industries and Ms. Farha also discussed a study conducted by Eventbrite in 2014, where pop-up dining experiences in the United States grew a whopping 82% between 2012 and 2014 — with 75% of dining pop-up guests believing that it’s worth paying more, as well as pre-paying for a unique dining experience.
NIKE POP-UP IN VANCOUVER. PHOTO: CA.COMPLEX.COM
Avison Young Sales Representative Hilary Kellar-Parsons provided her unique insight into pop-up retail, explaining its benefits for some retailers. She explained how pop-ups can allow retailers to test the market without being bound by long-term leases, while also saving money on leasehold improvements often required for more permanent locations. She noted that even with limited investment, some of these pop-ups have been very well executed. She described how some retailers want to enter new markets but aren’t immediately able to secure their preferred location/space (particularly in malls) and how pop-ups provide an opportunity for retailers to establish a presence in the market prior to opening their permanent store in their ideal location.
Established brands and companies may also use pop-ups as part of ‘guerrilla marketing’, Ms. Kellar-Parsons explained. These companies often have high budgets and can invest heavily/pay a premium on a short-term marketing campaign with a pop-up location. The pop-up can include brands selling merchandise or creating more of an event space or a space for a consumer experience — a Coca-Cola pop-up, for example, would be more about the brand and less about selling the actual product like a traditional retailer.
She finally went on to explain how some landlords are also motivated to facilitate pop-up retail, and it’s not just for the cash-flow. Dead space isn’t desirable, so pop-ups allow landlords to create activated and tenanted spaces if even just for the short-term. There’s an added benefit to this as well — while the short-term tenant occupies the retail space and generates revenue for the landlord, the same space can be kept on the market longer in order to secure the “right” long-term tenant, giving the landlord some breathing room while animating retail space that might otherwise be vacant or feature ‘for lease’ signage.
French luxury brand Saint Laurent Paris (formerly ‘Yves Saint Laurent’) will open a store this fall at Toronto’s Yorkdale Shopping Centre. It will be one of two freestanding Canadian stores for Saint Laurent, following the opening of a downtown Vancouver location last week. Sources at Saint Laurent recently confirmed the new Toronto location.
According to a City of Toronto Application, Saint Laurent will occupy retail space ‘219’ in the mall, which was recently vacated by footwear retailer Geox. The new 3,000 square foot, one-level Saint Laurent will be located next to luxury brand David Yurman, which opened its first Canadian location at Yorkdale in December of 2013. A source at the Vancouver Saint Laurent store says that the Yorkdale location is expected to open in November of this year, and that the Toronto store will feature men’s and women’s ready-to-wear fashions as well as footwear, bags and accessories.
Image: City of Toronto HOARDING FOR THE NEW SAINT LAURENT. HIGH CEILINGS COULD FACILITATE A DRAMATIC FACADE. PHOTO TAKEN ON JULY 17, 2017 BY RETAIL INSIDER.
Last week, Saint Laurent opened a two-level, 4,800 square foot store at 746 Thurlow Street in downtown Vancouver, in the heart of the city’s burgeoning ‘Luxury Zone’. That store also features the brand’s men’s and women’s collections, as well as footwear, bags and accessories.
Saint Laurent is also carried at a handful of upscale retailers in Toronto. The brand’s largest presence is at Saks Fifth Avenue at CF Toronto Eaton Centre, which features two shop-in-store Saint Laurent boutiques — a handbags shop on the ground floor, and a women’s ready-to-wear boutique on Saks’ third floor. Saint Laurent will also have a presence at Nordstrom in the same mall when it opens in September.
Saint Laurent Paris operates locations globally, including 18 full-priced U.S. stores and three Saint Laurent outlets. The brand is owned by French luxury holding company Kering. Saint Laurent recently saw designer Hedi Slimani exit the company, to be replaced by Anthony Vaccarello.
Welcome to Montreal Friday. Every Friday this summer, I will show you what’s new in Montreal, because Montreal is a fun and wonderful city to discover. Here are my two discoveries of the week. (Follow me on Twitter and Instagram for previews and as well, lets engage on Twitter with hashtag: #FRIDAYMTL).
Discovery of the week
Opening soon: m0851 Flagship downtown, and a new Westmount location:
After recently opening new stores in Boston and Madrid, Montreal-based fashion brand m0851 will open mid-August in Westmount. The unique and beautiful 1,500 square foot store will be located at 4925 Sherbrooke Street West.
Westmount’s Sherbrooke Street West is a new hotspot for shopping in Montreal. The prestigious retail area includes neighbours such as the recently opened Bois & Cuir furniture store (profiled here last week) as well as some of the most exclusive stores in Montreal including IRO, Aesop, James Perse, Sarah Pacini, Want Apothecary and others.
In September of this year, the existing m0851 store at Complexe les Ailes will relocate and become the brand’s global flagship. The existing 1,121 square foot store can only be accessed from within the mall, while the new location will feature frontage on both Sainte Catherine Street West and Blv. Robert-Bourassa, as per the photo at the top of this article.
The beautiful 1,700 square foot space will feature over 80 feet of display windows along both streets, with exterior doors from the historic Eaton Building (which once housed a 1-million square foot Eaton store) — a beautiful location for m0851’s flagship.
We’re told that the architecture of the new store will reflect brand values, and will include plenty of raw materials with a mixture of wood, concrete and metal as found in its new locations.
Previously, this space was occupied by Tommy Hilfiger (from 2002 to August 2015) followed by La Vie en Rose for a few months. Originally, the space measured 3,996 square feet on the first level and 7,022 square feet for the second level. Complexe Les Ailes will soon merge with adjacent Centre Eaton, with the mall going through a major renovation to host several new tenants, anchored by Saks Fifth Avenue‘s off-price Saks OFF 5TH which will open in the fall of 2018.
The company now operates 23 stores globally, with 11 of those in Canada. Its Canadian stores are located in Montreal (4 stores including one in Laval), Quebec City, Ottawa, Toronto (2 stores), Vancouver (2 stores) and one in Calgary. International cities featuring m0851 include New York City, Santa Monica CA, Boston, Madrid Spain, Tokyo (2 stores), Nagoya, Osaka, Hong Kong (3 stores) and Beijing. M0851 also distributes their collections through a select network of retailers in 35 countries, and has an e-commerce site. Oakmont Real Estate Services is the brand’s Canadian brokerage.
The m0851 brand was founded in 1987 by Frédéric Mamarbachi, and its name represents the first initial of his surname, as well as his birth month and year. The company designs and manufactures leather bags, accessories, jackets and outerwear. It started out manufacturing leather belts under the nameplate ‘Rugby North America’ and in 2003, changed its name to better reflect a refined, urban brand identity. Its head office is in Montreal’s trendy Mile End neighbourhood. Its products are designed and manufactured in Montreal, and its store interiors are also designed in-house.
Food of the Week:
Bouffons MTL, July 16 to 30: If you’re in Montreal during this time, I invite you to discover the Bouffons MTL food truck festival. I think it is the best place for people to try everything food-wise that makes Montreal, Montreal. Many prestigious Montreal restaurants will be present in food truck version, and many more. I will discuss it more in next week’s Montreal Friday! Don’t miss it.
Bouffons Montreal is presented in Juste Pour Rire and Zoofest Festival with more information here: bouffons.ca
Vancouver-based Indochino, the world’s largest made-to-measure menswear company, plans to open stores in malls nationwide after initially securing street-front locations. The retailer’s ambitious expansion plans include opening about 150 retail stores globally by the year 2020, with a goal of selling a million suits annually.
This week, a second mall-based Indochino location opened at Toronto’s highly productive Yorkdale Shopping Centre, following last month’s opening at Square One in Mississauga. A third Indochino will open on August 11 as part of CF Rideau Centre‘s expansion in Ottawa, and sources say that the retailer has been in talks to open other enclosed mall locations in Canada.
The Yorkdale store is over 2,250 square feet, and is the retailer’s third location in the greater Toronto area. “Yorkdale is the gold standard for mall shopping in North America, attracting some of the most affluent brands and over 2.5 million customers every month,” said Indochino CEO Drew Green. “It is with great pride that we join the ranks of world-leading fashion brands in Yorkdale with our innovative approach to made-to-measure apparel.”
Yorkdale Mall Plan
The Ottawa CF Rideau Centre store will be part of the mall’s newest expansion wing, which will be anchored by Quebec City-based fashion retailer La Maison Simons. We’ll be reporting on the mall’s expansion prior to its scheduled August opening date.
The stores, or showrooms as Indochino calls them, are an extension of the company’s online made-to-measure experience. Indochino customers are paired with a Style Guide in-store, who helps them design one-of-a-kind suits or shirts, with suit prices beginning at $599 and shirts at $89 (both Canadian Dollars). Style Guides take measurements, assist with fabric selection, and walk shoppers through custom options including buttons, vents, pockets, lapels and monograms. Each garment is made to order and delivered within four weeks, when customers can return for a second fitting to ensure a perfect fit. The showroom works in tandem with Indochino’s e-commerce website, so men can access their profiles and reorder at their convenience. The showrooms are designed to be modern and bright, boasting comfortable reception areas and lounges dedicated to serving groom parties and other groups.
Dean Handspiker, Senior Director of Retail at Indochino, said: “Interestingly, our current showrooms are primarily appointment based but, with Square One first, and now Yorkdale, we’re seeing nearly half of our sales come from from passersby who walk in completely new to the brand”. He went on to say, ” Shopping Centres are now recognizing the uniqueness of our approach, that we are part of the next generation of retail, and thus a desirable tenant offering a point of differentiation in the market.”
Indochino’s sales growth is remarkable. In the first half of 2016, the retailer achieved 66% year-over-year sales growth, anchored by 76% in year-over-year in-store sales and a 76% increase in new customers omni-channel. The company sold more suits and shirts in the second quarter of 2016 than it did in the combined first two quarters of 2015.
Oberfeld Snowcap represents Indochino as brokerage in Canada. According to Oberfeld’s website, Indochino is seeking retail spaces both on streetfronts and in enclosed shopping centres, generally in the 1,500 to 2,000 square foot range. Given that the Square One location is 2,900 square feet and Yorkdale is over 2,200 square feet, we expect these numbers to be amended.
Indochino was founded in Vancouver in 2007 as an online custom suit retailer. Co-founder Kyle Vucko was recently replaced as CEO by Drew Green, founder of Shop.ca. Indochino’s showrooms include Canadian locations in Vancouver’s Yaletown area, three in the Greater Toronto Area (downtown Toronto, Yorkdale, and Mississauga’s Square One), and its U.S. showrooms are in New York City (Broome Street Soho), Boston (Newbury Street in Back Bay), Beverly Hills CA, San Francisco (Post Street, Union Square) and on Chestnut Street in downtown Philadelphia.
Photos are of the Yorkdale store, supplied by Indochino.
