Montreal-based women’s fashion retailer Reitmans recently leased a prime flagship location at 710 Sainte Catherine Street West in Montreal. The three-level space features over 3,600 square feet on each level, and is one door down from Reitmans’ plus-sized brand, Addition Elle.
Nickels Deli occupied the site until it vacated the building in May of 2015. The property was for lease until recently.
Reitmans will not confirm which of its brands will occupy the space. Our source told us “It was important for the broker to find a tenant to take all the building”. It’s important to note that Additon Elle’s space is currently for lease by Polaris, possibly providing a clue as to 710 Sainte Catherine’s newest tenant.
Regardless of what happens, the location is exceptional, being situated across the street from Montreal Eaton Centre. That centre will soon see a major renovation as it merges with adjacent Complexe les Ailes. Sainte Catherine Street will also see substantial improvements with beautification plans set out by the City of Montreal.
Upscale Toronto-based multi-brand menswear retailer philip is relocating its operations to a strategically located new space at Toronto’s Yorkville Village shopping centre, formerly Hazelton Lanes. The retailer has seen success through personalized client relations, resulting in its exceptional customer loyalty.
Brother and sister team Philip Zappacosta and Leandra Zappacosta, opened ‘philip’ (spelled with a lowercase ‘p’) at Hazelton Lanes three years ago, in a retail space on the mall’s lower level across from Whole Foods. As of this month, the retailer has relocated to a luxurious new space located upstairs between retailers TNT and Andrews. The ‘philip’ store is an intimate size in order to create a sense of home for its clientele, featuring a modern façade and custom built interiors. The store’s millwork is imported Italian exotic woods and artisan Italian marble flooring, accented with high polished chrome and bevelled glass, all built to facilitate a customized experience for their customers.
The ‘philip’ retail store boasts an exceptionally loyal customer base. The Zappacostas say that their team of staff is an extension of their family, with the store featuring age-old traditions including tailoring and collection curation that was started by their grandfather, Fernando Zappacosta, who had tailor shops in Toronto’s Little Italy on College Street in the 1960’s. Tailoring and fit are therefore of utmost importance to retailer ‘philp’ as well, ensuring clients look their best when wearing their purchases. “Clothing is carefully curated to characterize the appropriate expression of ones own image” explains Philip Zappacosta, “And that’s why we are the best and we are the only ones that do what we do.”
Being an unparalleled independent retailer, the members of the philip organization are able to individually get to know their clients building wardrobes based on habits, attitudes and taste standards. It’s the personalized, bonding relationships that are key, according to the Zappacostas. This includes properly stylizing a man with designer brands and their own offering in order to create the total look that is suitable for their clients – be it a more conservative suit or bolder fashions for a night out. Private at-home and in-office appointments are also available for busy clients.
Brands carried in-store include John Varvatos Collection, Armani Collezioni, Zegna, Paul & Shark, Corneliani, Eton of Sweden, Nanni Milano Belts and in-house brand philip – featuring both ready-to-wear and made-to-measure offerings. The founders’ father and mother, Tony and Bernadette Zappacosta, operated a chain of stores in all of the major Cadillac Fairview malls across Canada under the ‘Fenzi‘ nameplate in the 1980’s. In the 1990’s, they brought the Nanni Belt line to Canada, working with the Toronto Blue Jays to promote the stores during their 1991 and 1992 back-to-back World Series Championships. The stores were promoted by Roberto Alomar, all-star, second baseman, hall-of-famer for Toronto Blue Jays.
Philip and Leandra noted that it’s actually the high-end, luxury brands that do the highest sales in their store, reflecting the demographic of shoppers in the affluent Yorkville area. The team is looking to continue to curate and cultivate its brand mix as the Yorkville neighbourhood evolves, with the area attracting the likes of Christian Louboutin and Chanel boutiques on adjacent Yorkville Avenue.
Philip and Leandra Zappacosta also explained how they have low staff turnover in their store, which is a reflection of treating employees well and making them feel like family. Being that the store is an extension of them in many ways, Mr. Zappacosta explained the importance of hard work and ethics, both in client and staff relations. Mr. Zappacosta praised staff at his store well, crediting their exceptional efforts for his store’s success. He also credited landlord First Capital Realty for being visionary in their redevelopment of the neighbourhood.
Although ‘philip’ is an intimate one-location retailer, the Zappacosta’s explained that at some point, more ‘philip’ store locations could open in Canada. That will happen only when the right circumstances arise, however, as any growth will be organic.
The two-level, 100,000 square foot store CF Rideau Centre will be located in the mall’s expansion wing at the corner of Rideau Street and Nicholas Street. Simons will occupy the top two levels of the four level expansion, which will incorporate the facade for the former Ogilvy store which once occupied the site. The fourth floor, being Simons’ top floor, will be encased in glass which wraps up and over to form part of the roof. Simons’ bottom floor (third floor of the expansion), will include part of Ogilvy’s facade, which saw bricks carefully removed, cleaned, catalogued and reinstated to preserve its architectural significance.
The store’s interior was designed by award winning firm figure3, incorporating the most celebrated elements featured in Simons’ West Edmonton Mall and Montreal CF Galeries d’Anjou stores — including high gloss, bold colour fitting rooms, decorative woven animal heads and ‘porta pottie’ change rooms for young men. Architectural firm Lemay Michaud created the store’s overall framework and configuration at CF Rideau Centre.
FIGURE3 DESIGNED THE AWARD-WINNING WEST EDMONTON MALL SIMONS STORE, WHICH OPENED IN OCTOBER OF 2012
Each Simons’ store features a significant work from a Canadian artist. At the CF Rideau Centre location, Torrential Red, a striking installation by Shayne Dark, will be suspended in the centre of the store in Simons’ escalator atrium, connecting the bottom and top floors. Mr. Dark used ironwood saplings gathered from the forest floor near his home in Kingston, where he saturated the trees in a brilliant red pigment. He then intertwined and assembled the ironwood elements to create a 22-foot tall, 8-foot wide suspended sculpture which represents the contrast between urban and natural environments.
‘TORRENTIAL RED’, A STRIKING INSTALLATION BY SHAYNE DARK, WILL BE SUSPENDED IN THE CENTRE OF THE STORE IN SIMONS’ ESCALATOR ATRIUM, CONNECTING THE BOTTOM AND TOP FLOORS.
The store’s bottom floor, located on the third floor of CF Rideau Centre, will measure 35,000 square feet and will feature the following departments:
Djab: cutting edge, urban streetwear for young men
iFive: stylish active wear for women
Miiyu: feminine lingerie and loungewear for women
Twik: dynamic fresh looks for young women
Women’s Accessories
The store’s top floor, located on the fourth floor of CF Rideau Centre, will measure 56,000 square feet and will include the following:
Contemporaine: elegant women’s career and casual wear
Edito: men’s and women’s designer collections
Icône: cosmopolitan styles for the modern woman
iFive: stylish active wear for men
Le31: classic and avant-garde fashions for men of all ages
Maison: modern décor elements for the home
Men’s Accessories
Customer Service
The fourth floor will also feature Ève Café, a counter service café offering French Canadian inspired items with seating for 12. All recently opened Simons stores feature this dining concept.
The store will have some unique features specific to the Ottawa location. A separate set of stairs will connect the men’s shopping areas, allowing men to access the space without venturing through women’s fashions. The top floor of the men’s environment will feature large windows with a view of CF Rideau Centre’s rooftop garden. Views of the Byward Market and the newly created Ogilvy Square (a pedestrian area on Nicholas at Rideau) will be visible from the iFive women’s department on the bottom floor and from Ève Café and Maison on the top floor. Also unique to this store is how the youthful Djab and Twik departments will be together, with direct access to the mall.
Simons will feature significant window displays on Rideau Centre’s ground level facing Rideau Street, despite not having retail space on the street. A ground-level elevator will bring shoppers directly to both the third and fourth floors.
NYX Cosmetics is looking to expand its base of freestanding Canadian store locations, after launching in the Greater Toronto Area (‘GTA’) in the fall of 2015. British Columbia is the next market that the brand will target, according to brand director Rachelle Mladjenovic.
L’Oréal bought NYX (Named after the Greek goddess of the night, pronounced ‘Nix’) in 2014, and has expanded the brand significantly to include product lines in retailers selling cosmetics (such as Canadian retailers Shoppers Drug Mart, Rexall and London Drugs) and, most recently, freestanding stores. NYX was founded by Toni Ko in 1999, and is headquartered in Los Angeles. The brand is known for its high quality, affordably-priced rich-pigment cosmetics, which have gained a loyal following both with makeup artists as well as the general public. The brand stocks a wider variety of shades of foundation than most competitors, making it hugely popular in multicultural centres such as Toronto.
Ms. Mladjenovic explained that, based on consumer online searches, NYX determined that its first Canadian markets for freestanding stores should be in Ontario and British Columbia. NYX launched its first Ontario locations late last year at Mississauga’s Square One and at 363 Queen Street West in Toronto, and last month it opened a third GTA store at CF Toronto Eaton Centre. Stores are “the brand in 3-D”, she explained.
Photo: NYX PROFESSIONAL MAKEUP
NYX will open four more stores in Canada in 2016, including locations at Yorkdale Shopping Centre in Toronto and at CF Rideau Centre in Ottawa. Streetfront locations prove popular with Millennials — a key target demographic for NYX. Retail expert Farla Efros, President of HRC Advisory, noted that a freestanding brick and mortar strategy is smart marketing for the brand, following its gaining recognition through drug store and other retail/wholesale channels. Ms. Efros explained the ‘Four F’s (Fast, Fashionable, Feasible and Favored) and how NYX is addressing younger consumers (including Millennials and ‘Generation Z’) with an enhanced in-store experience, be it in popular shopping centres or on busy, youthful Queen Street West.
Ms. Mladjenovic explained how the Queen Street location is doing better than forecasted, also partly due to its proximity to local makeup schools. That location also features a studio downstairs where staff can be trained, influencers can meet, and Instagram stars can take photos or videos, for example. Much of the brand’s awareness is through social media and loyal fans that it considers to be ‘brand ambassadors’.
NYX’s freestanding stores also allow the brand to carry a wider variety of product compared to drug stores and other wholesale channels. Larger stores can house as many as 2,500 products per location, and retail storefronts allow NYX to quickly introduce and test new products. Storefronts also allow for tailored customer service, with one-on-one interactions providing feedback useful for product development, in a manner not possible in other channels, including online.
Ms. Mladjenovic revealed that NYX’s storefronts will be getting a bit larger as the brand expands and looks to carry a wider product assortment. Most recently-opened locations are in the 800 square foot to 1,000 square foot range, though NYX’s Yorkdale and Ottawa stores will be closer to 1,300 square feet, accommodating expanded product and crowds that may gather in the store. Architectural firm Gensler (Los Angeles office) works on NYX’s store design, and brokerage Northwest Atlantic represents NYX Cosmetics in Canada for its real estate.
The world’s largest made-to-measure menswear company, Vancouver-based Indochino, has just opened its first location inside a major shopping centre. Until now, Indochino’s storefronts have been on urban streetfronts. Indochino plans to open 150 retail stores globally by the year 2020, with a goal of selling a million suits annually.
Located at Mississauga’s Square One Shopping Centre, the new 2,900 square foot Indochino opened on Thursday, June 2. It replaces a Danier Leather location in the mall, which recently shuttered after filing for insolvency in March. Indochino is located next to another Vancouver based retailer, Lululemon, with Montreal-based B2 by Browns Shoes on its other side. Square One recently ranked 10th in our list of Canada’s most productive shopping centres, with 2015 sales per square foot of $994. That number has since surpassed $1,000 per square foot annually, according to landlord Oxford Properties.
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 ecommerce website, so men can access their profiles and reorder at their convenience. The bright, attractive retail space was designed by Indochino Director Dean Handspiker.
“Our showroom in downtown Toronto is thriving so we’re thrilled to open a second store in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) and bring our unique clothing experience to a suburban population,” said Indochino CEO Drew Green. “This is also our first shopping centre location, which presents a tremendous opportunity to rapidly increase our retail presence across North America.”
The GTA is currently the only place in the world with two Indochino showrooms, though that could change as it rolls out new locations. Indochino is also the second Canadian custom suit maker to recently open in Mississauga — Montreal-based Surmesur recently opened a showroom in the city’s Port Credit area.
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.
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 and downtown Toronto, 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.
Toronto-based Pusateri’s Fine Foods plans to re-open its 1539 Avenue Road location late this summer, following a devastating fire that closed the store in August of last year. The renovated store will include new features that were not previously in the store.
The overhauled flagship will feature over 15,000 square feet of redesigned retail and food service space, designed by Montreal-based GH+A, adding over 100 new brands to its grocery assortment. Full-service fresh departments will be upgraded, including an increased local and international cheese selection, a bolstered deli meat offering, an expanded bread boutique, as well as an amplified assortment of prepared food and elevated array of hand-rolled sushi.
New features in-store will include La Cucina, a demonstration area and rotisserie carving station; Greenhouse Juices, offering 100% organic cold-pressed juices; Pusateri’s Café, where guests can enjoy specially-made coffee blends and baked goods, as well as for the first time ever a full service restaurant on the premises.
“We would like to express our deep gratitude to the community for their unwavering support over the last several months,” says Pusateri’s president, Frank Luchetta. “The new Avenue Road Pusateri’s location will be better than ever, and we can’t wait to share it with you.”
Pusateri’s operated the Avenue Road store for almost 30 years, becoming a fixture in the local community. The company has since expanded to include grocery locations in Toronto’s affluent Yorkville area and at Toronto’s Bayview Village. A Pusateri’s location at RioCan Oakville Place is scheduled to open in July of this year, measuring about 18,000 square feet. Pusateri’s Fine Foods also operates Saks Fifth Avenue‘s Canadian Food Halls. Saks’ first food hall opened in February of this year on the lower level of Saks Fifth Avenue at CF Sherway Gardens in Toronto, and a second Saks Food Hall will open on the concourse level of Saks CF Toronto Eaton Centre/Queen Street some time this fall.
MAC Cosmetics has just opened its 100th Canadian store in Montreal, with its 101st location set to open this month in Quebec City. The Canadian-founded brand continues to open stores as it sees success in the Canadian market, with plans for more store openings as opportunities present.
The new Montreal regional flagship ‘Pro store’ is located at 770 Sainte-Catherine West, alongside other popular retailers in the city’s busiest retail corridor. The 1550 square foot store occupies a corner retail space in an 11-story confederation heritage building, offering the brand’s full MAC Pro collection (which is popular with makeup professionals) as well as MAC collaborations and limited edition collections. The Montreal flagship features eight makeup stations and two private makeup areas with capabilities for lessons and demos.
MAC Cosmetics replaces footwear retailer Spring, which closed that Sainte-Catherine Street store in late February of this year. Montreal-based Think Retail represented MAC Cosmetics in the lease deal with building landlord Polaris Realty.
The new Montreal store is hosting an “Art of the Lip” event from June 2 to 4, featuring DJs (including Montreal’s DJ Jojo Flores), drag performances by Milk (of RuPaul’s Drag Race fame) and Miss Butterfly, illustrators, models, and a photo booth.
PHOTO BY MAXIME FRECHETTE FROM MARCH OF 2016, SHOWING THE NEW MONTREAL MAC COSMETICS STORE LOCATION. EXTERIOR SIGNAGE HAS YET TO BE INSTALLED ON THE NEW MONTREAL STORE, SO WE WERE NOT PROVIDED AN UPDATED EXTERIOR PHOTO FOR THIS ARTICLE. CLICK IMAGE FOR INTERACTIVE GOOGLE MAP
Later this month, MAC will open a 1,588 square foot location at Place Sainte-Foy near Quebec City. The store will house six makeup stations, including a private makeup room.
“MAC is currently expanding in key cities across Canada, the birthplace of the brand, and seeking out markets and locations where makeup and trend are in high demand. It is important to us that our customer is offered the best accessibility to our products so we are pleased to be opening in two of Quebec’s most outstanding shopping destinations, Sainte-Catherine Street in Montreal and Place Sainte-Foy in Quebec City.” says Taposhi Gandhi, Brand Manager for MAC Cosmetics in Canada.
MAC (Make-up Art Cosmetics) was founded in Toronto in 1984, and is now part of Estée Lauder Companies, Inc. It’s sold in 110 countries/territories worldwide, and is one of the world’s top three makeup brands with annual turnover of over US $1 billion and over 500 independent stores, all run by professional makeup artists.
Italian home furnishings retailer Kartell has opened its first Canadian location, in Montreal’s trendy Griffintown. A second Canadian store will follow soon after in Toronto, according to the company.
Retail Insider’s Montreal correspondent Maxime Frechette visited the new Kartell store, providing photographs for this article as well as a video presentation of the new retail space. The 1,500 square foot Kartell store opened on Sunday at 1120 Wellington Street in Griffintown, alongside other home furnishing retailers such as EQ3, West Elm, Mitchell Gold + Bob Williams, Ligne Roset and others. Kartell features a front terrace that will be open from May to October, as well as an interior with soaring ceiling to display the store’s unique products.
Transparent furniture pieces on display in the new Kartell store in Montreal.
The company’s brick-and-mortar store strategy includes freestanding locations, as well as shop-in-stores within larger retailers. Kartell will utilize both, and will also soon launch a Canadian e-commerce site.
Kartell was founded in 1949 and sells furniture, home furnishings, lighting and home accessories. The company collaborates with famous designers such as Philippe Starck and Eugeni Quitlet to create pieces, which are often colourful and unique. Plastic is used in innovative ways in many designs. The company has over 130 freestanding stores, 250 shop-in-shops, and can be found in over 2,500 retailers in 130 countries worldwide.
Saks will replace a former Target store in the Calgary mall. Target exited that location in the spring of 2015 and before that, the 115,500 square foot space was occupied by a Zellers store.
Saks will join Nordstrom and Hudson’s Bay as department store anchors at CF Chinook Centre. Nordstrom opened its first Canadian store in the mall in September of 2014, and Hudson’s Bay (owned by the same company as Saks) has seen interior improvements over the past couple of years, as well as the addition of more upscale brands.
CF Chinook Centre has also become increasingly upscale in recent years, adding tenants such as Burberry, Tesla Motors, Tiffany & Co. and Kate Spade. Later this year, Ted Baker will open its first Calgary store in the mall, and more upscale tenants are expected to follow now that Saks has announced its Calgary location.
Saks will compete fiercely with Calgary’s 150,000 square foot Holt Renfrew, which is located downtown at The CORE. Holt’s is in the process of renovating and expanding that store, including the addition of luxurious personal shopping suites and a new restaurant.
Saks Fifth Avenue’s first Canadian stores opened in February of this year in Toronto. The 170,000 square foot CF Toronto Eaton Centre/Queen Street store opened on February 18, and a 143,000 square foot CF Sherway Gardens store followed on February 25. Hudson’s Bay Company has said that it is looking to eventually operate as many as eight full-priced Canadian Saks stores, with store announcements expected to be made for Vancouver and Montreal.
Calgary is also confirmed to be getting at least one of Saks’ off-price Saks OFF 5TH locations, at CrossIron Mills. It will be one of about 25 Canadian Saks OFF 5TH locations, according to owner Hudson’s Bay Company.
The Neighbourhood Pharmacy Association of Canada has announced that Sandra Aylward, who has been involved in Canada’s retail pharmacy industry for more than 30 years, has been named the 2016 recipient of the Len Marks Pharmacy Advancement Award. The award will be presented at the Chairman’s Dinner, June 14, 2016, during Pharmacy EXPO 2016.
A respected voice for pharmacy and as a past Chair of the Canadian Association of Chain Drug Stores (predecessor to Neighbourhood Pharmacies), Ms. Aylward dedicated much of her time to working with associations to advance pharmacy practice, to engage with governments to improve scope of practice, as well as reimbursement models. She has also been heavily involved in negotiations with governments on pharmacy service agreements and drug pricing reform.
Ms. Aylward has left her mark across the industry nationally and has been an outstanding leader in pharmacy. By promoting the role of the pharmacist as a frontline healthcare practitioner, and by engaging elected provincial politicians, Ms. Aylward has been instrumental in expanding pharmacists’ scope of practice across the country.
At Dalhousie University, Ms. Aylward took a leadership role in encouraging pharmacy students to become informed and active in professional advocacy issues, including the expanded role pharmacists can play in healthcare today. Ms. Aylward spent much of her career with Sobeys, where she worked with the Pharmacy Association of Nova Scotia, and other professional associations in Atlantic Canada in advancing pharmacy practice, in support of The Blueprint for Pharmacy and many other campaigns to increase implementation, access and funding for pharmacy services beyond traditional dispensing.
The Len Marks Pharmacy Advancement Award recipient is: Involved in supporting the development and excellence of pharmacy education at the university level, encouraging students to enter pharmacy as a career advance the standards of healthcare delivery; provides an environment ripe for education and training for pharmacy staff to advance the standards of healthcare delivery; and, promotes pharmacy as a community resource in the provision of pharmacy services and brings the attention of government and industry partners to the valuable contribution of community pharmacy.
Past recipients of the Len Marks Pharmacy Advancement Award include: David Windross, 2013; Russell Cohen, 2012; Barbara Wells, 2010; Albert Falardeau, 2009; and Sean McKelvey, 2008.
Neighbourhood Pharmacies represents the owners and operators of Canada’s leading drug store brands, operating in corporate chains, banners and buying groups, as well as mass merchandisers and grocery chains with pharmacies. For more information on this year’s Pharmacy Expo, visit events.neighbourhoodpharmacies.ca.
