Digitizing Your Customers’ Experience – 4 Ways Companies Can do it Successfully

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June 27, 2017

By Shelly Lowe, Vice President, Enterprise & Commercial, IBM Canada Ltd.

Twenty-four percent of Canadian businesses currently engage with their customers daily through social networks; with that in mind, many Canadian companies across various industries are launching digital initiatives with the goal of improving customers’ experiences.

According to a new study, however, not all consumers are enthusiastic about those digital transformations. Simply creating new digital ways to engage with consumers and expecting them to embrace them can put companies’ investments at risk.

A new study from the IBM Institute for Business Value (IBV), “The Experience Revolution – Digital Disappointment: Why Some Consumers Aren’t Fans,” surveyed more than 600 executives across Canada and worldwide from a variety of industries that are currently introducing new digital customer tools and services. The IBV also surveyed more than 6,000 consumers whose answers were compared with the executives’ responses to gauge their alignment.

The study found that while executives believe customers want to try new digital customer experience initiatives, consumers are more concerned with getting quick, convenient, and affordable results. In other words, there’s a disconnect between what executives think consumers want and what consumers actually want.

Of those survey respondents who said they tried to explore products by using virtual reality, using interactive digital displays in a company’s physical store, or interacting with a device or computer via voice command, about 70 percent said they were disappointed. As a result, they decided not to use these digital initiatives regularly.

The IBV also found that executives are severely underestimating the role generational differences play in consumer adoption of new digital experiences.

When asked if customers’ age would determine how quickly they’d adopt digital new customer experiences, only 38 percent of executives said they thought age would make a difference. The IBV then asked consumers a series of questions about specific types of digital customer experience initiatives being implemented by companies and found there were numerous instances when Millennials, Generation X, and Baby Boomers responded differently.

For example, while 24 percent of Millennials regularly locate products with a company’s mobile app when shopping, only 8 percent of Baby Boomers do so. And among the group of consumers who said they were familiar with companies’ digital customer experience initiatives, but hadn’t tried them, as many as 70 to 80 percent of Baby Boomers said it was because they weren’t interested.

As a result of the study’s findings, the IBV recommends four steps for companies to take when designing a new digital customer experience. They are:

1) Design digital experiences to meet customer expectations: Use a digital transformation as an opportunity to eliminate difficulties that customers have with the existing systems and reinvent the customer experience from the customers’ points of view. In other words, enable consumers to engage with the brand in ways that are faster, easier, or more convenient than traditional channels.

2) Analyze customers’ motivations: While it is important to recognize generational differences among consumers, companies should not stereotype individuals simply based on their age. By applying advanced analytics and cognitive technologies to comprehend both structured and unstructured customer data from a variety of sources, companies can build detailed customer profiles that will help determine the most successful customer experience initiatives.

3) Make it easier for customers to interact with your brand: One of the core values of any digital customer experience transformation should be ease of use and simplicity. Customers have already formed ideas about how easy it is to engage with and conduct transactions with individual businesses. Executives should conduct thorough research to understand what these expectations are and then test their new digital experience with customers to make sure it is simple to use and gives customers the flexibility they want.

4) Design marketing strategies to address specific needs of your customers: When launching a digital customer experience initiative, it is vital to clearly promote the benefits that customers value, such as time savings, convenience, and faster results. Segmentation and personalization can also be used to attract those customers who aren’t especially motivated to try a new digital customer experience by giving them additional incentives to try it out.

Re-imagining the experience, however, is only part of the solution. Companies also need to bring their innovations to market by clearly highlighting benefits that resonate with customers, which may require a roll-out strategy that includes plans for different customer segments. Otherwise, they risk putting into jeopardy not only their investment in a new digital customer experience, but also their brand’s image in the marketplace.

ECCO Opens 1st North American Flagship at Yorkdale [Photos]

By

Craig Patterson

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June 26, 2017

Popular Danish footwear and accessory brand ECCO has opened its first ‘Prime’ concept store in North America, in a retail space at Toronto’s Yorkdale Shopping Centre. Yorkdale joins ECCO Prime locations in three German cities — Hamburg, Berlin, and Flensburg, as well as in Amsterdam.

ECCO’s Prime concept is the company’s new flagship model, offering an expanded product assortment in an elevated retail environment. Yorkdale’s 1,550 square foot Prime location features a design that feels “distinctly Scandinavian,” according to the company, with design influenced by the brand’s roots in Tønder, Denmark, circa 1963.

The store’s bold, black facade features a unique patchwork installation over the display windows, made possible by Yorkdale’s soaring ceilings in that part of the mall. ECCO’s interior features a unique leather installation on the back wall that showcases the Toronto skyline. There are two seating areas in the store, and specially-designed modular wall fixtures allow for product display flexibility. Danish design house Louis Poulsen coordinated the store’s display lighting — an important component to optimally display the brand’s products.

JORDAN SEARLE, PRESIDENT OF ECCO SHOES CANADA, OPENS THE NEW YORKDALE STORE

ECCO Yorkdale (THE TORONTO SKYLINE ON A LEATHER INSTALLATION BEHIND THE STORE’S CASH DESK. SEATING IS ELEVATED AND COMFORTABLE)

Besides carrying ECCO’s typical offerings, the Yorkdale store also features footwear styles for children, golf and other sports styles. It also features a leather goods and accessories area — the second of its kind in Canada, following the opening of an ECCO accessory store in Vancouver last year.

Jordan Searle, President of ECCO Shoes Canada, noted that over the past year, ECCO’s Canadian operations have grown by 12%, and that there are plans for further expansion. ECCO is relocating its downtown Montreal store into a new location that will measure about 1,700 square feet, making it the company’s largest unit in Canada when it opens. The new Montreal flagship will also feature a dedicated leather goods and accessory shop-in-store.

In 2018, as well, ECCO will open two more Canadian stores — an Edmonton store will open at the Premium Outlet Collection at Edmonton International Airport in the spring of 2018, and a location at Quebec City’s Galeries de la Capitale will also open next year.

ECCO currently operates 31 stores in Canada, and in a recent interview, Mr. Searle revealed that the company plans to eventually operate about 45 Canadian stores as it continues to open a handful of locations each year in this country.

(PROMOTIONAL INSTALLATION IN FRONT OF THE NEW YORKDALE STORE. UNTIL JUNE 30, SHOPPERS CAN HAVE MINIATURE VERSIONS OF THEMSELVES CREATED, VIA TORONTO-BASED SELFTRAITS)

In May of this year, ECCO announced the appointment of a new global CEO, Steen Borgholm. Founded in Denmark in 1963, ECCO is unique in how it manages every aspect of the value chain from tanneries and shoe manufacturing to wholesale and retail activities. ECCO’s products are sold in 88 countries from over 2,000 ECCO shops and more than 14,000 sales points. The company is doing exceptionally well — in 2016, it saw the number of shoes sold increase by 5% over the year prior, while currency-adjusted sales through brick-and-mortar boutiques increased 10%, and online sales growth increased by 46%. ECCO opened about 100 new concept shops (including partner stores) last year.

INDOCHINO Sees Substantial Growth as it Announces US Expansion [Feature]

By

Craig Patterson

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June 26, 2017

The world’s largest made-to-measure menswear company, Vancouver-based INDOCHINO, continues to see exceptional growth as it opens new stores (aka ‘showrooms’), and gains consumer loyalty in the form of repeat online sales. The company’s CEO, Drew Green, says that he expected the company to finish the year with over 60% year-over-year net revenue growth over the past six months, after finishing 2016 with 54% year-over-year growth. INDOCHINO’s expansion is driven by being profitable, he noted, and the company has also just announced four more US showrooms, in some important retail locations in some of the country’s largest cities.

In an interview, Mr. Green explained the importance of the ‘lifetime value of a customer’ to INDOCHINO, and how a visit to a showroom can turn a customer into a repeat online purchaser. The in-store fitting experience is an initial relationship building tool that can then translate into further online sales, with customer measurements on file easily translating into a new suit or tailored shirt purchase. “Stores are an introductory channel for the brand,” explained Mr. Green, and that about 70% of customers in its showrooms are first-time visitors — and hopefully repeat customers.

The showroom lifts the online business, he explained, and until relatively recently, INDOCHINO was primarily an online business augmented with pop-up fittings. It was only in 2015 that INDOCHINO launched its first permanent retail space in Vancouver, and the company has now grown to boast eight showrooms in Canada and five in the United States.

*(WEST EDMONTON MALL SHOWROOM. FIXTURES IN THE STORE WERE CREATED BY RETAIL INSIDER PARTNER, VANCOUVER-BASED PEREGRINE, WHICH WORKS WITH SOME OF THE COUNTRY’S LEADING RETAILERS AND THEIR INTERIORS.*

The Greater Toronto Area was something of a test market for INDOCHINO, in terms of number of showroom locations in one region. There are now three INDOCHINO locations in the GTA (Downtown Toronto, Yorkdale and Square One in Mississauga), and Vancouver recently saw the opening of its second showroom at Metropolis at Metrotown in Burnaby. Mr. Green revealed that each Toronto showroom is profitable, and that opening costs for each were recovered in under a year. Having multiple locations better serves the region, and each showroom is often at capacity with client appointments. Over the weekend, for example, Mr. Green said that the Yorkdale and Square One showrooms were fully booked.

INDOCHINO’s American business is booming, and Mr. Green explained that between 65% and 70% of the company’s sales come from south of the border. INDOCHINO relies heavily on data, and uses it to determine in which markets to open retail spaces. New York City was an obvious choice and in the summer of 2016, the company opened a Manhattan showroom — joining showrooms in central Philadelphia, Boston, Beverly Hills and San Francisco.

New York City and Philadelphia have been such strong markets, that INDOCHINO has decided to open second locations in each region. Opening on July 7 is a showroom on Broad Street across from the New York Stock Exchange, which will no doubt be a hit for the men who work in one of the world’s most important financial districts. The second Philadelphia-area showroom (opening on August 11) will be in the suburban King of Prussia shopping centre, which is not only one of the country’s largest malls, but also boasts a significant clustering of luxury brand boutiques catering to wealthy nearby Main Line residents.

A Chicago INDOCHINO showroom will also make its debut on July 14, and will be located in The Shops at North Bridge — a downtown retail centre anchored by Nordstrom’s second-highest volume unit, and located just to the north of The Loop (central business district), on North Michigan Avenue, aka ‘The Magnificent Mile’. At 1,600 square feet, the Chicago space will be the company’s smallest to date.

Suburban Washington DC is also about to see its first permanent INDOCHINO showroom, opening on July 21. It will be located at the prestigious Tyson’s Galleria, which is anchored by Neiman Marcus and Saks Fifth Avenue, as well as housing a number of notable luxury retailers. It’s clear that INDOCHINO is taking its real estate choices seriously by locating in some of America’s most important retail locations.

“It’s been a stellar year of profitable growth and we’re committed to keep growing the business in a strategic and sustainable way as we offer men around the world personalized clothing at unprecedented value,” Mr. Green said. “We’ve inspired a new way for men to shop by providing a realistic and affordable alternative to ready to wear. I’m inspired every single day by my colleagues in North America and China who have worked tirelessly to build this incredible movement.”

INDOCHINO at Metrotown (Image: INDOCHINO)

The US store announcement comes as the company posted outstanding growth and profitable results for the previous six-month period between Dec 1, 2016 and May 28, 2017, compared with the same period last year.

Highlights for the year-over-year period, being Dec 1, 2016 and May 28, 2017, include:

Net revenue increase of 57%+
Gross Margin improvement of 1100 basis points
INDOCHINO’s customer base grew 43%
Ad spend increased by 18% and non-showroom global headcount grew by 13%
Both EBITDA and Net Income is on pace to improve by over $11m USD in 2017

Mr. Green said that INDOCHINO will continue to examine consumer data to determine where to open brick-and-mortar locations. Data and analytics are key to the company, and were instrumental in INDOCHINO deciding to open in Calgary, for example, recognizing that the Alberta city was INDOCHINO’s top Canadian online market. While there are no confirmed locations at the moment, Mr. Green said that Winnipeg could eventually see a showroom, as could the province of Quebec — Mr. Green figures that INDOCHINO could open three or four showrooms there at some point, though it would be important to “serve the province in the right way”, including “creating a bilingual experience”.

(Editor’s note: Oberfeld Snowcap represents INDOCHINO as brokerage in Canada)

Vancouver, not typically known for men wearing suits, is changing. Mr. Green said that men are dressing up more in the city than in the past, and that the Lower Mainland could even support another INDOCHINO showroom. The Vancouver Yaletown showroom is the company’s largest at an impressive 4,500 square feet, and it does the second-highest sales volume (it competes with the current Manhattan location for the top position).

INDOCHINO is a private company, at least for now. In February 2016, the company announced a US $30 million strategic investment by Dayang Group — the world’s largest suit manufacturer — which has helped accelerate the company’s expansion plans, significantly enhanced the product offering to its customers, and generated additional operating efficiencies. INDOCHINO announced a major international expansion last year, with the goal to open about 150 retail stores globally while selling a million suits annually by the year 2020. The company was founded in Vancouver in 2007 as an online custom suit retailer and in late 2015, co-founder Kyle Vucko was replaced as CEO by Shop.ca founder Drew Green.

La Maison Simons Prepares to Open Innovative Londonderry Location [Renderings]

By

Craig Patterson

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June 23, 2017

Quebec City-based large format fashion retailer La Maison Simons is preparing to open its 15th location this summer. The two-level, 90,000 square foot store will open its doors late August at Edmonton’s Londonderry Shopping Centre — Simons’ second in the Edmonton Market. The store will feature new initiatives in environmental sustainability, and it will also be the company’s first to feature dedicated shoe departments.

Simons will anchor the north end of the overhauled Londonderry, which has been undergoing a $130 million transformation that commenced in late 2014. When the mall is completed in a few months, it will be almost unrecognizable, according to landlord 20 VIC Management Inc.

The Londonderry Simons will feature the company’s first dedicated shoe department. According to President and CEO, Peter Simons, a shoe department rollout is in the works company-wide, and is a response to requests both from consumers seeking a broader assortment, as well as existing suppliers seeking to expand their product offerings. Londonderry will feature separate men’s and women’s shoe departments, noted Mr. Simons, each exceeding 1,000 square feet.

Environmental sustainability is key to the new Londonderry Simons, and over 50% of the store’s electricity usage will come from on-site renewable energy sources. The north parking lot beside Simons will include approximately 80 car parking spots that will be covered with canopies featuring 720 bifacial solar modules (the latest in solar technology), with glass on both surfaces to capture both direct and reflected sunlight. There will also be 950 high efficiency solar modules on Simons’ roof, and the entire solar-electric system is expected to generate over 550,000 kWh per year (the equivalent of 80 homes) in energy, while reducing greenhouse gas emissions by more than 350 tonnes per year.

Inside the store, LED lamps and fixtures throughout will reduce electricity devoted to lighting by more than 40%, when compared to traditional halogen light fixtures.

Electric car charging stations will be installed in the parking lot adjacent to the store. Included will be two ‘level 2’ chargers and one ‘level 3’ fast charger, which will charge most electric vehicles to 80% in about 30 minutes.

Local artwork will be an important component to the Londonderry store, as with all Simons locations. Alberta artist and activist Peter von Tiesenhausen agreed to his first ever corporate commission for the Londonderry store. His installation, which will be suspended from the second floor, will be called ‘Drawn by Desire’ and will include a 50-foot-long art installation that will appear to be an abstract grouping of human figures cut out of aluminum plates. When viewed head on from Simons’ first level mall entrance, however, the 500 carefully positioned plates come together to form a large, single human silhouette that will mirror the individual aluminum figures.

As well, local artist Hayley Wright (a former employee from the West Edmonton Mall Simons location) will supply illustration and skateboard designs that will appear in the store’s young women’s department ‘Twik’, with a large-scale watercolour portrait in the fitting room entrance and a custom set of skate boards mounted in the denim area featuring fun, inspiring messages, colours and patterns.

Quebec-based LEMAYMICHAUD is leading both the architecture and design of the Londonderry Simons. The design firm is using contrasting colours and materials to define each department, as per renderings supplied for this article.

The Londonderry store will be configured with the following departments:

Level 1:
Djab (cutting edge, urban streetwear for young men)
Le31 (classic and avant-garde fashions for men of all ages)
iFive (stylish activewear for men)
Men’s Accessories
Men’s Shoes
Customer Service

Level 2
Twik (dynamic fresh looks for young women)
Icône (cosmopolitan styles for the modern woman)
Contemporaine (elegant women’s career and casual wear)
iFive (stylish activewear for women)
Miiyu (feminine lingerie and loungewear for women)
Women’s Accessories
Women’s Shoes
Maison (modern décor elements for the home)

Londonderry’s Simons location will carry fewer pricy designers than the West Edmonton Mall location, which opened in August of 2012 (West Edmonton Mall was Simons’ first foray outside of the province of Quebec). In March of this year, Simons opened a unique five-level Calgary store — its second in Alberta. In total, the company has 15 stores across the country in major markets including Vancouver, Edmonton, Calgary, Mississauga (GTA), Ottawa/Gatineau, Montreal, Sherbrooke and Quebec City. Simons was founded in 1840 by John Simons as a dry goods store in Quebec City, and is now led by brothers Peter and Richard Simons.

Mark McEwan Grocery Store to Anchor Yonge-Bloor Transformation [Feature]

By

Craig Patterson

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June 22, 2017

The area around Toronto’s Yonge and Bloor intersection is in the process of a substantial transformation, with a number of major projects in the works, and a number of new retailers on the way. Thousands of new residential units will eventually house upscale residents, and retailers securing space in order to serve them. The latest major announcement for the area is a Mark McEwan grocery store, which will open towards the end of 2018 in the commercial podium of One Bloor East. By the end of the decade, Toronto’s Bloor-Yorkville will arguably be home to the city’s highest concentration of grocery retailers in one geographic area.

Mark McEwan’s new Bloor Street grocery store will be the third for the McEwan Group — in the summer of 2009, McEwan opened a 21,740 square foot grocery store at CF Shops at Don Mills in Toronto, followed by a 5,500 square foot grab-and-go focused location at Toronto’s TD Centre, located in the heart of Canada’s Financial District.

Bloor-Yorkville’s McEwan will be located within the commercial podium of the new One Bloor East tower, currently under construction. McEwan will span two levels — a ground floor level with an entrance near the corner of Hayden Street and Yonge Street will measure 872 square feet, featuring access to a lower-level 17,228 square foot grocery retail space. As with McEwan’s other two locations, the new One Bloor East McEwan is expected to offer an array of gourmet food and services, catering to discerning foodies in the immediate area, as well as commuters — the Yonge-Bloor subway station is the busiest in the country.

Construction on the new McEwan grocery store is expected to begin in March of 2018, and the company anticipates the store being finished towards the end of 2018.

Two of the country’s leading brokers were involved with the deal — David Wedemire and Stan Vyriotes of DWSV Remax Ultimate Realty Inc. acted on behalf of McEwan Group in the lease deal with landlord First Capital Realty.

First Capital recently acquired the One Bloor East retail podium, which will also become home to Canada’s first Nordstrom Rack location in early 2018. Nordstrom Rack will occupy two levels, including about 8,870 square feet on the podium’s ground level at the corner of Yonge and Bloor Streets, and an upstairs level of retail space spanning about 29,675 square feet. Other tenant announcements are expected to be made as the complex is finished.

First Capital Realty’s Chief Operating Officer, Jordan Robins, said in a statement:

“We are thrilled to welcome a flagship 18,000 square foot McEwan’s that will occupy the entire concourse level of our newly constructed flagship retail property located at One Bloor Street East in Toronto. McEwan’s is one of the most distinct and sought-after food retailers in the Country, and their brand is consistent with our vision and our desire to offer our customers an unparalleled retail experience. McEwan’s commitment to our centre reaffirms One Bloor East as the shopping and dining destination of choice in the City”. Mr. Robins noted that McEwan is planning to open in the fourth quarter of 2018.

Mr. Robins provided insight into the area, as well as expressing confidence that the new stores will be a success. “We have no doubt that McEwan’s at One Bloor East will be embraced by a customer base which includes; the residents who live in the 789 condominium units above the Centre, the 400,000 daily transit users who access the adjacent Bloor/Yonge subway station and the employees who work in the over 8-million square feet of office space in the surrounding Bloor Street market.”

Toronto’s Yonge and Bloor Intersection, as well as areas around it, are seeing a substantial transformation. Across Yonge Street from First Capital Realty’s property is Sam Mizrahi’s THE ONE at 1 Bloor Street West, which will house a number of retailers at the commercial base of a residential tower that will soar more than a thousand feet above. A number of other condominium towers are under construction in the immediate area and when they’re finished, thousands more people will be within walking distance of the Yonge and Bloor Intersection. A number of other potential infill projects have yet to be formally announced, including the redevelopment of the block directly south of One Bloor Street East.

By 2019, the Yonge-Bloor area will arguably have the city’s highest concentration of grocery retailers — including some of its most interesting. Scheduled to open in early 2019 is ‘grocerant’ concept Eataly, which will open a three-level, 50,000 square foot location at Manulife Centre, a block west of the Yonge and Bloor Intersection. Loblaw-franchised Bloor Street Market operates a 21,000 square foot store in the basement of Manulife Centre, serving locals in a typical format. Upscale grocery retailer Pusateri’s Fine Foods operates a 5,500 square foot marble-clad location at the southwest corner of Bay Street and Yorkville Avenue, and Whole Foods operates a 50,000 square foot location at the nearby Yorkville Village shopping centre. Longo’s operates a grocery store location at the corner of Bloor Street East and Park Road at the base of the Hudson’s Bay Centre complex, and the immediate area is also home to a number of smaller 24-hour Rabba Fine Foods locations. Not to mention, American-Asian grocery chain H-Mart recently opened a small but convenient location on Yonge Street, just off the corner of Yonge and Hayden Streets.

The Yonge-Bloor area is seeing a substantial transformation as mentioned, and we’ll be doing a separate feature article in July providing an update of the area, including insights from a number of key brokers doing deals in the area.

Vistaprint Opens 1st Global Brick and Mortar Retail Space, in Canada

By

Craig Patterson

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June 21, 2017

Dutch ecommerce brand Vistaprint has opened its first ever brick and mortar retail space, and it chose Canada, specifically Toronto, as the launch city. The new Vistaprint Studio is targeting small businesses in the area with Vistaprint services, and it will also offer workshops throughout the year. Vistaprint says that the initiative is a “truly seamless experience between the online shop and retail space.”

Vistaprint produces physical and digital marketing products for small and micro businesses, and has 17 million micro business owners as customers. Vistaprint is a whole owned subsidiary of Cimpress N.V., a publicly traded company based in the Netherlands.

Located at 720 King Street West, the new 1,700 square foot Vistaprint Studio is contained in a bright, south-facing retail space just west of Toronto’s downtown core. Consumers can touch and feel products, and get face-to-face assistance from ‘VP Coaches’. Vistaprint recognized that in a recent survey of the company’s North American customer base, 64% of business owners want more one-on-one in-person support when designing their new marketing materials.

Vistaprint Studio, the company’s first ever brick and mortar, is now open in Toronto at 720 King Street West. (CNW Group/Vistaprint Studio)

“At Vistaprint Studio we are offering exclusive services you can’t find anywhere else, including free graphic design — services we heard our customers want and which solidify our investment in the success of their businesses, now and in the future,” said Vistaprint’s CEO, Trynka Shineman.

Vistaprint says that its new retail space is designed as “a flexible environment to continuously tailor the experience to the needs of the local business owners,” featuring complimentary real-time one-on-one design services — services business owners would have to pay upwards of $100 per hour elsewhere. Vistaprint Studio offers free shipping to the store, and new technologies to assist in creating enhanced marketing materials, such as an interactive touchscreen logo maker.

The King Street West Vistaprint Studio is open six days a week, excluding Sundays.

Sara Nash, public relations manager at Vistaprint, explained that Toronto was chosen for Vistaprint’s first foray into brick and mortar retailing for a number of reasons. More than half of the company’s Canadian online customer base is in the Greater Toronto Area and furthermore, “it’s booming, and very supportive of small business,” she said. “Canada is our strongest growth market globally, and is a market where we also have very high customer satisfaction rates. So, we wanted to open the Vistaprint Studio in a well-known market to us and a place where we are excelling.”

The new retail space will be a test for the company, and it might tweak a few things here and there based on customer feedback. “What we’ve created is a seamless experience between our online and offline offerings,” she said, noting that Vistaprint “purposely built a flexible environment where we will have the ability to iterate and optimize rapidly as customers give us feedback on the in-store experience, to ultimately create the best experience for our customers.”

When asked if more locations would follow, Ms. Nash said that the company doesn’t currently have plans “beyond making this first store the best experience for the customers,” and that “the way success will be measured is really through customer satisfaction. We believe that if we can create a store that really delights the customer and meets their needs, then the business model will follow and we will see where it goes from there.”

Vistaprint was one of the first businesses to offer customers desktop publishing capabilities through the internet, when it was founded in 1999. The company’s history extends back to 1995, when Robert Keane founded the company in Paris, under the name Bonne Impression (at the time, it was a direct marketer of desktop publishing software and pre-printed laser-printer-compatible specialty papers to help small businesses produce brochures/stationary/business cards). Bonne Impression became Vistaprint in 1999 when it adopted an internet-based business model. The company has grown to become a significant international company with over 2,500 employees, regional headquarters in Boston, Barcelona and Sydney, and boasts 24 localized websites that deliver product to over 130 countries.

ALEX AND ANI Launches National Retail Expansion

By

Craig Patterson

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June 20, 2017

Alex and Ani at Square One in Mississauga

American jewellery brand ALEX AND ANI continues to open Canadian stores, which it says is a response to exceptional consumer demand. The company opened its first freestanding Canadian stores about 18 months ago, and it also has a considerable wholesale presence in retailers nationwide, including Hudson’s Bay.

ALEX AND ANI’s first Canadian store opened in December of 2015 at Upper Canada Mall in Newmarket, Ontario, just north of Toronto. Several days later, a Yorkdale Shopping Centre boutique opened in Toronto. Four more stores have since opened — in March of 2016, ALEX AND ANI opened at Mississauga’s Square One, followed by two stores in August of 2016 at CF Rideau Centre in Ottawa and at CF Carrefour Laval, north of Montreal. Most recently, the downtown Montreal Eaton Centre saw the opening of a location, which is already seeing considerable pedestrian traffic.

Responding to interview questions, ALEX AND ANI’S Vice President of International Business Development, Omar Ajaj, discussed the company’s expansion in Canada. When asked why the company initially decided to open freestanding Canadian units, he said, “we were prompted by consumer demand for what our company offers. By this, we mean that our consumers want more than our product”. ALEX AND ANI’s value proposition is unique — it’s selling more than just a product. When discussing why there’s a demand for the brand in Canada, Mr. Ajaj said, “They are interested in what we do as a humanitarian company. This encompasses our missions to support our planet, the people on it, and the communities we live in. Customers are no longer fixated on consuming and collecting objects; they buy things with meaning and purpose. We connect with our customers on a different level and the Canadian market is a part of this.”

While ALEX AND ANI’s Canadian stores are all within enclosed shopping malls. Mr. Ajaj noted that in the company’s global portfolio, some are on urban street-fronts. In seeking out real estate, the company typically targets spaces in the 800 square foot to 1,200 square foot range, he noted — with high-traffic areas being a priority.

When asked about ALEX AND ANI’s plans for more stores in Canada, Mr. Ajaj noted that the company is in the process of strategizing. “As we mature in the market we want to be accessible to our consumers. We anticipate having distribution throughout Canada but timing is not fully defined yet.” The expansion will be calculated, including taking into consideration its wholesale distribution. “Expanding our retail store footprint is a definite part of our 5-year plan,” said Mr. Ajaj, going on to say, “The amount of stores will be defined by the market and our other retail partnerships. As we build our presence along the west coast in the US we will explore the Vancouver market in tandem.”

Founded in Rhode Island in 2004, the brand is known for its “eco-conscious, positive energy products that adorn the body, enlighten the mind and empower the spirit”, according to its website. Designer Carolyn Rafaelian founded the company, and the brand’s name comes from a combination of the first names of Ms. Rafaelian’s two daughters. Designs include bangles, bracelets, necklaces, earrings, and rings. Remarkably, bracelets feature a patented sliding mechanism that replaces the traditional clasp, making each bracelet ‘one-size-fits-all’. All ALEX AND ANI products are made in the United States.

The company first came to national attention in 2004 when it produced a necklace featuring an apple for Gwyneth Paltrow, following the birth of her daughter, Apple, leading to a large number of orders of similar merchandise.

Ladurée to Open 1st Toronto Location

By

Craig Patterson

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June 20, 2017

Laduree Construction at Yorkdale Shopping Centre (PHOTO: VERGO CONSTRUCTION)

UPDATE: Ladurée opened December 14, 2017, and we photographed and wrote about the new space.

French luxury bakery and sweets maker Ladurée will open its first Toronto location later this year. It will be Ladurée’s third Canadian location, following the opening of two downtown Vancouver locations.

Ladurée entered Canada in March of 2016, when it opened a 1,100 square foot boutique and 23-seat tea salon at 1141 Robson Street in Vancouver. A 500 square foot Ladurée concession (including an 18-seat tea salon) opened in March of this year at Vancouver’s Holt Renfrew’s CF Pacific Centre flagship, adjacent to the store’s recently unveiled 8,500 square foot women’s designer footwear salon.

Toronto’s first Ladurée will open towards the end of 2017, in a 1,185 square foot retail space at Yorkdale Shopping Centre. Yorkdale’s Ladurée will be in an expansion of the mall’s ‘luxury wing’, across the hall from recently opened luxury retailer Saint Laurent, and next to a Links of London boutique that will open this summer.

According to Ladurée’s Canadian licensee, Olesya Krakhmalyova, the new Toronto Ladurée will feature a retail area as well as a 26-seat tea salon, with a menu similar to that of the Robson Street location. Included will be Ladurée’s signature macarons in a variety of flavours, as well as teas, jams, branded honey, Ladurée accessories and other merchandise, as well as gift boxes. The tea salon will feature a variety of tea and other drinks, as well as popular menu items such as French toast and ice cream. Ms. Krakhmalyova noted that L’Afternoon Tea Ladurée is very popular in Vancouver.

Ms. Krakhmalyova explained that Toronto’s Ladurée will include some features that will be ‘unique to Toronto’, with details to be revealed shortly. The Yorkdale boutique, as with all Ladurée locations, will be designed by the company’s in-house team. Ms. Krakhmalyova revealed that the company is working with leading firm Vergo Construction’s Commercial Interiors Division and that Vergo is providing complete construction management including the planning (drawings, etc), procurement and project management of the entire project. Vergo’s Commercial Interiors Division has expanded its focus into high end and luxury retail.

If the Yorkdale Ladurée is anything like the Vancouver locations, it will be beautiful — Vancouver’s Robson Street tea salon features Carrara marble-topped cream wooden tables along with lyre back chairs in rose and almond green hues, and small floral benches. Ladurée supplied photos in this article of the Vancouver locations.

1,100 SQUARE FOOT VANCOUVER LADURÉE LOCATION AT 1141 ROBSON STREET

INSIDE THE VANCOUVER ROBSON STREET LADURÉE RETAIL SPACE

While many lease deals are coordinated through brokers, Ms. Krakhmalyova explained that in this instance, Ladurée worked directly with landlord Oxford Properties on the Yorkdale deal. “We had a shared vision,” said Ms. Krakhmalyova, and Oxford presented a retail space opportunity that was just too good to pass up.

Vancouver’s Robson Street Ladurée recently became licensed, now serving signature alcoholic beverages. Ms. Krakhmalyova said that she hopes the new Yorkdale location will be able to serve alcoholic drinks, though that will depend on securing licensing.

The Vancouver locations will soon see an expanded assortment of fresh pastries later this year — Ms. Krakhmalyova explained that she will be opening a ‘laboratory’ kitchen in the city soon, and that a pastry chef is being moved to Vancouver to supply locations with a full range of Ladurée pastries — until now, only a limited selection has been available in Canada.

Each Ladurée location requires detail-oriented precision, noted Ms. Krakhmalyova, so Ladurée’s Canadian rollout will be carefully executed. The two Vancouver locations opened almost exactly a year apart, she noted, and the company’s focus for Toronto will initially just be on the Yorkdale location. A second Toronto location in the downtown core is a possibility, she noted, as is the possibility of entry into Montreal, though nothing is currently planned until the Yorkdale location opens and is fully operational.

Founded in Paris in 1862, Ladurée is best known for its double-decker macarons, selling over 15,000 of them daily. Many Ladurée locations also sell ice cream, sorbets, jams, chocolate and candy, as well as branded accessories. Ladurée was purchased by French business group Groupe Holder in 1993, expanding Ladurée from a handful of locations to dozens of boutiques in 25 countries. The company currently has eight American locations, including two in Manhattan, two in Los Angeles (The Grove, and in Beverly Hills), three in the Miami area (Miami Beach, Miami Design District, Bal Harbour Shops), and one in Washington, DC.

*Top photo of the future Yorkdale space: Vergo Construction. Other photos of the Vancouver Ladurée locations were supplied by Ladurée.

THE 500 SQUARE FOOT VANCOUVER HOLT RENFREW LADURÉE CONCESSION IS LOCATED AT THE EDGE OF THE STORE’S WOMEN’S FOOTWEAR SALON

Holt Renfrew Unveils Luxurious 2-Level VIP Suites in Vancouver [Photos]

By

Craig Patterson

-

June 19, 2017

Holt Renfrew continues to renovate and expand its highly productive Vancouver flagship, which some are saying is now the ‘best’ store in the company in terms of its overall look and offerings. Holt’s has unveiled a luxurious collection of personal shopping suites in a dramatic new two-level space, which includes a rooftop patio and ‘The Apartment’ for VIP guests.

The apartment’ features a dining area and outdoor patio. photo holt Renfrew

New York City-based architectural firm Janson Goldstein was commissioned to re-imaging the CF Pacific Centre flagship, resulting in ongoing construction that has included renovating the existing store, as well as adding an additional 40,000 square feet of retail space. The project began in the summer of 2015, and is expected to be completed by mid-2018.

Last week, Holt Renfrew unveiled its newly expanded two-level personal shopping suites, which span 6,000 square feet over two levels. On the women’s fashion floor, three personal shopping suites are served by a reception area, and there’s more upstairs — a glass staircase leads to an additional four more suites, as well as ‘The Apartment’ which encompasses 1,200 square feet. Amenities in the newly expanded personal shopping suites include private washrooms, two kitchenettes and full access to the food/beverage menus at the recently-opened Holt’s Café. Both floors are connected via a passenger elevator to the store’s ‘Holt’s Valet’.

Seven personal shoppers serve clients in the Vancouver store, and can be booked through the store’s personal shopping reception. Suites accommodate extended appointments where a curated assortment of product is prepared in advance, based on a client’s needs/preferences. The service is complimentary, and Holt’s makes millions in annual sales from the private suites — the investment into the new suites will no doubt pay off.

While the upper-level personal shopping suites are targeted towards female shoppers, men also have their own, with two additional men’s personal shopping suites being located in the expanded Holt Renfrew Men section of the store. That brings the total number of personal shopping suites in the store to nine, in addition to The Apartment — no Holt Renfrew store, or any store in Canada for that matter, can boast such an offering.

The Apartment is particularly notable, offering the ultimate luxury retail experience in the city. It features a ‘residential’ look with a living room, dining area, an expansive fitting room, private powder room, and a wrap-around outdoor patio that overlooks the city. The private space is reserved by appointment for top clients in the store, as well as visiting celebrities/high profile individuals seeking out privacy in a discrete environment. Holt Renfrew notes that The Apartment will also be used for unique events such as fine jewellery trunk shows and other ‘curated experiences’.

Vancouver’s Apartment is the third for Holt’s — the concept launched at Holt’s Yorkdale store in January of 2014, and a second opened last summer at the newly opened Holt Renfrew location at Mississauga’s Square One. The Vancouver Apartment is the only one to feature such an outdoor space, not to mention such a large adjacent set of personal shopping suites.

Interiors in both The Apartment and the personal shopping suites have a modern residential feel, with custom chandeliers, custom furniture pieces and carpets. The overall palette is muted in tones of white, taupe, grey and espresso, with natural light provided from the open staircase skylight. Designer furniture and artwork is featured throughout the new two level space.

Vancouver’s Holt Renfrew store is now considered by many to be the company’s top location, in terms of overall look, amenities, and designer offering. The store now spans an impressive 187,700 square feet over four levels (including a top level for the aforementioned personal shopping suites/Apartment), and includes the company’s most comprehensive designer offerings in a number of departments including menswear, women’s designer apparel, and women’s shoes. Earlier this year, Holt’s unveiled its new 8,500 square foot women’s shoe hall, featuring nine luxury designer brand shop-in-stores as well as an adjacent 800 square foot Ladurée café. In September of 2016, Holt’s unveiled its new Vancouver Holt Renfrew Men store, which has its own exterior entrance facing onto Howe Street. In September of 2016, as well, Holt’s debuted a vastly expanded accessories hall, with a number of enlarged designer boutiques for the likes of Chanel, Louis Vuitton, Tiffany & Co. and David Yurman.

new 8,500 square foot women’s shoe hall, featuring nine designer shop-in-stores and a wide assortment of luxury brand offerings.

There’s still approximately a year left on the store’s renovations, according to Holt Renfrew. This summer (mid-July), Holt’s will unveil its expanded and redesigned women’s contemporary designer floor, as well as a new 12,000 square foot ‘beauty hall’ that will be relocated to the store’s lower-level. When the store is completed next year, it will be considered to be one of the top luxury stores in North America in terms of its brand and services offerings. It remains to be seen if any other store in Canada, be it Holt’s or otherwise, will be able to match the Vancouver store in terms of its offerings, though Vancouver is a ‘special’ city in terms of luxury retail in Canada at the moment — some Alberni Street/Luxury Zone boutiques see annual sales-per-square foot in excess of $6,000-$10,000+, and the city’s Nordstrom flagship is now said to be the top-selling in the entire company, driven by luxury women’s handbags, footwear, cosmetics, and ready-to-wear.

Drake Commissary Debuts in Junction Triangle [Photos]

By

Retail Insider

-

June 19, 2017

By Martin Owusu

Toronto’s Junction Triangle received a new addition last week, with the opening of the Drake Commissary at 128 Sterling Road. The 8,000 sq. ft. bakery, bar and larder forms a cornerstone of Toronto’s Drake Hotel properties and produces original food items for the Drake’s primary retail extension, Drake General Store.

The location is the fifth location in a suite of Drake properties which include The Drake Hotel, Drake One Fifty (restaurant), Drake Devonshire (hotel in Prince Edward County) and Drake General Store (now with six locations) .

The Drake General Store, which opened its 3-storey flagship last summer at 1151 Queen Street West, sells a number of signature food items in addition to traditional gift shop retail offerings and signature maple syrups, sourced from the freshly minted, Drake Commissary.

In addition to serving the needs of the Drake Commissary and Drake General Store, the Drake Commissary’s kitchen functions as the culinary production hub and main supplier for all the Drake properties’ made-from-scratch menu items. This makes it a critical piece of the Drake enterprise.

The Drake Commissary itself is an uncommon combination of large-scale food production, food-retail and restaurant, smoothly held together by The Drake’s consistently curated themes of artistry, antiquity and authenticity.

Signature retail items like maple syrup, duck liver pate and cured salmon are made from scratch on location, and are integrated throughout the restaurant and bar space.

In addition to pre-made selections from the kitchen commissary, a 140-person seated dining area allows guests to sit-in and enjoy fast-casual menu items from the kitchen and coffee/cocktail bar. Guests can also order menu items from the Drake Commissary’s 40-seat patio.

While the restaurant, bar and dining area may take up most of the Drake Commissary’s 8,000 square feet, the commissary kitchen is the location’s intended centrepiece.

“The restaurant is a way to showcase what we’re doing in terms of [food] production. Without the restaurant, we wouldn’t have the draw,” said Ted Corrado, Corporate Executive Chef of Drake Hotel Properties. “But the heart of it is the food program we do,” he added.

Guests can peer into the Drake’s food preparation process from the restaurant through large glass windows.

“Traditionally the commissary kitchen is a space where you do all your production, and historically, it’s not guest facing. We took a different approach in that we want people to see what we’re doing. It’s all out on display,” said Corrado.

The area surrounding the Drake Commissary’s Junction Triangle location is industrial and notably underdeveloped. Directly to the south and northeast sits a Nestle factory. To the east is a small paper production plant, and to the south, an abandoned munitions factory.

The Drake Commissary, however, is leading the area’s redevelopment. A coffee shop is slated for construction across Sterling Road, and the former munitions factory is being redeveloped into mixed use condos and an artist’s space.

The southern tip’s expansion follows a trend of changing demographics in the larger Junction Triangle neighbourhood, as the neighbourhood’s rapid condo development and GO Train proximity continue to attract young urban professionals — as well as new retail to serve them.

Originally from British Columbia, Martin Owusu is currently studying towards a JD/MBA at Dalhousie University. He has a keen interest in the combined potential for sport and business to build community.

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