Montreal-based POS software provider Lightspeed reached a milestone this month, when it signed its 10,000th eCommerce customer. It’s a remarkable accomplishment, considering that Lightspeed only launched its eCommerce platform in North America in March of 2016.
The 10,000th customer happens to be iconic Quebec media personality Isabelle Racicot, and her lifestyle eCommerce startup Picoum. Ms. Racicot has been a fixture in Canadian entertainment and lifestyle media for over 20 years, travelling the globe for Canada’s daily entertainment program Flash, covering the Academy Awards, the Cannes Film Festival, the Sundance Film Festival, the Grammys and the People’s Choice Awards. She has been at the helm for programs on the CBC, TVA and Virgin Radio and reports in both official languages.
Her lifestyle eCommerce site Picoum, which includes an online magazine, was inspired by the desire to curate Canadian–made products for the modern woman.
Ms. Racicot says that she chose Lightspeed when realizing how essential it was for her to evolve her website, which she originally launched in 2015. She transitioned to Lightspeed this month, noting that the company serves global customers while infusing its business practice with culture — the perfect fit for Ms. Racicot.
Lightspeed offers users a powerful cloud-based point of sale system. It’s designed for retailers to sell anywhere – in-store, online or both, with the help of Lightspeed’s omnichannel platform. Lightspeed powers more than 40,000 retailers and manages $15 billion in transactions across 100 countries, said founder and CEO, Dax Dasilva.
The omnichannel platform is truly beneficial for small businesses, explained Mr. Dasilva, as they can use one system, rather than many separate systems, to manage their online and in store operations. The system allows retailers to know exactly where their inventory is and how it’s performing, while improving efficiency throughout their business. Retailers often see a 20% increase in revenue in the first year after implementing Lightspeed, he pointed out, which can be attributed to better inventory management and financial analysis.
The company’s product doesn’t require users to have any technical skills, according to Mr. Dasilva. It offers advanced security, traffic-driving marketing tools, customizable templates and is also multilingual, which was a must for Ms. Racicot’s Canada-wide fan base.
Lightspeed continues to expand its operations into Canada, as well as internationally. The company says that it believes that “small and medium-sized businesses revive our streets by offering something unique that you can’t find in your average chain store.” Mr. Dasilva noted that the majority of Lightspeed’s clients are independent businesses, underlining that he believes that independent retailers are the future of retail in Canada.
The company was founded in 2005 by Mr. Dasilva, beginning with four employees working out of a Montreal apartment. It now boasts over 500 staff in eight offices around the world. Lightspeed has quickly expanded its offering with a POS for restaurants, an eCommerce platform and an omnichannel selling solution, helping businesses streamline their operations and improve customer service by bringing together inventory, customer management, sales and analytics into a single platform.
Partner content. To work with Retail Insider, contact Craig Patterson at craig@retail-insider.com
(LONDON STORE. PHOTO: GOOGLE STREET VIEW SCREEN CAPTURE)
Estée Lauder-owned fragrance brand Le Labo will open its first freestanding Canadian store in Toronto this spring. It is expected to be the first of multiple locations for the brand, as it expands beyond wholesale into its own retail stores.
The pricey Le Labo brand was founded in 2006 as a collection of 10 fragrances by Fabrice Penot and Edouard Roschi. The number in the fragrance name indicates the number of notes in its composition and the name of material (Vetiver, Jasmin, Labdanum) refers to the most prominent note within. The brand now features 45 perfumes, with its most recent having been created in 2015. Prices generally range between $100 and over $500 for fragrances and related products. Le Labo was acquired by New York City-based beauty conglomerate Estée Lauder in 2014.
Le Labo currently operates 32 stores internationally, as well as shop-in-stores in leading retailers. Of the 32 boutiques, 15 are in the United States, 12 are in Europe, and five are in Asia. American stores are in cities including New York City (four stores), Los Angeles area (four stores), San Francisco, Portland, Boston, Washington DC, Chicago and Dallas. There are also five stores in London UK, four in Paris, two in Berlin, one in Antwerp, two in Hong Kong, two in Seoul and one in Tokyo. Stores are often located in ‘trendy’ shopping areas.
(JOB POSTING IN THE WINDOW OF TORONTO’S NEW LE LABO STORE)
(CLICK ABOVE FOR INTERACTIVE GOOGLE MAP)
(A BUILDING PERMIT WAS GRANTED FOR THE NEW TORONTO STORE, LATE LAST YEAR)
(EXTERIOR OF THE NEW TORONTO STORE, REVEALING THE TENANT TO BE LE LABO)
Le Labo’s first Canadian store will open at 876 Queen Street West, in the heart of the city’s hip ‘West Queen West’ area. The store joins a number of trendy brands that have recently opened nearby, including Aesop, Warby Parker and Shinola.
Quebec City-based large-format fashion retailer La Maison Simons has announced the opening date of its first Calgary location, as well as details and renderings of the new space. The unique store will span five floors in a heritage building, as well as in the adjacent downtown Calgary ‘The CORE’ retail complex.
The store will be the second for the province — Simons’ first Alberta store opened in October of 2012 at West Edmonton Mall, and a second Edmonton store will open on August 24 of this year at Londonderry Shopping Centre. The Calgary store will be Simons’ 14th store in Canada, with plans for up to 25 locations in the country.
Opening on Thursday, March 16, the 96,000 square foot downtown Calgary Simons store will occupy five floors of the nine-level circa 1919 Lancaster Building, as well as three levels of the adjacent The CORE shopping complex. The main floor of Simons will run an entire city block on 2 Street SW between Stephen Avenue and 7 Avenue SW, as per floor plans below. Local design firm McKinley Burkart led Simons’ architectural and design plans, with a vision to integrate the two buildings.
The floor plans below show how the store is configured:
“The key for Calgary was to bring Simons to the heart of the city in a way that pairs our contemporary style with the heritage of a historic building,” said Peter Simons, CEO of Simons. “The result is a five-storey, multi-building layout that creates an exciting shopping experience where customers can explore our branded environments; each with its own space and personality.”
Art plays an important role in the design of all Simons stores, including the new Calgary location. Simons commissioned local Calgary artist Maya Gohill to install a three-storey painted mural which runs along the escalators in the Lancaster Building. Several other Calgary artists are also represented in the store, including a large graphic mural by Megan Jentsc, and a portrait (called ‘Poet #2) by internationally recognized artist Chris Cran.
When entering the store from street-level, “a ribbon-like curved floor-to-ceiling windowscape,” will create “visual continuity around both buildings”, according to Simons. The store will feature Simons’ branded environments, including the following (with photos)…
–Twik for young female shoppers, decorated in pinks and peaches with decorative panels of weaving and a large vintage inspired billboard sign,
–Icône for the modern woman, featuring a design of edgy black and white graphics are reflected in fitting room wallpaper and as metal screens on wall fixtures,
–Contemporaine, housing classic, elegant fashions for women, featuring warm woods with an art deco feel in its curved corners and eclectic furnishings,
–Miiyu, Simons’ lingerie department, designed with soft, warm woods, blush pinks and organic patterns.
–Djab, featuring young men’s collections in a department featuring a “raw feel with concrete walls, industrial lighting and cityscape graphics”,
–Le 31, carrying sophisticated men’s designs in an environment of cerused wood and walnut, paired with ink blue ombre patterns — also featuring a small room called ‘The Brief’, carrying men’s underwear,
–iFive, with men’s and women’s fashions in a gymnasium-inspired space with natural plywood and black exposed ceilings,
–Edito, featuring both men’s and women’s international designer collections, defined with feature entrances and using elegant darker tones for a more luxurious feel. This department features some designer fashion pieces priced into the thousands, by designers such as Balmain, Martin Margiela, Moschino and DSquared2, and
–Maison — Simons’ home collection, housed in a warm grey environment with pops of bright green tiles, featuring kitchen, bath and bedroom vignettes.
The new Calgary store will also feature Ève café, with a menu of hot and cold, sweet and savoury treats. The café will act as a transition area between women’s on levels one and two; and men’s on levels three and four. Simons described the café space as having “warm light wood paneling covering every surface – floors, walls and the ceiling, enveloping the café and creating a unique nook in the store,” with “dark green banquettes with bistro tables combined with high counters and bar stools providing seating for 40.”
The upper level windows of the Lancaster Building will be lined with softly lit drapery, to create a glowing exterior façade and a dramatic skylight illuminates the asymmetrical multi-floor opening visible from all levels. Tying the Lancaster Building together will be a set of walnut stairs that connect all five floors from Customer Service on the lower level up to men’s departments on the fourth floor. The staircase will feature a frame of blackened steel chevron rails that creates a dramatic focal point in the store, according to Simons.
Simons is a unique retail concept, housing an extensive fashion-forward collection of its own moderately-priced, exclusive private label brands for men and women, as well as a variety of national and international designers. Simons also features home fashions for the bedroom, bathroom and kitchen. It 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. Other locations include: Quebec City (three stores), Montreal (three stores), Sherbrooke, Ottawa (two locations), West Vancouver, Edmonton, and Mississauga, Ontario.
Hudson’s Bay Company-owned Saks Fifth Avenue is marking its first year of operations in Canada. So far, the luxury retailer has opened two full-priced stores, as well as nine off-price Saks OFF 5TH locations under the separately-run HBC division. There are plans for more locations under both banners in Canada over the next several years. Sources say that some of Saks’ market share is at the expense of homegrown luxury retailer Holt Renfrew, while Seattle-based Nordstrom competes with both with an unusually high amount of luxury offerings in its larger Canadian locations.
Saks Fifth Avenue’s Canadian flagship was originally supposed to have opened on the site of the Hudson’s Bay store at the northeast corner of Yonge Street and Bloor Street, at Brookfield’s Hudson’s Bay Centre. The massive Saks would have surpassed 300,000 square feet, making it second in size to the retailer’s Manhattan flagship. Plans were scrapped after Cadillac Fairview offered to buy the flagship Hudson’s Bay building (at Yonge Street and Queen Street) and adjacent office tower for $650 million, with part of the deal involving Saks Fifth Avenue taking four levels of the Hudson’s Bay retail building’s east side. The Hudson’s Bay buildings became part of the massive CF Toronto Eaton Centre complex as a result.
Saks Fifth Avenue opened its new Queen and Yonge flagship on February 18 of 2016, with a sizeable gala held in the store two days prior. The roughly 170,000 square foot Saks Fifth Avenue store boasted luxury offerings comparable to that of Holt Renfrew, located two kilometres north on fashionable Bloor Street West. Saks brought a number of ‘firsts’ to its new Toronto store, including boutiques for luxury brands such as Piaget, De Grisogono, Boucheron, and others — with prices often into the thousands.
(MEDIA TOUR ON FEB. 16, 2016, OF THE NEW SAKS CF TORONTO EATON CENTRE. PHOTO BY CRAIG PATTERSON)
(WOMEN’S DESIGNER FLOOR AT SAKS CF TORONTO EATON CENTRE. PHOTO SUPPLIED)
(‘FIFTH AVENUE CLUB’ AT SAKS CF TORONTO EATON CENTRE. PHOTO SUPPLIED)
(CF SHERWAY GARDENS SAKS, ABOVE AND BELOW. PHOTOS SUPPLIED)
SAKS CF SHERWAY. PHOTO SUPPLIED(MEN’S DEPARTMENT AT SAKS CF SHERWAY. PHOTO SUPPLIED)
Saks’ downtown Toronto flagship wasn’t totally finished when it originally opened — three luxury brand boutique concessions, a three-level restaurant, food hall and beauty salon had yet to open. In May of 2016, both Prada and Christian Dior opened accessories concessions on Saks’ ground floor. Dior subsequently opened a women’s ready-to-wear boutique on the store’s third floor in September. Oliver & Bonacini restaurant concept Leña opened with 11,000 square feet over three levels in August of 2016, featuring heritage elements, a unique menu, and private dining rooms as part of its offerings. Pusateri’s Fine Foods opened its 24,000 square foot downtown Saks Food Hall in November of 2016, on the store’s concourse level that sees about 55,000 pedestrians pass through on a weekday. The second-floor beauty salon still hasn’t opened. A John Barrett salon was originally supposed to open in the space, but Barrett pulled the plug on a Saks expansion last year amid controversy and litigation.
(VAUGHAN MILLS SAKS OFF 5TH. PHOTO: NORMAN KATZ)
(SAKS CF SHERWAY FOOD HALL, BY PUSATERI’S FINE FOODS. PHOTO: NORMAN KATZ)
Hudson’s Bay Company’s off-price division Saks OFF 5TH has been very active in Canada over the past 12 months. In March of 2016, OFF 5TH’s first four Canadian stores opened in Ontario, followed by announcements for several more stores. Saks plans to operate about 25 Saks OFF 5TH stores in Canada by the end of next year. To date, there are nine Saks OFF 5TH stores opened in this country, with another nine locations confirmed to be opening over the next several months.
Saks Fifth Avenue will continue to expand its full-priced stores into Canada in 2018, with two confirmed locations as well as plans for others. In early 2018, Saks will open a 115,000 square foot store at Calgary’s CF Chinook Centre — one of Canada’s most productive malls, which also saw the opening of Canada’s first Nordstrom store in September of 2014. Saks also recently announced that it would open a 200,000 square foot downtown Montreal flagship at the back end of its 655,000 square foot Hudson’s Bay flagship in early 2018, featuring an 80,000 square foot ‘Quebec-themed’ food hall as well as luxury fashions for men and women.
(RENDERING OF THE NEW MONTREAL SAKS, SUPPLIED BY HBC)
A full-priced Vancouver Saks store is almost guaranteed, according to sources in the company, though a search for real estate is proving to be a challenge. Saks would ideally like to be in downtown Vancouver, though it requires between 100,000 and 200,000 square feet of appropriate retail space. If that can’t be found in a timely manner, Saks could end up occupying part of the city’s 637,000 square foot downtown Hudson’s Bay, though that’s not a first choice, according to sources.
(CONSTRUCTION SIGNAGE AT THE NEW CF CHINOOK SAKS SITE IN CALGARY)
While parent company Hudson’s Bay Company won’t provide sales numbers for its Canadian Saks Fifth Avenue operations, sources confirm that its downtown Toronto flagship is seeing increasing sales numbers, both from in-store shoppers as well as private shopping and in-home visits. The store may be taking market share, as Toronto’s luxury retail sees unprecedented competition.
In the fall of 2016, Nordstrom opened two Toronto stores — a 220,000 square foot CF Toronto Eaton Centre flagship, as well as a 200,000 square foot Yorkdale Shopping Centre store. Both locations are remarkably luxury-heavy in their offerings, particularly in designer leather goods and women’s ready-to-wear. Sources say that Saks and Nordstrom are likely responsible for reduced sales numbers at homegrown competitor Holt Renfrew, which operates three stores in the Greater Toronto Area. Saks could open a third Toronto store according to sources at Hudson’s Bay Company, and Nordstrom will open its third Toronto store in September of this year, creating intense competition in a market with a population of about 6-million.
Saks’ disruption will continue, as mentioned above, with new stores in Calgary, Montreal and, at some point, Vancouver. All three markets feature Holt Renfrew flagships, and all three markets will see increasingly fierce competition for regional luxury dollars in the years to come.
Montreal-based multi-brand footwear retailer Browns Shoes will open three stores this spring, including a Browns Outlet as well as two full-line Browns stores. The retailer is in the process of expanding its store operations for its Browns, B2 and Browns Outlet concepts and after the spring expansion, it will operate 63 locations coast-to-coast.
The first of the three new stores will open on Thursday, February 16 in Calgary. Located at Southcentre Mall, the 3,949 square foot store replaces another location that has operated in the mall since 1995, which was also Browns’ first freestanding store in Calgary.
The second location to open this spring will be on March 16, when Browns opens a new 3,919 square foot store at Oshawa Centre, east of Toronto. It’s the latest upscale retailer to open in the mall, which recently saw a $230 million redevelopment that added 375,000 square feet of retail space, and improvements are ongoing. Browns Shoes currently operates 17 stores in the Greater Toronto Area, including 12 Browns stores, four B2 stores, and one Browns Outlet.
Winnipeg will see the opening of the company’s seventh outlet location when on May 3 of this year, a Browns Outlet will open at the highly anticipated Outlet Collection Winnipeg. The 3,930 square foot store will join a number of other popular retailers set to open in the outlet mall, which will be anchored by Manitoba’s first Saks OFF 5TH. Currently, Winnipeg has two Browns stores — one at CF Polo Park, and one at the St-Vital Centre.
(OSHAWA CENTRE STORE, ABOVE AND BELOW)
Browns Shoes will open between four and six stores each year between 2017 to 2020, according to Senior Operations Manager Eric Ouaknine. Browns Shoes is a national retailer that operates stores coast-to-coast, from Vancouver to Halifax. The retailer is represented in Canada by brokerage Oberfeld Snowcap.
Browns Shoes is a family-owned business, founded in 1940 in Montreal by Benjamin Brownstein. The company is now third-generation run. Stores feature designer brands as well as in-house brands including Mimosa, Browns Couture, The Wishbone Collection, Luca Del Forte, Intensi and B2.
The full agenda for the eTail Canada conference has just been announced, taking place in Toronto from May 16-18, 2017. The event will feature high-level networking and extensive thought leadership programs, backed by an impressive speaker faculty from the top retailing brands in Canada and the United States.
Interestingly, the largest Canadian online retailers are growing faster than their U.S. counterparts, in large part by selling aggressively to U.S. consumers while benefitting from less intense online competition for the business of Canadian consumers. eTail Canada brings together the biggest retailers from both Canada and the U.S. to network and discuss the challenges and opportunities presented a borderless e-commerce landscape. Themes that will be explored this year include building an online marketing mix that drives business value, mobile optimization, creative content creation, optimized in-store experience, borderless business, breaking down silos and more.
Retailers – Register Now and get 15% off the current price, using code ETC17RINSIDR
Confirmed speakers for this year’s event include:
• Melanie Teed-Murch, President, Toys R Us and Babies R Us Canada • Brandon G. Stranzl, CEO & Executive Chairman, Sears Canada, Inc. • Stéphane Bérubé, CMO, L’Oréal Canada • Jonathan Levitt, CMO, Reitmans • Peter Housley, CMO, Indochino • Jackie Poriadjian-Asch, CMO, Canada Goose • Gillian Stein, CEO, Henry’s • Sajjad Hudda, President, Nygård Retail • Scott Adel, Head of Omni Channel, Frank + Oak • Kristy Wieber, Co-Founder and President, Rent Frock Repeat • Erin Young, Chief Marketing and Merchandising Officer, Well.ca • Joanna Griffiths, Founder and CEO, Knix Wear Inc. • Vincent Poirier, CEO, Momzelle • Melanie Trevett, CEO and Founder, Digital Fashion Week Montréal • Jessica Gale, Director, eCommerce Operations & Development, Holt Renfrew • Megan Allison Wade, Director, Digital Production + Operations, Gap Inc./Old Navy • Trisha Lepper, Partnerships Specialist, Etsy Canada • Josephine Yue, Manager, eCommerce Digital Products, The Home Depot Canada • Lisa Shuyao, Manager, Digital CRM, LUSH • Nathalie Mansouri, Director,eCommerce, Keurig Canada
“We are very excited to not only welcome a stellar speaking faculty, but to address the most pressing concerns brought forward by those operating in the Canadian retail market at this year’s event,” stated Megan Kessler, Program Director for eTail Canada. “We spend months speaking to the executives who are working in this environment everyday, and researching what themes and topics would create the most intriguing agenda for our audience. This year’s event is no different in that we are bringing the future of retail to the forefront for brands of all sizes in the retail and e-commerce space.”
For more information about this year’s event, and to view the full agenda, please visit: www.etailca.com.
Retailers – Register Now and get 15% off the current price, using code ETC17RINSIDR
Since the beginning of 2017, a number of retailers have announced that they were closing stores in Canada. While it’s not unusual for struggling retailers to announce closures at the beginning of a new year, the number and nature of closures and bankruptcies announced was more significant than usual. Antony Karabus, CEO of , advises that one of the primary causes of this situation is the polarization of retail in Canada (where “middle” retailers are being squeezed while low and high-end retailers continue to expand).
He believes that there will be more announcements to come as a number of retailers continue to struggle, which will put additional pressure on retail landlords to replace the space to be vacated as retailers close stores, especially in ‘non-prime’ malls.
To gain additional insight into the current dynamics in the Canadian retail industry, we interviewed Mr. Karabus, who heads a leading retail consulting firm based in both Canada and the United States.
Mr. Karabus provided insight regarding these issues, first providing his opinion that a combination of six concurrent consumer-driven factors are putting pressure on the financial performance of retail chains, particularly those serving the mid-tier and also those that are being dis-intermediated by the digital age. These six factors are:
1. The rate of the shift from physical stores to online, resulting in store fleets being less profitable and contributing to the ongoing closure of stores,
2. The transfer of market share to the ‘value sector’, resulting in increased market share transferring from traditional mid-tier retailers to discounters such as Giant Tiger, TJX Canada (Winners/Marshalls/HomeSense) and Walmart, as well as fast-fashion retailers such as H&M, Forever 21, and Zara, with both groups adding significant top-line sales and store count growth,
3. The rapid growth of the ‘extreme–value sector’, with Dollarama and Dollar Tree adding numerous locations, and Dollarama adding more items at higher-price points thus increasing store productivity,
4. The massive growth of Amazon, as it continues to grow at more than 20% annually — much of which is coming from the market share of the traditional retailers,
5. Increased consumption of music and related media in digital form, further impacting retail market share in those categories,
6. The loss of market share for incumbents, due to the ongoing entry and expansion of luxury brands and retailers into Canada.
As a result of the above, some retailers are experiencing significant pressure on financial performance. Weaker retailers or those facing sharply increased competitive intensity from new entrants and e-commerce operators are either closing stores or shuttering altogether.
Retail-Insider editor-in-chief, Craig Patterson, conducted a question-and-answer interview with Mr. Karabus this week to obtain additional insights into these complex industry issues.
Retail-Insider: How is the recent spate of store closures and bankruptcies in Canada the result of the six factors you’ve just described?
Mr. Karabus: The massive erosion of market share by the mid-tier retailers is putting extreme pressure on the weaker retailers, many of which were slow to transform their businesses in the face of the new retail environment. Given that retail is typically a low operating margin business, this has made it hard for many to survive.
Retail-Insider: Why are there so many announcements of bankruptcies in January?
Mr. Karabus: January is a fairly typical month for this type of news, as secured lenders often withdraw support at this time of year when they start seeing deteriorating financial positions following weaker peak season holiday sales, especially when they are concerned about the value of their collateral (the retailers’ inventory values) at a time of increased markdowns.
Canadian Tire (Image: Canadian Tire)
Retail-Insider: Why are some mid-tier retailers going out of business while other mid-tier retailers are flourishing?
Mr. Karabus: The old saying “ survival of the fittest” has never been truer in Canadian retail. What is going on in retail now is not a cyclical shift, It is a permanent secular shift in the way consumers are shopping. Retailers will survive and grow only if they have established a ‘unique value proposition’ that keeps consumers returning to their stores again and again. The best examples of this are retailers like Indigo, which has created a general merchandise offering that comprised over 43% of their Holiday 2016 sales, as reported recently. The assortment of general merchandise at Indigo and the shopping experience is unique and the transformation of that business from a traditional bookstore has been very impressive. Others such as Aritzia, Lululemon, MEC, Sport Chek and Canadian Tire have also continued to grow and win market share as they are true destination shopping experiences and have established meaningful ‘mindshare’ for Canadians.
Retail-Insider: Why do you think pure-play retailers such as Shoes.com recently went out of business?
Mr. Karabus: While I cannot speak to the financial position of a particular company, we believe that if a young pure play retailer is playing in a very crowded market dominated by successful and well-known profitable retailers with strong e-commerce businesses (including Aldo, Browns Shoes, Hudson’s Bay, Nordstrom, DSW/Shoe Company/Town Shoes, Soft Moc, Walmart and of course Amazon), it will be challenging for the new entrant to develop a viable business economic model, especially in an era of extremely high fulfillment and digital marketing costs, together with high returns. There is only so much market share to go around. The one factor that would give the new entrant a higher likelihood of success is if they are able to quickly develop a differentiated unique customer/selling proposition that sets them apart from everyone else. And not many have been able to achieve this.
Hudson’s Bay at Yorkdale Shopping Centre (Image: Hudson’s Bay)
Retail-Insider: Do you believe we are approaching over-saturation of luxury retail in Canada with all the new entrants into the market?
Mr. Karabus: I don’t believe so. I think that Canadian luxury consumers have been under-served with only Harry Rosen and Holt Renfrew and some independents and that the timing was right for strong new entrants into the market. I also believe that this segment of Canadian consumers has historically been cross-border shopping as they travel internationally and to the USA and they are very familiar with international luxury brands and stores. With the decline in the Canadian dollar and the increased availability of luxury retail in our own country, we expect the luxury consumer will migrate much of their shopping back to Canada. The significant store remodeling done by both Harry Rosen and Holt Renfrew will also contribute to keeping more luxury spending dollars in Canada rather than being spent in the USA. I believe luxury is one of the few retail sectors that will see much sector top-line growth in Canada.
Over the next several weeks, Retail-Insider will explore this complex topic further with additional thought-provoking insight from HRC Retail Advisory’s CEO Antony Karabus and President Farla Efros. They are assisting numerous retail chains to compete more profitably in this extremely transformative retail climate, while also recognizing the rise in spending power of Millennials and Generation Z.
Dutch designer clothing company G-Star RAW has opened a third Canadian store, and it will continue opening locations at a controlled pace as it targets new markets. The brand is also launching an innovative collaboration this week with its celebrity co-owner Pharrell Williams, who acquired part of the company last year.
G-Star RAW, which retails both men’s and women’s fashions, was founded in Amsterdam in 1989. In 1996, the company introduced raw (unwashed, untreated) denim jeans that come directly from the factory, creating a unique product that gained considerable brand awareness. Designs are often military influenced, including the use of special pockets and trims.
G-Star operates stores and wholesale accounts globally, with thousands of points of sale. In Canada, it has three freestanding stores. G-Star’s first Canadian location opened at West Edmonton Mall in 2003 — the 3040 square foot store is in the mall’s ‘Europa Boulevard’, across from an entrance to La Maison Simons. A second G-Star location opened in Toronto at 328 Queen Street West in 2012, spanning about 3,800 square feet. This month, G-Star opened its third Canadian store at CF Carrefour Laval, north of Montreal. Our Montreal correspondent Maxime Frechette attended the opening of the 1,740 square foot store, and also wrote about it in French.
(CF CARREFOUR LAVAL STORE. PHOTO: MAXIME FRECHETTE)
(CF CARREFOUR LAVAL STORE. PHOTO: MAXIME FRECHETTE)
According to G-Star Country Manager Mathieu Gagne, G-Star will carefully expand its Canadian operations by opening roughly one store per year for the next five years. Vancouver is the first potential market for expansion, with the potential for one or two stores. A second Toronto store is possible, he said, and at some point a second Montreal-area location could open as part of G-Star’s careful growth.
Mr. Gagne explained that shopping centres will be G-Star’s focus for new stores, and that G-Star is designing stores for efficiency, therefore taking less space. New mall stores will ideally be in the 1,600 square foot to 1,800 square foot range, he said, with efficient displays allowing for a full product offering in less space than in the past. Stores feature a product mix with roughly 60% for men and 40% for women, including clothing, footwear, eyewear and accessories.
G-Star RAW co-owner Pharrell Williams, who is also the brand’s ‘Head of Imagination’ is launching a unique fashion line this week called ‘G-Star Elwood X25‘. It’s described as “a translation of unrestrained self-expression” captured in 25 prints curated by Pharrell Williams. Inspired by original checks, camouflages and traditional patterns from all over the world, these 25 prints “make space for individuality”.
(CF CARREFOUR LAVAL STORE. PHOTO: MAXIME FRECHETTE)
The prints are photographed on Pharrell Williams and Dutch model/artist Marte Mei van Haaster in an array of industrial and pastoral scenarios. The campaign is accompanied by a behind-the-scenes short feature film and several visual snippets, all shot in analog film. The new Spring/Summer 2017 collection will be available at Canadian stores on Thursday, February 16.
Quebec-based jewellery and accessories brand Bizou plans to open stores in Canada, and is working with a brokerage on its 2017 expansion. The company is a notable success story, having also expanded its operations internationally.
Bizou plans to open at least four stores this year, all in the province of Ontario. One location is confirmed — this summer, Bizou will open a second London store with a 558 square foot unit at CF Masonville Place. The mall recently saw a $77 million expansion/redevelopment, and a further redevelopment of the mall’s former Target space was recently announced. It’s also one of Canada’s most productive shopping centres, according to a recent study conducted by Retail Council of Canada.
Bizou also plans to open three other stores in Ontario this year, with a focus on the Greater Toronto Area, according to representative brokerage Think Retail (which, remarkably, has worked with Bizou for almost 20 years). Bizou is seeking shopping mall space in the 500 square foot to 850 square foot range, with ideal co-tenants including H&M, Zara, Lolë, Sephora, Banana Republic, Fossil and Victoria’s Secret. The Greater Toronto area only has two Bizou locations, with room for considerably more in the future.
Founded in Quebec City in 1982, Bizou specializes in women’s moderately-priced fashion jewellery and accessories. The brand’s accessory collections include purses and handbags, belts, gloves, hair accessories, scarves, socks, sunglasses, t-shirts, footwear and watches, while its fashion jewellery primarily utilizes sterling silver, gold and amber. Its target market is women aged 18 to 35, seeking style and affordability.
The company designs its own products and retails them in over 130 stores in six Canadian provinces — Ontario (4 stores), Nova Scotia (4 stores), New Brunswick (7 stores), Newfoundland (3 stores) and Prince Edward Island, with one store. Over 90 of its Canadian stores are in Quebec.
Bizou is also expanding globally. In 2013, it opened at La Toison Dor in Dijon, France and the following year made its debut in Saudi Arabia at Panorama Mall in Riyadh. Bizou is currently expanding in the Kingdom, as well as markets across United Arab Emirates and Bahrain.
Innovative Portuguese footwear brand galibelle (spelled with a lowercase ‘g’) has opened its first Canadian boutique, and a second location is set to open next month. The concept is particularly unique for its versatility and customization, and its Canadian master franchisee plans to expand galibelle into new markets over the next several years.
The concept is unique and simple — consumers first pick a desired shoe sole, then choose from a variety of potential top straps that interchangeably button onto the sole. With over 30 different sole styles and over 1,000 different interchangeable straps of various colours and materials, women are able to customize their sandals, heels or boots, depending on the occasion.
galibelle in Edmonton, Alberta (Image: galibelle)
The shoes are designed and made in Brazil, and could result in cost savings for purchasers in the long run. Soles range in price between $45 and $99, and straps range between $20 and $50. Multiple coloured straps can be paired with one sole, reducing the need to buy multiple pairs of shoes. The designs are also convenient for travel — straps lay flat, so multiple sets can be packed with just one or two soles while traveling lighter.
The galibelle concept launched in 2007 and retail operations began to take off in 2012. It now boasts stores in 15 countries globally in Europe, Africa and Australia. Galibelle also expanded into the United States last year and currently has three locations in Florida.
galibelle in Edmonton, Alberta (Image: galibelle)
Canadian master franchisees David and Lisa Broesky brought the concept to Canada after discovering galibelle while on a holiday in Barcelona, Spain. They opened their first store last month at 10640 82 (Whyte) Avenue in Edmonton’s trendy Old Strathcona area. A second store will open next month in downtown Kelowna.
The Edmonton store measures less than 800 square feet in size and carries a wide variety of galibelle styles, as well as the brand’s boots and accessories. The Kelowna store will be a bit larger, spanning about 1,200 square feet. As the concept expands, stores could be as small as 500 square feet in size, said Mr. Broesky.
The couple will look to expand galibelle into other Canadian markets after evaluating its initial success. If the brand takes off, Mr. Broesky said that markets such as Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver, Calgary and other cities could be targeted for new galibelle stores. Urban street-front spaces are ideal, according to Mr. Broesky, as they lend themselves to a community-focused brand following.
