Retail Council of Canada will be releasing a study ranking Canadian shopping centres on a variety of metrics, including productivity, size, and pedestrian count. The study will also provide statistical breakdowns for Canadian regions, as well as other useful information for those involved with and interested in the Canadian retail industry. It will be distributed and promoted to retailers and other industry players nationally, beginning in December.
Initial study findings show that Canada’s top malls continue to show strong sales levels, despite economic challenges in some regions. The study will also analyse what trends in the industry are contributing to shopping centre successes.
There are several study sponsorship opportunities available for those seeking exposure to retailers and industry players, and interested parties are encouraged to act fast as time is limited. The study will be widely distributed and promoted to the industry, including Retail Council of Canada email subscribers, Canadian Retailer magazine subscribers, as well as to the Canadian press. Media sources will be targeted both nationally and locally to run stories, linking to the study. The study will also be profiled here on Retail Insider, which now sees over 300,000 monthly page views. For information on advertising or sponsorship opportunities, contact Mary Markou at advertising@retailcouncil.org. As well, information and a rate card can be found at: Canadian Shopping Centre Study.
Pusateri’s Fine Foods has opened its second ‘Saks Food Hall’, on the concourse level of Saks Fifth Avenue’s Canadian flagship in downtown Toronto. The new grocery store, strategically located along the city’s busy PATH system, has seen considerable and consistent crowds since its opening on Thursday morning.
The 24,000 square foot GH+A designed space follows the March opening of an 18,500 square foot Pusateri’s Saks Food Hall as CF Sherway Gardens in Toronto’s West End. The new downtown store sees a different type of shopper — while the Sherway store is in a suburban mall surrounded by parking, the new CF Toronto Eaton Centre Saks Food Hall is geared towards commuters, tourists and locals, with plenty of prepared meals to complement staple grocery items.
Toronto’s underground pedestrian PATH system links downtown office towers with hotels and retail, and is considered to be the world’s longest underground shopping network. It boasts over 30 kilometres of connected walkways and over 4-million square feet of retail space, rivalling West Edmonton Mall in size. The PATH network is also extremely busy on weekdays with over 200,000 people passing through its halls and its estimated 1,200 stores.
The new Saks Food Hall opens directly onto the busy PATH under CF Toronto Eaton Centre’s Hudson’s Bay building, featuring access points from the TTC Queen subway station, CF Toronto Eaton Centre, as well as adjacent buildings and parking structures. Over 50,000 people pass by the new store daily, resulting in a busy, yet luxurious shopping experience.
Breakfast, lunch and dinner are all part of the experience. The store features morning coffee and pastries at its PATH-facing corner space, with healthy lunch-on-the-go as well as prepared meals for restaurant-quality dinners. It also features a variety of grocery items, from milk to bread to meats and cheeses. The entire experience is unlike a typical grocery store though — marble flooring, rich wood and luxurious fixtures abound, with upscale products carried in a wide variety of price ranges.
Saks Food Hall joins the multi-level 11,000 square foot Oliver & Bonacini-operated restaurant Leña, which opened at Saks in August of this year. Both food experiences are expected to further drive pedestrian traffic into the adjacent Saks Fifth Avenue and Hudson’s Bay stores. Given that people generally consume food more frequently than fashion, adding food and beverage is a strategic move for retailers looking to gain pedestrian footfall and, hopefully, increased sales.
The store features a number of departments and features, to be described below along with store photos.
Champagne Bar: The new bar features best-in-class Champagne, fine wine and local beer assortments, all paired with a fresh raw bar and a market menu curated by Pusateri’s corporate chef, Tony Cammalleri. The Champagne Bar has its own corner space in the store, also accessed from the PATH entrance leading into the 2 Queen Street East office tower.
Sushi Bar: The store’s sushi bar features take-away or eat-in options, with made-to-order cuts of fresh fish, vegetables and toppings, hand-rolled by expert sushi chefs.
The Chopped Bar: The a-la-carte salad bar includes fresh greens, gourmet cheese and meats, as well as dressings. In the morning there’s a make-your-own yogurt parfait counter, where artisanal granolas can be paired with local yogurts and fruit.
Rosticceria: Traditional rotisserie dishes are given a “luxe flair”, according to Pusateri’s, with carved meats and a rotating menu of gourmet street foods and sides.
BENE, A Pusateri’s Pizzeria: Roman-style pizza served al taglio (by the slice) featuring crust made with Le 5 Stagioni flour that comes from a 150 year old Italian mill, sauces made from certified DOP San Marzano Tomatoes, and Canadian Fior Di Latte cheese. The new BENE faces directly onto the busy PATH, with crowds stopping to examine and purchase the delicious smelling pizza.
Sorelle and Co.: The shop-in-store is a second for the company (following a location in Vaughn), featuring gluten-free, soy-free, sesame-free, vegan, nut-free, and preservative-free food items ranging from breads to sweets.
Pusateri’s Café: Facing onto the busy PATH, the new coffee counter also includes fresh breakfast pastry — a European start to the day, according to the retailer.
Daits: The fresh counter serves Saudi Arabian dates, in an environment not unlike how one might purchase chocolates. Facing directly onto the PATH, Daits appeared to be constantly ringing up sales during the multiple times that we passed by the space.
Below are more photos of the beautiful store, which is worth checking out if you find yourself hungry while in downtown Toronto.
Ivanhoé Cambridge’s Tsawwassen Mills hybrid outlet centre opened about a month ago, and we profiled the property in an article on Retail Insider. Last week, photographer Klaus Johansson toured Tsawwassen Mills, and gave us permission to post his beautiful photos of the South Delta retail centre.
The 1.2 million square foot hybrid outlet centre features 16 anchors and 180 retailers, 50% of which are ‘pure outlet’ stores. The remaining retailers are considered ‘full-price’.
Construction began on the massive Tsawwassen Mills in January of 2014, which is located at Highway 17 and 52nd Street in South Delta — about 30 minutes north of the Washington State border and less than 5 km from the Tsawwassen Ferry Terminal.
Tsawwassen Mills features a 1,100-seat food hall, four full-service restaurants, a children’s play area, a sports dome and six public entrances each featuring its own special design features. Several stores offer unique entertainment options, including a skate park in the West 49 retail space, and a themed bowling alley inside of Bass Pro Shops.
According to Ivanhoé Cambridge, more than $600 million went into building Tsawwassen Mills, which now employs about 3,500 full-time and part-time staff. The centre features a 6,000 stall parking lot with 14 electric vehicle charging stations. Other sustainable features include a LEED® certification as mentioned above, based partly on 20% of construction materials being recycled, as well as the planting of 2,000 trees on the property.
See below for more photos of the centre, all by Mr. Johansson.
Clinque at CF Richmond Centre. Photo: Geetanjali Sharma
That concludes the photo tour of Tsawwassen Mills by Klauss Johansson.
Azadi Jewellery at CF Shops at Don Mills (Rendering: Azadi Jewellery)
Tehran, Iran-based Azadi Jewellery is expanding its retail operations into North America, and has chosen Canada as its initial entry point. The upscale jewellery retailer’s first location will open in late 2016 at CF Shops at Don Mills in Toronto.
The Azadi family has been in the jewellery business for over 100 years, and operates 25 store locations across the Middle East. Ali Azadi explains that Azadi Jewellery designs are trendsetting and are sourced from quality Italian manufacturing partners. They offer high grade gold, in 10, 14, 18 and 22 carat yellow/white/rose gold designs. The company recently did a market study and found that after much consolidation, the North American jewellery market is rebounding and gold is making a comeback. The company’s products are of the highest level of quality and craftsmanship yet can cater to all customer tastes. With price points starting from $100, they can be competitive because of Azadi Jewellery’s strong and long established supplier relationships.
Azadi Jewellery at CF Shops at Don Mills Azadi Jewellery
The Azadi Jewellery location at CF Shops at Don Mills will measure just over 1,000 square feet, and is strategically located at the corner location of Clock Tower Road and Karl Fraser Way, across from jewellery brand Pandora, and strong co-tenants such as Michael Kors, Frank +Oak, Barbuti, Little Burgundy and Change. Renderings of the new CF Shops at Don Mills store show dramatic, luxurious interiors unlike other retailers in Canada. Red carpeting, black marble flooring and elaborate wall treatments will compliment luxurious imported fixtures that will include mahogany and walnut display cases and chairs and crystal chandeliers. The space will have a custom curated section as well as ready for sale merchandise.
Azadi Jewellery at CF Shops at Don Mills (Rendering: Azadi Jewellery)Azadi Jewellery at CF Shops at Don Mills (Rendering: Azadi Jewellery)Azadi Jewellery at CF Shops at Don Mills (Rendering: Azadi Jewellery)Azadi Jewellery at CF Shops at Don Mills (Rendering: Azadi Jewellery)
Azadi Jewellery is looking to further expand into Canada and the US, and is seeking out high quality retail opportunities both on urban street-fronts as well as in high-end shopping centres. Robert Luciano of Toronto-based firm decisionSMART Retail Advisory, Inc. (www.decisionsmart.ca) is working with Azadi Jewellery on its expansion, and can be reached at: robert@decisionsmart.ca or by phone: 416-702-9641.
At the conference, you’ll meet senior retail executives from Canadian retailers such as:
Canadian Tire
LCBO
Purdys Chocolatier
BMO
NB Liquor Corporation
You’ll also meet senior retail executives from international retailers such as:
Walmart
Indigo
Home Depot
Kia
Moen
In addition, you’ll meet senior retail executives from local retailers such as:
MacQuarries Pharmasave
FDL Furniture
Tweed & Hickory
Marise Victoriaville
LDF Furniture Industries Inc
Organica Studio
The conference takes place at St. Andrew’s Club in Downtown Toronto on November 15-16, 2016.
With this much interest and the conference coming up in less than a week, make sure you register soon. Register online, email info@iotevents.ca or call 647-775-1610.
See you next week!
*Sponsored. To have your event (or product or service) profiled on Retail Insider, email: craig@retail-insider.com*
Upscale Montreal-based leather and fashion brand m0851 is expanding its base of stores as well as its real estate strategy, as it increasingly focuses on opening in malls. Its next location will be in a prominent retail space, located at an entrance to North America’s busiest shopping centre — CF Toronto Eaton Centre.
Currently under construction and expected to open in early December, m0851’s Eaton Centre unit will be adjacent to the busy ground-level Queen Street entrance to the downtown shopping centre. The 3,000 square foot m0851 square foot store replaces footwear retailer Town Shoes, which relocated in September to a slightly larger space within the mall. The new m0851 features exceptional street exposure from multiple windows along Queen Street West (just west of Yonge Street) as well as a strategic mall entrance from within the shopping centre. Directly across the street are the main entrances to Canada’s flagship Saks Fifth Avenue and Hudson’s Bay stores.
CF TORONTO EATON CENTRE LEASE PLAN, VIA LANDLORD CADILLAC FAIRVIEWM0851 Construction Hoarding at CF Toronto Eaton Centre M0851 Construction Hoarding at CF Toronto Eaton Centre
Marine Godfroy, m0851’s Director of Marketing, explained that the company is looking to open more shopping centre locations in Canada, after initially focusing primarily on freestanding street-front units. The company started off by opening stores on ‘secondary arteries’ in locations such as on Maisonneuve West in Montreal and on Avenue Road in Toronto’s Yorkville area. After seeing tremendous success at its CF Carrefour Laval shopping centre as well as heavy footfall at its recently opened Montreal Complexe Les Ailes unit, the company has been reevaluating strategy, according to Ms. Godfroy. While street-front stores may attract shoppers as destinations, mall stores often enjoy heavy foot traffic from passers-by, she said. Not only do stores in busy malls provide the opportunity for high-volume sales, they also help to increase brand awareness through exceptional visibility.
Oakmont Real Estate Services represents m0851 as brokerage in Canada, and negotiated the CF Toronto Eaton Centre deal on behalf of the retailer. Future m0851 locations will ideally be in the 1,000 square foot to 2,500 square foot range, according to Oakmont’s website.
M0851 Construction Hoarding at CF Toronto Eaton Centre Image: m0851
The United States will also increasingly become a focus for m0851, Ms. Godfroy explained, with the company targeting cities such as Washington DC, Chicago and San Francisco. As of yet, no locations have been secured in these cities.
The company operates on a ‘hybrid’ ownership model, with some stores being corporately owned while others are franchised. Ms. Godfroy explained that m0851 could open more stores in Asia and Europe as potential franchisees show interest.
The m0851 brand was founded in 1987 by Frédéric Mamarbachi, and its name represents the first initial of his surname, as well as his birth month and year. The company designs and manufactures leather bags, accessories, jackets and outerwear. It started out manufacturing leather belts under the nameplate ‘Rugby North America’ and in 2003, changed its name to better reflect a refined, urban brand identity. Its head office is in Montreal’s trendy Mile End neighbourhood. Its products are designed and manufactured in Montreal, and its store interiors are also designed in-house.
The company now operates 22 stores globally, with 11 of those in Canada. Its Canadian stores are located in Montreal (4 stores including one in Laval), Quebec City, Ottawa, Toronto (2 stores), and Vancouver (2 stores) (check). International cities featuring m0851 include New York City, Santa Monica CA, Boston, Madrid Spain, Tokyo (2 stores), Nagoya, Osaka, Hong Kong (3 stores) and Beijing. M0851 also distributes their collections through a select network of retailers in 35 countries, and has an e-commerce site.
It’s the best-kept secret in Canadian retail. A whopping 77% of Americans are interested in purchasing online from outside of the US. And Canada tops the list as the country American consumers would feel most comfortable shopping from. It’s time Canadian businesses capitalize on this newfound ecommerce territory.
An estimated 39 million US adults buy from international retailers every week (yes, every week). And according to an Ipsos survey commissioned by Bronto Software, 72% of Americans open to cross-border shopping would consider buying from Canada. The survey researched American consumers who have access to buying online on how they feel about a global ecommerce experience.
Interestingly, while China rates much lower on the comfort list for international purchasing (31%), US consumers actually buy online from there the most – and at a much higher rate than their “trusted” North American neighbours. Fifty-six percent of American online buyers have purchased from China. From Canada, only 20%. It’s an even more intriguing figure when you consider US consumers overwhelmingly say they are more comfortable with global online shopping in English-speaking countries, with the UK (68%) and Australia (52%) coming in just behind Canada.
What entices Americans to buy from other countries like China? The two biggest motivating factors are simple, and not surprising – price and unique products. People want to own special things they can’t find at home. Sixty-one percent of those surveyed admit that the access to unique products encourages them to buy outside of the US.
Image: bigalscanada.com
Big Al’s is a great example of a Canadian company experiencing growing success in the US for just that reason. The company exclusively sells aquatic-focused pets and pet supplies – unique because most US pet stores sell additional products for other types of pets. So, Big Al’s can market the company’s hyper-focus to a specific product and leverage its expertise and commitment to that product line. While Big Al’s has a big name in Canada, it is a virtual unknown to most Americans. So how did Big Al’s broaden its reach to the US? Content marketing. Big Al’s made itself the industry expert by sharing its knowledge of aquatic pets and products, and positioning itself as the go-to company for all aquatic needs, advice and support. The company is proactively engaging with customers online and has recently begun focusing on highly targeted customer data, such as pet’s birthdays, the number of pets in the home and purchasing behaviour. Customized messaging supports the efforts to build brand awareness in the US.
Golda’s Kitchen is also making headway in the US through, of all things, a small kitchen accessory. When a celebrity chef introduced Americans to a special flavour shaker that was not available for purchase in the US, Golda’s stepped in and gladly met the demand. And with a foot in the door, Golda’s looked for other ways to appeal to American shoppers, now utilizing Bronto’s geo-segmented email program to make the US shopping experience even better, such as converting prices automatically to US dollars and generating special offers for US food-focused holidays.
Image: goldaskitchen.com
Of course, price is a top consideration for cross-border shoppers (55%). Big Al’s is able to offer better online prices than their smaller competitors from the support of their big box super store sales. Other common reasons for buying from companies abroad? Safe online payment methods (41%), quality products (38%), gift-giving (22%), buying something different from what friends and family own (21%) and cultural reasons (11%).
What keeps Americans from crossing the border to purchase? Shipping fees (67%), longer delivery times (43%) and hidden costs (42%). Golda’s Kitchen combats this apprehension by offering discounted shipping fees for larger purchases, which is especially appealing to its commercial customers.
So who is actually buying internationally right now in America? Fully 42% of the adult population have already done so. More men (44%) are buying globally online than women (40%), and the younger population appears more willing. More than half of adults ages 18 to 44 are more likely to purchase cross-border. The interest declines a bit to 41% for ages 45 to 54, and then lowers to around a quarter of consumers after age 55.
America is a country of more than 325 million consumers, and they trust buying from Canada. It’s an unrealized market for Canadian merchants with an opportunity to grow their ecommerce business exponentially. American shoppers want interesting and unique products, they want assurance that the transactions are safe, and they want their orders to be delivered quickly and inexpensively. Meeting these expectations clears the hurdle, but merchants may want to sweeten the pot even more to secure a stronger relationship with American buyers. Go the extra mile by offering free shipping on returns. Publish testimonials of global consumers’ positive shopping experience to alleviate concerns. Make your presence and product known. The ball is in your court, Canada. America is waiting.
*Susan Wall is the Vice President of Marketing at Bronto Software.
Cadillac Fairview‘s CF Masonville Place has lifted the curtain on an ambitious $77 million redevelopment, which has added 127,000 square feet of space to the London, Ontario shopping centre.
The shopping centre has remained profitable since its opening in 1985, but faced increased competition from nearby White Oaks Mall after the centre was renovated in 2013. During the same year, CF Masonville Place saw the closure of anchor tenant Sears, and in 2015 the closure of Target.
The two anchor closures sparked new investment in the shopping centre, giving the mall room to expand and a chance for a revitalization of the entire mall. In the last few years, Cadillac Fairview has since attracted the region’s first Disney store, Sephora, Ivivva, Kiehl’s, Lush and Saje Natural Wellness to draw shoppers back into the mall.
Gone are the aging interiors that hadn’t been updated since the mall’s opening. 1980’s era brown floors have been replaced with modern Italian porcelain tiles. Newly installed glass railings also give the shopping centre’s interiors a much more elevated look. Overall, the mall seems brighter, cleaner, and more sophisticated as all common areas have been renovated to reflect CF Masonville Place’s new look.
Grand opening celebrations took place on the mall’s second level on Friday, November 4th. The opening event included a ribbon cutting ceremony hosted by Cadillac Fairview representatives and local delegates in London. Nearby Western University students enjoyed a complimentary cab shuttle service to the shopping centre, so that students could join their student-focused shopping event.
This new expansion won’t be CF Masonville Place’s last revitalization effort. Earlier in October 2016, Cadillac Fairview made a rezoning request to London city council to turn the former Target retail space into a “contemporary multi-purpose entertainment facility”. Details have yet to be announced publicly on uses for the former Target space.
CF Masonville is one of Canada’s most productive shopping centres. In several weeks time, the Retail Council of Canada will release a study ranking Canadian shopping centres by a variety of metrics, including productivity per square foot. The study, which will be distributed to retailers and industry players nationally, has sponsorship opportunities available. For more information, email: advertising@retailcouncil.org.
French fashion brand Saint Laurent (formerly ‘Yves Saint Laurent’) has opened its second freestanding Canadian store, in Toronto. The new Yorkdale Shopping Centre boutique follows the opening of a Saint Laurent location in Vancouver over the summer, which was a first for the company in Canada.
Yorkdale’s Saint Laurent measures about 3,000 square feet on one level, featuring a soaring facade and ready-to-wear collections for women and men, as well as bags, accessories, and footwear. The space is bright and simple, featuring ample marble and metal throughout.
Saint Laurent is located next to luxury brand David Yurman, in an area of the mall that is increasingly catering to the affluent. Nearby luxury brands include Jimmy Choo, Moncler, Cartier, Mulberry and Bulgari, with more luxury brand boutiques said to be on the way.
Saint Laurent’s first freestanding Canadian location opened in July of this year in Vancouver. The store is located at 746 Thurlow Street in The Carlyle complex, with two levels and 4,800 square feet of retail space. Sources say that the Vancouver store is doing exceptionally high sales in its new location, which is alongside luxury brand boutiques including Prada, Moncler, De Beers, Brunello Cucinelli, Versace, Strellson, Rolex, Burberry and others.
Saint Laurent operates locations globally, including 20 full-priced U.S. stores and three Saint Laurent outlets. The brand is owned by French luxury holding company Kering. Saint Laurent recently saw designer Hedi Slimani exit the company, to be replaced by Anthony Vaccarello.
There are only a few complimentary passes left for retailers for the IoT, Big Data Retail Summit. Email info@iotevents.ca now to secure your pass to this one-of-a-kind Canadian retail conference.
There has been a lot of interest in the IoT, Big Data Retail Summit which focuses on how IoT, Big Data tech can help retailers increase profitability and gain a competitive edge. 20+ retail thought leaders and leading technology companies will be speaking at the conference, discussing opportunities and challenges and sharing their own experiences when leveraging IoT, Big Data tech in retail.
Participating retailers include:
Join the above retailers at this two-day conference full of top retail thought leader presentations as well as networking and knowledge sharing. The conference takes place at St. Andrew’s Club in Downtown Toronto on November 15-16, 2016. For more information, visit the conference website.
For non-retailers, there’s a last minute flat rate of $750 (plus tax). Register online, email info@iotevents.ca or call 647-775-1610.
Remember to email info@iotevents.ca today to get your complimentary pass. See you next week!
*Sponsored. To have your event (or product or service) profiled on Retail Insider, email: craig@retail-insider.com*
