Nordstrom officially opened its three level, 199,000 square foot Yorkdale Shopping Centre location to the public on the morning of Friday, October 21. Crowds waited outside the store’s mall entrance ahead of the opening, with some taking part in the store’s pre-opening beauty event. 

Shoppers continued to visit the store over the weekend. Feedback was overwhelmingly positive, with shoppers praising the store’s open design, and natural light, as well as a product offering ranging from the accessible to the luxurious. 

Some retail experts are predicting that the Yorkdale Nordstrom will become one of the company’s top performers, joining the ranks of high-selling units in Seattle, Bellevue WA, Chicago, San Francisco, Vancouver and the new CF Toronto Eaton Centre flagship (which opened on September 18). Given the luxury offerings at Nordstrom Yorkdale, and given the exceptional productivity of the mall’s Holt Renfrew, this is plausible. 

About 1,700 people attended the store’s opening charity gala on Wednesday, October 19. A total of $224,000 was raised, with all proceeds going to several local charities. Special gala guests included international supermodels Chanel Iman and Lindsay Ellingson, celebrity DJs Russell Peters, DJ Jazzy Jeff, Hannah Bronfman and Brendan Fallis. Last month, Nordstrom’s CF Toronto Eaton Centre opening charity gala saw over 2,000 attendees, raising about $270,000 from ticket sales.  

We learned an interesting fact about Nordstrom and the Delvaux brand — a topic discussed last week in a previous article. The Brussels-based luxury brand, priced well into the thousands, technically has only two leased retail spaces in North America. Both of those are in Canadian Nordstrom stores — the first opened in September of 2015 at Nordstrom CF Pacific Centre, and now Delvaux has a boutique at Nordstrom Yorkdale. In the United States, Delvaux is available at seven Barneys New York stores, though not in leased departments as at Nordstrom in Canada. 

Nordstrom anchors Yorkdale’s new 300,000 square foot, $331 million expansion wing that features a number of premium retailers, including several first-to-market brands. Canada Goose opened its first freestanding location in the world beside Nordstrom in the new wing, and French brand Maje opened its first freestanding Canadian store nearby. Sandro, under the same ownership umbrella as Maje, opens in the new wing in mid-November, and popular New York City-based eyewear retailer Warby Parker opens in a couple of months as well. The new wing is also remarkably Canadian-focused, with Canadian retailers such as Lululemon, Arc’teryx (first mall location for the brand), Maison Birks, Mendocino, Mackage, Oak + Fort, Saje Natural Wellness, Spareparts, and Nadège Patisserie. 

In the fall of 2017, Nordstrom will open its third Toronto store at CF Sherway Gardens, measuring about 138,000 square feet. Nordstrom entered the Canadian market in September of 2014 with a 140,000 square foot CF Chinook Centre location in Calgary. A second Canadian location, measuring 157,000 square feet, opened in March of 2015 at Ottawa’s CF Rideau Centre, and a third 230,000 square foot location opened in September of 2015 at Vancouver’s CF Pacific Centre. Last month, we attended the opening of Nordstrom’s 220,000 square foot CF Toronto Eaton Centre location in Toronto, which continues to see crowds of shoppers in North America’s busiest shopping centre. 

Last week, the Professional Retail Store Maintenance Association (PRSM), presented Randall Linton, President of ServiceNational Canada, with the Canadian Excellence Award. The award was presented during the PRSM Canadian Conference in Toronto, and recognizes Mr. Linton’s leadership and service in the retail facilities management industry and within PRSM Association.

Mr. Linton is a highly regarded facility management leader and has been a key contributor to the worldwide PRSM Community. He is a firm believer in collaborating with others, proven by his extensive involvement in PRSM. Since joining PRSM, he has attended every PRSM National and Canadian Conference, and has served on the Best Practices Committee, presented at conferences, authored white papers, delivered webinars and has had numerous articles published in PRSM Magazine and other industry leading publications.

Leigh Pearson, Chair of the PRSM Board of Directors, and Director, Facility, Environment and Procurement for Staples Canada, presented the prestigious award to Linton and recognized his leadership. “Randall is a natural teacher, and continuously strives to educate, inform and share his valuable experiences with others. He has built a highly successful, national maintenance company based upon competence, confidence, mutual trust and respect for his clients, his employees and the industry. It is an honour to present him with the PRSM Canadian Excellence Award,” said Ms. Pearson.

Upon receiving the PRSM award, Mr. Linton said, “I am extremely honoured to be recognized by my industry peers and by PRSM with this award. It is a privilege to serve our customers and to be a member of PRSM. I want to thank my ServiceNational team for their hard work and dedication and all of the PRSM members who have helped us along the way. We appreciate the opportunity to be a part of this industry and part of PRSM.”

Mr. Linton and his brothers are co-owners of Interior Care Limited, in its 55th year, providing professional maintenance services to commercial offices and condominiums, and ServiceNational Canada, Inc., which provides full contract maintenance of retail stores across Canada.

The Canadian Excellence Award was created to recognize the highest levels of professionalism in retail facilities management. Recipients of the award are innovative leaders in the industry who excel in their company, and they also give back to the profession in terms of sharing their knowledge and experiences with others.

*PRSM has sponsored previous posts on Retail Insider. To partner with Retail Insider, contact craig@retail-insider.com. 

Popular Japanese fashion retailer Uniqlo has opened its second Canadian location at Toronto’s Yorkdale Shopping Centre. The 25,500 square foot store opened to the public on Thursday, October 20, 2016. This marks Uniqlo’s second store in the Canadian market, with the first having opened at CF Toronto Eaton Centre last month.

The store is located in Yorkdale’s new 300,000 square foot, $331 million Nordstrom-anchored east wing expansion, which also includes new retail spaces from retailers such as Samsung, Canada Goose, Saje, Williams-Sonoma, Strellson, Lululemon, and Nadege. Fellow Japanese retailer Muji is also found in the new wing, located right next door to Uniqlo.

The company was founded in Japan in 1974, and operates over 800 stores globally. Uniqlo’s simple, affordable, and high quality fashions have proven to be a hit at its first Canadian location. With Yorkdale being a mall with a very different demographic, Uniqlo didn’t skimp out on the grand opening festivities. 

A massive crowd of Uniqlo fans came to the grand opening – many who had been waiting in line since the early hours of the morning. The first two customers in line were Max and Hannah, who both arrived at 4:30 am. Uniqlo kept their eager customers happy by providing hot drinks, pastries, and bottled water to those waiting in line. 

To kick off the opening of the Yorkdale store, all of those in line were entered in a draw to win a trip to Japan for two. This special prize was given away to Kanako Tschimoto.

The store itself is similar to most Uniqlo stores around the world – featuring men’s, women’s and  kid’s fashion items. The facade of most Uniqlo locations are marked by glossy white walls, colourful LED lights, and displays of white mannequins.

Compared to the CF Toronto Eaton Centre location, the Yorkdale store’s finishes and feel are very similar. However, the store is 2,000 square feet smaller, which means a ‘Uniqlo Meets Toronto’ section is not found at this location.

The store’s first floor contains men’s and women’s fashions, and selection of sportswear and jackets. The store’s second floor contains more men’s and women’s fashions, children’s fashion, and undergarments and accessories. 

As mentioned in our last article, Uniqlo philosophy is to not separate men’s and women’s collections by floor. The company’s COO says Uniqlo is truly a brand for “all ages and genders” and it is important that presence should be felt on the first floor of the store.

This Uniqlo also features pieces from ‘Uniqlo U’, a special collection from Uniqlo’s global artistic director Christophe Lemaire. This collection was North American exclusive during Uniqlo’s CF Toronto Eaton Centre launch, and has since been launched worldwide.

Multiple cash registers are found on both floors. This weekend only, customers will be seeing major savings. Just to name a few deals, cashmere sweaters are on sale for $89, and vintage chino pants are on for $39. Customers that spend a minimum of $75 will also receive a special, limited edition tote bag with their purchase while quantities last.

Despite massive lineups and positive word-of-mouth, the company’s internal marketing studies have shown Uniqlo’s brand recognition in Canada to be low. Uniqlo confirms that further Canadian expansion will be carefully considered.

(Editor’s note, Jeff Berkowitz of Aurora Realty Consultants represents Uniqlo as Canadian broker, and negotiated both Toronto store deals with their respective landlords). 

H&M‘s upscale fashion brand COS (stands for ‘Collection of Style’) opens its third freestanding Canadian store today, as it continues to expand operations across Canada. A fourth location will open early next year in Vancouver, and more are planned, according to sources. 

A 5,188 square foot, one-level COS opens this morning at Toronto’s Yorkdale Shopping Centre. The well laid-out store is located adjacent to the mall’s highly productive Holt Renfrew, steps away from the mall’s Nordstrom-anchored $331 million, 300,000 square foot expansion wing that opened earlier this week. 

Yorkdale’s COS includes fashion collections for women, men and children, in an open environment featuring minimalist white walls. Furniture from mid-century modern designers accent the space, which houses fall collections as well as a sample selection of Spring/Summer 2017 lines. The store’s exterior includes separate entrances for men’s and women’s departments, with wood doors that slide along the store’s facade.

Vancouver’s COS, opening in early 2017, will be the first in the city. Located at 18 Water Street (former Zientte Interiors space) in Gastown, the 3,024 square foot retail space will be located in a heritage building with a “store interior that will reflect the COS design values and aesthetic of clean-lines and natural elements”. The space housing COS includes a 4,130 square foot ground floor as well as a 2,330 square foot basement level, according to the CBRE Urban Retail Team (Mario Negris and Martin Moriarty) who negotiated the Gastown deal. 

COS launched its first Canadian store in September 2015 in Toronto at 85 Bloor Street West (former Tiffany & Co. space), followed by a second store in October 2015 at 1310 Sainte Catherine Street West in Montreal (formerly occupied by Le Chauteau). The store openings at Yorkdale and Vancouver’s Gastown mark the third and fourth locations for COS in Canada.

Parent company H&M launched the COS store concept on London’s Regent Street in March 2007. The brand has a wide product range that is divided into a number of different concepts, incorporating fashion essentials, reinvented classics and modern trends for men and women. COS is created by an in-house team of designers and buyers. It has close to 200 stores in over 30 countries worldwide.