Popular Montreal-based hair salon La Rousse, located on 6562 Saint Laurent Street, has launched Canada’s first mobile beauty salon. Called La Rousee Mobile, the new mobile salon is contained within a 31-foot silver Airstream trailer that has been adapted for the needs of hairdressers and salon professionals with three spaces for hair, one space for makeup, and two spaces for nail beauty.
Despite technically being in a trailer, La Rousse Mobile’s ambiance is pure, elegant and airy, featuring primarily white interiors with purple accents. It’s the latest business to adopt the street truck movement, which has become very popular in Montreal lately.
La Rousse Mobile owner, Sophie Tessier, said: “I always wanted to participate in the movement and the popularity of street trucks, but in my own way and in my field.”
The La Rousse Mobile Airstream will be operating on the streets of Montreal between May 1st to October 31st of this year for large events, such as: school proms, special parties or even weddings.
Thanks go out to the W Hotel Montreal for giving access to La Rousse Mobile during the Formula 1 Grand Prix at the Pit Stop Lounge Party, helping people to discover this little gem of Montreal.
U.K. luxury jewellery brand Links of London has opened its first freestanding Canadian store at Toronto’s CF Toronto Eaton Centre. The beautiful boutique’s design was inspired by a ‘contemporary London townhouse’, and features a variety of jewellery and accessories, including some exclusives and rare pieces. A second Toronto location will open next month at CF Sherway Gardens, making Toronto the only city besides New York City to boast two or more freestanding Links of London stores.
The impressive CF Toronto Eaton centre boutique features innovative high-quality interiors that were designed by Sheridan&Co. Photos in this article were taken by Tom Sandler, profiling the 858 square foot boutique which features high quality wood and marble accents, as well as decorative features reflecting Links’ jewellery designs. Links is located between retailers Club Monaco and Michael Kors on the increasingly upscale third level of CF Toronto Eaton Centre which will be anchored at its north end by a 220,000 square foot flagship Nordstrom, opening on September 16 of this year.
A second Links of London boutique will open next month at Toronto’s CF Sherway Gardens. According to Leela Petrakis, North American President at parent company Folli Follie Group, the Sherway store will be about twice the size of the Eaton Centre location and will feature a tea salon within the store. That location was also designed by Sheridan&Co.
Links of London currently operates seven Canadian shop-in-store concessions. Six of those are at Holt Renfrew (Vancouver, Edmonton, Calgary, Toronto Bloor Street, Toronto Yorkdale Shopping Centre, Toronto CF Sherway Gardens) and at Ogilvy in Montreal. Holt’s CF Sherway store will close some time this summer to be replaced with a unit at Mississauga’s Square One, and Links of London is confirmed to be opening a concession in Square One’s Holt Renfrew this summer, as well.
Links of London currently operates five freestanding U.S. locations, with stores in New York City (three locations), Las Vegas and suburban Boston. A third New York City location will open this summer at Westfield World Trade Centre. The Links of London brand was founded in 1990 and has grown to become a global luxury brand. In July of 2006, the company was sold to Greek conglomerate Folli Follie SA. The name ‘Links’ signifies the brand’s famous men’s cufflinks, though collections include accessories, jewellery, timepieces and gifts for both genders.
Popular Japanese retailer Uniqlo is on track to open its first two Canadian store locations this fall in Toronto. Representatives were in Toronto yesterday to present a preview of Uniqlo’s fall collections, as well as provide details about the new Canadian stores. According to Uniqlo’s Canadian COO as well as its Canadian broker, the Japanese brand will eventually expand throughout Canada.
Uniqlo Canada Chief Operating Officer Yasuhiro Hayashi met with the press to discuss the new stores, as well as to profile the fall collection which, because of its technology, will provide warmth in cold Canadian winters. The brand’s ‘Heattech‘ innerwear line features moisture-wicking fabric that retains heat, and also features anti-odor properties. Women’s and men’s collections range from casual to dressy, including a variety of very soft cashmere sweaters as well as light-weight down jackets and vests. Uniqlo’s fashions are known for being simple, affordable, and of high quality, and we predict that the company will do extremely well with its stores in Canada.
Uniqlo’s first Canadian store location will open in late September or early October at CF Toronto Eaton Centre. An exact date hasn’t been set yet, according to Mr. Hayashi, as store construction can sometimes be unpredictable. The store will be located at the north end of the shopping centre between Nordstrom (opening September 16) and H&M, which recently saw a major expansion. Uniqlo will measure about 28,000 square feet over two levels, with access to the 10,000 square foot ground level being accessed from within CF Toronto Eaton Centre’s Yonge and Dundas Street entrance, as per the floor plan below.
Uniqlo’s second Canadian store will open at Yorkdale Shopping Centre in October of this year, along with other retailers in the mall’s new $331 million 300,000 square foot wing that will be anchored by Nordstrom. Mr. Hayashi said he expects that location to open just before Nordstrom, which opens to the public on October 21. Uniqlo will occupy about 24,000 square feet over two levels at Yorkdale and will be a neighbour with another Japanese retailer, Muji.
Mr. Hayashi explained that Uniqlo’s Canadian store expansion will be gradual, and that the company will look to create brand recognition before moving into new markets. Toronto is a terrific test market, he explained, given its size, influence and diverse population.
Uniqlo’s Canadian broker, Jeff Berkowitz of Aurora Realty Consultants, said that he’s thrilled that Uniqlo is opening in Canada this year. He also explained that Toronto was picked as the introductory market for Uniqlo in Canada, and that he’s now looking at Western Canadian real estate opportunities as the brand looks to expand Canada-wide at a controlled pace. He explained that every major Canadian market could be a great market for the brand, and that as customers get to know it, Uniqlo will become a staple in Canadian wardrobes.
Farla Efros, President of leading retail consultancy HRC Advisory, thinks that Uniqlo will be a big success in Canada. She described Uniqlo as being “fun, relevant and uplifting”, praising its product quality as well as its overall shopping experience and pricing strategy. She explained how Uniqlo’s value proposition fills a void in the retail landscape by bridging the gap between upscale boutiques and fast-fashion, describing the brand positioning as being distinct, with its brand values being “ageless and gender-neutral”. At a time when mid-priced retailers in Canada are being ‘squeezed’, Uniqlo’s fashion-forward, quality, price and newness will resonate not only with teens/tweens/Millennials/Generation Z, but also with modern working women and men seeking staple fashions at reasonable price points, she said.
Today, less than 1 in 10 merchants get more than half of their revenue from the mobile channel. But that number is projected to triple to nearly 1 in 3 merchants in just two years. What will be the impact on fraud prevention and fraud losses?
Fraud360 Toronto | Thursday, June 23 | 8:30 am to 1:00 pm | Hyatt Regency
Attendees will have the opportunity to learn about fraud trends, global transaction insights, eCommerce data, changes in the payment landscape and further use this knowledge to protect their company from fraud. Discussions will include the future of fraud and payments and how these fraudsters are continually changing their tools and tactics to steal from businesses across the globe. Retailers will learn how important it is to stay ahead of these fraud trends in order to beat fraudsters at their own game. Join Ethoca, BlueSnap, and Kount, as they address the most pressing issues in payments and fraud today, while sharing their own experiences and tools.
Attendees will see and hear informative presentations about the latest data and insights concerning eCommerce and mCommerce fraud prevention:
• You Have A Checkout Abandonment Problem & May Not Know It. Scott Fitzgerald, Senior VP of Marketing at BlueSnap, will discuss the issues that cause checkout abandonment, and what you can do as a business to convert more of your shoppers and visitors into buyers. $147B is at risk from checkout abandonment issues in the United States – how much are you losing out on?
• Stopping Fraud & Improving Acceptance: Walking The Transaction Tightrope Fragment. Steward Macintosh, Director of North American Sales at Ethoca, will discuss the “transaction tightrope” and how to combine different tools and tactics to prevent fraud while also accepting and encouraging transactions.
• Detect & Deter: What Are Fraudsters Up To? Don Bush, VP of Marketing at Kount, will educate attendees on what fraudsters are up to and what they’re searching for next. Learning global criminal techniques and trends is essential to keeping your company’s revenue up and fraudulent transactions down.
Take this opportunity to network with others in the industry while also sharing best practices and tools for fraud prevention. Complimentary breakfast and lunch will be served. Registration is free and easy, reserve your spot today!
*This content was sponsored by Fraud360 World Tour.
Improve, a 320,000 square foot centre features 400 vendors, acting as a permanent year round home show.
An innovative new retail concept is opening on June 25 in Vaughan, Ontario, just north of Toronto. Called Improve, the massive 320,000 square foot centre features about 400 construction and design related businesses under one roof. The complex also includes meeting rooms, cafés, a 200-seat auditorium for product launches and 1,500 parking stalls.
The centre features 38 categories of home improvement products, including cabinetry, lighting, fencing and fireplaces. Hundreds of companies have purchased space at Improve, including Creative Group Interiors, Canadian Stucco, Canaroma Bath and Tile, American Standard and Best Brand Appliances, among others. Improve describes its concept as “a win-win for retailers and consumers, making shopping easy for potential customers and providing maximum exposure for home improvement-based businesses”.
Improve is located at the nexus of Highway 407 and Keele Street (address: 7250 Keele Street) in Vaughan, as per the map below. It is close to Highways 407 and 400 for motorists, and is also near the new York University subway station, expected to open in early 2018.
CLICK FOR INTERACTIVE GOOGLE MAP
Several years ago, founder Oleg Chekhter found that while renovating his own home, locating products such as cabinets, countertops or lighting was very time consuming. He set out with two business partners to create a one-stop shopping experience for consumers. Such concepts exist in Europe and Asia, but is new to Canada. According to a description on Improve’s LinkedIn page: “An indoor mall is appealing to consumers, who would rather visit one location and avoid the time and hassle of having to drive all over the city in search of a particular product or service.”
AWARD-WINNING SIGN. PHOTO: IMPROVE, VIA LINKEDIN.
FLOORPLAN, VIA IMPROVE’S WEBSITE.
Due to the sheer size and number of vendors, Improve’s website breaks it down into searchable categories, also providing a map of the centre. The magnitude and selection of product could become overwhelming if a trip isn’t pre-planned, at least to some degree. Improve’s website also offers useful tips to renovators, for example, with a recent blog post discussing how to make ceilings appear higher. Planning ahead may also be useful given how potentially crowded it might get — Improve expects over 2,000 daily visitors once it opens to the public next week.
Thank you Carlo Gon for notifying us of this topic.
Forever 21 is expanding its F21 RED concept into the province of Quebec, announcing a new location at Méga Centre Vaudreuil, near Montreal. It will be F21 RED’s fourth Canadian store, as the brand expands across Canada.
The new Méga Centre Vaudreuil F21 RED store will measure 14,667 square feet, and will carry an assortment of fashion staples from each of Forever 21’s lines, including Forever 21, Forever 21 Men, Forever 21 Plus, and Forever 21 Kids. Méga Centre Vaudreuil is operated by real estate development company Harden.
“As Forever 21 was deciding on how to integrate into the Quebec market with their F21 Red concept, Vaudreuil seemed natural, given the dynamic, young and family-oriented community,” said Jeffrey Berkowitz, Forever 21’s Canadian retail broker and president of Montreal-based Aurora Realty Consultants. “It was an easy decision to go to the Harden project.”
Aurora Realty Consultants represents Forever 21 and F21 RED in Canada and according to Mr. Berkowitz, the brand will expand by opening stores across Canada over the next two-to-three years. Longer-term, F21 RED will operate between 20 and 30 Canadian locations.
F21 RED’s first Canadian location opened in the fall of 2015 at Devonshire Mall in Windsor, Ontario, and a second location opened soon after at Ottawa’s Place D’Orleans. In February of this year, a third location was announced for Highstreet in Abbotsford, BC, which will open this fall.
F21 RED launched in Los Angeles in May of 2014 with a location in suburban Los Angeles, and is a sister brand to Los Angeles-based Forever 21, which operates almost 800 stores globally, including in Canada.
Italian luxury brand Moncler will open its third freestanding Canadian store at 131 Bloor Street West (The Colonnade) in Toronto, according to plans released by Colonnade landlord Morguard. Toronto will join Las Vegas as the only North American cities to feature two freestanding Moncler stores.
The Bloor Street Moncler store will measure about 2,500 square feet, according to the Morguard lease plan, taking part of Sephora’s current 6,100 square foot space. The floor plan shows the remaining 3,842 square feet as still available for lease.
This summer, Sephora will relocate to a one-level, 8,900 square foot location at nearby 77 Bloor Street West. Construction on the new Moncler store is expected to commence shortly thereafter.
Moncler’s first freestanding Canadian store opened in the summer of 2014 at Toronto’s Yorkdale Shopping Centre, measuring about 2,525 square feet. A second Canadian Moncler location opened at 742 Thurlow Street in the city’s ‘Luxury Zone’ in December of 2015.
Founded in Milan in 1952, Moncler is an apparel and lifestyle brand most known for its down jackets and sportswear. Moncler took its name from the abbreviation of Monestier-de-Clermont, an Alpine town near Grenoble, France. In 2003, the brand was bought by the Italian entrepreneur Remo Ruffini. Although founded in Italy, Moncler’s flagship store is on the Rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré in Paris. Moncler currently operates 14 free-standing stores in the United States, including locations in Aspen CO, Atlanta, Bal Harbour FL, Beverly Hills, Boston, Chicago, Costa Mesa CA, Honolulu, Houston, Las Vegas (2 locations), New York City, San Francisco and Seattle.
Thank you to Urban Toronto‘s ‘ACT7’ and decisionSMART‘s Paul Amato for alerting us to Morguard’s updated lease plan, as discovered by Urban Toronto’s ‘pw20’.
Upscale Belgian women’s fashion brand Sarah Pacini is continuing its Canadian store expansion by opening new locations. In April of this year, the company’s first Western Canadian store opened at Park Royal in West Vancouver and last week, Pacini’s eighth Canadian store opened at Toronto’s Yorkville Village, formerly named Hazelton Lanes.
The Sarah Pacini brand was founded 20 years ago in Belgium. The collection, made primarily in Italy, is distributed in 48 countries across five continents with more than 70 boutiques as well as department store shop-in-stores and wholesale accounts. Designs are simple and elegant, and are at a contemporary price point. The company has three primary corporate offices, with locations in Montreal as well as in Belgium and Ireland.
The Yorkville Village store is located on the enclosed centre’s second level, alongside retailers Judith & Charles, Ophelia, Maska Mode, Andrews and newest retailer philip, which we profiled last week. The Sarah Pacini store features the brand’s newest look, with light walls contrasting dark wood fixtures, and a unique concrete floor treatment that almost looks like water. Pacini’s fashions are displayed extensively throughout the store — designs are simple and elegant with day and evening wear, as well as a selection of footwear, handbags and other accessories, and jewellery. The Sarah Pacini jewellery line is particularly notable, as it’s made in Canada and available at stores worldwide.
Sarah Pacini will continue opening Canadian stores, according to international expansion director Said Boujmada. He confirmed that Sarah Pacini’s next store location will be opening at the McArthurGlen Designer Outlets in suburban Vancouver. This will be the second Canadian outlet location for the brand, following its outlet location at Premium Outlets Montreal, which opened in the fall of 2014. Sarah Pacini also operates full-priced stores in Montreal (four locations, Les Cours Mont Royal, 1061 rue Laurier Ouest in Outremont, CF Carrefour Laval and 4919 Sherbrooke Ouest in Westmount) as well as two Toronto stores (Bayview Village and, now, Yorkville Village) and at The Village at Park Royal in West Vancouver. Remarkably, Sarah Pacini currently operates only two freestanding stores in the United States, with units in New York City’s Soho and on North Beverly Drive in Beverly Hills, California.
Aurora Realty Consultants represents Sarah Pacini in Canada. Broker Manon Parisien confirmed that the brand will continue to focus expansion plans on Vancouver and Toronto for 2016-2017, and will then look to other Canadian markets, depending on opportunities. Auora Realty Consultants has a team of brokers with Jeri Brodie assisting with the Yorkville Village deal, while Trevor Thomas assisted with Vancouver location negotiations. Ms. Parisien explained that although high streets are a target for the brand, enclosed shopping centres are also considered for new stores. According to Aurora Realty Consultants’ website, Sarah Pacini stores are generally in the 1,400 to 1,800 square foot range.
Yorkville Village is in the process of adding new upscale retailers, as it overhauls its premises. We’ll be doing an in-depth feature in the centre’s progress this summer, as it prepares to debut its second phase. Landlord First Capital Realty is also redeveloping retail properties on nearby Yorkville Avenue, and we’ll also be profiling these as permitted over the coming weeks and months.
Canadian footwear brand Shumaker (pronounced ‘shoe maker’) will expand its base of freestanding stores after seeing success with its first locations. Shumaker has already opened eight locations in just eight months, with more to follow as it seeks space in busy shopping centres.
The Shumaker brand is known for its contemporary, casual footwear for both men and women, and began in 1948 as a footwear manufacturer and distributor. The company, headquartered in Mississauga, has grown over the years and now boasts wholesale distribution at over 1,600 points of sale across Canada. Prices are considered to be moderate by footwear standards, and can be viewed on Shumaker’s e-commerce site.
After seeing considerable wholesale success, Shumaker set out to open its own branded freestanding stores. Working with an in-house design team, the company created a store prototype featuring primarily white interiors with strong red accents, as well as contemporary fixtures and eye-catching facades. Images in this article, supplied by Shumaker, show the store design without footwear in order to provide design context.
Shumaker’s first location opened in August of 2015 at Lansdowne Place in Peterborough, Ontario. Since then, about one store has opened per month, according to Shumaker’s Director of Operations, Ishan Singh. The retailer has opened seven freestanding stores in Southern Ontario, including locations in Barrie (RioCan Georgian Mall), Bellville (Quinte Mall), Hamilton (CF Lime Ridge), Ottawa (two stores: Carlingwood Shopping Centre and Place d’Orleans) as well as two Toronto area stores (Erin Mills Town Centre in Mississauga and CF Markville in Markham).
The brand’s physical stores aim to impress and provide top-notch customer service, according to Mr. Singh. Shumaker’s website explains that its product is “quality-centred, value-driven and original” and that “Shumaker is built on the same family values that are found in homes across the country”, going on to say: “Resting on principles of respect, Shumaker provides unmatched customer service and a personalized shopping experience in a distinguished setting”.
Moving forward, Mr. Singh explained that Shumaker will look to continue its growth momentum into the fall of 2016 and beyond, as it continues to seek out retail spaces for new store locations in Ontario. Shumaker stores are ideally in the 1,400 square foot to 1,800 square foot range and although shopping centre locations are a priority, Mr. Singh said that urban street front stores could be a possibility as well.
An innovative new concept has launched in several Canadian shopping centres, and it’s driving traffic to malls by being an attraction to kids. Named Zazazoo, the plush animal ride rental company is looking to expand Canada-wide through franchising, after launching its first location near Ottawa in November of 2015.
Founded by Melanie Lafreniere, Zazazoo rents out large stuffed animals that can be ridden throughout enclosed shopping malls. She explained how the concept is already driving traffic to shopping centres as a new attraction. She came up with the idea after recognizing that some children might not be keen on visiting the local mall, which in turn may limit parent’s shopping capabilities.
Ms. Lafreniere says that she’d ideally like to be operating in 12 Canadian shopping centres by the end of 2016. Zazazoo launched at Les Promenades Gatineau last November and has since expanded to four locations, including Carlingwood Mall and St. Laurent Centre in Ottawa, and at Galeries de Sources in suburban Montreal. More locations are scheduled to open in the next few months, including at Ottawa’s popular Bayshore Shopping Centre.
It’s not just children who ride Zazazoo’s stuffed animals, however. Some adults are enjoying the attraction as well and according to Ms. Lafreniere, one only has to be ‘young at heart’. She explained how Zazazoo brings smiles to people’s faces, young and old, adding a new element of positivity and fun to existing Canadian shopping centres — living up to its slogan ‘Made for Kids, Enjoyed by All’.
