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Toronto: Four floors of flagship retail space to be built below a new Queen Street condo tower

By
Craig Patterson
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A condominium tower with four floors of retail space will replace a surface parking lot just off the corner of Queen Street West and University Avenue in Toronto. Its address will be 219 Queen Street West. The tower’s retail base will feature over 24,500 square feet of retail space, which is expected to be available some time in 2016. One tenant could occupy the entire retail podium, or the space could be divided for multiple retailers. 


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It will be interesting to see which retailer or retailers will occupy this space. Situated between Toronto’s Financial District and the trendy Queen Street West shopping area, the location is prime: the pedestrian counts are high and the immediate area has seen a surge in new condominium dwellers. The tower immediately above 219 Queen West’s retail has been aptly named ‘Smart House‘. The 25-story tower will contain nearly 200 condominium units.


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219 Queen’s retail space features dramatically high ceilings with extensive exposure along Queen Street West. Plenty of branding and signage opportunities will be available. The location is rendered even more exceptional by its close proximity to the TTC Osgoode subway station and the Queen Street streetcar line. Pedestrian access will also be easy, as 219 Queen West is adjacent to the Financial District and the Queen West shopping area. Shipping and receiving access for the retail space will be conveniently located to the rear of the building via a laneway off of Simcoe Street.

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Click the image directly above for a slideshow of each of the retail space’s four floors. For further details, including asking lease rates for 219 Queen Street West, you may contact one of the listing representatives at Ashlar Urban Realty Inc., below:

ASHLAR URBAN REALTY INC. REAL ESTATE BROKERAGE, 166 Pearl Street – Suite 300, Toronto, ON M5H 1L3. T 416 205 9222. F 416 205 9228. www.ashlarurban.com

Versace to open at Toronto’s Yorkdale Shopping Centre

By
Craig Patterson
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Image: Versace

Versace will open a free-standing store at Toronto’s Yorkdale Shopping Centre, according to the City of Toronto Development Applications website. Versace will occupy space #160 in the mall’s ‘luxury hallway’ beside Salvatore Ferragamo and neighbouring luxury retailers Tiffany & Co., Burberry, Cartier, David Yurman, Mulberry and others. 

According to Yorkdale’s lease plan, space 160 is about 2,500 square feet. We’re not sure if Versace will expand into the adjacent 3,873 square foot space formerly occupied by a Holt Renfrew ‘pop-up shop’. 

This will be Canada’s second Versace store location, though it will technically be Canada’s only free-standing Versace store. Vancouver has a licensed Versace boutique located within Luxury retailer Leone at the Sinclair Centre. This Vancouver Versace location opened along with Leone in 1987. 

Since the 1990’s, Toronto has seen several franchised Versace store locations. Versace locations on Hazelton Avenue, at the Hazelton Lanes shopping centre and on Bloor Street have opened and closed over the years. Rumour has it Versace is currently looking for Yorkville store space as well, though we can’t confirm a location. 

Thank you to source ACT7 of Urban Toronto.

Woman trapped in Hudson’s Bay store is rescued

By
Craig Patterson
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[Image Source]

A woman became trapped in a Downtown Toronto Hudson’s Bay store after it closed Wednesday evening. Emily Keeler had been shopping at the Yonge and Bloor Hudson’s Bay store (which until recently was expected to become a Saks Fifth Avenue store) when she discovered that the store had been closed and she could not get out. Ms. Keeler fortunately had access to her Twitter account and provided comment and photos of her experience.

We and others watched on Twitter while Ms. Keeler sought ways to exit the store. Some Twitter followers made light of the situation: for example, references to the popular 1980’s children’s TV show Today’s Special (which took place after hours at Toronto’s Simpson’s department store, now the flagship Hudson’s Bay ‘Queen Street’ store). 

After various attempts to find her way out, a store manager (or managers?) set her free. The entire ordeal appears to have lasted about 40 minutes. Ms. Keeler has declined to provide interviews on her experience.

[Hudson’s Bay website]

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Clearly Contacts bought by French company for $430-million

By
Craig Patterson
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Vancouver-based Coastal Contacts (which also does business as Clearlycontacts.ca and Coastal.com) has been bought by a French company for $430 million. The buyer, Essilor International, is the world’s largest manufacturer of prescription eyewear lenses. Essilor payed a premium for Coastal Contacts, and the deal is expected to close within the next 90 days pending shareholder and regulatory approval.

CEO Roger Hardy, who owns more than 10% of Coastal Contacts, stated: “The combination will enhance Coastal.com’s ability to achieve its goals while realizing a significant all-cash premium for our shareholders. I am confident this merger is the right decision for Coastal.com, our employees and our shareholders.” His company’s board of directors unanimously approved the sale.

Coastal Contacts’ share price surged with the announcement of the deal. Essilor offered $12.45 cash per share. The company’s previous three-month, volume-weighted share price average was about $8.73 prior to the takeover announcement, while its six-month average was $6.78, only just over half of Essilor’s offer.

Coastal Contacts has roughly 750 employees with about 400 in Vancouver, 80 in Blaine, Washington, about 200 in Sweden and a number of employees in Australia and in New Zealand, according to Mr. Hardy. “Eighty-five per cent of our employees are shareholders, so this is an exciting moment for them,” he said.

Besides its onine business, ClearlyContacts.ca now operates bricks-and-mortar store locations in Vancouver and Toronto. It will open more Canadian stores as well as international locations. We’ll soon be announcing another Canadian ClearlyContacts.ca bricks-and-mortar store location, which will be its first store within a shopping mall.

London, ON department store Kingsmill’s is closing after 148 years

By
Craig Patterson
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One of Canada’s last independently-owned department stores will close next month. The iconic Kingsmill’s department store in downtown London, Ontario, will close after operating for 148 years. It will clear its merchandise as part of a sale beginning Thursday, March 6th.

Founded in 1865 as a dry goods store, Kingsmill’s has continuously operated in downtown London. It is one of the few remaining independent, family-owned and operated department stores in Canada, and after several renovations and expansions, currently occupies more than 73,000 square feet over five separate floors.

The store has an interesting history. In 1865, Thomas Frazer Kingsmill, an Irish immigrant, opened a dry goods store on Dundas Street in London, Ontario. The first store was 1,800 square feet. The store has burned down and been rebuilt twice during its 148-year history. The current building, built in 1932, features the original tin-plated ceilings and hardwood floors. The original pneumatic tube system is still used to send paperwork and change throughout the store, and the old-style elevator, complete with operator, continues to help customers get from floor to floor. These features have survived over the years due to a conscious effort to maintain the character and elegance of the building.

Kingsmill’s offers a wide range of merchandise categories including home furnishings, fine china and collectibles, women’s, men’s and children’s fashions, cosmetics, linens, gifts, kitchenware and luggage, among others. 

The store’s ‘Going Out of Business Sale’ will continue as long as inventory levels allow. Once the store’s inventory is gone, Kingsmill’s will officially close.

Source: press release

Aritzia CEO Brian Hill to lecture at University of Alberta School of Retailing this Friday

By
Craig Patterson
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Image: University of Alberta

The University of Alberta School of Retailing regularly hosts top retail executives. This Friday, Artizia CEO Brian Hill will lecture at the School of Retailing.

He will speak to four different classes after participating in a breakfast with local industry representatives, high school students and retailing students. He will also take part in a lunch with about 25 University of Alberta MBA students and have dinner with a few School of Retailing Partners as part of the annual Executive in Residence visit.

Mr. Hill was also the recipient of the School of Retailing’s 2013 Henry Singer Award for exceptional leadership in the retail industry. 

We’ll be reporting more on exciting happenings such as this at the University of Alberta School of Retailing in the coming months. As a global leader in retail research and education, the School of Retailing is producing exceptional graduates who will be seeking placement opportunities with top retailers. 

Canada’s second-largest mall created as Toronto Saks/HBC deal is completed

By
Craig Patterson
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Hudson's Bay on Queen Street - PHOTO: DARRELL BATEMAN

The Toronto Eaton Centre is now officially Canada’s second-largest mall. Yesterday, The Hudson’s Bay Company (HBC) completed the sale of its Toronto Queen Street flagship store (and adjacent office tower) to Cadillac Fairview for $650 million. A 150,000 square foot Saks Fifth Avenue store and a reconfigured 700,000 square foot Hudson’s Bay flagship will be located on-site as part of the deal. This addition of 850,000 square feet to its current 1.2 million square feet of retail space technically makes the Toronto Eaton Centre Canada’s second-largest shopping centre with about 2.05 million square feet of retail space, surpassing Burnaby BC’s Metropolis at Metrotown (with close to 1.8 million square feet of retail space).

Canada’s largest mall continues to be West Edmonton Mall with approximately 3.8 million square feet of retail area. With completion of the deal, Toronto’s Eaton Centre would have been about 2.5 million square feet if it wasn’t for the loss of its 816,000 square foot Sears store. Sears will be replaced by a 213,000 square foot Nordstrom store and a further 140,000 square feet of Sears’ retail space is currently available for one or more tenants.  

HBC has leased both the Queen Street retail space as well as the adjacent Simpson Tower back from Cadillac Fairview for a base term of 25 years, with renewal terms available at the Hudson’s Bay Company’s option. The Queen Street property will feature Canada’s first Saks Fifth Avenue store location, expected to open in the fall of 2015. 

“We are thrilled to have completed this transaction, which clearly demonstrates the tremendous value of our real estate portfolio,” stated Richard Baker, HBC’s Governor and Chief Executive Officer. “This sale-leaseback allows HBC to establish a benchmark valuation for one of our many flagship assets, reduce the debt on our balance sheet and accelerate our strategic investments. We remain committed to using our significant real estate holdings to unlock further value for our shareholders and are exploring a broad range of alternatives to help us accomplish this goal.”

According to HBC’s press release, “Net of associated fees, all proceeds from the sale initially will be utilized to reduce HBC’s debt. Specifically, HBC will retire in entirety its US$300 million Second Lien Term Loan, currently bearing interest at a rate of 8.25%, and permanently pay down US$150 million of its US$2 billion First Lien Term Loan, currently bearing interest at a rate of 4.75%. The balance of the net proceeds will be used to reduce the outstanding balance on the Company’s Canadian revolving credit facility. Over time, a portion of the proceeds will provide ample liquidity to fund the Company’s strategic investments including the expansion of Saks Fifth Avenue into Canada and growth initiatives such as our HBC Digital and OFF 5TH businesses.”

Source: HBC press release

Target lost almost $1-billion on its Canadian expansion last year

By
Craig Patterson
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Image: Target

Target’s substantial Canadian expansion has hurt its bottom line. The company lost close to $1-billion last year that it attributes to its Canadian expansion and its less-than-expected retail sales. 

In 2013, Target Canada had sales of about $1.3-billion with a gross margin rate of only 14.9% and an operating loss of about $941-million. Canadian operations reduced Target’s full-year per-share earnings by $1.13.

For more on this interesting development, we direct you to Hollie Shaw’s comprehensive article at The Financial Post. 

Construction begins on Yorkdale’s ‘Nordstrom wing’ as the mall turns 50 today

By
Craig Patterson
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Image: Yorkdale Shopping Centre

Toronto’s Yorkdale Shopping Centre opened 50 years ago today. To mark the occasion, construction will commence on the mall’s 298,000 square foot, $331-million expansion that will include a 188,000 square foot Nordstrom store as its anchor. A series of events will also be held as part of the celebrations. 

The mall recently saw its sales exceed $1 billion per year and it’s forecasted that by the year 2018, it will be North America’s top-selling mall with sales of $2 billion. 

Interestingly, the CN Tower will be lit in gold this evening to commemorate the occasion. Yorkdale has used gold colour as part of its most recent advertising campaign which includes Canadian supermodel Coco Rocha. 

“When Yorkdale first opened its doors in 1964, we were the largest shopping centre in the world,” said Claire Santamaria, General Manager of Yorkdale Shopping Centre. “Fifty years later, we can say that Yorkdale has helped transform Canada’s retail landscape by being the number one destination for international retailers entering the Canadian market. We want to celebrate our golden anniversary as we continue growing to meet with the demand of shoppers and international retailers.”

Some of the anniversary events include (directly from the mall’s press release):

The past celebrated. Your future styled: On February 26th, fifty years to the day since the shopping centre first opened its doors, Yorkdale will unveil an exclusive portrait series shot by iconic photographer and musician Bryan Adams. The series features Toronto’s top Style Makers, including former Fashion Television personality and fashion icon in her own right Jeanne Beker, Breakfast Television personality Dina Pugliese, actress Lisa Ray, Jagmeet Singh, philanthropist Suzanne Rogers and her daughter Chloe, TIFF artistic director Cameron Bailey, bloggers Caillianne and Samantha Beckerman and fashion designer Lucian Matis.

Yorkdale Gold Collection: To celebrate Yorkdale’s Golden Anniversary, several retailers have contributed special edition commemorative products to the Yorkdale Gold Collection. The collection features items from Michael Kors, Ted Baker London, MAC Cosmetics, The Body Shop, Town Shoes and Purdy’s Chocolatier, developed exclusively for Yorkdale and available only at Yorkdale.

Anniversary Gown: Lucian Matis, one of Canada’s top luxury fashion designers, has created a golden anniversary evening gown exclusively for Yorkdale. Made of silk chiffon and French lace, the gown was delicately hand-sewn by Matis and took more than 85 hours to complete. Inspiration for the exquisite piece came from Yorkdale shopping centre itself. The gown was photographed on Canadian supermodel Coco Rocha, the face of Yorkdale Style, for a special campaign celebrating the 50th anniversary of Yorkdale Shopping Centre. The gown will be on display at Yorkdale’s Guest Services.

CN Tower: In light of Yorkdale’s Golden Anniversary: Yorkdale isn’t the only one getting into the spirit. The CN Tower, one of Toronto’s leading attractions, will be lit gold on the evening of February 26th to celebrate Yorkdale’s golden anniversary. As with every night, a standard light show will also occur for eight minutes at the top of every hour.  

SOURCE: Yorkdale Shopping Centre press release

Roots to renovate and expand its Vancouver flagship: interview with Roots co-founder Michael Budman

By
Craig Patterson
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Roots in Vancouver (Image: Colin Archer)

We interviewed Roots Canada co-founder Michael Budman about his company’s proposed renovation and expansion to Root’s Downtown Vancouver flagship store. Roots recently re-signed a long-term lease for the Vancouver retail space as part of its renovation and expansion plans.

Vancouver’s Roots flagship is one of the chain’s highest-selling stores. Mr. Budman noted that the store has recently seen double-digit growth yearly (he wouldn’t provide exact numbers). 2013 marked Root’s 40th anniversary and overall sales were the highest in the company’s history, fuelled by domestic growth, online sales and an expansion of Roots stores in Asia. Roots has over 120 stores in Asia and Mr. Budman says that his brand has become very popular overseas. As the Vancouver flagship enjoys tremendous sales, and Vancouver is Canada’s ‘gateway to the Pacific’, Roots has decided to enlarge the store’s interior and upgrade its appearance.

Roots will completely renovate the interior of its Vancouver store as well as annex an adjacent retail space at 789 Burrard Street, formerly occupied by a currency exchange business. Budman estimates the current Roots store to be about 4,000 square feet in size, and the expansion will enlarge the store slightly though not nearly to the size of its largest store known as ‘Roots Central’ at the Toronto Eaton Centre. Roots Central measures 7,665 square feet according to lease plans provided by landlord Cadillac Fairview. We had heard from sources that Roots wanted to add a second level to its current one-level Vancouver Roots flagship. Mr. Budman confirmed that to be only a ‘pipe dream’ for the company at the moment.

Future Roots Expansion in Vancouver

Vancouver’s Roots flagship store sits prominently at the north-west corner of Robson and Burrard Streets. The same intersection boasts the world’s second-largest Victoria’s Secret store, as well as a Lululemon flagship store that is currently under construction. The last of the intersection’s four corners is currently occupied by a 5,000 square foot Bebe store which will be closing at the end of this month. The space is currently for lease and anticipation is growing as to who might replace Bebe.

Construction on Root’s Vancouver flagship is expected to begin in April of 2014, with completion estimated to be some time in the summer.

All photos in this article are by Colin Arber.

 

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