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‘EXPERIENCE HEADPHONES’ TO OPEN STORES ACROSS CANADA, BEGINNING WITH A VANCOUVER FLAGSHIP THIS MONTH

By
Retail Insider
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Photo: Experience Headphones

A Vancouver-based specialty headphones retailer called Experience Headphones is planning its Canada-wide store expansion, beginning with the opening of a store this month at 3057 Granville Street in Vancouver. Experience Headphones is Vancouver’s only ‘fashion-focussed’ specialty headphone retailer. Two more Vancouver-area stores will open (at Metropolis at Metrotown and at the Vancouver International Airport), to be eventually followed by stores across Canada. 

The new Vancouver shop measures at 849 square feet according to CBRE, and the retailer is replacing Vancouver’s only store location for the Rocky Mountain Soap Company. The new store will be located on Vancouver’s upscale South Granville retail strip. 

Everyone is welcome to attend the store’s grand opening on November 30th from 10:00am-6:00pm. The following is from a company press release: 

FASHION-FOCUSED HEADPHONE RETAILER, EXPERIENCE HEADPHONES INC. ANNOUNCES GRAND OPENING OF VANCOUVER FLAGSHIP STORE

Experience Headphones Inc. fills gap in the premium headphones market for fashion-conscious consumers

VANCOUVER, BC – November 19th, 2013: Today, Experience Headphones Inc., Vancouver’s only fashion-focused specialty headphone retailer, announced the grand opening of their first retail store. Located at 3057 South Granville St. in Vancouver, B.C., the flagship store will feature premium, forward thinking lines and is officially open to the public on November 30th, 2013 from 10am to 6pm.

Customers visiting the store on the grand opening will be the first to browse the full collection, with over 100 different styles of on-ear, in-ear, and over-ear headphones from premium lines, such as Frends, Urbanears, Molami, and WeSC. Customers can try on and experience every pair of earphones, with the exception of earbuds and will also get access to special pricing, giveaways, and live music from local Vancouver buskers.

The greatest innovation is making headphones as much fashion accessories as they are listening devices. Premium, fashion-forward headphones are now in high demand and are one of the fastest growing categories in the consumer electronics industry. They account for over 50% of the North America-wide sales. This represents roughly $1.6 billion in annual sales and continues to grow at a rate of over 20% per year. One quarter of those buyers list fashion and branding as their #1 purchase criteria.

Whereas other Vancouver retailers focus on the technical aspects of headphones and restrict customers to a limited selection of brands, Experience Headphones Inc. is the only local retailer offering premium headphones to a fashion-conscious consumer. The strong growth in retail sales, and the lack of innovation from local businesses that offer headphone products allows the rare opportunity for a first-mover advantage. The new location marks a milestone in the company’s growth and history, as it will act as the original and flagship store in metro Vancouver. Experience Headphones plans to open two additional stores in Vancouver, one at Metrotown and another at the airport, before venturing to other cities in the province and across the country.

“We started as an online shop but saw a gap in the market to open a storefront where customers can actually try on and experience the headphones, says CEO and Co-Founder, Dean Horsfield. He adds, “We are ushering in a new way of thinking about music marketing and consumer preferences by focusing on the experience. How you fee when you wear your headphones, how they sound when you plug them in, and how they look when you wear them on the street.”

ABOUT EXPERIENCE HEADPHONES INC.
Experience Headphones Inc. was founded in July 2013 by Dean Horsfield, a former employee of Best Buy Corporate headquarters in Burnaby, Canada. He saw an opportunity to capitalize on the booming trend of fashion-forward headphones, and after unsuccessfully pitching the idea to Best Buy decided to build out the concept on his own. The company now has over 100 SKU’s from 11 different brands and is in talks with another three brands to be added early in the New Year. 

[Experience Headphones website]

ANALYSIS: 220,000 SQ FT COMBINED OGIVLY/HOLT RENFREW IN MONTREAL: TO BE CANADA’S LARGEST “HOLT’S”

By
Retail Insider
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Rendering: City of Montreal

Canada’s largest Holt Renfrew store will eventually be located in Montreal, though it will go by a different name. Holt Renfrew will merge with Montreal’s Ogilvy as it spends $60 million to create a 220,000 square foot flagship in an expanded Ogilvy premises on Ste Catherine Street West. The current Holt Renfrew store on Sherbrooke Street West will then close. Construction on the new store begins in the fall of 2014 and is expected to be completed some time in 2017.

The new store will be called Ogilvy, part of the Holt Renfrew & Co. collection.  The name is rather long and we think many shoppers will refer to the combined retailer simply as ‘Ogilvy’, especially as it will be located within the current Ogilvy building. The current 160,000 square foot Ogilvy building will be expanded by about 60,000 square feet northward to create the new 220,000 square foot store.

Incredibly, insiders (including sources at Womens Wear Daily) speculate that sales in the new Ogilvy/Holt’s store could be as high as $250 million annually. If so, these could be the highest department store sales in Canada, surpassing those of Hudson’s Bay‘s Toronto flagship. 

The strategy to combine the two retailers is an interesting one. Montreal will technically lose its dedicated Holt Renfrew store on Sherbrooke Street West. However, it will gain an even larger luxury department store that can compete head-to-head with Saks Fifth Avenue, which will open within Hudson’s Bay’s Ste Catherine Street West store in downtown Montreal. When finished, Saks will be a mere 800 metres east of the new Ogilvy/Holt’s. 
We expect that the new retailer will be similar to the company’s Selfridge’s store in London, though possibly more focussed on the luxury consumer. Selfridge’s is considered to be one of the world’s most innovative retailers, and it offers a wide variety of merchandise and pricing. We’ve been doing some research and giving it some thought, and we think that the new Ogilvy by Holt’s will likely include the following improvements:

New ‘luxury hall’ for designer boutiques: We expect the new retailer to feature multiple luxury designer boutiques in a sort of “luxury street” similar to what Selfridge’s group has created for its London store as well as for its de Bijenkorf store in Amsterdam. Luxury boutiques could include Hermès, Dior, Chanel, Gucci, Fendi, Miu Miu, Mulberry and others. Apart from a few luxury boutiques on Sherbrooke Street West, Montreal generally lacks luxury ‘high streets’ like Toronto’s Bloor Street or Vancouver’s Burrard/Alberni Streets. We expect Ogilvy/Holt’s to capitalize on its large ground-floor space by featuring multiple luxury boutiques to compliment existing Ogilvy retailers such as Louis Vuitton. 

Massive Shoe Hall: We expect Holt Renfrew will create a massive women’s shoe hall that will include separate boutiques for the likes of Jimmy Choo, Manolo Blahnik, Christian Louboutin, and others. We’d expect this to be similar to the recently opened shoe hall at Holt Renfrew’s Yorkdale store in Toronto, though on an even grander scale.

A substantial, luxurious men’s store: We expect to see a large and luxurious men’s store within the new Ogilvy/Holt’s, offering such amenities as shaving services, shoe shines, personal shopping and a relaxation lounge, among others. We’re not sure where it would go, yet, though we think it will be over 30,000 square feet as it attempts to compete with rivals Harry Rosen, L’Uomo and Saks Fifth Avenue.

A top-notch women’s designer floor: We expect that the women’s luxury clothing offerings at Holt’s will be expanded and that there will be larger boutiques for Chanel, Gucci, Prada, Akris, Giorgio Armani and others. We also think Holt’s will bring its couture salon concept over from its current store.

More fine jewellery: We think an expanded jewellery selection will build on Ogilvy’s current H. Stern and Christofle boutiques to include many of the world’s finest jewellers, such as Graff, De Beers, Bulgari and others.

Expanded cosmetics as well as beauty services: We expect cosmetics operations between the two retailers to be merged and improved upon with the increased square footage of Ogilvy/Holt’s. Holt Renfrew already features a broad selection of cosmetics vendors, and more space will allow for a wider assortment of brand offerings. We’d expect the new store to also feature a spa, hair salon, and other beauty services carried at other Holt’s flagships.

Restaurants: We expect to see at least one restaurant offering, if not several, in the new store. Restaurants aren’t our specialty so we’ll leave it at that.

Eliminated furniture department: Currently, Ogilvy carries furniture items on an upper floor. We think that continuing to carry furniture would be incompatible with Holt Renfrew’s current merchandising strategy and that furniture will therefore be eliminated with the new store’s opening.

More details of the combined Ogilvy/Holt Renfrew store will come available in the coming weeks. Keep reading for updates.

[Ogilvy website]

[Holt Renfrew website]

MONTREAL’S OGILVY AND HOLT RENFREW STORES TO MERGE, SHERBROOKE ST HOLT RENFREW TO CLOSE

By
Retail Insider
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BREAKING: We’ll follow up on this announcement with an analysis article in a few hours. 

MONTREAL, Nov. 19, 2013/CNW Telbec

Holt, Renfrew & Co., Limited today unveiled grand plans to expand and transform the St. Catherine’s Street Ogilvy location into a unique and exciting luxury retail destination branded

Ogilvy, part of the Holt Renfrew & Co. collection

Spanning 220,000 square feet, the new specialty store will expand to include an adjacent site and become the largest in the Holt Renfrew network, offering innovative new retail concepts and Canada’s richest assortment of luxury fashion and beauty brands. Following a $60 million investment, the new store is slated for completion in late 2017.

“This is another exciting step forward in Holt Renfrew’s dynamic growth plan,” said Holt Renfrew President Mark Derbyshire. “The Montreal market presents a unique opportunity to leverage two storied brands. Inspired by the best of both Holt Renfrew and Ogilvy, and based on extensive customer research, we have developed a grand vision with bold new concepts that celebrate Montreal’s rich fashion heritage and sophisticated shoppers.”

“I am also pleased to note at this time the appointment of Joanne Nemeroff as Senior Vice President, Ogilvy, part of the Holt Renfrew & Co. Collection, based in Montreal, to lead our team and this exciting development,” Derbyshire said. “Joanne is a seasoned retail executive with a great wealth of expertise and relationships in the Montreal market.”

“We’re thrilled to offer this exciting fashion retail concept for Montreal, one that is sure to cement this city’s standing as an international luxury shopping destination,” said Joanne Nemeroff. “With an expanded offering at a high-traffic location, the energized new store that will emerge in 2017 will provide customers with an unparalleled shopping experience. It’s about getting the best of both worlds and more, all under one roof and one banner.”

Grand, one-store vision to become a reality in 2017: 

Ogilvy, part of the Holt Renfrew & Co. collection

The construction phase for the future store is scheduled to begin in the fall of 2014 and be completed later in 2017. The store will remain open throughout this period to serve customers, as will the current  Holt Renfrew store in Montreal.

Familiar elements of the distinctive and stylish Ogilvy building will be celebrated in the new store design, including its magnificent façade, complemented with an expansion on the site of the former Hotel de la Montagne. The store will also continue to offer a mix of lease partners.

The Holt Renfrew store on Sherbrooke Street will also remain open to welcome customers throughout this period, with exciting upgrades to enhance the shopping experience, including the recent launch of a new Dior shop, which offers the richest assortment of its kind in Canada, and plans for a new Prada shop. Plans for the Sherbrooke Street property post 2017 will be confirmed at a future date, and are expected to include retail offerings to benefit the local community.

“We are very excited about the development of this unique concept for the Montreal market. For now it remains business as usual for the current Ogilvy and Holt Renfrew stores. They will continue to provide the very best in beauty and luxury fashion as well as the quality service our customers have come to expect and enjoy,” concluded Nemeroff.

About Holt Renfrew

Celebrating a 175-year heritage, Holt Renfrew is recognized worldwide for an inspired shopping experience. Once a purveyor of fashion to Her Majesty Queen Victoria, Holt Renfrew began in 1837 as a modest hat shop in Quebec. Over the years the brand developed and expanded across Canada. In the 1930’s Holt Renfrew began exclusive accounts with some of the best designers in Europe and in 1947 hosted Monsieur Christian Dior when he launched his “New Look.” After many years of foreign ownership Holt Renfrew was bought in 1986 by W. Galen and the Hon. Hilary M. Weston. Under their ownership Holt Renfrew has become Canada’s destination for luxury retail. Holt Renfrew has 2,300 employees with nine stores across the country in Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton, Montreal, Quebec City, Ottawa and Toronto (Bloor Street, Sherway Gardens and Yorkdale). In early 2013, Holt Renfrew launched hr2, Canada’s first premium off-price concept, offering leading brands and on-trend styles at irresistible prices. Visit us at www.holtrenfrew.com.

Holt Renfrew and Ogilvy, part of the Holt Renfrew & Co. collection, are part of Selfridges Group Limited. With extensive know-how and experience in operating luxury fashion retail stores, the Selfridges Group owns and operates leading heritage banners in key markets around the world, including Brown Thomas in Ireland; de Bijenkorf in The Netherlands; Holt Renfrew and Ogilvy, part of the Holt Renfrew & Co. collection in Canada, and Selfridges in the United Kingdom. Selfridges Group Limited is a family owned business, W. Galen Weston is Chairman.

SOURCE Holt Renfrew


WHAT STORES WOULD YOU LIKE TO SEE OPEN IN CANADA?

By
Retail Insider
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Photo: Uniqlo

We’re asking readers what retailers they’d like to see open stores in Canada. We want your feedback, and we’ll be contacting your top choices to suggest that they open Canadian store locations.

As a test, yesterday evening, we asked our Twitter followers what retail stores they’d like to see open in Canada. The answer was, overwhelmingly, Japanese value-priced retailer UNIQLO. Given the readership of our previous articles on Uniqlo, we’re not surprised.

With Uniqlo in mind, we’re creating a list of the retailers Canadians would most like to see in Canada. Once we’ve compiled a list of about 10, we’ll then contact these retailers to learn of their possible Canadian expansion plans. If necessary, we’ll encourage readers to join us in petitioning these retailers to come to Canada. 

So, what retailers would you like to see open in Canada? DSW Designer Shoe Warehouse? Bloomingdale’s? Muji? Henri Bendel? Fendi or Bottega Veneta? Please feel free to comment below or provide your suggestions on our Retail Insider Facebook Page or tweet us on our Twitter Page.

Hopefully we can help encourage even more exciting retailers to join the Canadian market.

PORSCHE DESIGN TO OPEN STORES ACROSS CANADA

By
Retail Insider
-
Porsche Design Bloor Street

German luxury retailer Porsche Design will open stores across Canada according to sources, and its list of desired cities includes Calgary, Ottawa, Montreal, Vancouver and possibly Edmonton. It is also expected to open at least one more Toronto-area store. The company is testing the market, having already opened a pop-up shop at Toronto’s Sherway Gardens as well as a temporary store location in Vancouver. We’ll briefly describe Porsche Design’s potential plans in several cities:

Calgary: 

A source at Porsche Design tells us that the company is looking to open in Calgary’s Chinook Centre, ideally close to the mall’s new Nordstrom store which is scheduled to open in the fall of 2014. The source wasn’t sure if Porsche Design has already signed a lease in the mall.

Toronto:

Porsche Design’s Sherway Gardens pop-up store, which opened a few days ago, will remain open for only about two months. A company representative says that Porsche Design is hoping to secure a permanent retail presence in the mall by the end of 2014. 

Another possible Toronto store location could be at the Yorkdale Shopping Centre. A source tells us that Porsche Design might look to take over the 1,365 square foot retail space currently occupied by ICON Shoes, as ICON’s lease expires in 2014. The space is located across from the mall’s expanding Holt Renfrew store and is within close proximity to upscale stores such as Mulberry, Tiffany & Co., Cartier, Salvator Ferragamo, David Yurman and others.

PORSCHE DESIGN POP-UP SHOP AT TORONTO’S SHERWAY GARDENS. PHOTO: SHERWAY GARDENS

Edmonton: 

An Edmonton store is a possibility for Porsche Design, and we were informed that West Edmonton Mall would be the most likely location. Our source wasn’t able to provide any further information as to when this could happen or its location within the mall. 

Ottawa and Montreal:

Ottawa and Montreal have both been mentioned as possible locations for Porsche Design stores, though we have few details besides Ottawa’s Rideau Centre being the likely candidate for an Ottawa store location.

More on Porsche Design in Canada: 

Porsche Design already has two Canadian store locations: one on Toronto’s Bloor Street and another which opened last week in Downtown Vancouver. Further plans to expand show Porsche Design’s confidence in Canada’s luxury retail market.

It appears that Porsche Design’s presence in Canada could become substantially greater, per capita, than that in the United States. Porsche Design only has 11 American store locations and one outlet location. Within a couple of years, Canada could have as many as 8 Porsche Design stores (though we suspect that number will end up being more like 5).

We’ll continue to keep you updated on Porsche Design’s Canada-wide store expansion.


HOARDING FOR HUMANITY: DONATING RETAIL STORE HOARDINGS WITH PROCEEDS GOING TO CHARITY

By
Retail Insider
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Example of retail store hoarding from Hoarding for Humanity

We found this concept interesting: former store construction hoarding being donated for sale, with proceeds going to a worthwhile charity. Drywall hoarding facades are often used for the front of stores under construction, and Hoarding for Humanity has found a way to recycle this drywall by donating it to the Habitat for Humanity Canada ReStores. The following is a description from the company itself:

“Hoarding  for  Humanity is a refreshing, innovative and eco-friendly solution to hoarding. We design and install temporary construction enclosures in major shopping centres acrosssouthern Ontario. Hoarding (mainly consisting of drywall)is the third leading component in construction and demolition waste partially due to its short life span. 

Hoarding for Humanity has developed an environmentally friendly approach to the hoarding process by supporting Habitat for Humanity Canada and their nearly100 ReStores across Canada through the donation of the gently used hoarding material. 

Habitat for Humanity Canada volunteers sell new and quality used construction materialin their ReStores as part of their fundraising effort for their home building projectsfor those in need in their respective communities.  Drywall is a commodity the ReStores are in need of thus a partnership was  formed between Habitat for Humanity Canada and Hoarding for Humanity.  

To dateHoarding for Humanity and their affiliate shopping centres have donated over 213,000 sq. ft of hoarding material and have raised over $40,000 forthe Habitat For Humanity CanadaReStores and their efforts. The donated drywall weighs over 260,000 lbs and if the sheets were laid next to each other, they would stretch to the height of 19 CN Towers.  That’s a lot of CN Towers kept out of landfill.” 

Hoarding for Humanity

For more on this wonderful concept, we direct you to their website: www.hoardingforhumanity.ca

PORSCHE DESIGN OPENS ITS 2ND CANADIAN STORE LOCATION IN VANCOUVER

By
Retail Insider
-
Photo: Porsche Design

Porsche Design has opened its second Canadian retail store location in Vancouver. A source tells us that the current location is only a temporary one, as there is a free standing store scheduled to open below the new Nordstrom in Vancouver’s Pacific Centre toward the latter part of 2015. 

The current, temporary Porsche Design store is located on the basement level of Hudson’s Bay, adjacent to TopShop/TopMan. A source tells us that in early 2014, Porsche Design will relocate to a dedicated space within the Hudson’s Bay store for a period of about 1.5 years, until its store below Nordstrom is completed. This permanent location will be in a 48,000 square foot expansion of Pacific Centre.

Concourse level of Vancouver’s Downtown Hudson’s Bay store, including the temporary location of Porsche Design. Note: The space indicated in light blue is currently for lease. Image: PBS Realty Advisors

For those unfamiliar, Porsche Design retails high quality, high-priced clothing, accessories, luggage, watches and various novelties. The company was founded in Germany in 1972 to compliment the Porsche motorcar business. It concentrates on product design and products are often manufactured for a limited time. Porsche Design has 11 store locations in the United States as well as one outlet mall location. It also boasts store locations worldwide and its products are also carried in various upscale international retailers. 

Porsche Design’s first Canadian store opened at 77 Bloor Street West in Toronto in the summer of 2012. The 1,600 square foot store has been popular with affluent shoppers, according to Retail Insider’s Karim Rashwan.

For a while, it appeared that Pacific Centre’s landlord was having trouble leasing the retail space located under the mall’s future Nordstrom store. We’ve been informed that some retailers have finally signed leases beneath Nordstrom, including, of course, Porsche Design. We’ll discuss some of the other new retailers at a later date.

[Porsche Design website]

RYAN KESLER AT OLD NAVY GRAND OPENING IN DOWNTOWN VANCOUVER

By
Retail Insider
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An Old Navy flagship store has just opened at the prominent intersection of Granville and Robson Streets in Downtown Vancouver. The two-floor store is actually larger than we had originally reported. In our original article in September 2012, we said that Old Navy had leased 12,365 square feet, mostly on the second level of the new 720 Robson Street building. As an update, we’ve been informed that Old Navy has leased the entire retail component of the building, comprising of about 17,400 square feet.

Original asking rents for the first and second levels of 720 Robson Street. Old Navy now occupies units 101-104, as well as unit 201. Source: CBRE

We’re not sure exactly what rent Old Navy is paying, but the ground level’s asking rent was substantially higher than that of the second floor (see image above).

Update: Old Navy occupies both retail levels of this floorplan. Plan: CBRE

The store is celebrating its grand opening on Saturday, November 16th. Vancouver Canuck Ryan Kesler will be in the store from 3:30pm to 5:30pm that day to sign autographs and be photographed. There will also be free skating at the nearby Robson Square ice rink.


RELATED:



[Old Navy website]


LOFT BY ANN TAYLOR OPENING FIRST VANCOUVER-AREA STORE

By
Craig Patterson
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Image: LOFT

LOFT by Ann Taylor opens its first Vancouver-area store today at West Vancouver’s Park Royal Shopping Centre. The 4,823 square foot store is located in a new addition to the mall’s south component, ‘Park Royal South’.

LOFT opened its first Canadian store at Toronto’s Yorkdale Shopping Centre in November 2012. It subsequently opened four Ontario stores this year. LOFT is considered to be a more ‘relaxed’ and ‘younger’ version of its sister label Ann Taylor. Ann Taylor is a moderately upscale womenswear retailer. The United States has over 500 LOFT stores.

We’ll continue to keep you updated on newly announced Canadian LOFT store locations, as the company has ambitious expansion plans. 

RELATED:

[Park Royal Shopping Centre website]

[LOFT website]

Image: LOFT

NEW LARGE-SIZED DISCOUNT SHOE RETAILER, SIMILAR TO DSW, TO OPEN IN CANADA

By
Retail Insider
-
[Image Source]



Sources say that The Shoe Company will open a Canadian chain of large-sized discount shoe stores, similar to America’s DSW Designer Shoe Warehouse. Lease negotiations are already underway for its first store location in suburban Toronto. The new retailer will have a new name of which we’re not yet aware. 


We’ve been told that this retailer could be compared to DSW Designer Shoe Warehouse. For those unaware, DSW is an immensely popular American shoe retailer with almost 380 store locations. It sells designer shoes at discounted prices. Stores average at around 22,000 square feet and each carries about 24,000 pairs of shoes. 


The new Canadian footwear retailer will face competition once Nordstrom Rack and Off 5th by Saks Fifth Avenue open their Canadian discount stores. If the Canadian footwear store is the same size as DSW, though, it will likely have a wider selection and more shoes than its competition. DSW stores are, in fact, almost as large as Nordstrom Rack and Off 5th stores, both of which carry not just shoes but also apparel and accessories. 


DSW Designer Shoe Warehouse, itself, could still open stores in Canada. Another source tells us that the company is currently examining a Canadian retail strategy. 


One of our sources for this article is bAuHaUs of Urban Toronto. 
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