Nordstrom Expects Vancouver Store to be Top Performer… Until Manhattan

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November 5, 2012

Nordstrom at Pacific Centre (Rendering: Cadillac Fairview)

Vancouver BC’s new Nordstrom store is forecasted to be the company’s top performing store by 2017. The 230,000 square foot store is forecasted to bring in about $200million+/year in revenues, expected to surpass top-performing Chicago (Michigan Avenue) and Seattle (Downtown) flagship stores.

In 2018 its 285,000 square foot Manhattan store will open and is forecasted to sell substantially more than the Vancouver store ($300million+/year). A yet-to-be determined Toronto flagship Nordstrom is also expected to do well, though of course they first have to find a location (likely either at the Toronto Eaton Centre or Oxford Place, as previously reported).

Rendering of Manhattan Nordstrom store. Image: http://massforma.com/arch/nordstrom-tower

Last week we spoke to a Nordstrom executive by telephone from Seattle. This insider (we won’t name names) informs us that the chain’s top performing stores are ‘doing well’ but that Nordstrom would like to see revenue increases especially at their larger flagship locations. The Nordstrom insider expressed frustration at the downturn in high-end sales at Nordstrom’s San Francisco store, for example, and how sales have decreased at its South Coast Plaza (Costa Mesa, California) store, formerly its top performer.

This week we’ll provide further insider information on Vancouver’s (and other Canadian) Nordstrom stores. This includes some new information on store interiors.

Nordstrom website: www.nordstrom.com

Nordstrom Manhattan project website: http://massforma.com/arch/nordstrom-tower

Ordning&Reda Opens Two Canadian Locations @ Hudson’s Bay

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Retail Insider

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November 5, 2012

Ordning&Reda is a Swedish stationary company. We hadn’t heard of them until yesterday when we were strolling the sub-basement level of Vancouver’s Hudson’s Bay department store. We stumbled upon their shop and made a mental note to return.

Now we’ve got an explanation what they’re about, from the Vancouver Sun:

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“Swedish stationery style lands in Vancouver
November 4, 2012. 10:13 am • Section: Fashion and Beauty, STAFF

Ordning&Reda, the Swedish stationery company known for its candy-coloured paper goods, has landed in Vancouver at The Hudson’s Bay Company.

The shop-in-shop marks the first retail location for the company in B.C., and the second in Canada, with another location at The Bay’s Toronto flagship. The Bay is also the first North American retailer to carry Ordning&Reda, which means “neat and tidy” in Swedish.

“The Bay is the natural location to introduce Ordning&Reda in the Canadian market,” said Thomas Perez, President of Bodum USA, Inc. in a release.“Hudson Bay Company is excellent at creating a custom retail experience for the consumer, and we felt this type of curation would be perfect for the brand.”Already a mainstay in European markets, the Vancouver Ordning&Reda shop, features a full range of products including an extensive collection of paper goods and office organizational products, including notebooks, agendas, tech and travel accessories and more.

“http://blogs.vancouversun.com/2012/11/04/swedish-stationery-style-lands-in-vancouver*****

Their prices are reasonable the their merchandise colourful. We checked their website and they have free-standing boutiques and department store concessions mainly in Europe. It appears the Canadian shops are the only two in North America.

Their website is below:

Ordning&Reda website: http://www.ordning-reda.comHudson’s Bay website: www.thebay.com

New Renderings of Toronto’s Proposed Oxford Place

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Retail Insider

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November 2, 2012

Today we received two renderings of the proposed Toronto Oxford Place. The project’s proposal includes a Caesar’s-branded casino, convention centre, two towers (office and residential) at over 1000 feet each, and two substantially tall hotel towers.

These would be located above an approximately 1million square foot retail destination.

Park: As leaders in developing integrated entertainment complexes in major urban centres in North America, an integral component of the group’s potential casino development in downtown Toronto would be the creation of an urban park edged by retail, dining and year-round entertainment. (CNW Group/Caesars Entertainment Corporation)

Interestingly, the project could also include a performance stage beside a public green space, as per the image above.

Below is another image of the proposed park. It would be built over a current set of commuter train tracks…

An Oxford insider will be sending us some draft retail floorplans next week. We have been told that these include two large anchor tenants and at least one smaller anchor tenant. The smaller anchor could be hr2 by Holt Renfrew, according to our Oxford Source (this is speculative and not confirmed).

Watch this site for floorplans and updates!

Oxford Properties website: www.oxfordproperties.com

Top Canadian Malls Court Top International Tenants

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Retail Insider

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November 2, 2012

Mall of the Emirates, Dubai. Image: F+A Architects

Today we spoke with a real estate broker who gave us the lowdown on what retailers are looking to expand stores across Canada, and what retailers top malls want. Top malls continue to develop and evolve under such landlords as Cadillac Fairview, Oxford and Ivanhoe Cambridge.

Some retailers looking for Canada-wide expansion include (in no particular order):

-Kate Spade
-Burberry
-Tiffany & Co.
Scotch & Soda
-Thomas Sabo
-Free People
-7 For All Mankind
-Ann Taylor
-Ted Baker
-Microsoft
-Apple
-Armani Exchange
–Superdry
-Scotch & Soda
-Kiehl’s
-Little Burgundy
-J. Crew
-Wilfred (by Aritzia)
-Tory Burch
-Tumi
-Massimo Dutti
-Henri Bendel
And others… this list was getting a bit long.

These retailers only want space in the ‘best’ malls. Best malls include such centres as Chinook Centre in Calgary, Vancouver’s Pacific Centre and (after renovations) Oakridge Centre, Toronto’s Eaton Centre, Yorkdale and Sherway Gardens, Winnipeg’s Polo Park, and a few others. Expect massive mall renovations/expansions with plenty of new tenants at these and other A-level malls.

Which leads us to another question: What will happen to the ‘lesser’ Canadian malls with a future of online shopping and increased international travel? Retail Darwinism might mean that only a few ‘supermalls’ survive.

Next week we will go more in-depth, exploring Canada’s top malls and why only the ‘fittest’ will survive while others may fail and ultimately be re-developed.

First Look at Edmonton’s New La Maison Simons

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Retail Insider

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November 1, 2012

Simons West Edmonton Mall. Image: West Edmonton Mall (blog http://styleblog.wem.ca)

Simons opened its Edmonton store yesterday. It is mostly complete except for a north-facing atrium area that will include art work and some more retail space. Almost $50million has been spent on the interior of the 118,000 square foot store, and impressively it is expected to turn a profit within the first year.

The store is expected to pull in sales of $60 million in the first year and to grow sales to about $100million by 2017. Impressive numbers for a store marketing a substantial amount of mid-priced, private label merchandise.

These are actually men’s dressing rooms! Simons West Edmonton Mall. Image: Edmonton Sun

The store’s private label merchandise, marketed under a variety of names, carry a high enough profit margin to keep the store growing. Various other designer brands are carried including some top-of-the-line designers like Jean Paul Gaultier.

Simons has spent a fortune on its store interiors and will continue to do so. Owner Peter Simons notes that they can do this because it’s a privately held company, not open to the scrutiny of shareholders. An insider informs us that the company is profitable and that their strategy of ‘spend more to make more’ is working.

More dressing rooms. Check out the knit-covered trophy heads. Simons West Edmonton Mall. Image: Edmonton Journal

Simons is looking to expand across Canada into cities including Vancouver, Calgary, Toronto, Ottawa and possibly Winnipeg. The chain will have 9 Canadian stores by 2013 (8 in Quebec and one in Edmonton), and would like to grow to 20 or more by 2020.

Retractable dressing rooms. Simons West Edmonton Mall. Image: Edmonton Sun

In 2011 a deal fell through to open an 80-100,000 square foot Simons store at the then-proposed ‘The Elms’ retail complex in Winnipeg. Expect more Canadian locations to be announced in the next while.

La Maison Simons website: www.simons.ca

Part 2: Vancouver’s Canada Post to be Redeveloped: Insider Interview

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Retail Insider

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October 31, 2012

Today we are posting Part Two of our interview with an insider familiar with the potential fate of Downtown Vancouver’s Canada Post building. On Monday we posted Part One which included the building’s possible fate as a complete tear-down, with the possibility of larger-format retail and residential replacement.

We also discussed the possibility of a larger store taking part of the current Hudson’s Bay Parkade site, located immediately East of the Hudson’s Bay Department Store. We found this to be an interesting possibility and possibly a better option for Target, Walmart or other retailers looking for prime Downtown Vancouver space. This of course would depend on the site’s current owner…

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Retail Indider: I did some homework and found that the reason the area around Canada Post is so ‘vacant’ is because the city wants to preserve space for office buildings and ‘places to work’. Could this keep housing off the Canada Post site?

Insider X: Like I mentioned, a purchaser or the current owner may rezone the site from C1 to CD-1, allowing essentially a ‘free-for-all’ development on the site – within reason of course. We already see this happen with building sites in the West End. Zoning is too low (in the West End) so developers simply apply for a rezoning so they can build taller and denser.

Retail Insider: That seems sneaky… buy a site with zoning you don’t like and simply ask for it to be changed?

Insider X: Take that complaint to City Hall like the rest of them (X laughs).

Insider X: Regarding office towers, there are several either about to start construction or soon to be started. More are proposed for Downtown. Despite the low office vacancy rate, we have too much office space about to be built. You see the parkade block East of The Bay? It’s supposed to be partially office towers. It’s still just parking. Unless they can get some residential going, it will just sit, despite its having been granted an FSR density of something like 10.0 or 12.0 – I forget which of the two but this happened around late 2006-early 2007.

Retail Insider: I thought I heard that the Canada Post site was to become the new Vancouver Art Gallery?

Insider X: That was a lovely pipe dream that we knew wouldn’t happen. Ottawa owns the site and we all know the Federal Conservatives will ensure this site makes money. Watch for an Art Gallery within a couple of blocks of this site, however.

Retail Insider: Do you think a large store, maybe a department store, would consider opening at the Bay Parkade site? It’s closer to Pacific Centre and the newly renovated Hudson’s Bay department store.

Insider X: I’m not aware of such a proposal but it would be a great idea. Being so close to The Bay and the new Telus Garden. I believe the site was slated to include an office tower at Georgia and Seymour, a hotel tower mid-block on Seymour, another office and retail component, and one or two residential towers. I would have to check my records to confirm the proposal though I can say for sure nothing will be happening with that site in the next year or probably many (chuckles).

Retail Insider: Back to Canada Post. How might aboriginal land claims get involved with the development of the site?

Insider X: Aboriginal land claims are a thorn in the side of this Government. It wants them settled and more accurately, it wants them to go away. The Feds might pay some sort of lip service about sale proceeds going to aboriginal coffers but we all know how much they really care about the plight of aboriginals in this country (X shakes head). So yes, expect the site to be marketed without much external consideration.

Retail Insider: Is it worth our effort to fight to save a potentially important heritage structure?

Insider X: It’s always worth a shot. I think there is architectural merit to parts of the building. The interior has been modified to the point that it retains little of its original character. Hopefully any development at least provides a nod to the previous occupant. The exterior is unique and we all see how little of Vancouver’s history remains. We might live to regret tearing down Canada Post. Though the same could be said for the Sears conversion to Nordstrom.

Retail Insider: You mean the giant toilet bowl on Robson?

Insider X: You bet. It was sleek and cutting edge for its time – maybe before they attached the bowl and lid at the top (X laughs). But seriously, we’ve gone through periods where we’ve built, torn down and later regretted it. I’m not a huge fan of the Canada Post building but at the same time, we might miss it if it goes.

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And that’s the end of the interview. We’ll keep our eye on the Canada Post Building site and update you when we find anything out about its future use, restored, renovated or otherwise demolished.

Vancouver’s Oakridge Centre to Get Complete Overhaul + New Anchor Store

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Retail Insider

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October 30, 2012

Oakridge (Image: Floorplan: Henriquez Partners Archetects. Red Lettering by Retail Insider)

Today we received plans for the overhaul of the retail component of Vancouver’s Oakridge Shopping Centre. Mall space will double in size, and a new anchor tenant will be included. We’ll give you a quick rundown of the project’s new retail:

1) A new Hudson’s Bay department store will be constructed at the North End of the mall. We have been told by Hudson’s Bay management that it will include a stunning interior and will include a substantial roster of designer merchandise that will rival the recently renovated Yorkdale Shopping Centre store in Toronto. The current store will be demolished for expanded mall space

2) A new Target store will be constructed next to Hudson’s Bay, while the existing Zellers store will be demolished both for the new Target and some new mall space.

3) A completely new anchor store will be constructed at the Southern portion of the site. We will discuss this further, below.

4) A relocated, new-build Safeway grocery store at the south-end of Oakridge.

5) New indoor and outdoor-oriented retail will be created, while the rest of the existing retail space will be substantially renovated.

Speculation is running rampant regarding who the new anchor tenant will be. After being provided the floorplans this morning (see below), we attempted to identify who the new anchor might be. We received two very interesting suggestions, and two less-likely suggestions. Our insider suggests that they think the new anchor tenant could either be la Maison Simons, or possibly (we’re only speculating at the moment), Bloomingdale’s. Hudson’s Bay has been in talks to bring the Bloomingdale’s label to Canada and we’ve been told negotiations have stalled. An Oakridge Bloomingdale’s might be what brings them to Canada.

It has also been speculated that the space might go to either Nordstrom or Holt Renfrew. Our Holt Renfrew insider was unable to confirm an Oakridge location and phone calls to Nordstrom Management were not returned at press time. We note that Holt Renfrew already has its 137,000 square foot store at the North end of Pacific Centre while Nordstrom will open its 230,000 square foot store at Pacific Centre’s southern end. One retail expert we consulted tells us he thinks Oakridge is too close to Downtown to duplicate Holt Renfrew or Nordstrom stores, especially given the rather large size of the proposed Oakridge anchor store.

We will be watching this retail development very carefully and will provide you with updates on this project as information becomes available.

Oakridge Centre website: www.oakridgecentre.com

Retail Insider on twitter: @retailinsider_

Retail Insider on Facebook: www.facebook.com/RetailInsider

Got any retail insider info? insider@retail-insider.com

Montreal’s Ogilvy to Become Holt Renfrew?

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Retail Insider

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October 30, 2012

Ogilvy Project Expansion Rendering. Image: City of Montreal

An announcement will be made soon by Holt Renfrew management regarding the fate of the storied Montreal Ogilvy department store. Holt’s owners purchased Ogilvy July 2011. Yesterday we posted about Holt Renfrew’s introduction of a moderately-priced, mid-range chain of stores to be called hr2.

Next comes speculation as to whether or not Montreal’s Ogilvy department store will become a Holt Renfrew store, a combined Ogilvy/Holt Renfrew, or if the store will be kept as-is. The current Montreal Holt Renfrew at 1300 Sherbrooke Street West only includes about 64,000 square feet of retail space, while Ogilvy is considerably larger with about 147,000 square feet of retail, to be further expanded.

We have some initial renderings of the new Ogilvy project, which will include both hotel and residential condominium units. A significant retail expansion will also occur. The image at the top of this article is taken from the corner of Rue St. Catherine and de la Montaigne, showing a renovated Ogilvy building with an adjacent tower.

Below are images on the de la Montaigne side of project…

We have been asked by our Holt Renfrew insider to not announce what will happen with the Ogilvy building and its massive expansion. We can confirm that it will be grand and a welcome addition to the Montreal shopping scene. Watch this website and twitter carefully, because we also like to drop hints and clues when we’re in the know. Stay tuned for a significant announcement at the corner of St. Catherine and de la Montaigne in Montreal!

Ogilvy webiste: ogilvycanada.com

Holt Renfrew website: www.holtrenfrew.com

Holt Renfrew Launches Discount Store Called hr2

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Retail Insider

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October 29, 2012

image-asset - 2021-02-22T150101.951 — Rendering of First hr2 at Quartier DIX30, Montreal

This morning Holt Renfrew announced that it will open a discount concept called hr2 March 2013 at Quartier DIX30 in Montreal and an undisclosed suburban Toronto location. The concept will include discounted designer merchandise similar to Nordstrom Rack. It should be noted that new merchandise will be included, differentiating the concept form Holt’s current ‘Last Call’ discount concept. It is expected hr2 will have between 15 and 20 Canadian locations, generally 25,000-30,000 square feet.

hr2 will be an attempt by Holt Renfew to secure space in Canada’s lucrative discount retail market, and to potentially broaden its shopping market without down-scaling its luxury department store concept.

The concept may be similar to BT2, a contemporary (lesser-priced) fashion concept developed for Ireland’s Brown Thomas luxury department store. Brown Thomas and BT2 are owned by the same owners as Holts.

Holt Renfrew’s growth targets are expected to increase with the implementation of this concept. The chain is hoping to reach $1billion in sales by 2015, and is expected to pull in about $800million in 2012. The hr2 chain may allow Holt’s to attain and even surpass this goal.

One retail insider notes the Quartier DIX30 location was slated to be a satellite location of the Montreal-based Ogilvy department store. After Ogilvy was purchased by Holt Renfrew, it was speculated that Holt Renfrew would close its Sherbrooke Street W. location and relocate to the current 180,000 square foot Ogilvy building. We cannot confirm at this time that this will happen, though our insider at Holt Renfrew corporate office tells us to watch for that and other interesting Holt Renfrew-related announcements.

Holt Renfrew website: www.holtrenfrew.com

Part 1: Vancouver’s Canada Post to be Redeveloped: Insider Interview

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Retail Insider

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October 29, 2012

On Friday, October 26th we interviewed a knowledgeable Vancouver-based insider about the eventual redevelopment of Vancouver’s Downtown Canada Post building.

We previously reported that Canada Post in Downtown Vancouver will be redeveloped. The building is located on an entire city block (about 3 acres in size) in Downtown Vancouver. The federal-government-owned property is being offered for sale by CBRE commercial real estate brokers and may include a significant retail component. Our insider agreed to be interviewed on this sale and potential development on the condition that they remain anonymous. They provided us with some very interesting information.

This is ‘Part One’ of our interview. In a nutshell, our insider thinks the site will be re-zoned so that the current building can be demolished and new retail and residential towers can be built in its place.

More below…

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Retail Insider: Will the current building be torn down or modified?

Insider X: The last thing a developer wants is for the site to be designated as a ‘heritage site’ so that the current building has to be kept. Developers would ideally take this site with its full development potential. The site has a current density zoning of 7.0 FSR (Floor-Space Ratio, meaning 3 acres x 7 = allowable development size) and this could be upgraded through either re-zoning or via a city-sanctioned density increase. It’s also in the seller’s best interest that the site be re-zoned.

Retail Insider: What do you mean by re-zoning?

Insider X: The site can be rezoned from its current density and use – generally commercial-only in a zoning area of C1 – to a more liberal zoning of CD-1, allowing for more flexible uses including residential towers.

Retail Insider: If this rezoning were allowed, would the entire project just be condo towers?

Insider X: Not likely. There would possibly be a significant residential component to the project, but you would also possibly see some major retail players try to take space in the development. Walmart, Target, Marshall’s, and (La) Maison Simons all want locations in Downtown Vancouver. The Canada Post site could facilitate one or several of these, along with other stores and uses.

Retail Insider: Walmart would want to be in Downtown Vancouver?

Insider X: Possibly. Walmart is starting to build stores called ‘City Walmart’ in cities like Chicago. These are smaller stores and in the case of Walmart, focus more on food.

Retail Insider: And Target?

Insider X: Target is also opening urban stores, again, in Chicago and Manhattan. Numerous other urban Targets are in the works. Watch for an announcement soon for Downtown Toronto, as well. Target is actively searching for a Downtown Vancouver location and has mentioned this site.

Retail Insider: Do you see La Maison Simons’ first Vancouver store being Downtown? They tend to locate in the suburbs, from what I see on their website.

Insider X: Simons wants to be Downtown. Despite its suburban-oriented stores, Simons sees the critical shopping mass of Downtown Vancouver. There aren’t many other places in the Lower Mainland where it would succeed. Oakridge and Metrotown are the only two locations I can think of and the average Metrotown shopper is likely too lowbrow for Simons. Ivanhoe Cambridge (owner of Metrotown) will soon bring forward a redevelopment proposal of its Oakridge Shopping Centre, and I’m not sure yet if there would be room for a ~100,000 square foot Simons.

Retail Insider: How likely is it that the current Post Office will be designated a ‘heritage building’? We remember the old Public Library (now soon to be Victoria’s Secret) and the former BC Hydro Building (now a condo tower) were designated as heritage properties, while each were built only in the 1950’s.

Insider X: Canada Post was built in either 1956 or 1958. Its exterior might have to be preserved on the Georgia Street side, but it should be fair game to be demolished otherwise. As I mentioned, developers and the landlord will fight to ensure the entire site can be redeveloped, as this would be most economical and profitable.

Retail Insider: Is there a height limit for this site? How would that affect potential redevelopment?

Insider X: The current zoning allows for a height up to about 450 feet. The site sits in a view cone, however, meaning height could be restricted to about half that amount. View cones are a pain for Vancouver developers (X chuckles) and some city counselors only support them so they don’t lose votes. Height limits and view cones are a detriment to this city, in my opinion.

Retail Insider: Do you think Vancouver City Counsel will stop the teardown of the Post Office?

Insider X: You didn’t hear this from me (X chuckles) but a lot of these deals are done way before the public is even consulted. The Georgia and Dunsmuir Viaducts for example. Also the Granville Loops. All of those decisions were made way before the public were consulted. Public consultation is a great way to make voters think they have a say.

Retail Insider: You mean no matter what we do, Canada Post might be a goner?

Insider X: I won’t say just yet, but don’t be surprised when you hear an announcement about a significant complete redevelopment of this city block.

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***UPDATE: Due to Hurricane Sandy, we will be delaying our publication of Part Two of this interview until Wednesday, October 31st.***

Retail InsiderCanada's Most-Read Online Retail Industry Publication.

Nordstrom Expects Vancouver Store to be Top Performer… Until Manhattan

Ordning&Reda Opens Two Canadian Locations @ Hudson’s Bay

New Renderings of Toronto’s Proposed Oxford Place

Top Canadian Malls Court Top International Tenants

First Look at Edmonton’s New La Maison Simons

Part 2: Vancouver’s Canada Post to be Redeveloped: Insider Interview

Vancouver’s Oakridge Centre to Get Complete Overhaul + New Anchor Store

Montreal’s Ogilvy to Become Holt Renfrew?

Holt Renfrew Launches Discount Store Called hr2

Part 1: Vancouver’s Canada Post to be Redeveloped: Insider Interview

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