Holt Renfrew Calgary to Expand Retail Space by 30,000 sq ft

By

-

September 16, 2012

Holt Renfrew Calgary — Holt Renfrew, Calgary: Thank you: http://www.snackingsquirrel.com

Calgary’s Holt Renfrew store will expands its retail space by about 30,000 square feet within the next year, occupying unoccupied space on the store’s fourth floor. This is partly in response to Nordstrom’s announcement of a new store at Calgary’s Chinook Centre Mall.

The Calgary Holt Renfrew store currently utilizes about 120,000 square feet of its 151,000 square foot gross space. The 30,000 square feet on the store’s fourth floor (aka +45 Level) has been vacant since the store opened in a former Sears location October 2009. Holt’s didn’t want to initially ‘overwhelm’ the Calgary market with a 150,000 sq ft store after its previous location was only 42,386 square feet.

Holt Renfrew is examining the possibility of opening a restaurant, spa, and private personal shopping suites in the space. Holt’s is also looking to expand its contemporary apparel for women, and may consider a combined men’s/women’s department similar to what will be built in the Holt Renfrew Yorkdale Shopping Centre expansion as we previously reported

Calgary’s original downtown Holt Renfrew was at Penny Lane Mall (R.I.P.), and was only about 16,000 square feet. A second small Calgary location was at Chinook Centre. Both closed, and a replacement store opened at the Calgary Eaton Centre in 1988 at about 27,343 square feet.

Be sure to follow us on Facebook and twitter, as we provide interesting updates not posted on this website.

Holt Renfrew website: www.holtrenfrew.com

Nordstrom website: www.nordstrom.com

Retail Insider on twitter: @retailinsider_
Retail Insider on Facebook: www.facebook.com/RetailInsider
Got any retail insider info? insider@retail-insider.com

Nordstrom Press Release Names First Four Canadian Locations

By

Retail Insider

-

September 13, 2012

This morning Nordstrom and commercial real estate owner/manager Cadillac Fairview announced Canada’s first four Nordstrom locations. We previously reported these four locations, and we now have more information on opening dates and store sizes:

1) The Vancouver Pacific Centre location will be about 230,000 square feet and will occupy the ground, second and third floors of the current Sears location. The top four floors will be 280,000 square feet of office space, and the 48,000 sq ft basement level will be a retailed extension of Pacific Centre’s mall-level. It will open Spring 2015.

2) The Calgary Chinook Centre store will be about 140,000 square feet, occupying the Sears store at the North end of the mall. It will open Fall 2014.

3) The Ottawa Rideau Centre store will be about 157,000 square feet, occupying the two upper levels of of the three-level, 240,000 sq ft current Sears store. It will open Spring 2015.

4) The Toronto Sherway Gardens store will be about 138,000 square feet, and will be a newly-built store at the south-end of the mall (currently occupied by Sporting life, as we previously reported). It will open Fall 2016.

And now for the information not provided in today’s press conference. Nordstrom and Cadillac Fairview are actively trying to take over Sears leases at The Toronto Eaton Centre and Toronto’s Yorkdale Shopping Centre. Part of the 800,000 square foot Toronto Eaton Centre store would be Nordstrom, part of the space would be sub-divided, and part might possibly go to La Maison Simons, the Quebec-based retailer seeking a Canadian expansion. The 190,000 square foot Yorkdale store would be entirely (or mostly) Nordstrom, going head-to-head with neighbouring Bay and Holt Renfrew stores.

Nordstrom is examining other retail locations across Canada. Many of these are currently occupied by Sears Canada. A few potential locations include:

-Edmonton: Sears Southgate Shopping Centre
-Richmond, BC: Sears Richmond Centre
-Burnaby BC: Metropolis at Metrotown
-Winnipeg MN: Sears Polo Park

Nordstrom’s president, Blake Nordstrom, says Canada has room for between six and nine full-sized Nordstrom stores.

Readers may note that some of the Nordstrom stores seem a bit ‘small’ and indeed are only slightly larger than a full-sized Holt Renfrew store. Canada’s Nordstrom’s will initially lack some services offered by some larger American Nordstroms, such as spas, multiple restaurants, and wedding dress salons. The Vancouver store, however, will likely have all of these.

Both Holt Renfrew and The Hudson’s Bay Company will be scrambling to secure designer labels and vendors. Holt Renfrew already has massive expansion plans as we previously reported, and The Hudson’s Bay Company will issue an IPO late October 2012 to raise much-needed funds (over $1billion) to renovate many of its Canadian locations.

We will consistently update this website with further Nordstrom Canada news, as well as Hudson’s Bay Company and Holt Renfrew efforts to modernize and expand their current locations in anticipation of retail competition previously unseen in Canada.

Nordstrom website: www.nordstrom.com

Cadillac Fairview website: www.cadillacfairview.com

Nordstrom Formally Announcing Canadian Locations Thursday, September 13th

By

Retail Insider

-

September 12, 2012

Nordstrom will announce its first round of Canadian stores via press conference on Thursday, September 13th. We have been provided some insider info from our mole at the Seattle headquarters, and have been asked to not share it until after the Toronto press conference. We can confirm that there will eventually be more than four Nordstrom stores in Canada, though only four will initially be announced.

This is only the beginning. Nordstrom Rack will also open multiple locations in Canada, and we will provide details as they come available. Nordstrom will also be carrying some designers not currently readily available in Canada (or at all), and it will be snatching up some exclusive designers from both The Hudson’s Bay Company and Holt Renfrew. Expect label wars unprecedented in Canadian history.

As a teaser, next week we’ll be discussing Nordstrom’s retail interiors and how Canadian locations will be slightly different than American Nordstroms. Nordstrom will also introduce some hard-shops for women’s accessories and clothing, competing directly with Holt Renfrew’s designer floors. The Hudson’s Bay Company should also be concerned, as Nordstrom will carry both Coach and Burberry.

One of Nordstrom’s Canadian challenges will be menswear. Details to follow next week.

Watch this website Thursday and follow us on twitter (@retailinsider_) for timely updates on Nordstrom’s entry into Canada!

Nordstrom website: www.nordstrom.com

$300million Holt Renfrew Expansion Will Be Largest in Company History

By

Retail Insider

-

September 11, 2012

Holt Renfrew will spend over $300 million expanding total store square footage by about 40% by the end of 2015. Several stores are slated for significant expansions and we’re giving you the preliminary breakdown, Canada-coast-to-coast.

Holt Renfrew has nine full-line stores in Canada, ranging between about 32,000 sq ft and 180,000 sq ft. We have an ‘insider’ working at Holt Renfrew’s corporate office in Toronto, confirming significant expansion plans for several Holt Renfrew stores. In summary:

Vancouver BC: This 137,000 square foot store may (possibly) be expanded by about 40,000 square feet by annexing space currently occupied by a two-level sports retailer, as well as some current mall space. The configuration could include some storage space, opening the possibility of a top-level restaurant that had initially been planned for this store when it opened in 2007. It should be noted that this is only being investigated by the retailer, and that no current negotiations with landlord Cadillac Fairview are currently under way.

Calgary, AB: This 151,000 square foot store includes about 30,000 square feet of unused fourth-floor space that may be opened up to include a spa/salon, restaurant and personal shopping suites. The store currently only uses about 120,000 square feet of its 151,000 square foot configuration of a former Sears/Eatons store.

Edmonton, AB: This 47,000 square foot store may annex 20,000 square feet on the third floor of Manulife Place. Edmonton’s Holt Renfrew under-performs compared to most other locations, and its future may be uncertain.

Toronto Bloor Street: This ~185,000 square foot store (175,926 sq ft in The Holt Renfrew Centre + 3800 sq ft ground level at 60 Bloor Street West + Personal shopping suites in the 60 Bloor tower) will lose its entire eastern-portion of retail, and will be oriented vertically over eight floors as part of a massive project we mentioned in one of our previous posts, taking this flagship to over 200,000 square feet.

Toronto Sherway Gardens: This 33,670 sq ft store will be demolished and replaced with a 102,000 square foot store, as well as an expansion of the mall as we previously reported.

Toronto Yorkdale Shopping Centre: This 65,047 sq ft store will be expanded both Westward and via a new second-level, creating a ~120,000 square foot store as we previously reported.

Ottawa ON: This 47,000 sq ft store may be relocated, though this is very preliminary. Holt’s Ottawa struggles like the Edmonton location, and will face fierce competition once Nordstrom opens at Rideau Centre.

Montreal QC: This 83,000 sq ft store had initially been planned to expand to about 190,000 square feet. These plans were cancelled as sales in Vancouver and Calgary took off, while Montreal’s continue to struggle. Regardless, Holt Renfrew will tentatively move into the ~180,000 square foot space currently occupied by the retailer Ogilvy, also owned by the parent company to Holt Renfrew. This expansion warrants a separate article to follow.

Quebec City QC: This 32,943 square foot store is currently the smallest and worst-stocked Holt Renfrew store. It faces competition from a recently expanded La Maison Simons, and our source is unsure of the fate of this location.

Our source also tells us Holt Renfrew management is examining replacing its trademark magenta colour scheme with something new. We fully support this endeavour, personally not liking magenta except when illuminating the exterior of Au Printemps in Paris.

We’ll update you further when we get updates!

Holt Renfrew website: www.holtrenfrew.com

Ogilvy website: http://ogilvycanada.com/en

Louis Vuitton website: www.louisvuitton.com

Holt Renfrew Yorkdale to Add Second Level for 120,000 sq ft store.

By

Retail Insider

-

September 8, 2012

Current entrance to the Yorkdale Holt Renfrew store (Photo courtesy of Yorkdale Shopping Centre)

We previously reported that Holt Renfrew at Toronto’s Yorkdale Shopping Centre would be expanding by about 19,000 square feet to create an 84,000 square foot store. Today, Holt’s CEO Mark Derbyshire confirms that the Yorkdale store will add a second level (modifying a previous food court above Holt’s) to create a 120,000+ square foot Holt Renfrew store with a central, two-level atrium. This was a recent further expansion-decision and is expected to be comple by August 2013.

This expansion is partly in response to the entry of Nordstrom into Canada, and partly responding to Harry Rosen’s increase in both store sizes and brands. Menswear seems to be the next frontier for larger-format retailers in Canada seeking to grow sales.

The Yorkdale store will include a new 18,000 square foot men’s department (the current men’s floor is 11,000 square feet) and the new floor will include several new upscale designers. A new unisex contemporary department will also be created, mixing men’s and women’s clothing brands so that women might influence men’s purchases.

Holt Renfrew is about to embark on a $300million expansion. We will provide further details on some expansion proposals for Holt Renfrew stores across Canada.

Holt Renfrew website: www.holtrenfrew.com

Yorkdale Shopping Centre website: www.yorkdale.ca

Harry Rosen website: www.harryrosen.com

Nordstrom website: www.nordstrom.com

Macy’s Manhattan Getting Vuitton, Gucci, Longchamp and Burberry Boutiques

By

Retail Insider

-

September 6, 2012

A retail insider just provided us details on the new ‘luxury floor’ opening November 2012 inside the Macy’s flagship store in Manhattan. The space will actually be three levels and 19,000 square feet, including the street level, second-floor and a to-be-constructed mezzanine.

The four shops will be on the Broadway side of the store.The space will house the following:

1) An 8,500 square foot, three-level Louis Vuitton boutique at the corner of 34th St. and Broadway, including bags, shoes, and luggage,

2) A 6,200 square foot, three-level Gucci boutique at the corner of 35th St. and Broadway, carrying shoes and accessories for men and women,

3) A 1,500 square foot, two-level Longchamp boutique with accessories inside Macy’s opposite Vuitton and

4) A 3,600 square foot, three-level Burberry boutique with accessories and rainwear for men and women opposite Gucci.

Rendering of new Macy’s luxury floor, courtesy of Macy’s/Studio V

These luxury shops further solidify Macy’s efforts to take the store more upscale. Additionally, here is a Macy’s visitor discount.

Luxury accessories shops inside of department stores have become a successful trend in the past few years, replicated throughout the world. Our favorites are at Printemps in Paris and Selfridge’s in London. Watch for this strategy to continue to play out in department stores throughout the world.

Previously, we reported on Macy’s $400 million renovation of its Manhattan flagship, including the ‘world’s largest’ shoe floor. These luxury shops further solidify Macy’s efforts to take the store more upscale.

Given that this website is becoming Canadian-focussed (we live in Vancouver, BC), we’ll be providing updates on a similar strategy playing out with Canada’s Hudson’s Bay Company. Their flagship store on Queen Street in Toronto already has Burberry and Coach accessories boutiques, and the Vancouver, Montreal and Toronto stores will be getting a similar, albeit smaller upscale boutiques on their respective ground floors.

Macy’s website:

www.macys.com

Louis Vuitton website:

Gucci website:

Longchamp website:

Burberry website:

Retail Insider on twitter: @retailinsider_

Retail Insider on Facebook:

www.facebook.com/RetailInsider

Got any retail insider info?

insider@retail-insider.com

We’ll Be Back Shortly!

By

Retail Insider

-

August 22, 2012

Hello Readers, We’re on vacation in a relatively remote location, and will be back posting articles in the very near future.

Be ready for some major retail announcements coming out of Vancouver, Canada. Vancouver, you’re going to see some substantial changes (for the better) on Alberni Street near Thurlow. Stay tuned!!!

-Retail Insider

Retail Insider on twitter: @retailinsider_

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

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

Vancouver Hudson’s Bay Company Renovation Renders Revealed

By

Retail Insider

-

August 16, 2012

Rendering of new Hugo Boss Shop @ The Bay Vancouver - Courtesy Hudson's Bay Company Planning & Design

We’re providing several renderings of the extensive renovations to Vancouver’s Hudson’s Bay Company store (aka ‘The Bay’). Check out these images.

The image above is the new Hugo Boss shop in ‘The West End Shop’, The Bay’s upscale men’s designer floor. We provided images of this ceiling in this previous post. The sixth-floor men’s store is scheduled to open October 15th 2012.

Corner of Granville St & Georgia St rendering – Courtesy Hudson’s Bay Company Planning & Design

The exterior of the store is being redone, including restoration of the store’s terracotta exterior and new glass awnings for weather protection.

Granville Street entrance to TopShop/TopMan – Courtesy Hudson’s Bay Company Planning & Design

The above rendering shows the new entrance to TopShop/TopMan and the Hudson’s Bay Company-crested awnings on the Granville Street side of the store. TopShop/TopMan are scheduled to open October 17th, 2012.

Rendering of Granville Street entrance to TopShop/TopMan (Courtesy Hudson’s Bay Company Planning & Design)

TopShop/TopMan will be in The Bay’s basement, and will be the largest outside of Great Britain.

Courtesy Hudson’s Bay Company Planning & Design

New Hugo Boss/West End Shop for Men @ The Bay, 6th floor

We previously reported on the massive renovations to The Bay Vancouver in this article: /www.retail-insider.com/tail-insider.com/2012/07/vancouver-hudsons-bay-company-store-to.html. We’ll update you with further new designers to The Bay as they arise.

We would like to thank ‘Built Form’ from SkyscraperPage Forum Vancouver for providing us with the above photos. Photos were provided by The Hudson’s Bay Company Planning and Design department.

Hudson’s Bay Company website: www.thebay.com

Hugo Boss website: www.hugoboss.com

Retail Insider on twitter: @retailinsider_Retail Insider on Facebook: www.facebook.com/RetailInsider
Got any retail insider info? insider@retail-insider.com

Many of North America’s Most Productive Malls are in Canada

By

Retail Insider

-

August 14, 2012

Caesars Palace Las Vegas. (Image: ExploringLasVegas.com)

We’re still surprised that many Canadian malls are out-performing American malls’ sales per square foot. Vancouver BC’s Pacific Centre recently pulled ahead of Las Vegas’ Caesar’s Palace as the most productive shopping centre in North America (excluding Pacific Centre’s 636,000 square foot Sears store that is closing October 7 2012).

All prices are in Canadian Dollars (which at press time is comparable to the American Dollar). These quotes are 2012 estimates from KPMG. KPMG puts Pacific Centre’s 2012 per square foot analysis at $1580/square foot. Las Vegas’ Caesar’s Palace comes in at about $1470/square foot.

Here is our list of ‘top 15’ North American malls and their sales per square foot:

1. Pacific Centre, Vancouver BC Canada: $1580/sq ft

2. Caesar’s Palace, Las Vegas NV USA: $1470/sq ft

3. Toronto Eaton Centre, Toronto ON Canada: $1320/sq ft

4. Yorkdale Shopping Centre, Toronto ON Canada: $1300/sq ft

5. Ala Moana Shopping Centre, Honolulu HI USA: $1250/sq ft

6. Oakridge Shopping Centre, Vancouver BC Canada: $1200/sq ft

7. Chinook Centre, Calgary AB Canada: $1055/sq ft

8. Mall at Short Hills, Short Hills NJ USA: $1050/sq ft

9. Mall at Millenia, Orlando FL USA: $1040/sq ft

10. Rideau Centre, Ottawa ON Canada: $1020/sq ft

11: Sherway Gardens, Toronto ON Canada: $950

12: Fairview Mall, Toronto ON Canada: $880/sq ft

13: Fashion Valley Shopping Centre, San Diego CA USA: $875/sq ft

14: Peter Pond Mall, Ft. McMurray AB Canada: $850/sq ft (we’re not joking about this one)

15: Garden State Plaza, Paramus NJ USA: $750/sq ft

That’s 6 American malls and 9 Canadian malls.

We note that Pacific Centre’s Apple store pulls in over $70 million/year at just 5366 square feet. We’re thinking Apple stores might also prop sales at some of these other shopping centres.

We were at a bit of a loss as to why Canadian malls were higher.

Then we found this excellent analysis by David Fitzpatrick of REUrbanist: http://reurbanist.com/2012/08/growth-in-canadian-mall-sales-performance. This guy knows his stuff. We recommend reading his article if you’re interested in examining how currencies and other factors may contribute to Canada vs. USA mall performance. Our favorite quote from David’s article?

“I think this chart just shows that you are getting ripped off a lot more than you were a decade ago when you buy retail merchandise in Canada. That $150 CDN dress you bought is worth $150 USD today, but would have been worth only $95 USD in 2002.

And most likely, you are taking on increasingly depressing levels of consumer debt to make that purchase.” (this comes after the author noting a direct correlation between the closing currency gap and the increased productivity of Canadian malls)

REUrbanist website: http://reurbanist.com

New La Rinascente Department Store for Rome

By

Retail Insider

-

August 11, 2012

Italy’s La Rinascente will open a new, 189,000 square foot department store in Rome’s central Via del Tritone in early 2015. Similarly-sized stores will open in Venice and Florence.

La Rinascente’s Milan flagship store has undergone a ‘luxury transformation’ similar to stores in France and Germany. More recently, ground-floor boutiques for Louis Vuitton, Dior, Gucci, Bulgari and others have opened. Expect similar upscale offerings in Rome and the other two future Rinascente locations.

Milan flagship La Rinascente store, including Louis Vuitton, Dior and other luxury concessions

Three new Italian department store locations point to the potential relevance of department stores in this modern age. Despite financial troubles for some larger-format stores in America and Germany, luxury-focussing department stores are entering a golden age.

We will update you on department store trends in Europe and North America, as we are closely watching expanding retailers such as Nordstrom, Bloomingdale’s, Galeries Lafayette, Breuninger and others.

La Rinascente website: www.rinascente.it
Louis Vuitton website: www.louisvuitton.com
Dior website: www.dior.com
Gucci website: www.gucci.com
Bulgari website: www.bulgari.com

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

Holt Renfrew Calgary to Expand Retail Space by 30,000 sq ft

Nordstrom Press Release Names First Four Canadian Locations

Nordstrom Formally Announcing Canadian Locations Thursday, September 13th

$300million Holt Renfrew Expansion Will Be Largest in Company History

Holt Renfrew Yorkdale to Add Second Level for 120,000 sq ft store.

Macy’s Manhattan Getting Vuitton, Gucci, Longchamp and Burberry Boutiques

We’ll Be Back Shortly!

Vancouver Hudson’s Bay Company Renovation Renders Revealed

Many of North America’s Most Productive Malls are in Canada

New La Rinascente Department Store for Rome

FEATURES ON RETAIL INSIDER

Läderach Unveils New Boutique on Toronto’s Bloor Street

King Living opens flagship Toronto showroom

The Kenrick Hotel Banff Unveils Major Luxury Renovation

Jollibee to Open 100 Canadian Locations in 5 Years

Unique Retailer ‘Hodge Podge Toys’ Relocates for Growth

BRIEF: Old Navy Announces 3 Stores, SSENSE to Unveil 5-Storey Flagship

About

Contact

Media

Follow