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Indochino Opens 1st Enclosed Mall Location [Photos]

By
Craig Patterson
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The world’s largest made-to-measure menswear company, Vancouver-based Indochino, has just opened its first location inside a major shopping centre. Until now, Indochino’s storefronts have been on urban streetfronts. Indochino plans to open 150 retail stores globally by the year 2020, with a goal of selling a million suits annually. 

Located at Mississauga’s Square One Shopping Centre, the new 2,900 square foot Indochino opened on Thursday, June 2. It replaces a Danier Leather location in the mall, which recently shuttered after filing for insolvency in March. Indochino is located next to another Vancouver based retailer, Lululemon, with Montreal-based B2 by Browns Shoes on its other side. Square One recently ranked 10th in our list of Canada’s most productive shopping centres, with 2015 sales per square foot of $994. That number has since surpassed $1,000 per square foot annually, according to landlord Oxford Properties. 

Indochino customers are paired with a Style Guide in-store, who helps them design one-of-a-kind suits or shirts, with suit prices beginning at $599 and shirts at $89 (both Canadian Dollars). Style Guides take measurements, assist with fabric selection, and walk shoppers through custom options including buttons, vents, pockets, lapels and monograms. Each garment is made to order and delivered within four weeks, when customers can return for a second fitting to ensure a perfect fit. The showroom works in tandem with Indochino’s ecommerce website, so men can access their profiles and reorder at their convenience. The bright, attractive retail space was designed by Indochino Director Dean Handspiker. 

“Our showroom in downtown Toronto is thriving so we’re thrilled to open a second store in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) and bring our unique clothing experience to a suburban population,” said Indochino CEO Drew Green. “This is also our first shopping centre location, which presents a tremendous opportunity to rapidly increase our retail presence across North America.”

The GTA is currently the only place in the world with two Indochino showrooms, though that could change as it rolls out new locations. Indochino is also the second Canadian custom suit maker to recently open in Mississauga — Montreal-based Surmesur recently opened a showroom in the city’s Port Credit area. 

Oberfeld Snowcap represents Indochino as brokerage in Canada. According to Oberfeld’s website, Indochino is seeking retail spaces both on streetfronts and in enclosed shopping centres, generally in the 1,500 to 2,000 square foot range. 

Indochino was founded in Vancouver in 2007 as an online custom suit retailer. Co-founder Kyle Vucko was recently replaced as CEO by Drew Green, founder of Shop.ca. Indochino’s showrooms include Canadian locations in Vancouver’s Yaletown area and downtown Toronto, and its U.S. showrooms are in New York City (Broome Street Soho), Boston (Newbury Street in Back Bay), Beverly Hills CA, San Francisco (Post Street, Union Square) and on Chestnut Street in downtown Philadelphia. 

Photos were supplied by Indochino.

Pusateri’s Fine Foods Plans Flagship Re-Opening After Fire [Renderings]

By
Craig Patterson
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Pusateri's Fine Foods 1539 Avenue Road Flagship Rendering (Image: GH+A Design)

Toronto-based Pusateri’s Fine Foods plans to re-open its 1539 Avenue Road location late this summer, following a devastating fire that closed the store in August of last year. The renovated store will include new features that were not previously in the store.

The overhauled flagship will feature over 15,000 square feet of redesigned retail and food service space, designed by Montreal-based GH+A, adding over 100 new brands to its grocery assortment. Full-service fresh departments will be upgraded, including an increased local and international cheese selection, a bolstered deli meat offering, an expanded bread boutique, as well as an amplified assortment of prepared food and elevated array of hand-rolled sushi.

New features in-store will include La Cucina, a demonstration area and rotisserie carving station; Greenhouse Juices, offering 100% organic cold-pressed juices; Pusateri’s Café, where guests can enjoy specially-made coffee blends and baked goods, as well as for the first time ever a full service restaurant on the premises.

Pusateri’s Fine Foods 1539 Avenue Road Flagship Rendering (Image: GH+A Design)
Pusateri’s Fine Foods 1539 Avenue Road Flagship Rendering (Image: GH+A Design)
Pusateri’s Fine Foods 1539 Avenue Road Flagship Rendering (Image: GH+A Design)

“We would like to express our deep gratitude to the community for their unwavering support over the last several months,” says Pusateri’s president, Frank Luchetta. “The new Avenue Road Pusateri’s location will be better than ever, and we can’t wait to share it with you.”

Pusateri’s operated the Avenue Road store for almost 30 years, becoming a fixture in the local community. The company has since expanded to include grocery locations in Toronto’s affluent Yorkville area and at Toronto’s Bayview Village. A Pusateri’s location at RioCan Oakville Place is scheduled to open in July of this year, measuring about 18,000 square feet. Pusateri’s Fine Foods also operates Saks Fifth Avenue‘s Canadian Food Halls. Saks’ first food hall opened in February of this year on the lower level of Saks Fifth Avenue at CF Sherway Gardens in Toronto, and a second Saks Food Hall will open on the concourse level of Saks CF Toronto Eaton Centre/Queen Street some time this fall. 

*All renderings via GH+A Design.

MAC Cosmetics Continues Expansion, Opens 100th Canadian Store [With Photos]

By
Craig Patterson
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Mac Cosmetics in Montreal

MAC Cosmetics has just opened its 100th Canadian store in Montreal, with its 101st location set to open this month in Quebec City. The Canadian-founded brand continues to open stores as it sees success in the Canadian market, with plans for more store openings as opportunities present. 

The new Montreal regional flagship ‘Pro store’ is located at 770 Sainte-Catherine West, alongside other popular retailers in the city’s busiest retail corridor. The 1550 square foot store occupies a corner retail space in an 11-story confederation heritage building, offering the brand’s full MAC Pro collection (which is popular with makeup professionals) as well as MAC collaborations and limited edition collections. The Montreal flagship features eight makeup stations and two private makeup areas with capabilities for lessons and demos. 

MAC Cosmetics replaces footwear retailer Spring, which closed that Sainte-Catherine Street store in late February of this year. Montreal-based Think Retail represented MAC Cosmetics in the lease deal with building landlord Polaris Realty. 

The new Montreal store is hosting an “Art of the Lip” event from June 2 to 4, featuring DJs (including Montreal’s DJ Jojo Flores), drag performances by Milk (of RuPaul’s Drag Race fame) and Miss Butterfly, illustrators, models, and a photo booth. 

PHOTO BY MAXIME FRECHETTE FROM MARCH OF 2016, SHOWING THE NEW MONTREAL MAC COSMETICS STORE LOCATION. EXTERIOR SIGNAGE HAS YET TO BE INSTALLED ON THE NEW MONTREAL STORE, SO WE WERE NOT PROVIDED AN UPDATED EXTERIOR PHOTO FOR THIS ARTICLE. 
CLICK IMAGE FOR INTERACTIVE GOOGLE MAP

Later this month, MAC will open a 1,588 square foot location at Place Sainte-Foy near Quebec City. The store will house six makeup stations, including a private makeup room.

“MAC is currently expanding in key cities across Canada, the birthplace of the brand, and seeking out markets and locations where makeup and trend are in high demand. It is important to us that our customer is offered the best accessibility to our products so we are pleased to be opening in two of Quebec’s most outstanding shopping destinations, Sainte-Catherine Street in Montreal and Place Sainte-Foy in Quebec City.” says Taposhi Gandhi, Brand Manager for MAC Cosmetics in Canada.

MAC (Make-up Art Cosmetics) was founded in Toronto in 1984, and is now part of Estée Lauder Companies, Inc. It’s sold in 110 countries/territories worldwide, and is one of the world’s top three makeup brands with annual turnover of over US $1 billion and over 500 independent stores, all run by professional makeup artists. 

Photos were provided by ZOÏ Agency. 

Kartell Opens 1st Canadian Location [Photos and Video]

By
Craig Patterson
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Italian home furnishings retailer Kartell has opened its first Canadian location, in Montreal’s trendy Griffintown. A second Canadian store will follow soon after in Toronto, according to the company. 

Retail Insider’s Montreal correspondent Maxime Frechette visited the new Kartell store, providing photographs for this article as well as a video presentation of the new retail space. The 1,500 square foot Kartell store opened on Sunday at 1120 Wellington Street in Griffintown, alongside other home furnishing retailers such as EQ3, West Elm, Mitchell Gold + Bob Williams, Ligne Roset and others. Kartell features a front terrace that will be open from May to October, as well as an interior with soaring ceiling to display the store’s unique products.  

  • Transparent furniture pieces on display in the new Kartell store in Montreal. 

The company’s brick-and-mortar store strategy includes freestanding locations, as well as shop-in-stores within larger retailers. Kartell will utilize both, and will also soon launch a Canadian e-commerce site. 

Kartell was founded in 1949 and sells furniture, home furnishings, lighting and home accessories. The company collaborates with famous designers such as Philippe Starck and Eugeni Quitlet to create pieces, which are often colourful and unique. Plastic is used in innovative ways in many designs. The company has over 130 freestanding stores, 250 shop-in-shops, and can be found in over 2,500 retailers in 130 countries worldwide. 

Saks Fifth Avenue to Open Calgary Store

By
Craig Patterson
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American luxury retailer Saks Fifth Avenue will open a store at Calgary’s CF Chinook Centre in February of 2018, according to Saks President Marc Metrick. He made the announcement at Retail Council of Canada’s STORE Conference 2016 on the morning of Tuesday, May 31, in Toronto. 

Saks will replace a former Target store in the Calgary mall. Target exited that location in the spring of 2015 and before that, the 115,500 square foot space was occupied by a Zellers store. 

Saks will join Nordstrom and Hudson’s Bay as department store anchors at CF Chinook Centre. Nordstrom opened its first Canadian store in the mall in September of 2014, and Hudson’s Bay (owned by the same company as Saks) has seen interior improvements over the past couple of years, as well as the addition of more upscale brands. 

CF Chinook Centre has also become increasingly upscale in recent years, adding tenants such as Burberry, Tesla Motors, Tiffany & Co. and Kate Spade. Later this year, Ted Baker will open its first Calgary store in the mall, and more upscale tenants are expected to follow now that Saks has announced its Calgary location. 

Saks will compete fiercely with Calgary’s 150,000 square foot Holt Renfrew, which is located downtown at The CORE. Holt’s is in the process of renovating and expanding that store, including the addition of luxurious personal shopping suites and a new restaurant.  

Saks Fifth Avenue’s first Canadian stores opened in February of this year in Toronto. The 170,000 square foot CF Toronto Eaton Centre/Queen Street store opened on February 18, and a 143,000 square foot CF Sherway Gardens store followed on February 25. Hudson’s Bay Company has said that it is looking to eventually operate as many as eight full-priced Canadian Saks stores, with store announcements expected to be made for Vancouver and Montreal. 

Calgary is also confirmed to be getting at least one of Saks’ off-price Saks OFF 5TH locations, at CrossIron Mills. It will be one of about 25 Canadian Saks OFF 5TH locations, according to owner Hudson’s Bay Company. 

Sandra Aylward Named Recipient of Neighbourhood Pharmacies’ Len Marks Pharmacy Advancement Award

By
Craig Patterson
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The Neighbourhood Pharmacy Association of Canada has announced that Sandra Aylward, who has been involved in Canada’s retail pharmacy industry for more than 30 years, has been named the 2016 recipient of the Len Marks Pharmacy Advancement Award. The award will be presented at the Chairman’s Dinner, June 14, 2016, during Pharmacy EXPO 2016.

A respected voice for pharmacy and as a past Chair of the Canadian Association of Chain Drug Stores (predecessor to Neighbourhood Pharmacies), Ms. Aylward dedicated much of her time to working with associations to advance pharmacy practice, to engage with governments to improve scope of practice, as well as reimbursement models. She has also been heavily involved in negotiations with governments on pharmacy service agreements and drug pricing reform.

Ms. Aylward has left her mark across the industry nationally and has been an outstanding leader in pharmacy. By promoting the role of the pharmacist as a frontline healthcare practitioner, and by engaging elected provincial politicians, Ms. Aylward has been instrumental in expanding pharmacists’ scope of practice across the country.

At Dalhousie University, Ms. Aylward took a leadership role in encouraging pharmacy students to become informed and active in professional advocacy issues, including the expanded role pharmacists can play in healthcare today. Ms. Aylward spent much of her career with Sobeys, where she worked with the Pharmacy Association of Nova Scotia, and other professional associations in Atlantic Canada in advancing pharmacy practice, in support of The Blueprint for Pharmacy and many other campaigns to increase implementation, access and funding for pharmacy services beyond traditional dispensing.

The Len Marks Pharmacy Advancement Award recipient is: Involved in supporting the development and excellence of pharmacy education at the university level, encouraging students to enter pharmacy as a career advance the standards of healthcare delivery; provides an environment ripe for education and training for pharmacy staff to advance the standards of healthcare delivery; and, promotes pharmacy as a community resource in the provision of pharmacy services and brings the attention of government and industry partners to the valuable contribution of community pharmacy. 

Past recipients of the Len Marks Pharmacy Advancement Award include: David Windross, 2013; Russell Cohen, 2012; Barbara Wells, 2010; Albert Falardeau, 2009; and Sean McKelvey, 2008.

Neighbourhood Pharmacies represents the owners and operators of Canada’s leading drug store brands, operating in corporate chains, banners and buying groups, as well as mass merchandisers and grocery chains with pharmacies. For more information on this year’s Pharmacy Expo, visit events.neighbourhoodpharmacies.ca.

Sephora Expands Operations with ‘Takeover’ Initiative

By
Craig Patterson
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SEPHORA AT CF TORONTO EATON CENTRE. PHOTO: RETAIL INSIDER

Paris based beauty retailer Sephora (operating under the LVMH corporate umbrella) is in the process of expanding its Greater Toronto Area (GTA) operations in an effort to dominate and gain market share. Sephora’s ‘Toronto Takeover’, as it’s being called, includes new store openings as well as store renovations and expansions. 

Last week we revealed Sephora’s relocation plans for its Toronto ‘Mink Mile’ Bloor Street flagship. Bloor Street is one of Sephora’s five Toronto ‘headquarter doors’, according to a source familiar with the company. Each of these ‘headquarter’ stores is or will be in the 8,000 square foot to 10,000 square foot range when completed. The four other GTA headquarter doors include Sephora’s CF Toronto Eaton Centre, CF Sherway Gardens, Mississauga Square One and Yorkdale Shopping Centre stores. The 8,985 square foot CF Toronto Eaton Centre Sephora (which sources say is the second-highest selling Sephora location in North America) recently saw renovations, with a grand ‘re-opening’ event held last week. The CF Sherway Gardens store is seeing a 3,000 square foot expansion this summer that will bring it to about 9,000 square feet, with sales expected to increase substantially as a result. Square One’s Sephora recently saw renovations and is receiving minor retrofits, and the Yorkdale Sephora is seeing an expansion from 5,730 square feet to about 9,220 square feet that should be completed within several months, as part of Yorkdale’s expansion that will see a new Nordstrom-anchored wing open this October. 

Sephora will open a further four new GTA locations in 2016 as part of its Toronto Takeover. A location at Vaughan Mills opened on Friday of last week, and this summer Sephora will open stores at RioCan’s Yonge-Eglington Centre (one of its largest in Canada at 10,459 square feet), RioCan Oakville Place in Oakville, and at Bramalea City Centre in Brampton. 

INSIDE THE VANCOUVER ROBSON STREET FLAGSHIP THAT OPENED IN LATE 2014. PHOTO: SEPHORA

Aurora Realty Consultants represents Sephora as brokerage in Canada.  

In July of 2015, Sephora launched its Canadian ecommerce site, sephora.ca, to facilitate its growing Canadian business. Prior to that, online purchases were routed through the United States. As part of its new Canadian ecommerce initiative, Sephora retained a third party logistics provider out of Mississauga to facilitate order fulfillment in Canada. Sales have been stellar on the website, surpassed only by annual revenues at the CF Toronto Eaton Centre Sephora flagship, according to the source (the same source provided but asked us not to publicly disclose Sephora’s current/projected store sales numbers in this article).

Sephora expects about 50% of all its Canadian revenue to come out of the GTA by 2017 as part of this initiative, according to the source. Sephora now accounts for approximately 20% of the prestige beauty market in Canada, and it’s looking to gain market share from competitors as diverse as Holt Renfrew and Shoppers Drug Mart. Sephora’s Toronto Takeover is also targeted towards Millennial consumers — a hot market being courted by many companies including cosmetics brand NYX, which we will discuss soon in a separate article. 

As we mentioned last week, Sephora Americas’ President and CEO Calvin McDonald (formerly head of Sears Canada) is speaking today at this year’s Retail Council of Canada STORE Conference 2016, being held May 31 and June 1. Mr. McDonald’s presentation is titled ‘Winning in a Digital Landscape’. For details, visit: www.storeconference.ca/agenda.

Dior Opens 1st Canadian Saks Concession [Photos]

By
Craig Patterson
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Christian Dior has opened its first concession within a Canadian Saks Fifth Avenue store. The shop-in-store is located on the ground floor of Saks Queen Street at CF Toronto Eaton Centre, featuring a variety of Dior handbags, jewellery, eyewear and other accessories. 

The beautiful new space features Dior’s new store design, inspired by Dior’s Peter Marino-designed Paris flagship, from walls to flooring to chairs. Toronto’s Dior features a salon at the back that features some exclusive pieces, including bags and jewellery. 

In September, Dior will open a women’s ready-to-wear boutique on the third floor of Saks’ Toronto flagship. It will be a first for Saks in Canada, and Dior’s second Canadian ready-to-wear location, following the opening of Dior’s first freestanding Canadian store last summer in Vancouver. 

Dior also operates accessory concessions within four Holt Renfrew locations. These include Holt’s Vancouver, Toronto Bloor Street, Toronto Yorkdale Shopping Centre and Montreal locations. Dior’s Montreal shop-in-store is expected to relocate inside an expanded/combined Ogilvy/Holt Renfrew location in early 2018. 

Dior joins other luxury boutiques on the ground floor of downtown Toronto’s Saks. Prada recently opened an accessory concession on the same floor, and Louis Vuitton opened its Saks concession when the 170,000 square foot main store opened on February 18 of this year. A Piaget jewellery boutique occupies one of the spaces at the south end of the main floor. Other non-concession ground floor accessory shop-in-stores include names such as Céline, Givenchy, Bottega Veneta, Chloé, Valentino, Saint Laurent Paris, Chopard, De Grisogono and Boucheron. 

Although it opened in February, Saks’ Queen Street flagship still has more to be finished. A beauty salon will be opening soon on the store’s second level and this summer, Oliver & Bonacini‘s new 11,000 square foot three level restaurant concept ‘Leña’ will open with its own Yonge Street Entrance. Also opening this summer will be a 25,000 square foot Saks Food Hall operated by Pusateri’s Fine Foods on the store’s concourse level. 

Real-Time Communications Drives Relationships & Business

By
Retail Insider
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By: Eric Nykamp, CEO, RAANGE Inc.

Customers are demanding more from your relationship – experiences, personalization and real-time information. 

This throws all of our learned notions and tactics into the garbage. We need to look past traditional, clunky communications and marketing tactics, and focus on refined personalized communications. 

Let Customer Relationships Drive Your Business

Retailers and brands can build a full-cycle relationship with customers on the foundation of Personalized Everyday Communications.

Customer Lifecycle Management (CLM) is a strategy for managing relationships and interactions with customers: from consideration, to purchase, to loyalty. It increases the success rate of starting, growing and fostering long-term relationships. Placing Personalized Everyday Communications and Consumer Preferences at the heart of the CLM process will convert consumers into your next generation of trusted brand ambassadors. 

Connect Brick-and-Mortar to Online Channels

CLM is an omnichannel experience providing retailers and brands with quick and easy tools to attract new clients. Motivate customers to take action with real-time incentives. Build relationships with new acquisitions by connecting brick-and-mortar to online channels. Give consumers a reason to return with purposeful personalized communications and offers and deals shared in real-time. 

It’s about getting consumers the information they want, using their preferred channel of communication and delivering it at the right time. 

CLM Elements

Reach – Get Their Attention.
Communicate – Secure Them As A Client.
Engage – Build A Relationship.
Retain – Keep Them Interested & Loyal
ReCapture – Recover Opt-ed Out Contacts

The Results

Database Growth Potential
Upswing in Sales
Reduction in Opt-Out Rate
Higher Conversion Rates

RAANGE’s robust technology and offerings can implement core CLM elements into your customer experience, to improve communication touch points from consideration to purchase to loyalty.

Attending STORE 2016? Register for your sweet surprise and demo at the conference

For more information contact matt@raange.com

Nordstrom on Track for 2 Fall Store Openings

By
Craig Patterson
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Seattle-based Nordstrom is preparing to open its next two Canadian stores this fall, and the retailer has launched social media accounts for each location. As well, one of the two new stores has removed mall hoarding, revealing three separate store entrances and the facade to Nordstrom’s popular coffee bar. 

Hoarding at the mall entrance at the 220,000 square foot CF Toronto Eaton Centre Nordstrom was recently removed, revealing two store entrances as well as a facade for Nordstrom’s coffee concept, Ebar. Although hoarding is up on the exterior of the building, some parts of the store’s interior construction can be seen at night through some openings — revealing an interior that looks very similar to Nordstrom’s CallisonRTKL-designed Vancouver flagship which opened last September. Vancouver’s Nordstrom store features bright interiors with wood ceiling treatments in some areas, exposed ceilings in selected departments, and smooth white ceilings in most main areas. Both the CF Toronto Eaton Centre and Vancouver CF Pacific Centre flagships are located in former Eaton’s retail spaces (more recently occupied by large Sears stores), resulting in soaring ceiling heights, particularly on each store’s ground level. Because of the configuration of Toronto Eaton Centre along sloping Yonge Street, Nordstrom’s ground floor is technically on the mall’s third, and top retail level. 

The three level CF Toronto Eaton Centre Nordstrom flagship is scheduled to open on September 16 of this year, with a charity gala hosted by the retailer two days prior. Nordstrom’s 196,000+ square foot Yorkdale Shopping Centre location will open on October 21, and progress continues on the three level retail space that will also see a charity gala hosted two days prior to opening.

In anticipation of these store openings, and keeping consistent with social media accounts at other Canadian locations, Nordstrom has launched social media accounts for each of its CF Toronto Eaton Centre and Yorkdale stores. The CF Toronto Eaton Centre has the Twitter handle @NordstromEaton, as well as its own Facebook page (www.facebook.com/nordstromeaton) and Instagram page (www.instagram.com/nordstromeaton). The Yorkdale store also has its own social media accounts, including Twitter handle @NordstromYKD as well as Facebook (www.facebook.com/nordstromykd) and Instagram (www.instagram.com/nordstromykd). 

For those interested, Nordstrom has also begun accepting employment applications for positions at both of its new Toronto stores. For more information and to apply, visit this link. The company is hiring for about 1,600 positions in both stores, and will begin interviewing qualified candidates at the end of June. 

Nordstrom will open a third Toronto location in the fall of 2017, at CF Sherway Gardens. The store will be smaller than Nordstrom’s other two Toronto stores, measuring about 138,000 square feet. The Sherway store will anchor the mall’s south wing, which will see improvements to create clearer sight-lines from the mall’s centre court. Nordstrom will join anchors Hudson’s Bay and Saks Fifth Avenue in the mall, which recently saw the addition of a new retail wing which today, is hosting the grand opening of a new concept Indigo store. The same retail wing will see more construction later this year after Holt Renfrew closes, as part of its relocation to Mississauga’s Square One Shopping Centre this summer. 

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