Home Blog Page 1305

CANADA’S TOP RETAIL RENTS: ALL LOWER THAN YORKDALE MALL

By
Craig Patterson
-

Colliers International has released its latest report on retail space rents, including those on Canada’s most expensive shopping streets. Interestingly, Toronto’s Yorkdale Shopping Centre charges rents higher than Canada’s most expensive street, Bloor Street West, in Toronto.

According to the study, these numbers are average quoted asking rental rates, and we’re using Canadian dollars. Canada’s highest retail rents, as measured per square foot, are as follows:

1) Bloor Street West, Toronto: $315/sq ft

2) Robson Street, Vancouver: $200/sq ft

2) (tie) Ste Catherine Street, Montreal: $200/sq ft

4) Alberni Street, Vancouver: $150/sq ft

5) Granville Street, Vancouver: $125/sq ft

6) Spring Garden Road, Halifax: $65/sq ft

6) (tie) 17th Avenue S.W., Calgary: $65/sq ft

8) 4th St. S.W., Calgary: $60/sq ft

9) Greene Avenue, Montreal: $60/sq ft

10) Rue de la Montagne, Montreal: $60/sq ft. 

The following are a few comments about several of these streets, followed by comments on Yorkdale: 

Bloor Street West, Toronto:

Bloor Street’s high rents are concentrated in a few short blocks between Yonge Street and Avenue Road. Retailers include some of Canada’s most prestigious stores (Chanel, Gucci, Prada, Mulberry, Dolce & Gabbana, Tiffany & Co.) as well as some lower-priced stores including the likes of Zara, Winners, Roots and, soon, J. Crew and Brooks Brothers. Bloor Street is considered to be Canada’s most prestigious high street and its high rents reflect this. Interestingly, Bloor Street’s rents are only marginally lower than those of Chicago’s Michigan Avenue, assessed at $328/sq ft. Bloor Street has been Canada’s most expensive street for years, and rents only went up 1.6% from last year. 

Robson Street, Vancouver:

Vancouver’s Robson Street has more mid-range retailers, and its relatively high rents reflect the volume of sales on the street. Asking rents of $200 are up substantially from last year, when asking rents were only in the $150 range. New retailers continue to open stores on Robson including, recently, Browns Shoes, Victoria’s Secret and J. Crew. Shoe retailer Steve Madden just opened a Robson Street store, and retailers New Balance, HMV, Shoppers Drug Mart Beauty Boutique and a popular car retailer (we’ll discuss this in a later article) have recently secured space on Robson Street. The most expensive Robson Street blocks are the 1000 and 1100 blocks, between Burrard and Bute Streets. 

Ste Catherine Street, Montreal:

This street has been relatively successful in featuring mostly mid-priced retailers. It also includes several larger stores including La Maison Simons and Les Ailes de la Mode. The most popular retail portion of Ste Catherine Street is anchored by Ogilvy to the West and Hudson’s Bay/La Baie to the East. Saks Fifth Avenue will likely share Hudson’s Bay’s retail space within the next 24 months. 

Alberni Street, Vancouver:

Vancouver’s Alberni Street saw a substantial increase in rents (43%) over last year. This is mainly due to the asking rents at The Carlyle, a luxury retail redevelopment on Alberni Street’s 1000 block. We recently wrote an article discussing the increase in luxury shops on Alberni Street, which will soon see the addition of De Beers, Tory Burch and Tumi. More luxury retailers are on the way, with lease negotiations ongoing. 

Spring Garden Road, Halifax:

This street is home to popular department store Mills, which recently “re-opened” after moving to a new store location. The rest of Spring Garden Road includes some popular and some moderately upscale retailers, contributing to Halifax’s most popular shopping street. Surprisingly, rents on this street are down 7.1% from last year. 

17th Avenue S.W., Calgary:

Calgary’s retail is overwhelmingly dominated by shopping malls. Despite this, 17th Avenue S.W. continues to come out on top as the city’s most popular retail high street (and at $60/sq ft, ties for most costly). Substantial changes are on the way for the street, including a renovation and expansion of the Mount Royal Village complex (we’ll do an article on this in the next while). Rents are up 8.3% over last year. 

Retail Insider’s Karim Rashwan directed us to comments made by Yorkdale Mall’s General Manager Anthony Casalanguida, who stated that rents in his mall are now in the $350-375/square foot range. These are higher than any of the streets described above. Yorkdale is on track to becoming North America’s highest-selling mall , with sales expected to be $2 billion by 2018. Yorkdale has also opened several new luxury stores including Mulberry, Ferragamo, and (soon) a renovated and expanded Holt Renfrew store. Another expansion of the mall breaks ground soon, including a 188,000 square foot Nordstrom store. Yet another expansion is expected where Sears is currently located, and this could possibly include a La Maison Simons store.

The following is a link to the entire Colliers International 2013 Retail Report.

ARITZIA CEO RECEIVES HENRY SINGER AWARD FOR RETAIL EXCELLENCE

By
Retail Insider
-
Aritzia CEO Brian Hill. Photo from Henry Singer

Later this afternoon, the 22nd annual Henry Singer Award for retail leadership and excellence will be presented to Aritzia CEO Brian Hill. 

The Henry Singer Award is presented by the University of Alberta’s School of Business. The School of Business also features an excellent retail-focussed component called the School of Retailing. It is considered to be a global leader in retail-related research and education. 

The Henry Singer Award was started in 1992 and it honours the memory of the late Henry Singer, who founded the Edmonton-based menswear retailer of the same name. Each year the award goes to a recipient considered committed to building their community as they build their business. According to the School of Business’ website, the recipient possesses the gifts of “fairness, humour, empathy, and respect for and acceptance of all people […] show[ing] a deep commitment to family, friends, associates and the community.”

University of Alberta School of Business

Artizia is a true Canadian success story. Brian Hill started the womenswear retailer in 1984. We remember when Aritzia was a shop-in-store within department store Hill’s of Kerrisdale. Hill’s is owned by Mr. Hill’s family and it was founded in 1914. Aritzia has grown to over 50 stores in Canada and has also expanded to the United States, where it opened its largest store, a 13,000 square foot flagship in Manhattan. About a year ago, Aritzia introduced an online shopping website. 

We congratulate Mr. Hill on this award. We are also giving a shout-out to the University of Alberta School of Business, which we ourselves started attending when the Henry Singer Award was but only two years old. We highly recommend that those considering post-secondary education in Business and retail studies consider University of Alberta, as it’s one of the world’s best universities in our opinion. 
[Aritzia website]

[University of Alberta School of Business website]

[Henry Singer Award website]

MORE LUXURY RETAIL ON THE WAY FOR VANCOUVER

By
Retail Insider
-
10,000 SQ FT LOUIS VUITTON MAISON AT THE HOTEL VANCOUVER. PHOTO: DAOF.CO

Parts of Downtown Vancouver could undergo a substantial transformation in the next five years, as luxury retailers seek out space for new stores. We interviewed one broker who, on the condition of anonymity, let us in on some updates what we might see in the next while.

Our source tells us that there are several potential deals in the works for Vancouver’s Alberni Street, including the possibility of Gucci occupying a corner retail space in The Carlyle, located at the corner of Alberni and Thurlow Streets. Gucci would occupy about 4,700 square feet over two levels, replacing a 7-11 store in a once less-upscale retail complex. 

Other retailers, including Mulberry, have already secured retail space in Vancouver but don’t want to announce it just yet, according to our source.

DE BEERS, CURRENTLY UNDER CONSTRUCTION ON ALBERNI STREET. PHOTO: CONNECT2SOURCE, VANCOUVER SKYSCRAPER FORUM

Alberni Street itself will be upgraded, according to Downtown Vancouver BIA President Charles Gaultier. In an interview with Mr. Gaultier a few months ago, it was revealed that the 1000 block of Alberni Street will eventually be revamped to include wider sidewalks and new street lighting and furniture. Furthermore, our broker source explains that there will be a concerted effort to transform Alberni Street into Vancouver’s equivalent of Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills. For more on Alberni Street improvements, we direct you to this article by Glen Korstrom of Business in Vancouver Magazine. 

Our source goes on to tell us that there are plenty of retailers, as well as luxury retail groups such as LVMH, looking for Vancouver real estate. As tenants sign on to Alberni Street and within the Hotel Vancouver, he says we’ll likely see a “rush” of retailers join for space in Downtown Vancouver’s “luxury zone”. He speculates that we’ll see the likes of Chanel, Prada, Tod’s, Fendi, Bulgari and Bottega Veneta in Downtown Vancouver within the next few years, joining a clustering of luxury department stores around Pacific Centre (including Saks Fifth Avenue, Nordstrom, Holt Renfrew and possibly an entirely new anchor store that we’ll discuss at a later date).

ESCADA, 710 THURLOW STREET AT ALBERNI STREET

Downtown Vancouver is already home to plenty of luxury retail. Cartier, Escada, Versace and Salvator Ferragamo have been in Downtown Vancouver for years. In the past decade more luxury retailers have moved in, including the likes of Tiffany & Co., Burberry, Frey Wille, Omega, MontBlanc and others. Our source says that we can expect the number of luxury boutiques in Vancouver to as much as double in the next five years, complete with updated sidewalks and storefronts, creating a more exciting, upscale downtown Vancouver.

You can rest assured we’ll continue to report on luxury retail in Vancouver.

BIRKS TO OPEN IN CHINA

By
Retail Insider
-
Maison Birks, Quartier Dix30, Montreal

Montreal-based Birks, now called Maison Birks, will renovate its 30 Canadian stores as well as open stores in China. The Canadian store renovations will take place over the next 3 years, and the first Chinese Birks store will open in Beijing early next year.

Birks recently changed its name in an attempt to modernize its brand. It faces increased competition from the likes of Tiffany & Co. and Cartier, both opening stores across Canada. The company has recently opened two mono-branded Maison Birks stores, carrying Birks-only products.

We have no further details on its Chinese expansion, though the company is said to be looking to market Canadian diamonds internationally as the domestic market is becoming more crowded. Competition is growing in the Canadian diamond retail market. Diamond powerhouse De Beers will open its first Canadian store in a few weeks in Vancouver, while Cartier continues to seek more retail opportunities in Canada, especially in Vancouver, Calgary and Montreal. And when Saks Fifth Avenue opens its first Canadian stores, it’s expected to feature its famous fine jewelry departments.

Since the beginning of its history as a company, Birks has carried its own branded flatware. After 135 years, this will be discontinued. Also, Birks will stop carrying silver serving items and some other housewares.

The entire Birks organization, including an American subsidiary, recently renamed itself as ‘Birks Group‘.

This article’s source is the Toronto Star. To read their comprehensive article, click here.

[Maison Birks website]

CHRISTIAN DIOR TO OPEN AT THE HOTEL VANCOUVER

By
Retail Insider
-

Sources tell us that Christian Dior will occupy a two-level space within the Fairmont Hotel Vancouver, replacing St. John (which will move into another space in the same hotel). We’re awaiting details as to the size of the new Dior space, as well as its projected opening date. It will be Canada’s first free-standing Dior store. 

We’ve been told that this will be an unusually large store for Dior and that it will carry women’s ready-to-wear and accessories. We’re not sure if its men’s collection, Dior Homme, will be carried in this store (Update: Dior Homme WILL be carried in Vancouver’s Dior location). 

The Hotel Vancouver’s owner, Ivanhoe Cambridge, is expanding retail space within the hotel to include second-floor space for selected retailers. We’ve been told that Ivanhoe Cambridge is expanding the hotel’s retail in anticipation for the eventual selling of the hotel. The Hotel Vancouver’s Georgia Street reception desk will be relocated to create more valuable retail space, and the rest of the hotel’s lobby (including a restaurant) will be renovated over the next year with a budget in excess of $12 million. 

There are currently 3 Dior accessory shops-in-store in Canada, all located within the Vancouver, Toronto (Bloor Street) and Montreal Holt Renfrew stores. A fourth Dior accessories shop will open this fall at Holt Renfrew’s Yorkdale location, and the Montreal Dior shop recently renovated and re-opened. 

There are 11 free-standing Dior women’s ready-to-wear boutiques in 8 American cities (including 4 in Las Vegas), as well as 12 Dior accessory shops-in-store located within 9 Saks Fifth Avenue stores, 2 Bloomingdale’s stores and 1 Nordstrom store. 

There’s no word yet if Saks Fifth Avenue will include Dior shops within its new Canadian stores, the first of which are expected to open late next year. 

Thank you to our source Van23H of Vancouver Skyscraper Forum for being this article’s source. 

We recently interviewed a Vancouver-based real estate broker, who says other luxury retail tenants are on the way for Vancouver. We’ll discuss this more in an article tomorrow. 


“BIRKS & MAYOR” CHANGES NAME TO “BIRKS GROUP”

By
Retail Insider
-
Photo: Maison Birks

Montreal-based Birks & Mayors Inc. has changed its name to Birks Group Inc. The publicly-traded company has changed its ticker symbol to “BGI”.

Birks Group conducts business under the following brands: “Maison Birks” in Canada, “Mayors” in Florida and Georgia, and “Brinkhaus” in Vancouver and Calgary.

There are about 30 Maison Birks stores in Canada. The company is in the process of changing the signage on its stores to reflect this recent name change.

Birks is one of North America’s most productive retailers, as measured in per-square-foot sales. It features many luxury jewelry designers, including in-store Van Cleef & Arpels shops at several locations.

Thank you to Retail Insider Samson Yuen for directing us to this article’s source.

[Maison Birks website]

[Mayors website]

[Birks Group website]

TNT NOW OPEN AT BAYVIEW VILLAGE

By
Retail Insider
-
Photo: TNT

Upscale retailer TNT The New Trend has just opened its newest (and smallest) store at Toronto’s Bayview Village. It’s about 5,500 square feet. We first reported on this store’s opening in April. It will be TNT’s fifth store, following other Toronto and Montreal store locations.

TNT started in 1992 with a 1,200 square foot store on Toronto’s Eglington Avenue West. The current Eglington Avenue store is about 18,000 square feet and includes both women’s designer clothing, shoes and accessories. TNT has two stores at Toronto’s Hazelton Lanes Shopping Centre: a 14,000 square foot women’s store and a separate 4,000 square foot men’s store. TNT also has a 6,000 square foot women’s store location in Montreal.

Bayview Village Shopping Centre is an enclosed, upscale suburban Toronto mall lacking large ‘anchor’ stores. It includes more than 110 stores over about 440,000 square feet. It includes nine jewellery stores, an upscale grocery store called Pusateri’s, and many unique retailers found only in a few other Canadian shopping locations.
TNT’s Hazelton Lanes store will see some changes as the mall prepares to expand and renovate for more luxury retailers. 

[Bayview Village Shopping Centre website]
[TNT website]

CANADA IS HERMÈS’ FASTEST GROWING MARKET, NOW AS LARGE AS GERMANY

By
Retail Insider
-
Hermes - Photo: Breuninger

Hermès‘ co-CEO Patrick Thomas says that Canada is the brand’s fastest growing market, at about 20%/year. Canadian sales at Hermès are also similar to those of Germany, an affluent country with more Hermès stores and well over twice our population.

Hermès’ sales in Canada are growing about 20%/year according to Mr. Thomas. Canada currently only has five Hermès stores: two in Vancouver (755 Burrard Street, Vancouver International Airport), one in Toronto (131 Bloor St. W.) and one each within Montreal’s and Calgary’s Holt Renfrew stores. According to Mr. Thomas, the Montreal store will be expanding.

Mr. Thomas attributes our market growth to an increase in Canadians’ wealth, as well as tourism.

Interestingly, Mr. Thomas noted that Hermès’ sales in Canada are similar to those in Germany. We find this most impressive. Germany has almost 82 million residents and boasts 17 Hermès stores. Canada, in comparison, has just shy of 35 million residents for its 5 Hermès stores.

RELATED TOPICS:

Canada’s Hermès stores are also not large on an international scale. The Toronto flagship is about 4,000 square feet while the downtown Vancouver store is only about 2,500 square feet. We’ve been told that both stores do similar sales at the moment, and those sales are obviously quite high. 

Canada is a country with an increasingly wealthy population. Tourism is also on the upswing, contributing to our growing luxury retail market. For more on the demographics of Canada and luxury retail, we direct you to Karim Rashwan’s article on the numbers behind Canadian luxury retail.

Photo: Hermès

Some of the above information came from an interview of Hermès’ co-CEO Patrick Thomas by Hollie Shaw of the National Post. To read more of her article and interview with Mr. Thomas, we direct you to click here.

[Hermès website]

MONTREAL PREMIUM OUTLETS BREAKS GROUND: TO INCLUDE MAXMARA & POSSIBLY HBC OUTLET

By
Retail Insider
-

The Montreal Premium Outlets will be the second Premium Outlet in Canada, following the popular Toronto Premium Outlets which opened in August. Included will be Canada’s first MaxMara outlet, as well as possibly a Hudson’s Bay Outlet. 

The mall will be located in the Montreal suburb of Mirabel.

Like its Toronto sibling, the outlets will be located far away from Montreal’s downtown core in a car-dependent location on Highway 15. A new highway exit, Exit 28, has been created for the project.

Canada’s first MaxMara outlet store (about 3,500 square feet) will be among the new tenants. A 27,333 square foot anchor retail space is located at one end of the mall, and speculation has it that it could become Canada’s second Hudson’s Bay Outlet. Canada’s first Hudson’s Bay Outlet opened in August at the Toronto Premium Outlets.

Other notable outlets will include Coach (with a whopping 9,567 sq ft), DKNY (with about 4,000 sq ft) and Lindt Chocolates. We’ve been told that lease negotiations are currently underway to add retailers Hugo Boss (4,093 sq ft), Elie Tahari (3,159 sq ft), J. Crew (5,006 sq ft), Cole Haan (3,770 sq ft), Lacoste (3,657 sq ft) and Polo by Ralph Lauren (14,956 sq ft) to the outlets. We’ve been told that the mall’s landlords will announce more retailers today at the groundbreaking, including possibly some of these we’ve just mentioned. 

The mall’s first phase will cover a total of about 366,000 square feet, with an expected 80,000 square foot addition as its second phase. The first phase will feature roughly 80 retailers, according to its lease plan. We’ve been told that the construction costs are expected to surpass $110 million for the mall’s first phase.

The mall is a joint venture between Simons Property Group, SmartCentres and Calloway REIT.

The mall’s groundbreaking is scheduled for 10:00am today. The mall currently has no website. Keep reading as we’ll update you on any interesting retailers announced today for the Montreal Premium Outlets.

For a closer look at Montreal Premium Outlet’s tenants, as of August 30th, we direct you to this lease plan. 

CANADA’S 1ST MANOLO BLAHNIK BOUTIQUE IS NOW OPEN AT YORKDALE’S HOLT RENFREW

By
Retail Insider
-
Photo: Manolo Blahnik

*****Update: The official opening for this boutique will be November 21st, 2013. The store will include a Spring 2014 fashion preview between 4-6pm*****

Canada’s first Manolo Blahnik women’s shoe boutique is now open at Yorkdale’s Holt Renfrew. We previously reported that the Blahnik boutique will join shops for Jimmy Choo and Gucci, as well as a shop for Christian Louboutin that is inspired by his Paris apartment. These are all part of a new 10,000 square foot women’s shoe floor which is being revealed as part of a world-class expansion and renovation of Yorkdale’s Holt Renfrew store. 

We’ll be reporting periodically on Holt Renfrew’s Yorkdale store, as it will be the prototype of how the rest of Canada’s Holt Renfrew stores will look and function. We’re very impressed with what’s in store so far, so keep reading for updates. 

Thank you to Tara Turnbull for the above photo. 

[Holt Renfrew website]

[Manolo Blahnik website]

1...1,3041,3051,306...1,347Page 1,305 of 1,347