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FIRST HERMÈS FRAGRANCE SHOP IN NORTH AMERICA OPENS IN TORONTO AT HOLT RENFREW, YORKDALE

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Retail Insider
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Hermes - Yorkdale

North America’s first Hermès fragrance shop has opened at Holt Renfrew, Yorkdale Shopping Centre in Toronto. The shop carries the entire collection of Hermès fragrances for both men and women. It is located within the new 10,000 square foot beauty hall at Holts Yorkdale, which held its grand opening yesterday (Thursday, June 6th).

The Yorkdale Holt Renfrew beauty hall includes four treatment rooms and a host of other ‘shops’ for brands Aesop, Bobbi Brown, Chanel, Jo Malone, Kiehl’s, La Mer and La Prairie. Also included is the new ‘Primp and Polish Bar’ where shoppers can get their eyebrows, nails and lashes done, as well as hair blowouts.

According to an insider at Holt Renfrew, the new cosmetics floor concept will also be rolled out in other Holt Renfrew stores over the next two years, modelled on the Yorkdale store. Holt Renfrew is in the process of a series of massive store overhauls that will see expanded and renovated stores as well as a new focus on menswear via their own ‘men’s stores’. 

Holt Renfrew’s Yorkdale store has been undergoing a transformation and massive expansion that will see it include the chain’s largest shoe floor (at 10,000 square feet) as well as several new men’s shops (including Paul Smith and Dolce & Gabbana) and women’s shops that will include Chanel, among others. Our most recent update of Holt Renfrew’s Yorkdale expansion can be found here.

Holt Renfrew is using its Yorkdale store as a prototype of sorts, testing a more expansive shop-in-store configuration not found in many Holt Renfrew stores. We’ve been told that, so far, positive customer feedback resulting from its hardshop vendors will result in a rollout of similar shops and concepts at Holt Renfrew stores nationwide.

We’ll keep you updated on further openings within Holt Renfrew’s Yorkdale store, as there will be several more this summer and into the fall.

[Hermès website]

[Yorkdale Shopping Centre website]

[Holt Renfrew website]

BAR REFAELI WILL BE THE FACE OF LABEL ‘NEVADA’ FOR SEARS CANADA

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Retail Insider
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Supermodel Bar Refaeli will be the new face of Sears Canada‘s label, Nevada. She will also be featured on the cover of Sears’ fall 2013 publication called ‘LOOK!‘

Sears Canada’s CEO, Calvin McDonald says: “With the launch of our new Nevada brand denim designed by the Buffalo Group, we wanted someone that matched what the brand represents for women: fashionability, quality, and confidence. We believe this relationship will demonstrate to Canadians that Sears is a destination for great fitting, affordable and fashionable apparel, especially in the 25 to 40 age demographic.”

Refaeli recently completed the photo shoot for the Fall LOOK! report where she will appear on the cover. She will also be involved in a number of marketing and public relations activities as the face of Nevada.  In-store appearances in conjunction with the launch of the Fall LOOK! report are being planned, as is the release of a behind-the-scenes video featuring clips from the photo shoot for the LOOK!

[Article Source]

[Sears Canada website]

NORDSTROM’S CANADIAN PRICES WILL BE HIGHER THAN IN THE US

By
Retail Insider
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Photo: Nordstrom

Prices in Canada’s Nordstrom stores will be higher than those in its American stores. This can be attributed partly to our higher duties and taxes on imports, not to mention our higher fuel costs, labour costs and rent. Nordstrom says, however, that it will not be “undersold” and will offer a price-match guarantee on comparable products by Canadian competitors.

Nordstrom carries many designer labels already carried at competitors Holt Renfrew, Harry Rosen and Hudson’s Bay. Nordstrom’s first Canadian store opens in the fall of 2014 at Calgary’s Chinook Centre. We expect ‘label wars’ as Nordstrom will seek to carry designers carried exclusively at these Canadian retailers.

Nordstrom will start advertising its Canadian arrival this fall, one year before its Calgary opening. It will be hiring Canadian store management and will train them for three months at its Seattle head office.

Nordstrom’s Canadian stores will play piped-in modern music in its Canadian stores. This is a departure from the traditional piano players that traditionally graced American Nordstrom stores. In fact, in recent years, Nordstrom has eliminated most in-store piano players to the chagrin of some American shoppers. Ten American Nordstrom stores still have piano players.

Our source for most of this article’s information is Marina Strauss of The Globe & Mail. She received this information from announcements made by Nordstrom’s Canadian president, Karen McKibbin, during the Retail Council of Canada’s Store 2013 conference being held this week in suburban Toronto.

[Source]

[Nordstrom Canada website]

COSTCO TO OPEN 25 MORE CANADIAN STORES

By
Craig Patterson
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Image: Costco

Costco plans on opening as many as 25 more Canadian stores.

New stores will open in Ontario and several Western Canadian provinces. Metro areas targeted for new stores include Montreal, Toronto and Winnipeg.  Selected communities in Alberta and Saskatchewan will also be considered.

Costco is the fourth-largest retailer in America with almost 630 stores and about $100 billion in sales. In Canada, it has over 80 locations and hopes to have about 110 Canadian stores as its final build-out.

Our source for this article’s information is Holly Shaw of the Financial Post. She received this information from announcements made by Costco senior VP Louise Wendling and Costco co-founder Jim Sinegal during the Retail Council of Canada’s Store 2013 conference being held this week in suburban Toronto. 

[Source]

NORDSTROM LAUNCHES ITS CANADIAN WEBSITE

By
Retail Insider
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June 5 2012 UPDATE: Nordstrom’s Canadian president, Karen McKibbin, says Nordstrom’s Canadian website will not initially include online shopping. This may change at a later date.

Nordstrom has launched its Canadian website in anticipation of its Canadian store openings. The website’s address is www.nordstrom.ca. So far, the website is simple and includes a welcome page, store opening dates and images, and a section for applicants to apply for jobs at Nordstrom Canada. 

The opening page includes images that give the appearance of a young, hip store. It appears both welcoming and fashionable. 

Images of new stores and their proposed openings are included on the website’s main page. We’ve posted the same and other images in this article we published last month. 

The careers section of the website invites Canadians to create a job application profile. It also provides this contact email: canadahotline@nordstrom.com

We have no word yet on the extent of online shopping that will be included on Nordstrom’s Canadian website. 

Nordstrom’s first Canadian store opens in Calgary in the fall of 2014. It will later launch at least four more Canadian stores in Ottawa (Rideau Centre: spring 2015), Vancouver (Pacific Centre: fall 2015), and Toronto (Sherway Gardens and Yorkdale Shopping Centre: both fall 2016). Other Canadian store locations are currently being negotiated.

Nordstrom Rack has also secured space in Canada and we’ll soon announce its first location.  

Nordstrom’s Canadian website: www.Nordstrom.ca

$1 BILLION METROTOWN MALL REDEVELOPMENT SPEARHEADED BY SEARS CANADA

By
Retail Insider
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Sears Canada has submitted plans to redevelop its owned 8.9 acre parcel at Burnaby BC’s Metropolis at Metrotown. The estimated redevelopment cost will be about $1 billion. The project will include five residential towers and two office buildings over a retail component that will include a new Sears store. The site currently includes a 217,283 square-foot Sears department store, a 37,422 square foot Toys “R” Us store and acres of parking.

Sears is in the enviable position of owning its Metrotown store, land and adjacent parking. It therefore has the option of redeveloping this valuable real estate asset. We can expect Sears to utilize similar real estate assets, though it only owns about a dozen of its Canadian stores. The other Canadian Sears locations are leased and Sears will capitalize on selected leases as well. For example, Sears recently sold back three store leases to landlord Cadillac Fairview for $170 million, paving the way for Nordstrom to open in Canada. 

Sears Canada is also seeking to either subdivide, sublease or even redevelop other store locations. It has hired consultants previously used by The Hudson’s Bay Company to determine potential subleasing options and other best-use scenarios for Sears’ existing real estate holdings. Sears’ American parent is also actively looking to sublease space and has even created a website specifically to do so.

Image: Metropolis at Metrotown

The Globe & Mail reports that the current 140,000 square foot Metrotown Sears store will be demolished and a 100,000 square foot replacement store will be built as part of the new project. Review of Metrotown leaseplans, however, show Sears as being over 217,000 square feet. Plans submitted by Sears state that a replacement Sears store will be a “flagship” location. Flagship locations usually indicate a store that is larger than most in its chain and which carries all or at least most product lines. We’re not sure if a 100,000 square foot replacement Sears store could meet the definition of a “flagship” location given these qualifications.  

We’ll report on updates to this development and we’ll follow up with trying to determine the correct size and configuration of the future newly-built Sears store at Burnaby’s Metrotown.

The submitted planning document by Sears to the City of Burnaby to redevelop its site can be found here. The Sears application starts at page 334.

[Metropolis at Metrotown website]

[Sears Canada website]

Matthew McConaughey’s “JKL” Clothing Line Launches this Fall at Sears Canada

By
Retail Insider
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Matthew McConaughey's new clothing line called 'just keep livin' ("JKL")

Sears Canada will launch Matthew McConaughey’s new clothing line called ‘just keep livin‘ (“JKL”). It will be produced by Grand National Apparel Inc. The clothing line will be available in-store and online for the fall 2013 season. It was introduced in American Sears stores in February 2013.

A portion of every sale goes to the Boys and Girls Clubs of Canada. The funds will provide after-school fitness and wellness programs for youth in Canada based on the curriculum of the just keep livin Foundation, a nonprofit organization founded by Matthew McConaughey, that supports after-school programs in areas that need them most.  These programs encourage young people to “improve their physical and mental health through exercise, teamwork, gratitude, and positive life choices” according to its press release.

The fashion line will include “technically-advanced fabrics, performance details and a relaxed, casual aesthetic.  Dubbed All-Journey Gear, the collection delivers versatile, active-inspired looks with functional performance fabrics that merge into good-looking, but hard-wearing apparel” (press release).

Sears Canada President and CEO Calvin McDonald states: “As we enter the second year of our three-year Transformation, working with new brands like JKL will help us improve the quality of our apparel offerings. An important part of our trading strategy is to increase our relevance with men in the 25-45 age range, and we expect that JKL’s attractive yet rugged design will help bring these customers to Sears.”

Matthew McConaughey states: “JKL stands for just keep livin. In 1992, my father moved on, and just keep livin came to be. It was about keeping his spirit alive and continuing to get incentive from the things he taught me. The tag line is a compass for me and serves as an approach to life: No matter where we’re headed, where the road takes us, what’s up ahead or what’s behind us, we’ve got to ‘just keep livin’. That’s the philosophy. It’s a big part of what we try to show the kids through our foundation and it’s the DNA of the JKL brand.”

[Source – Press Release]

[Sears Canada website]

CALGARY’S CHINOOK CENTRE TO EXPAND, AGAIN

By
Retail Insider
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Chinook Centre Expansion

Calgary’s Chinook Centre is planning for yet another expansion. The south-east corner of the mall’s site will eventually be redeveloped and could include an anchor retailer as part of the expansion. The entire project would include retail, office space, a hotel and residential space. 

The redevelopment would coincide with proposed transit-friendly development around the nearby Chinook Station light rail transit (“LRT”) hub. The mall expansion, specifically, would see parking moved underground and a more ‘pedestrian friendly’ environment created at ground level.

The proposed mall expansion will go to vote by the Calgary Planning Commission this Thursday (June 6th) and we’ll let you know the outcome. We have been informed by one of our Calgary insiders that it is expected to pass, given that Calgary’s Corporate Planning Applications Group has recommended that it be approved.

Diagram showing proposed mall expansion area, as well as proposed Chinook Station LRT area redevelopment.

In September 2010, Chinook Centre saw the opening of a $277 million, 180,000 square foot expansion. The mall has since firmly established itself as Calgary’s premier suburban shopping destination. It secured the future opening of Calgary’s only Nordstrom location, which is expected to open late September 2014.  It has also scored first-rate retailers such as Burberry, Tiffany & Co. and Tory Burch. We have been following the mall’s expansion proposal for several months and we’re expecting renderings and more specific proposal information in the coming days. 

Chinook Centre is one of North America’s most productive malls. It has sales of almost $1,100/square foot and by 2016, it is expected to boast sales of close to $1 billion with non-anchor sales of about $1,200/square foot. These numbers come from this Calgary Herald article.

We’ll update you on Chinook Centre’s expansion proposal as we get more information.

[Top Image adapted from a diagram by Nordstrom]
[Chinook Station Area Plan (.pdf)]
[Chinook Centre website]

SAKS FIFTH AVENUE AND BLOOMINGDALE’S HAVE BEEN QUIETLY CONSIDERING CANADIAN MALL SPACE

By
Retail Insider
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Hudson's Bay store in Toronto that was considered for conversion to a Bloomingdale's [Image Source]

We’ve received word that American retailers Saks Fifth Avenue and Bloomingdale’s have been inquiring into obtaining Canadian retail space. For example, both stores recently expressed interest in the proposed third anchor store space in a substantially expanded Oakridge Shopping Centre in Vancouver. These retailers have also made enquiries with other Canadian mall landlords.

Saks’ inquiries have been ongoing in Canada for the past 24 months, though they may cease temporarily now that the company is organizing for a possible sale. Saks could find Canadian business difficult since many of its core designer labels already have exclusivity agreements with Holt Renfrew, Canada’s answer to Saks. 

Saks Fifth Avenue would likely struggle in Canada given the popularity (and current profitability) of Holt Renfrew. Holt Renfrew’s nine Canadian stores each generate between $800 and $1000+ per square foot according to inside sources, considerably higher than most Saks Fifth Avenue stores. Holt Renfrew’s per square foot sales are some of the highest in the world for such a retailer. 

Bloomingdale’s inquiries into selected Canadian retail space began not long after its negotiations with Hudson’s Bay fell through. Hudson’s Bay had wanted to bring Bloomingdale’s concessions into Canada and had even earmarked its Yonge and Bloor Hudson’s Bay store to be converted into Canada’s flagship Bloomingdale’s store. After talks stalled, Bloomingdale’s began examining the possibility of an independent Canadian entry. Even more speculation surrounding the situation is that parent company Macy’s could look to enter the Canadian market. This could be done possibly by buying out selected mall stores from a retailer such as Sears Canada, not unlike what Cadillac Fairview did to escort Nordstrom’s Canadian entrance.

Our in-house retail analyst doubts we’ll see either Saks or Bloomingdale’s come to Canada any time soon. Meanwhile, we’ll keep an ear to the ground and report on any new developments since we’ve been told both retailers are still showing interest in Canada. 

[Saks Fifth Avenue website]

[Bloomingdale’s website]

CONTROVERSIAL PROPOSAL COULD SEE WALMART OPEN IN DOWNTOWN TORONTO

By
Retail Insider
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Photo: Trinity

Walmart could open a store on the west side of Downtown Toronto, near the popular Kensington Market neighbourhood. The store would be part of a 125,000 square-foot proposed retail project to be built by RioCan real estate investment trust.

The complex would be three floors, and Walmart would occupy levels two and three. Underground parking for about 300 cars would also be provided.

Many feel the project is incompatible with the small-store feel of the adjacent Kensington Market area. Some have expressed concern that area shoppers will abandon the popular Kensington Market area for the new Walmart-anchored project.

Urban Planner David Fitzpatrick analysed the situation and feels Walmart won’t harm the area. In a nutshell, he believes Walmart and Kensington Market attract substantially different customers looking for substantially different products. He goes so far as to say that business in the Kensington Market area could be improved with more people being attracted to the new Walmart, and the new Walmart’s parking being used for Kensington shoppers. For David’s excellent analysis, click here.

A public meeting on the proposed development will be held by the City of Toronto’s planning department at 7:00pm on June 6th at the College Street United Church at 452 College Street.

On Monday we’ll announce and discuss two American luxury department stores contemplating Canadian retail space. Have an excellent weekend, and thank you for reading Retail Insider.

[RioCan website]

[Walmart website]

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