Home Blog Page 1353

CANADA’S LARGEST SHOE SALE: APRIL 24

Image: Army & Navy

One week from today, Canadian women in select cities will line up to buy shoes at the Legendary Army & Navy Shoe Sale. It continues to be Canada’s largest shoe sale. Almost 150,000 pairs of designer shoes will be available at discounted prices at the chain’s six Canadian stores. New merchandise is brought in daily, and the event lasts until May 5th. 

According to Army & Navy, about 4,300 women line up for the 8:00am opening day. Shoppers are advised to check back daily for new stock, as much of it is picked over not long after the initial shopping stampede.

For those unfamiliar, Army and Navy started as a liquidation retailer in 1919. The shoe sale commenced in 1949. It could be compared to a modern-day Winners or Marshall’s, for example. 

Much to our dismay, the sale madness doesn’t include men’s shoes. We encourage Army & Navy to expand their sale to include men’s shoes since this male author’s shoe addiction could support the men’s sale in its own right. 

Army & Navy has had various Western Canadian stores over the years. This is a list of their current store locations. All stores participate in the shoe sale. 

1) Downtown Vancouver: 36 West Cordova Street 
2) New Westminster, BC: 502 Columbia Street
3) Langley, BC: 100 – 5501 204th Street
4) Edmonton: 10411 82nd (Whyte) Avenue 
5) Edmonton: Unit 100A Londonderry Mall 
6) Calgary: 1 – 1107 33rd Street NE  

Army & Navy website: www.armyandnavy.ca

HOLT RENFREW YORKDALE UPDATE

Yorkdale Shopping Centre’s Holt Renfrew store continues to undergo expansion and renovation. Some improvements, including a men’s Dolce & Gabbana shop-in-store are complete, while others such as boutiques for Chanel and Paul Smith as well as a 10,000 square foot shoe department are under construction. The finished store will be a “show-stopper” according to a source at Holt Renfrew head office. 

With the help of our Toronto Retail Insider ACT7 of Urban Toronto, we’ve done some digging and today we’ll discuss two new developments: A substantially expanded Louis Vuitton boutique, and a new Paul Smith boutique. We’ll also reveal Holt’s expanded store size and configuration. 

Both the new Vuitton and Smith shops are mentioned on the City of Toronto Building Application website. The Louis Vuitton within Holts will expand and will include basement storage and a dumbwaiter to move merchandise from the basement to the Vuitton boutique. 

A Paul Smith boutique is also mentioned on the City of Toronto Application website. Paul Smith men’s clothing is carried at Holt Renfrew stores across Canada. Holts Yorkdale will get a  full-on dedicated Paul Smith boutique insofar as it was mentioned specifically on the City of Toronto’s Building Application website. 

Holt Renfrew’s Yorkdale store will see a substantial expansion over three floors. Two floors will be for retail, while the basement will be storage and staff areas. The total store size will be in excess of 121,000 square feet, making it the third-largest Holt Renfrew store after Holt’s Toronto Bloor Street (about 185,000 square feet) and Vancouver (about 137,200 square feet) stores (the Calgary store is 151,000 square feet, but only about 120,000 square feet are currently used). 

The expanded store’s size breakdown is as follows. Currently, the store’s ground floor is 51,913 square feet and its basement storage is 13,134 square feet. This adds up to the current total of 65,047 square feet. The store’s expansion will include an 18,925 square foot ground floor extension, an added ~15,000 square feet storage/staff basement area, and a ~22,340 square foot second level formerly housing a food court. We’ve attached the store’s lease plan above. 

Toronto’s Yorkdale Shopping Centre has seen so much leasing activity lately that we’ll be doing regular articles about what’s happening. We’ve also got an updated mall lease plan so we’ll continuously report on which tenants are going where and the size of these new tenants. Yorkdale Shopping Centre will likely remain Canada’s premier shopping centre especially with its recently announced expansion including a 188,000 square foot Nordstrom store

Holt Renfrew website: www.HoltRenfrew.com
Yorkdale Shopping Centre website: http://www.yorkdale.com

HARRY ROSEN OPENING STORE AT LE CARREFOUR LAVAL

[Image Source]

Menswear retailer Harry Rosen will open a 7,800 square foot store at Le Carrefour Laval in suburban Montreal. The opening date will be some time in August. The store will be located next to a large Zara store, currently under renovation and scheduled to re-open this summer. 

 
This will be Harry Rosen’s third store in the province of Quebec. It will be the chain’s 16th Canadian store and the 17th including an outlet store in suburban Toronto. Surprisingly, Harry Rosen’s two Quebec stores are in Metropolitan Montreal and the company currently has no stores in the Quebec City area. 

Floorplan (screenshot) is adapted from the Carrefour Laval website interactive floorplan
This Harry Rosen store will be smaller than many. For example, its Vancouver store is about 25,000 square feet and its  Yorkdale store will enlarge to 32,000 square feet.

Floorplan adapted from a Cadillac Fairview lease plan
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 






Le Carrefour Laval is one of Canada’s more productive shopping centres with sales of $764/square foot, according to landlord Cadillac Fairview. The mall has 274 stores and includes, impressively, an Apple Store that is almost 11,000 square feet. 
 
Thank you to our Montreal Retail Insider Pat Campione for being this article’s source. 
 
Harry Rosen website: www.HarryRosen.com
 
Le Carrefour Laval website: http://www.carrefourlaval.ca

UNIQLO & BLOOMINGDALE’S CANADA UPDATE: HAPPENING OR SPECULATION?

Photo: Uniqlo

The National Post/Financial Post reports that Uniqlo could become a tenant within Hudson’s Bay stores. Its article on Tuesday, April 11th notes that Hudson’s Bay is seeking to negotiate space with Uniqlo and other retailers that might add value to Hudson’s Bay’s Canadian real estate portfolio. 

In November 2012 we first reported on Uniqlo’s negotiations for space in the sub-basement of the Hudson’s Bay store in Downtown Vancouver. We were later informed by a commercial real estate source that this Vancouver deal had stalled. We held off informing readers since there was a possibility that other Uniqlo store sites could be found, including space enquiries on Vancouver’s Robson Street and on Toronto’s Yonge Street. Uniqlo management has since scaled back North American expansion plans, save for some potential future West Coast and East Coast American stores. Plans for a flagship Chicago Uniqlo store were also put on hold, much to the chagrin of many Chicago shoppers

We are unable to confirm any Canadian leasing activity with Uniqlo at this time. We hope that The National Post’s article is correct as to Hudson’s Bay’s continued attempt to secure Uniqlo as a concession tenant. 

On Tuesday, April 11th, Business in Vancouver Magazine also reported that Hudson’s Bay could be trying to secure Bloomingdale’s concessions within some of its Canadian Stores.  In November 2012, we reported the confirmation from a source at Hudson’s Bay that the proposed Bloomingdale’s/Hudson’s Bay partnership had stalled. We again hope for a Bloomingdale’s entry into Canada via Hudson’s Bay.

One of Retail Insider’s goals is to get Canadians excited about shopping in Canada. Uniqlo and Bloomingdale’s would be exciting additions to Canadian retailing and we hope both become a reality. 

We will continue to keep readers updated on new Canadian retail. Have an excellent weekend, everyone, and thank you for reading Retail Insider.  

National Post/Financial Post article referenced: http://business.financialpost.com/2013/04/11/hudsons-bay-co-feels-impact-of-hurricane-related-closures-at-u-s-stores

Business in Vancouver article referenced: http://www.biv.com/article/20130409/BIV0102/304099933/0/SEARCH/E-commerce-shrinking-department-store-prospects

Uniqlo website: www.uniqlo.com

Bloomingdale’s website: www.bloomingdales.com

APPLE STORE OPENING IN MONTREAL APRIL 27

Apple Store - Photo: iphoneincanada.ca

A 7,000 square foot Apple Store opens April 27th at Montreal’s Quartier Dix30 shopping centre. The store will be located next to hr2 by Holt Renfrew

This will be the fourth Apple Store in the Greater Montreal area. Other Montreal Apple Stores are located in Downtown Montreal (1321 rue Ste-Catherine Ouest), Carrefour Laval and Fairview Pointe-Claire.

[Partial Article Source]

Apple store website: store.apple.com/ca

Quartier Dix30 website: www.quartierdix30.com

H&M OPENING FIRST OTTAWA STORE

Photo: H&M

Swedish retailer H&M is opening a 22,000 square foot store at Ottawa’s expanded Bayshore Shopping Centre in October. This will be Ottawa’s first H&M store.  

The company has been seeking Ottawa store space for almost a decade. H&M’s Bayshore store will be located on the main level of the mall’s former Zellers store, which is being renovated and reconfigured. Target will occupy the third floor of that same former Zellers store. 

Ottawa’s Bayshore Shopping Centre is undergoing an expansion and renovation that will see its size increased to about 915,000 square feet from a current 700,000 square feet. The entire project will cost about $200 million. 56 new stores will be added including the new Target store. The expansion should be completed some time in 2015.

A source at Cadillac Fairview tells us H&M is also negotiating space at Ottawa’s Rideau Centre. Ottawa’s Rideau Centre is also undergoing a significant expansion which will include a new Nordstrom, a relocated food court and a La Maison Simons store we reported on last month

[Partial Article Source]

H&M website: www.hm.com/ca

Bayshore Shopping Centre website: www.bayshoreshoppingcentre.com

CHECKING OUT MONTREAL’S HR2 by HOLT RENFREW

Our Montreal Retail Insider, Pat Campione, provided us with these photos of Montreal’s newly opened hr2 by Holt Renfrew store. Last week we reported on hr2’s opening at Montreal’s Quartier Dix30 Shopping Centre.

The store was designed by NYC-based architect Jason Goldstein. It is about 25,000 square feet.

The Toronto hr2 at Vaughan Mills opens May 10th.


All photos by Pat Campione.

hr2 by Holt Renfrew website: holtrenfrew.com/hr2

Quartier Dix30 website:  www.quartierdix30.com

EILEEN FISHER OPENING SECOND CANADIAN STORE AT CALGARY’S CHINOOK CENTRE

Image: Eileen Fisher

UPDATE: Eileen Fisher opened this store on July 26th, 2013.

American womenswear designer Eileen Fisher will open a second Canadian location at Calgary’s Chinook Centre in August. The store will be almost 2,000 square feet and will be located on the main-level of the store’s latest expansion area.

For those unfamiliar, Eileen Fisher’s prices are in the ‘bridge‘ price range and are known for having simple, comfortable designs. 

Canada’s first Eileen Fisher store opened on Vancouver’s tony South Granville shopping strip in August, 2011. 

Image adapted from Chinook Centre website
Lease Plan: Cadillac Fairview

Eileen Fisher joins an increasingly upscale Chinook Centre in Calgary. We recently reported on Chinook Centre’s eventual J. Crew and TopShop/TopMan openings, as well as its two new anchor stores: Target and Nordstrom. Chinook Centre will also be announcing plans for yet another mall expansion. 

Eileen Fisher is looking for retail locations in and around Toronto for future locations, according to Retail Insider ACT7 of Urban Toronto

Information for this article came from an emailed press release.

Eileen Fisher website: www.eileenfisher.com

Chinook Centre website: www.chinookcentre.com

KURT GEIGER SHOES PARTNERS WITH NORDSTROM: CANADA LAUNCH EXPECTED

Image: Kurt Geiger (Canary Wharf)

British Footwear retailer Kurt Geiger has just signed a deal with Nordstrom. A source at Nordstrom says they expect Kurt Geiger footwear to also be sold in Canada but could not provide further details.

Kurt Geiger shops carry both private-label and designer brand footwear. Geiger’s stores could be compared to Canadian footwear retailer Browns Shoes, also an upscale footwear retailer selling both designer and private-label footwear for men and women. The private-label merchandise carried in both stores is considered to be both fashionable and desirable. 

Nordstrom will only carry Kurt Geiger shoes in its existing shoe departments, rather than in Kurt Geiger shop-in-store concessions.  Kurt Geiger has opened shop-in-store concessions in British department stores such as SelfridgesHarrod’s and House of Fraser, and international ones such as Printemps in France and La Rinascente in Italy. 

Nordstrom will carry three Geiger labels: Kurt Geiger London, KG Kurt Geiger and Carvela.

Kurt Geiger is considered to be a London, England-based retailer despite its now being owned by US-based The Jones Group. Kurt Geiger has both free-standing footwear stores (like Canada’s Brown’s Shoes) as well as shop-in-store concessions. Kurt Geiger also has agreements to operate select Manolo Blahnik footwear boutiques.

Our same source informs us that free-standing Canadian Kurt Geiger stores could be in the works, though this would likely be years away. 

[Partial Article Source]

Kurt Geiger website: http://www.kurtgeiger.com

Nordstrom website: www.Nordstrom.com

NORDSTROM OPENING AT AN EXPANDED YORKDALE SHOPPING CENTRE IN TORONTO

Rendering of the Yorkdale Nordstrom. Image: Yorkdale Shopping Centre

This morning Toronto’s Yorkdale Shopping Centre announced an expansion along the eastern-portion of the mall that will include a new 188,000 square foot Nordstrom store. Yorkdale landlord Oxford Properties has been negotiating with Nordstrom for months after previous attempts at securing a 165,000 Yorkdale Nordstrom store stalled last summer.


This will be the second-largest Nordstrom store scheduled to open in Canada after the announcement of a 230,000 square foot Vancouver store. In January we reported on the generally ‘smaller-sized’ Canadian Nordstrom stores. The Yorkdale Nordstrom store will likely become the third-largest Canadian Nordstrom location after negotiations for a Downtown Toronto flagship Nordstrom store are concluded.


The mall expansion will involve demolishing a parking structure. Replacement parking will be provided under the expansion. 

Rough Floorplan showing Yorkdale’s 2012 expansion area as well as the proposed 2016 expansion including Nordstrom. We are awaiting updated lease plans from Oxford Properties.

The latest Yorkdale Shopping Centre expansion will be almost 300,000 square feet at a cost of over $330 million. The expansion and the new Nordstrom store are expected to open in the Fall of 2016.  Other retailers will be announced as part of the new Yorkdale expansion. We’ll update readers as information becomes available.


In November 2012 we reported on Yorkdale’s $220 million, 145,000 square-foot expansion. Last month we reported on Yorkdale’s securing multiple luxury retail tenantsYorkdale’s latest announcement of an expansion including Nordstrom solidifies Yorkdale’s status as Canada’s number-one shopping centre.

Latest expansion renderings: Yorkdale Shopping Centre

Yorkdale’s Nordstrom will join a 138,000 square foot Nordstrom store scheduled to open at Toronto’s Sherway Gardens in the Fall of 2016. We can expect between three and four more announced Canadian Nordstrom locations. We expect these to be in Edmonton, Downtown Toronto and possibly Winnipeg.


Yorkdale Shopping Centre’s Nordstrom joins an expanded and renovated 120,000 square foot Holt Renfrew store expected to be completed by late Spring, and a renovated 300,000 square foot Hudson’s Bay department store. A 190,000 square foot Sears store will continue to operate in the mall.

We will update you with Yorkdale expansion floorplans and images when available. We will also present readers with a floor-by-floor guide of the new store being provided by a source at Nordstrom head office. 


[Article Source]


Nordstrom website: www.nordstrom.com


Yorkdale Shopping Centre website: www.yorkdale.com