Zellers will keep three stores open in suburban Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver. The modified store format will include multiple Hudson’s Bay Company banners. We have little other information at this time.
We’re not sure if these stores will be some sort of ‘liquidation outlet’ for Hudson’s Bay Company brands/stores, or if they will be a temporary situation for leases not taken by Target or Walmart.
The three Zellers locations to remain open include:
1) The Kipling Queensway Mall (1255 The Queensway, Toronto/Etobicoke) 2) Place Bourassa, 11211 Lacordaire, Montreal and 3) Semiamo Shopping Centre, 1715 152 Street, Surrey (White Rock) BC
We’re publishing this information after reading it on Canada.com, article by Marc Weisblott. We honestly didn’t know of this modified Zellers proposal until reading Marc’s article. Here’s a link to his article.
Holt Renfrew will be making significant changes to its men’s stores by 2015. Our Toronto-based Holt Renfrew insider has given us some info on what’s in store. The changes are HUGE.
All nine Holt Renfrew stores will get their own ‘Men’s Shop’ which will essentially be a ‘separate store’ similar to Harry Rosen, including its own separate store entrance. The separate entrance will eliminate the need for men to go through cosmetics/fragrances/handbags, for example, to shop for men’s items at Holt’s. Also, men can say goodbye to the magenta shopping bags… the Holt’s men’s store will get their own, in a more ‘masculine’ look, according to our insider. All of this is part of the Holt’s massive $300million expansion that we previously reported.
The Holt Renfrew men’s shops will include shoe shine stations (to compete with Nordstrom?), a ‘hot shave bar’, comfy leather couch seating areas, technological advances and gadgets, and will even serve alcohol where possible.
These changes are a response to a drastic increase by Canadian men on expensive suits (luxury suit sales @ Holts went up 300% last year), designer shoes and men’s accessories. Holt Renfrew’s mens’ department sales have done so well in the past two years that we’ll see these drastic changes ‘imminently’.
Holt Renfrew’s Yorkdale location has the first revamped men’s store, with the store’s entire renovations to be completed by late summer 2013. The men’s store will be expanded from 11,000 square feet to 18,000 square feet, including the bells-and-whistles mentioned above. Our insider qualified it to be ‘a stunning prototype for a Canada-wide roll-out’.
Holt Renfrew’s increased concentration on menswear is also a reaction to 1) women’s sales going down slightly (due to competition and market saturation) and 2) increased competition from Harry Rosen (which is expanding its stores), new changes for men’s floors at Hudson’s Bay (including a stunning new men’s floor in Vancouver) and Nordstrom’s Canadian arrival.
Our Holt’s insider is digging around for more information. We’ll publish it when ready. Stay tuned!
[Top image from The Art of Shaving. We are not confirming at this time that The Art of Shaving will have concessions at Holt Renfrew]
Nordstrom, Walnut Creek CA. Image: http://www.cei.com
Some readers express concern that Canada’s Nordstrom stores will be ‘smaller than American stores’ and that Canada’s Nordstrom will be a ‘poor cousin’ to American stores. Our Nordstrom insider says ‘not so’.
So far Nordstrom has signed leases for four Canadian locations. To recap, they will be the following sizes: 1) Downtown Vancouver: 228,000 square feet 2) Calgary Chinook Centre: 140,000 square feet 3) Toronto Sherway Gardens: 138,000 square feet and 4) Ottawa Rideau Centre: 157,000 square feet
Compared to the 350,000 square foot San Francisco Westfield location, 285,000 square foot Bellevue Square (Bellevue, Washington) location and the 282,000 square foot Paramus, New Jersey store, Canada’s stores might seem small. But these large American locations are all “older” Nordstrom stores (opened in the 80’s and 90’s), while newer Nordstrom stores are typically smaller and more ‘efficiently’ laid out, according to our insider.
We did some research and found Nordstrom store sizes for all (Non-Rack) stores opened since 2007. And here they are:
2011: Newark, Delaware: 127,000 sq ft St. Louis Galleria, Missouri: 149,000 sq ft Nashville, Tennessee: 145,000 sq ft
2010: Santa Monica, California: 132,000 sq ft Newport Beach (Fashion Island), California: 143,000 sq ft Braintree, Massachusetts: 155,000 sq ft
2009: Cherry Hill, New Jersey: 143,000 sq ft Peabody, Massachusetts: 143,000 sq ft Cincinnati, Ohio – 144,000 sq ft
2008: Thousand Oaks, California: 145,000 sq ft Aventura Mall, Florida: 172,000 sq ft Naples, Florida: 81,000 sq ft (resort store, statistical outlier) Ala Moana Honolulu, Hawaii: 211,000 sq ft Indianapolis, Indiana: 134,000 sq ft Burlington, Massachusetts: 143,000 sq ft Clinton, Michigan: 122,000 sq ft Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania: 143,000 sq ft
2007: Denver (Cherry Creek Mall), Colorado: 142,000 sq ft Novi, Michigan: 172,000 sq ft Natick, Massachusetts: 154,000 sq ft
So from 2007 until now, Nordstrom has opened only one store over 200,000 square feet (in Honolulu). The Vancouver, BC store will therefore be the largest Nordstrom store to open in years, only to be size-trumped by the 2017-18 opening of the Manhattan Nordstrom (285,000 sq ft) and (likely) the opening of a Downtown Toronto flagship store, which would be ‘Nordstrom’s Canadian flagship location’ according to our insider.
Image: Nordstrom
Furthermore, proposed new Nordstrom store sizes include:
Glendale, California (replacement location, new-build): 135,000 sq ft (Opening 2013) Jacksonville, Florida: 124,000 sq ft (Opening 2013) San Juan, Puerto Rico: 138,000 sq ft (Opening 2014) Houston (Woodlands Mall), Texas: 138,000 sq ft (Opening 2014) Milwaukee (Wawasota), Wisconsin: 140,000 sq ft (Opening 2015)
Our insider says that Nordstrom is able to build smaller stores because it has mastered ‘efficiencies’. At the same time, smaller Nordstrom stores carry fewer departments and amenities as larger locations, including spas, multiple restaurants, wedding salons and other ‘extras’. Downtown Toronto and Vancouver Nordstrom stores may include all the bells and whistles found in, say, Nordstrom’s Chicago Michigan Avenue store, while our smaller locations will be less comprehensive but still ‘beautiful stores with superior customer service’ according to Nordstrom.
Despite their smaller sizes, Canada’s Nordstrom stores will include most American departments. In the coming weeks we’ll be profiling these departments so that you, the reader, are a Nordstrom insider by their Canadian arrival. Keep reading!
Queens Quay at Freeland Street in Downtown Toronto. Image: Hariri Pontarini Architects
Downtown Toronto will be getting another large retail development, this time at the base of an impressive multi-tower proposal a the foot of Yonge Street near Lake Ontario. Ground-floor retail is proposed for what will include four residential towers up to a whopping 98 floors in height.
We are told that one of the retail tenants may be a larger-format grocery store, while one retail analyst speculates that a large format fashion retailer could also move into the retail portion of the project. Vancouver-based Pinnacle International is building the project on a city-block bound by Yonge Street on the East, Queens Quay to the South, Freeland Street to the West and Lake Shore Boulevard to the North. (see diagram, below).
Urban grocery stores are being built quickly across the country. Downtown Toronto already has a substantial number of grocery food retailers, and will be opening many more (including a new Whole Foods West of Downtown Toronto and a few others we will reveal in the coming weeks). We previously wrote an article on similar downtown retailers opening in ‘Downtown Canada’.
Readers should note that this project is only a proposal but nevertheless, a substantial retail development is guaranteed for this site.
A commercial real estate broker has told us Target is looking for more than one Downtown Toronto location, and that this site could be desired but for the fact that retail on this site won’t be available for a few years. Nevertheless, the density and vibrancy of the ‘South of the Gardiner’ section of Downtown Toronto is ripe for retail development at a scale previously unheard of.
This retail project joins a growing number of other Downtown Toronto retail projects we’ve reported on, including Oxford Place and the new Globe & Mail Centre complex.
Nordstrom and La Maison Simons could open at Winnipeg’s Polo Park Shopping Centre. A Winnipeg-based retail insider (who is a commercial real estate broker) informs us that Polo Park landlord Cadillac Fairview, along with Winnipeg-based real estate company Shindico, are finalizing a deal to purchase real estate formerly occupied by a sports stadium North of the mall to build a multi-use commercial project including a two-level, 170,000 sq ft Target store.
This would free-up the current 97,200 square foot Zellers space, the right size for a Simons store. Our insider also says Cadillac Fairview wants to buy-out Sears’ 260,000 square foot lease at the South-End of Polo Park for redevelopment. Nordstrom could possibly take 120,000-140,000 square feet of the Sears space, while the rest would be redeveloped to house new retailers including, among others, Winnipeg’s first H&M store.
Winnipeg currently lacks an upscale large-format/department store. Holt Renfrew once had a smaller store in Downtown Winnipeg (roughly 20,000 square feet) which has since replaced with a tiny Holt Renfrew boutique carrying some cosmetics and a few accessories.
Floorplan: Cadillac Fairview.
Polo Park once had a Nordstrom-esq retailer called Bretton’s, partially located in the current Zellers space (see floorplan below – click on it to expand so it’s readable).
Image: Winnipeg Skyscraper Forum, trebor204. Floorplan from 1986. Also Notice Eaton’s where Hudson’s Bay is now located.
We’re excited to be reporting on a potential retail boom in Winnipeg. We’re expanding Retail Insider’s coverage across Canada. If you’ve got any retail insider information in your Canadian community, please feel free to email us: insider@retail-insider.com
2013 is going to be a big year for Canadian retail. We’re currently collecting information on plenty of new Canadian retail-related projects and news. We’ve also done some retail research while travelling over the holiday, and we have had discussions with retail analysts in Canada and the US.
In the coming weeks we’ll be discussing: -Target’s new Canadian store format, including its smaller floorplates and multi-floor concept, -Nordstrom’s continued Canadian store negotiations, as well as what will be in-store at Canadian Nordstrom stores, -New luxury and chain retailers coming soon to a Canadian city near you, -Sears Canada’s continued strategy of selling-back store leases, which has also occurred recently in the United States, -The surprising number of retailers knocking on Winnipeg’s door, including some international large-format retailers. (including one American, one Canadian and one from Sweden) and -The plethora of designer outlet malls to open Canada-wide.
Our website is being re-designed by an outside source and we are waiting to see updates. The new format may not transfer-over until later in January. In the mean time, we’ll be updating Retail Insider daily with 2013 retail news!
We’re taking a break and heading to the United States to do some research and to visit family. If any interesting retail news comes up while we’re away, we’ll try to post it here, or at least mention it on our twitter (@retailinsider_) and our Facebook page: www.facebook.com/RetailInsider
Recent world tragedies remind us to hold our loved ones tighter and to live each day to its fullest. Live, have fun, and please be responsible and respectable to your family and fellow-shoppers.
We’ll be back full-steam in the New Year with a new “look”. In the mean time, one of our insiders will update our Facebook and Twitter pages, as well as post any “emergency” articles to Retail Insider’s website if anything huge happens while we’re away. That might include, for example, if The Hudson’s Bay Company was purchased by France’s Galeries Lafayette, if Japan’s Seibu takes over Canada’s Sears, or if the world ends December 21st. None of these are likely to happen, of course, so this website will likely remain temporarily quiet.
*Update: Dolce & Gabbana’s Toronto store opened July 27 2013*
*UPDATE: Flare Magazine has reported this store will be 835 square metres, or almost 9,000 square feet. We’ll update readers when more information becomes available*
Dolce & Gabbana will open it first free-standing Canadian store at 111 Bloor Street West. The building is 6945 square feet, and the store will occupy most of the space over two floors. Dolce & Gabbana confirms the store will include a full range of men’s and women’s fashions, accessories and footwear.
Toronto will be the sixth North American city to have a free-standing Dolce & Gabbana store. Dolce & Gabbana has free-standing boutique locations in Bal Harbour Florida, Beverly Hills California, Las Vegas Nevada, New York City and Short Hills, New Jersey.
Dolce & Gabbana currently has a women’s shop-in-store at Holt Renfrew’s Bloor Street flagship location. Our Holt Renfrew insider says that, to the best of their knowledge, the Holt Renfrew Dolce & Gabbana shop-in-store will remain.
The 111 Bloor Street building is a reconfigured heritage building that previously housed a Louis Vuitton boutique (which recently moved to 150 Bloor W) and before that, a multi-brand mens/women’s retailer called Giorgio Couture.
Sears CEO Calvin McDonald appears more willing to entertain offers for Sears store leases. This could provide opportunity for new Nordstrom, Target, Simons and other retailers looking to expand in Canada.
A Sears insider notes that the company is willing to fight hard to improve its financial position, and has started to divest of some real estate interests. For example, yesterday, Sears sold its stake in a Medicine Hat, Alberta mall for $43million. Yesterday (Wednesday December 12) the store issued a special dividend of $1/share, for a total of $102million. Both show a potentially aggressive move by Sears to go head-to-head with Target.
To quote Calvin McDonald:
“When people call, our due diligence is to evaluate that conversation. When we evaluate our portfolio of stores and look to find the balance between trading value and real estate value, our focus is very much on trading value in the organization. We are not in discussions with anybody, but we constantly evaluate our portfolio and look for opportunity for value.”
Calvin recognizes the value in Sears Canada’s assets and may be willing to shore-up its financial position by divesting some real estate holdings. This is HUGE news, as Sears has some of the best large-format retail real estate in Canada. Sears already sold interest in three store leases for $170million, paving the way for Nordstrom’s Canadian entry. We’re asking our Sears insider to monitor their situation and with what other store leases they may release.
Retail Insider is meeting with a Target Canada insider tomorrow to discuss Target’s Canadian stores. We apologize for this brief, relatively uninformative article but our research this week is taking more time than we expected.
We’ll be getting an update on Target store openings and locations, as well as possible new Target locations not included in former Zellers locations.
We will also be examining the format and size of Canadian Target stores and how they will vary slightly from American locations. We’re learning that American retail entrants into Canada sometimes modify their Canadian store formats. We recently mentioned this with Nordstrom.
Today we spoke to a Nordstrom insider and we’ve got new information on what Nordstrom’s Canadian stores will look like. This article will come early next week, as we have information to organize and holiday parties to attend.
Retail Insider will take a break (mostly) over the holidays (December 17-26) and will return full-steam after the New Year. We will be traveling to the United States to visit with family and to research American retailing trends. We’ll certainly have much to discuss when we return, including our analysis and comparisons of American vs. Canadian retailing.
Retail Insider will also have a ‘new look’ in the New Year. We are working with a website developer to bring a fresh, interesting look to the website.
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