The Hudson’s Bay Company will concentrate on five private-lable brands, while dumping 20 under-performing private-label brands. It wants to increase private label sales from a current 9% to 15% of sales by 2017. By next Fall, the only in-house brands at Hudson’s Bay will be:
1) Hudson’s Bay Company Signature, 2) Lord & Taylor, 3) 1670 4) Gluckstein Home and 5) Black Brown 1826.
Private label brands are twice as profitable as carrying designer brands. They’re also ‘exclusive’ (not found elsewhere), potentially benefitting a retailer if popular.
Hudson’s Bay Company Signature is the somewhat pricey Hudson’s Bay striped merchandise label carried at selected Hudson’s Bay stores, selected Lord & Taylor stores in the US and at the two new Hudson’s Bay airport stores we previously discussed.
1670 will be an entirely new label to be launched autumn 2013. It will feature contemporary men’s and women’s fashions at ‘moderate price-points’ according to an industry insider who had little other information.
The Lord & Taylor and Black Brown 1826 labels hail from Hudson’s Bay-owned Lord & Taylor. Lord & Taylor is an upscale American department store chain often compared to the likes of Nordstrom (and a notch above Hudson’s Bay, price-wise).
Gone will be such labels as Alfani, Expression, INC, Hudson North, Hudson Room, and others. In all, 20 in-store labels will be discontinued.
Private-label merchandise has done well at Macy’s in the US, making up about 20% of Macy’s sales.
Sears Canada will concentrate on rural and mid-market communities for future growth. These markets provide less competition and, according to Sears Canada CEO Calvin McDonald, will allow Sears to grow like it did initially in its 1950’s Canadian inception.
Granted, this isn’t the 1950’s. But is Calvin on to something? And will Sears Canada give over more prime retail space for Nordstrom’s Canadian expansion?
Toronto’s Yorkdale Mall includes a 190,000 sq ft Sears. Nordstrom wants it. Image: Wikipedia
An industry insider speculates Sears will concentrate on smaller markets and suburbs while selling-off its larger downtown and some prime suburban space to increase cashflow. This could pave the way for more Canadian Nordstrom locations. This is speculative and Calvin McDonald, himself, says he wants Sears Canada’s flagship location to remain at the Toronto Eaton Centre.
An insider at Oxford Properties expressed frustration with Sears’ lack of cooperation in releasing some prime leases, including Sears’ Yorkdale Shopping Centre location. Nordstrom is said to want it, and Oxford wants to deliver. Yorkdale recently went through a major expansion as we previously reported.
Sears might just become a successful retailer. Sears Canada is using its credit card database to study past consumer spending. It hopes this information will direct it to target shoppers and increase sales.
Sears Canada’s customer database was initiated in 1953 and includes about 4.5 million credit card holders. Analysis led to the re-introduction of Sears’ Jessica fashion line, and management hopes further analysis will be able to determine consumer wants and needs, including the requirement for a new bed mattress or new shoes, for example.
Sears Canada is struggling financially, and its CEO Calvin McDonald wants to make it profitable by 2014. This is a tall order considering that Sears has reported losses for the past 12 quarters.
Sears CEO Calvin McDonald. Possibly describing Dolly Parton. Image: http://southbayview.blogspot.ca
Sears is still either #1 or #2 market-share retailer in Canada for such product categories as bed mattresses, women’s dresses, men’s formal wear and major appliances. At the same times, Sears is significantly reducing its concentration of electronics and toys, deferring to strong Canadian competitors.
We are watching Sears Canada closely, as it may still be a viable Canadian retailer. At the same time, we’re rooting for Sears to give up prime retail leases so Nordstrom, Simons and other interested retailers can comfortably continue their Canada-wide expansions in a market with limited retail space.
Costco in Downtown Vancouver, BC. Image: oztravelfiles.blogspot.com
On Monday we mentioned Target’s imminent arrival in Canadian downtowns, including Vancouver and Toronto. Today we’ll briefly examine the tendency towards big-box retailers moving into city centres.
Big Box retailers such as Wal-Mart, Costco, Michael’s, Canadian Tire, Best Buy and others have traditionally been found in suburbs. As thousands of new condo dwellers populate Canadian downtown cores, ground-floor retail space in condo developments is increasingly being occupied by larger-format retailers previously limited to the suburbs.
Aura condo tower to include Marshall’s and Bed Bath & Beyond. Image: http://www.condo-living-west.com
Toronto’s Aura at College Park, for example, will be a massive residential tower with about 180,000 square feet of retail in its podium. Retail at Aura will include Marshall’s, an American value-priced retailer. Bed Bath & Beyond will also be at Aura. Winners is already located in an adjoining building, and two grocery stores complete the retail area known as ‘College Park’.
Big box retail downtown isn’t new: Vancouver got a Costco store downtown in 2006. Included are about a thousand condo units in three towers (a fourth was recently added). Downtown Vancouver and Toronto have since opened numerous big-box stores including Winners, Homesense, Future Shop, Canadian Tire and others. As urbanites continue to flock into downtown cores, popular big-box retailers will continue to follow.
Canadian Tire in Downtown Toronto. Image: lazyphotographr.wordpress.com
Retail Insider will be keeping up with what large-format retailers will be moving into Canadian city centres. Target is actively seeking central Toronto and Vancouver space and we have been informed that at least one Downtown Toronto location has been secured. Target could open as many as three stores in Downtown Toronto, alone. A Downtown Vancouver location is in the works but a site hasn’t been secured at this time. Downtown Calgary and Montreal should be watched closely, and even Edmonton is seeing a renewed vibrancy in its downtown core that will be followed by substantial retail.
Niagara Outlet Centre Proposal Image: Pellow + Associates Inc.
The green light has been given to start construction on a 650,000 square foot outlet mall in Niagara-on-the-Lake, just north of Niagara Falls, Ontario. It will be called ‘The Outlet Collection at Niagara’ and is the most recent of several outlet malls to open in Canada in the next few years.
Site preparation and construction is expected to start in the next few weeks, according to a source at Niagara-on-the-Lake Town Hall. Ivanhoe Cambridge will develop the mall. The mall will open in two phases; one at 550,000 square feet while a second 100,000 square feet will be completed at an unspecified date.
Target Canada is in the process of searching to obtain locations for several smaller-format ‘City Target’ stores in Canada. These will be located in city centres. We’ll start revealing potential locations this week, and we’ll give you a peek at what a City Target looks like.
City Targets are generally about 30,000 square feet smaller than regular Target stores, measuring about 80-100,000 square feet. They carry less variety than full-sized Target stores but really, who needs huge BBQ’s when you live in a downtown condo?
City Target, Chicago. Image: Racked Chicago
This is City Target in Chicago. It’s about 100,000 square feet and is in a heritage building. It even carries groceries, which is convenient for urban dwellers.
This week we’ll provide details of what City Targets will be like, and how they will differ from larger suburban Target stores.
City Target, Chicago. Image: Racked Chicago
This week we’ll also continue our discussions regarding new Canadian outlet shopping, and we’ll provide more details on Nordstrom’s entry into Canada, including an update on a possible West Edmonton Mall location. Stay tuned!
The Hudson’s Bay Trading Company will open at Vancouver International Airport’s International Terminal. We previously reported on the same store’s recent opening in Toronto’s airport.
The Vancouver store will be 1040 square feet and will open March 2013. The store will be operated by LS Travel Retail North America.
Hudson’s Bay Company President Bonnie Brooks said: “This is another exciting milestone for us as we continue to offer new and unique shopping options and destinations. Opening our shop at Vancouver International Airport will provide an enhanced shopping experience to customers during their travels and gives everyone the chance to own a piece of iconic and stylish Canadian memorabilia.”
This retail concept is a brilliant way to bring the Hudson’s Bay brand to international travellers. Hudson’s Bay stripe-branded products are already available at Hudson’s Bay stores in Canada as well as at selected Lord & Taylor stores in the United States, also owned by The Hudson’s Bay Company.
Various Canadian cities will be getting American-style outlet malls. One of our commercial real estate insiders informs us that RioCan development is in the process of securing outlet mall location space in Edmonton, Calgary, Ottawa and Toronto.
Calloway REIT is also scouting Canada-wide locations for outlet malls and is already developing outlet malls in suburban Toronto and Montreal.
Southern Ontario will be getting several outlet malls, and British Columbia’s Lower Mainland will also get more than a couple. Both locations already lose bargain-shopping to closely-located American outlet malls.
Woodbury Common. Image: 5starstravel.ca
We are consulting with our real estate broker insiders to try to get first-to-press insider info on new outlet mall developments in Canada. Stay tuned!
A commercial real estate insider has just informed Retail Insider that Holt Renfrew’s hr2 lower-priced/discount concept is considering a location at Vancouver’s proposed McArthurGlen Outlets near Vancouver International Airport.
The same insider informs us that hr2 is actively seeking other Canadian locations for its new discount designer retail concept. Keep reading Retail Insider, as we haven’t seen other news sources reporting information we’re being provided by industry insiders.
La Maison Simons opened its West Edmonton Mall store on October 31st. The store was incomplete, as a northern section had yet to be completed. The North section is now open, and here are the pics.
The new space includes an expanded selection of men’s and women’s clothing, more change rooms, and access to its customer service area on the second level.
We think this is, easily, the most attractive store in Edmonton and one of the best in Canada.
Image: West Edmonton Mall
Image: West Edmonton Mall
Here is a link to our article on the October 31st opening of Edmonton’s La Maison Simons.
Salon Shoes (featuring Miu Miu). Image: doyoudesire.com
One of our Nordstrom insiders is involved with Canadian store planning. Our insider provided us some information about the layout of Canada’s first four Nordstrom stores. First hint: Shoes will take a substantial square footage in each store.
Retail Insider is going to provide selected Nordstrom store details in the next couple of weeks because 1) We’re too busy to do it on one long article and 2) We want you to keep coming back to read our website. And believe us it will be worth it. In January our website will look substantially different and will include new features including podcasts, for example.
Today we’ll have a brief peek at the layout of the Toronto Sherway Gardens store. Sherway’s Nordstrom store will be two floors and will be about 138,000 square feet. The store is considered to be a ‘satellite’ store eventually complimenting a Downtown Toronto flagship location that will be announced after negotiations are completed. The Sherway store’s layout will be fairly ‘typical’ of a Nordstrom store, to be explained below.
ebar at Nordstrom. Image: mattconstruction.com
Ground Level:
The ground-level of the Sherway Nordstrom will include a small, quick-food and coffee concept called ‘ebar’ at the store’s mall entrance. As one enters the store, women’s shoes will be presented in three departments. Next to e-bar will be a department called ‘Salon Shoes’, which includes designer footwear such as Valentino, Gucci, Prada and others. Two other adjacent women’s shoe departments will be beside it (‘Women’s Shoes’ and ‘Brass Plumb Shoes’ – both less expensive), all serviced by a substantial storage area behind.
The ground level will include two women’s handbags departments; one for ‘regular’ bags and one for ‘designer handbags’. Designer handbags may include Jimmy Choo, Yves Saint Laurent and others (it’s too soon to say). Jewelry and small accessories will be nearby.
A typical cosmetics department will be included on the ground-floor. Nordstrom cosmetics departments are typically densely-packed and adhere to a somewhat uniform look.
Menswear will be located on the ground floor. Men’s shoes will be an important part, to be located next to women’s shoes (to share storage space). Menswear will include departments at various prices including ‘The Rail’ (casual/denim), men’s clothing, men’s ‘furnishings’, men’s sportswear and selected pieces from men’s ‘designers’ department, to be revealed at a later date.
Childrenswear and shoes will also be located on the ground floor.
Collectors, Fashion Valley San Diego. Image: doyoudesire.com
Second Floor:
Nordstom’s Sherway second-floor will include several women’s departments. ‘Collectors’ is the name of Nordstrom’s designer women’s department, typically carrying such designers as Dolce & Gabbana, Gucci, Valentino, Oscar de la Renta and others. St. John womenswear may be carried in its own department, and licensing negotiations for the brand are underway.
Other women’s departments will include ‘Via C’ (contemporary designers), Savvy (contemporary sportswear), t.b.d (trendy contemporary), Individualist/Point of View/Studio 121 (all less-expensive women’s departments), as well as dresses, coats, lingerie, hosiery, sleepwear, and possibly larger-sizes and petites (known as ‘Encore’ and ‘Petite Focus’, respectively).
Our Nordstrom insider noted that the Sherway Gardens store may be less-well stocked than some American Nordstrom stores due to 1) its relatively small size and 2) Canadian designers are tightly distributed and many Nordstrom designers already have licensing contracts with either Hudson’s Bay or Holt Renfrew. So we can expect a slightly different Nordstrom store in Canada, though our source confirms customer service and shoes will keep Canadian shoppers coming back to Nordstrom, Sherway Gardens.
Retail Insider will post regular articles about what is to come with Nordstrom’s entry into Canada. We’ve also interviewed a prominent retail analyst who says Nordstrom has good things but also challenges in the Canadian market. It will be worth the wait. Keep reading and stay tuned!
