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WORLD’S SECOND-LARGEST VICTORIA’S SECRET STORE OPENS AUGUST 27TH IN VANCOUVER

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Retail Insider
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Photo: Victoria's Secret

The world’s second-largest Victoria’s Secret store opens August 27th in Vancouver. It will be 34,814 square feet and will occupy two levels in the Robson Central complex at the northeast corner of Robson and Burrard Streets.

We have located lease plans through Robson Central’s landlord, Morguard Investments. The basement level of the store will be 20,815 square feet, while the ground floor will be 13,999 square feet. The space was previously home to an HMV store and its second-level mezzanine has been removed to accommodate higher ceilings for Victoria’s Secret.

Lower and ground floors of Robson Central, to be occupied by Victoria’s Secret.

Robson Central was built in 1957 as the main branch of the Vancouver Public Library. It served this purpose until 1995 when it was converted to retail and other commercial uses. The first retail tenant for the Victoria’s Secret space was a Virgin Megastore. 

Robson Central, pre-Victoria’s Secret. [Image Source]

The largest Victoria’s Secret store in North America (as well as in the world) is its Herald Square store in New York City. It is about 60,000 square feet. 

[Victoria’s Secret website]

AZZEDINE ALAÏA BOUTIQUE OPENS IN THE ROOM AT HUDSON’S BAY, TORONTO

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Retail Insider
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Photo: Azzedine Alaïa

*****UPDATE: The Azzedine Alaïa boutique at Hudson’s Bay opened August 21st 2013*****

A dedicated Azzedine Alaïa boutique has opened within The Room at the flagship (Queen Street) Hudson’s Bay store in Toronto. The shop carrys Alaïa’s collection of ready-to-wear as well as handbags. Alaïa’s footwear is carried in The Room along with these items, as well as in The Room shoe department in the new, massive women’s shoe floor located on the ground floor of Hudson’s Bay. 

The Alaïa boutique is located in space formerly occupied by The Room’s shoe department on the third floor.

For those unfamiliar, Azzedine Alaïa is a Paris-based premium designer brand with women’s ready-to-wear priced well into the thousands. Its distribution is limited to selected retailers worldwide.

This is the third shop-in-store in The Room. Alaïa joins shops for Ralph Lauren Black Label and Armani Collezioni. 

The Room is in expansion mode, and will open next month at Lord & Taylor in NYC and at Hudson’s Bay in Montreal next year (Lord & Taylor is a the American sister store to Hudson’s Bay).

With Saks Fifth Avenue opening within Hudson’s Bay stores, it remains to be seen what role The Room will play at Hudson’s Bay. 

An email to The Room’s creative director, Nicholas Mellamphy, was unfortunately not returned. 

[Azzedine Alaïa website]

[Hudson’s Bay ‘The Room’ website]

FOLLI FOLLIE TO OPEN IN CALGARY MID-AUGUST

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Retail Insider
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Photo: Folli Follie

Greek accessories and jewellery company Folli Follie will continue to open more Canadian shops. The latest will be a location on the 2nd floor of Holt Renfrew‘s Calgary store, according to a source at the Vancouver store. The Calgary shop will be located in the women’s ‘contemporary’ department, and is expected to open mid-August.

Its first Canadian location opened within Vancouver’s Holt Renfrew store in October 2011. Concessions have followed at Holt Renfrew’s Bloor Street and Sherway Gardens stores in Toronto, as well as a location at the Vancouver International Airport.

Folli Follie’s prices are considered relatively ‘affordable’ by designer-goods standards. We enquired why the concession was at Holt Renfrew rather than Hudson’s Bay. Were informed it is because Folli Follie is owned by the same company as Links of London which already has concessions at Holt’s stores across Canada.

[Folli Follie website] 

[Holt Renfrew website] 

SAKS FIFTH AVENUE COULD OPEN IN EDMONTON

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Retail Insider
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Photo: Saks Fifth Avenue

Saks Fifth Avenue could open at West Edmonton Mall. The mall is actively courting upscale retailers and it is reported that Saks could be next.

We previously reported that West Edmonton Mall could get a Saks store, though possibly not within its Hudson’s Bay department store. West Edmonton Mall’s Hudson’s Bay is only about 164,000 square feet, and a full-sized Saks would ideally be in the 75,000-130,000 square foot range. We’re not yet sure if Saks will open smaller boutiques within existing Hudson’s Bay stores.

The Globe & Mail reports that West Edmonton Mall president David Ghermezian intends to approach Hudson’s Bay Company CEO Richard Baker about opening Saks in the mall. Ghermezian has successfully secured other upscale tenants for West Edmonton Mall, including Hugo Boss, Tiffany & Co. and a 118,000 square foot La Maison Simons store. He is also spending over $100 million to upgrade the mall. 

West Edmonton Mall is a family owned shopping centre. It therefore may have the flexibility to make deals with retailers that others malls might not. Ghermezian made concessions to open La Maison Simons and we’re told that Simons is doing gangbusters sales. Given the flexibility and previous efforts to secure tenants like Simons, we might see similar efforts put forth for Saks.

The Globe & Mail reports that West Edmonton Mall now achieves sales of about $745 per square foot, up from $450 five years ago. Ghermezian expects sales of $1,000 per square foot within the next few years. Given these numbers and the efforts of its owners, West Edmonton Mall could see new and exciting retailers including Saks Fifth Avenue and possibly Nordstrom.

[Saks Fifth Avenue website]

[West Edmonton Mall website]

SAKS FIFTH AVENUE’S DISCOUNT ‘OFF 5TH’ TO OPEN UP TO 25 CANADIAN LOCATIONS

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Retail Insider
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Rendering: 'Saks Off 5th'

Saks Fifth Avenue‘s discount retail concept ‘Off 5th‘ will open up to 25 Canadian locations, according to Hudson’s Bay Company CEO Richard Baker. Saks’ Off 5th concept will likely follow the opening of Canadian Saks Fifth Avenue stores, which we expect to happen within the next 12-18 months. 

Existing Hudson’s Bay real estate will likely be utilized for Off 5th stores, including some Home Outfitters and former Zellers real estate still held by The Hudson’s Bay Company. Existing store space within Hudson’s Bay stores could also be utilized for Off 5th. 

Off 5th carries both discounted merchandise from Saks Fifth Avenue’s full-priced stores, as well as products purchased specifically for the store. Off 5th will therefore compete with the likes of Nordstrom Rack and Holt Renfrew’s recently opened hr2 concept. 

Off 5th stores are generally 20,000-35,000 square feet, with a recent focus on stores in the 25,000-28,000 square foot range, according to an article describing the chain’s expansion strategy. It would be relatively easy for Hudson’s Bay to open Off 5th stores within existing Hudson’s Bay real estate, including possibly the sub-basement of Hudson’s Bay’s Downtown Vancouver store, which currently has over 43,000 square feet of space for lease. 

We’ll update you when we start learning of Off 5th Saks Fifth Avenue Canadian locations. 

[Off 5th website]

[Saks Fifth Avenue website]

HAZELTON LANES RENOVATION FLOORPLANS

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Retail Insider
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Proposed street level plan, Hazelton Lanes. Source: Kasian/First Capital


These are the proposed lease plans for Toronto’s Hazelton Lanes renovation (see above and second-to-last image). Yesterday we reported that Hazelton Lanes will undergo extensive renovations to attract more luxury tenants. From the looks of the plans, most of the mall will see an overhaul. The future of anchors Andrews (department store) and Equinox Fitness are in question, as they appear to possibly be absent from the new plans. However some anchors, including Whole Foods, will stay.


Current street-level plan of Hazelton Lanes [Image: First Capital Realty]

The current Hazelton Lanes floorplan (above) includes department store Andrews,
which has two retail levels. We’re not sure if Andrews will be part
of the mall, though it’s possible it could be relocated to two larger
retail spaces, one above the other, near the new oval atrium area. Noticeably absent from the
new plans is Equinox Fitness, as its current space appears to be
dedicated to retail in the new plans. 

136-138 Yorkville Avenue, to be demolished for Hazelton Lane’s Yorkville Avenue Entrance
Proposed Yorkville Avenue entrance, to replace 136-138 Yorkville Avenue



First Capital recently purchased 136-138 Hazelton Avenue with the
intention of demolishing structures for the mall’s southward expansion. However, we don’t yet have modified lease plans for a southward expansion of Hazelton Lanes to include an entrance on Yorkville Avenue.

Proposed street level plan, Hazelton Lanes. Source: Kasian/First Capital



We’re hoping to soon learn of which luxury retailers will sign up for space at Hazelton Lanes. Given the challenges of finding space on Bloor Street, some luxury stores may see Hazelton Lanes as a viable alternative to Bloor. And having one landlord could give Hazelton Lanes an edge in securing tenants over Bloor Street, where retail space is owned by multiple parties.

Current lower-level plan of Hazelton Lanes [Image: First Capital Realty]

We encourage commercial real estate professionals involved with the Hazelton Lanes project to keep us updated on the mall’s possible tenants. We’ll keep sources confidential. 


[Hazelton Lanes website]

HAZELTON LANES TO RENOVATE FOR LUXURY RETAIL

By
Retail Insider
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IMAGE: KASIAN/FIRST CAPITAL

Toronto’s Hazelton Lanes shopping centre is looking to get back into the luxury retail game. Landlord First Capital Realty is said to be negotiating with some of the world’s top luxury retailers (rumours include Salvator Ferragamo, among others). If successful, Hazelton Lanes could once again rival neighbouring Bloor Street as one of Toronto’s luxury shopping addresses.

For those unfamiliar, Hazelton Lanes is an upscale retail complex located in Toronto’s affluent Yorkville neighbourhood. Hazelton Lanes’ first phase (55 Avenue Road) was built in 1976 and was constructed specifically to be a small (60,000 square foot) luxury mall. Because it opened before the Toronto Eaton Centre, it managed to secure perhaps more upscale retailers than it otherwise would have. At the time, Toronto lacked luxury retail, save for Holt Renfrew (in a 60,000 square foot store at 144 Bloor Street West, now Burberry), womenswear retailer Creeds, and The St. Regis Room (now ‘The Room’ at Hudson’s Bay) at Simpsons, Queen Street.

We’ve got Hazelton Lanes renderings, a video presentation and lease plans. We’ll post the renderings and video today and the lease plans tomorrow, to keep this article relatively brief.

Above is a video provided by First Capital showing their vision for the new Hazelton Lanes. Thank you to pw20 of Urban Toronto for locating the video.

Hazelton Lanes almost tripled in size in 1988 (adding address ’87 Avenue Road’ as its north portion) and became host to even more luxury retailers. The recession that hit Toronto a couple of years later resulted in many luxury stores closing at Hazelton Lanes. The mall’s awkward configuration, low ceilings and inconveniently-located entrances didn’t help things, either.

Hazelton Lanes eventually became more of a neighbourhood shopping centre (albeit an upscale one) of almost 237,000 square feet with anchors including Whole Foods, Andrews department store, an 18,000 square foot fashion retailer called TNT, Equinox Fitness and Rexall Drugs.

Things are about to change in a big way for Hazelton Lanes. First Capital will renovate the entire Hazelton lanes and modernize the complex to include an oval-shaped central atrium as well as reconfigured entrances. An entirely new entrance will be located on Yorkville Avenue, providing better pedestrian access to the mall from affluent Yorkville.

We’ll post and discuss Hazelton Lanes’ lease plans tomorrow. Thank you to a source who wishes not to be named for providing us with renderings and lease plans for Hazelton Lanes.

RETAIL INSIDER GOES ON VACATION: WE’LL RETURN TUESDAY AUGUST 6TH

By
Retail Insider
-

We’re taking a brief holiday to continue researching Canadian retail. We’ll have new articles up for the morning of Tuesday, August 6th. We’re working on some ground-breaking stories, including:

  • Research relating to Saks Fifth Avenue’s opening stores in Canada, including full-sized stores as well as its discount concept ‘Off 5th’,
  • The expansion of Toronto’s Hazelton Lanes to include luxury retailers,
  • The potential addition of further luxury retail on Toronto’s Bloor Street,
  • New additions to Montreal’s retail scene, and
  • A significant expansion of luxury retail at three Downtown Vancouver locations

These are exciting times for Canadian retail, largely due to American retailers expanding north of the border. Be it budget or luxury, Target or Saks Fifth Avenue, our shopping choices in Canada will be unparallelled to any time in our history. 

Have an excellent long weekend, everyone, and thank you for reading Retail Insider.

DOLCE & GABBANA’S CANADIAN STORES COULD CLOSE IF THE COMPANY SHUTTERS

By
Retail Insider
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Dolce & Gabbana Toronto store, 111 Bloor St. W., nearly finished.

Milan-based fashion house Dolce & Gabbana could shutter if tax fraud convictions against its designers aren’t overturned. A Dolce & Gabbana flagship store just opened on Toronto’s Bloor Street, and Dolce & Gabbana shops-in-store are located across Canada at selected Holt Renfrew and Harry Rosen stores. 

In June, Dolce & Gabbana’s designers were found guilty of tax evasion and were ordered to pay a fine of about $440 million, as well as serve 20 months in jail. The designers are appealing the verdict. 

Last week the designers temporarily closed all of their Milan stores out of “indignation“. 

In December we first reported that Dolce & Gabbana was opening its first free-standing Canadian location at 111 Bloor Street West in Toronto, replacing a Louis Vuitton store that has moved up the street. The Bloor Street Dolce & Gabbana store opened on the weekend. News of the label’s potential shuttering is very untimely.

Dolce & Gabbana is one of the top-performing fashion labels for Holt Renfrew, we’ve been told. The label does so well, in fact, that it includes some dedicated shops-in-store within selected Holts stores for men and women. The men’s version of the label is also carried at selected Harry Rosen locations.

Thank you to Cynthia Cheng Mintz, owner of website DelectablyChic! for directing us to this [Partial article source]

[Dolce & Gabbana website]

MANOLO BLAHNIK, JIMMY CHOO AND GUCCI SHOE BOUTIQUES OPENING AT YORKDALE’S HOLT RENFREW

By
Retail Insider
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Photo: Jimmy Choo

Women’s shoe boutiques for Manolo Blahnik, Jimmy Choo and Gucci will open this fall at Holt Renfrew‘s Yorkdale Shopping Centre location. They will join the previously reported Christian Louboutin ‘apartment’, modelled after the residence of shoe designer Christian Louboutin. These will be housed in Holt Renfrew’s largest women’s shoe department, at almost 10,000 square feet. 

Holt Renfrew is taking a page from its sister store Selfridge’s in London. Selfridge’s enormous women’s shoe hall includes shops-in-store for various designers including Chanel, Jimmy Choo, Louboutin, and at the lower end, TopShop.

Yorkdale’s Holt Renfrew is being designed as the prototype store for future Holt Renfrew store expansions and renovations. The Yorkdale Holts recently opened a new 10,000 square foot beauty hall and it will debut an expanded menswear department, accessories area and women’s designer floor. New women’s ready-to-wear boutiques will include the likes of Gucci, Prada, and a major score – a Chanel Boutique. 

Rendering – Manolo Blahnik

Given that the Yorkdale Holt Renfrew is being used a prototype, we can expect Holt Renfrew to roll out similar shoe floors and updated departments at Holt Renfrew stores nation-wide. 

Photo: Gucci

Now that Saks Fifth Avenue will open in Canada, Holt Renfrew will find itself facing increased competition. Holts and Saks carry many of the same shoe designers. Adding to the competition will be Nordstrom, opening its first Canadian location next year in Calgary.

Jimmy Choo has 27 free-standing American stores, 2 outlet stores and 3 boutiques within Bloomingdale’s stores. It is also carried at Holt Renfrew stores across Canada. Manolo Blahnik has 2 American boutiques and is available at selected Saks Fifth Avenue, Neiman Marcus, Nordstrom and Barneys New York stores in the U.S. It is carried at selected Holt Renfrew and Browns Shoes stores in Canada. 

Thank you, again, to our Retail Insider ACT7 of Urban Toronto for providing us these tips. Leads were found by investigating the City of Toronto’s Building Application Status website.

[Holt Renfrew website]

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