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CLEARLY CONTACTS TO OPEN STORES ACROSS CANADA AND WORLDWIDE

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Retail Insider
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[Image Source]

Vancouver-based Clearly Contacts will soon open new stores in Vancouver, Toronto and Calgary as well as in Australia. A replacement Robson Street location is a possibility since its current location at 1049 Robson Street will be demolished along with neighbouring retailers for a flagship Sephora store. A second Vancouver location will open in August at 2152 W. 4th Avenue in Vancouver’s Kitsilano neighbourhood.


Clearly Contacts opened its first brick-and-mortar store in March 2013 on Vancouver’s Robson Street. It was meant to engage the public and provide face-to-face feedback from customers, as sales were previously only conducted via the Internet. The test appears to have been a success and the company is now expanding its retail store concept.

We’ll keep you updated on Clearly Contacts’ expansion as it grows internationally.

LOBLAW TESTS SMALL-SIZED DISCOUNT GROCERY CONCEPT

By
Retail Insider
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Photo: No Frills

Loblaw is testing a small-format discount grocery concept called ‘Box by No Frills’. Its prototype Calgary store opened May 31st and according to the Globe and Mail, it has been well received. More could open across Canada. 

The Calgary store is about 10,000 square feet. Loblaw’s discount grocer No Frills stores are usually about 25,000 square feet. The company’s Real Canadian Superstore‘s are considerably larger still and include merchandise besides food (Joe Fresh clothing for example). 

Smaller-format discount grocery stores could be of tremendous benefit in more densely populated urban areas, including those deemed ‘food deserts’ for their lack of grocery offerings. Pedestrian-friendly urban areas should include grocery options ideally within 400 metres of a residence and in some poorer downtown areas, that is unrealistic. The Box by No Frills could be a solution. 

[Loblaw website]

SEPHORA TO OPEN FLAGSHIP ON VANCOUVER’S ROBSON STREET

By
Retail Insider
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Photo: Sephora

Sephora will open a flagship location on the 1000 block of Vancouver’s Robson Street. As a result, several smaller retailers will lose their store spaces including several accessory and gift stores as well as a recently opened Clearly Contacts store. The Sephora store will have two levels and will open late 2014.

Sephora will be located adjacent to the recently completed retail complex that includes a flagship Forever 21 store.

For those unfamiliar, Sephora is a Paris-based chain of cosmetics stores. It was founded in 1970 and purchased by the LVMH conglomerate in 1997. It has locations worldwide and opened its first North American store in New York City in 1998. It carries over 100 brands as well as its own private label products and includes makeup, skincare, fragrance, hair care, bath and body products and hair and make-up tools. This paragraph’s source is completely from Wikipedia.

Soon we’ll do an article on the 1100 Block of Vancouver’s Robson Street. A significant number of storefronts are currently for lease and from what we’ve been told, more are on the way. Not all will be lost as the street is more likely in the process of a transition than a decline.

[Sephora Website]

CHRISTIAN LOUBOUTIN PERSONAL APPEARANCE IN TORONTO ON FRIDAY

By
Craig Patterson
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Photo: Christian Louboutin

French shoe designer Christian Louboutin will make a personal appearance at Holt Renfrew‘s Bloor Street store (50 Bloor St. West) on Friday June 21st. He will be greeting the public and signing shoes from 4pm-6pm. His women’s shoes are famous for their high heels and signature red soles. 

Christian Louboutin shoes are available across Canada at Holt Renfrew stores. Holt Renfrew will also open North America’s first ‘Christian Louboutin apartment’ this fall at Holt Renfrew, Yorkdale Shopping Centre.

[Holt Renfrew website]

[Christian Louboutin website]

THE KOOPLES COME TO HOLT RENFREW THIS FALL

By
Retail Insider
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Photo: The Kooples

Popular French clothing line ‘The Kooples‘ will be carried at Holt Renfrew stores this fall. Men’s and women’s collections will both be included. The label is known for its androgynous British-influenced ‘street chic’ designs. Black and gray tend to dominate the collections. 

The brand is on a world-wide expansion and will add up to 40 free-standing Kooples stores in the United States. It is already carried at selected Bloomingdale’s stores. Free-standing Canadian stores could follow though, at the moment, Holt Renfrew will carry the line exclusively in Canada.

[Holt Renfrew website]

[The Kooples website]

EXCITING RETAIL PROJECT COMING TO TORONTO’S YONGE AND GOULD INTERSECTION

By
Retail Insider
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Rendering: 335 Yonge Street

An exciting new retail development is coming to the corner of Yonge and Gould Streets (335 Yonge Street) in Downtown Toronto. It will have up to 5 floors of retail, possibly at the base of a residential highrise. The project joins other recent area developments in one of the busiest retail areas in Canada. 

Flagship retail is expected for the development. It’s only 1/2 block north of the intersection of Yonge and Dundas Streets, Canada’s busiest pedestrian intersection including adjacent Dundas Square. It’s also located beside Ryerson University and its 30,000+ students. The Toronto Eaton Centre, just to the south, is one of Canada’s most productive malls with sales over $1280/square foot and with over 52 million visitors per year. 

Footfall in the area is exceptional, both day and night. Pedestrian and traffic counts are as follows:  

Pedestrian Counts (people/day)
Yonge & Dundas: 96,674
Yonge & Gould: 38,738

Traffic Counts (cars/day)
Yonge Street: 22,196 
Dundas Street East: 17,626
Dundas Street West: 17,165

TTC Ridership (people/day)
Yonge & Dundas: 69,150 

Photo credit: Pedro Szekely

Each retail floorplate will be about 13,000 square feet. Discussions are currently underway to determine if the project will include four storeys of retail only, four storeys of retail with up to ten mixed use floors above or as much as four levels of retail with up to 30 floors of residential condominium units above.

This will be an exciting addition to Toronto’s retail landscape. The retail project is expected to be finished in 2016 or even earlier. 

If interested in leasing space at 335 Yonge Street, contact CBRE Account Coordinator Matthew Pieszchala at (416) 495-6278 or at Matthew.Pieszchala@cbre.com

MOUNTAIN EQUIPMENT CO-OP RE-BRANDS

By
Craig Patterson
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Image: MEC

Vancouver-based Mountain Equipment Co-op has re-branded as “MEC” and has a new logo. It has done so to distance itself from the word “mountain” in light of its high sales of running and cycling gear. The re-branding also reflects the increasingly urban nature of its customers.

For those unfamiliar, MEC is a Canadian consumers’ cooperate that sells outdoor and recreation gear. Members pay a small fee for a lifetime membership. It is Canada’s largest supplier of outdoor equipment. It was founded in 1970, has 17 locations, about 3.5 million Canadian members and sales of over $300 million. 

LA MAISON SIMONS IN TALKS TO OPEN TWO TORONTO STORES

By
Retail Insider
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Peter Simons at his Place Ste Foy (Quebec City) store.

La Maison Simons president & CEO Peter Simons says he’s actively negotiating space at two Toronto area malls, according to the Toronto Star. Simons would occupy space vacated by Sears at Toronto’s Yorkdale Shopping Centre and at Mississauga’s Square One. Last week we reported that the Sears store leases at both these malls were sold back to Landlord Oxford Properties for about $191 million.

We were aware and reported that Simons was in talks with Oxford Properties and we’d would like to clarify a few things about the negotiations and the space available. Oxford Properties has not yet decided what to do with its newly acquired Sears space, and both Sears leases won’t be vacated by Sears until March 2014. Both spaces are also too large for a single Simons store.

Sears location at Toronto’s Yorkdale Shopping Centre

If negotiations with Simons are successful, Simons stores are not likely occupy the entire Sears store space at either mall. According to lease plans, Yorkdale’s Sears store is about 190,000 square feet and Square One’s Sears is about 145,000 square feet.

Simons stores are typically in the 80,000-100,000 square foot range and its largest location is currently the 118,000 square foot West Edmonton Mall store, which opened last year. Given the larger sizes of the Yorkdale and Square One Sears stores, we could expect Simons to occupy either part of the existing Sears stores or for the Sears spaces to be demolished for new development.

Sears location at Square One Shopping Centre, Mississauga Ontario

Simons is in the process of a Canada-wide expansion that could see new stores open in Vancouver, Calgary, Winnipeg and Toronto, among other cities. Simons will open its first Ottawa store in 2015 at the Rideau Shopping Centre (in the same mall as Nordstrom) and could open a second Ottawa-area location in Gatineau. It opened its Edmonton location in October of 2012 and will open a store at Montreal’s Galeries d’Anjou, mid-August.

Yorkdale Shopping Centre recently underwent a massive expansion and recently announced its latest expansion plans that will include more retail space and Nordstrom as an anchor. Yorkdale’s Holt Renfrew is also expanding and innovating as a prototype for future store renovations. 

Square One is also in the process of an expansion that will see new retail space as well as a 120,000 square foot Holt Renfrew store. The future of Square One’s Walmart store is in question and we’ll update you on any developments. 

We’ll update you on La Maison Simon’s cross-Canada expansion. Needless to say, it has become an exciting time for Canadian retail. 

[La Maison Simons website]

[Yorkdale Shopping Centre website]

[Square One Shopping Centre website]

BONNIE BROOKS STEPS DOWN AS PRESIDENT OF HUDSON’S BAY

By
Retail Insider
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Bonnie Brooks [Kevin Van Paassen/The Globe and Mail/Canadian Press]

In a move that has shocked analysts and investors, Hudson’s Bay Company (“HBC”) president Bonnie Brooks has stepped down as president of HBC. She will be replaced by former executive vice-president Liz Robdell, and the transition is expected to be completed by January 2014.

Brook’s exit isn’t all bad – she will stay on as a vice-chairman and will act as an adviser to the company (including strategy at both Hudson’s Bay and American Lord & Taylor). She will continue to answer to chairman and CEO Richard Baker and HBC’s board of directors. This should come as a relief to shareholders as Brooks was the visionary for the company’s changes that have included dropping hundreds of unfashionable labels and introducing many new ones.

[Source]

[Hudson’s Bay Company website]

CLEARLY CONTACTS TO CLOSE ITS VANCOUVER ROBSON STREET STORE: NEW STORE TO OPEN IN KITSILANO

By
Retail Insider
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Photo: Clearly Contacts on Robson Street

Clearly Contacts will be closing its first and only free-standing retail store on Vancouver’s Robson Street to make way for the site’s redevelopment. Clearly Contacts had signed a six-month lease for the space which opened in March. We’re not sure if the store will close in September but we can confirm that it and adjacent retail spaces will be demolished for a new, large-format retailer that we’ll announce this week. 

All is not lost, however, as Clearly Contacts will open a new street-front store at 2152 W. 4th Avenue in Vancouver’s Kitsilano area. It will replace 49th Parallel coffee, which has moved up the street. No word yet on if other Canadian Clearly Contacts locations will follow. 

Thank you Nick Dot and Nick Lewis for being sources alerting us to the Kitsilano store. 

[Clearly Contacts website]

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