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CHRISTIAN DIOR TO OPEN AT THE HOTEL VANCOUVER

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Retail Insider
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Sources tell us that Christian Dior will occupy a two-level space within the Fairmont Hotel Vancouver, replacing St. John (which will move into another space in the same hotel). We’re awaiting details as to the size of the new Dior space, as well as its projected opening date. It will be Canada’s first free-standing Dior store. 

We’ve been told that this will be an unusually large store for Dior and that it will carry women’s ready-to-wear and accessories. We’re not sure if its men’s collection, Dior Homme, will be carried in this store (Update: Dior Homme WILL be carried in Vancouver’s Dior location). 

The Hotel Vancouver’s owner, Ivanhoe Cambridge, is expanding retail space within the hotel to include second-floor space for selected retailers. We’ve been told that Ivanhoe Cambridge is expanding the hotel’s retail in anticipation for the eventual selling of the hotel. The Hotel Vancouver’s Georgia Street reception desk will be relocated to create more valuable retail space, and the rest of the hotel’s lobby (including a restaurant) will be renovated over the next year with a budget in excess of $12 million. 

There are currently 3 Dior accessory shops-in-store in Canada, all located within the Vancouver, Toronto (Bloor Street) and Montreal Holt Renfrew stores. A fourth Dior accessories shop will open this fall at Holt Renfrew’s Yorkdale location, and the Montreal Dior shop recently renovated and re-opened. 

There are 11 free-standing Dior women’s ready-to-wear boutiques in 8 American cities (including 4 in Las Vegas), as well as 12 Dior accessory shops-in-store located within 9 Saks Fifth Avenue stores, 2 Bloomingdale’s stores and 1 Nordstrom store. 

There’s no word yet if Saks Fifth Avenue will include Dior shops within its new Canadian stores, the first of which are expected to open late next year. 

Thank you to our source Van23H of Vancouver Skyscraper Forum for being this article’s source. 

We recently interviewed a Vancouver-based real estate broker, who says other luxury retail tenants are on the way for Vancouver. We’ll discuss this more in an article tomorrow. 


“BIRKS & MAYOR” CHANGES NAME TO “BIRKS GROUP”

By
Retail Insider
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Photo: Maison Birks

Montreal-based Birks & Mayors Inc. has changed its name to Birks Group Inc. The publicly-traded company has changed its ticker symbol to “BGI”.

Birks Group conducts business under the following brands: “Maison Birks” in Canada, “Mayors” in Florida and Georgia, and “Brinkhaus” in Vancouver and Calgary.

There are about 30 Maison Birks stores in Canada. The company is in the process of changing the signage on its stores to reflect this recent name change.

Birks is one of North America’s most productive retailers, as measured in per-square-foot sales. It features many luxury jewelry designers, including in-store Van Cleef & Arpels shops at several locations.

Thank you to Retail Insider Samson Yuen for directing us to this article’s source.

[Maison Birks website]

[Mayors website]

[Birks Group website]

TNT NOW OPEN AT BAYVIEW VILLAGE

By
Retail Insider
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Photo: TNT

Upscale retailer TNT The New Trend has just opened its newest (and smallest) store at Toronto’s Bayview Village. It’s about 5,500 square feet. We first reported on this store’s opening in April. It will be TNT’s fifth store, following other Toronto and Montreal store locations.

TNT started in 1992 with a 1,200 square foot store on Toronto’s Eglington Avenue West. The current Eglington Avenue store is about 18,000 square feet and includes both women’s designer clothing, shoes and accessories. TNT has two stores at Toronto’s Hazelton Lanes Shopping Centre: a 14,000 square foot women’s store and a separate 4,000 square foot men’s store. TNT also has a 6,000 square foot women’s store location in Montreal.

Bayview Village Shopping Centre is an enclosed, upscale suburban Toronto mall lacking large ‘anchor’ stores. It includes more than 110 stores over about 440,000 square feet. It includes nine jewellery stores, an upscale grocery store called Pusateri’s, and many unique retailers found only in a few other Canadian shopping locations.
TNT’s Hazelton Lanes store will see some changes as the mall prepares to expand and renovate for more luxury retailers. 

[Bayview Village Shopping Centre website]
[TNT website]

CANADA IS HERMÈS’ FASTEST GROWING MARKET, NOW AS LARGE AS GERMANY

By
Retail Insider
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Hermes - Photo: Breuninger

Hermès‘ co-CEO Patrick Thomas says that Canada is the brand’s fastest growing market, at about 20%/year. Canadian sales at Hermès are also similar to those of Germany, an affluent country with more Hermès stores and well over twice our population.

Hermès’ sales in Canada are growing about 20%/year according to Mr. Thomas. Canada currently only has five Hermès stores: two in Vancouver (755 Burrard Street, Vancouver International Airport), one in Toronto (131 Bloor St. W.) and one each within Montreal’s and Calgary’s Holt Renfrew stores. According to Mr. Thomas, the Montreal store will be expanding.

Mr. Thomas attributes our market growth to an increase in Canadians’ wealth, as well as tourism.

Interestingly, Mr. Thomas noted that Hermès’ sales in Canada are similar to those in Germany. We find this most impressive. Germany has almost 82 million residents and boasts 17 Hermès stores. Canada, in comparison, has just shy of 35 million residents for its 5 Hermès stores.

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Canada’s Hermès stores are also not large on an international scale. The Toronto flagship is about 4,000 square feet while the downtown Vancouver store is only about 2,500 square feet. We’ve been told that both stores do similar sales at the moment, and those sales are obviously quite high. 

Canada is a country with an increasingly wealthy population. Tourism is also on the upswing, contributing to our growing luxury retail market. For more on the demographics of Canada and luxury retail, we direct you to Karim Rashwan’s article on the numbers behind Canadian luxury retail.

Photo: Hermès

Some of the above information came from an interview of Hermès’ co-CEO Patrick Thomas by Hollie Shaw of the National Post. To read more of her article and interview with Mr. Thomas, we direct you to click here.

[Hermès website]

MONTREAL PREMIUM OUTLETS BREAKS GROUND: TO INCLUDE MAXMARA & POSSIBLY HBC OUTLET

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Retail Insider
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The Montreal Premium Outlets will be the second Premium Outlet in Canada, following the popular Toronto Premium Outlets which opened in August. Included will be Canada’s first MaxMara outlet, as well as possibly a Hudson’s Bay Outlet. 

The mall will be located in the Montreal suburb of Mirabel.

Like its Toronto sibling, the outlets will be located far away from Montreal’s downtown core in a car-dependent location on Highway 15. A new highway exit, Exit 28, has been created for the project.

Canada’s first MaxMara outlet store (about 3,500 square feet) will be among the new tenants. A 27,333 square foot anchor retail space is located at one end of the mall, and speculation has it that it could become Canada’s second Hudson’s Bay Outlet. Canada’s first Hudson’s Bay Outlet opened in August at the Toronto Premium Outlets.

Other notable outlets will include Coach (with a whopping 9,567 sq ft), DKNY (with about 4,000 sq ft) and Lindt Chocolates. We’ve been told that lease negotiations are currently underway to add retailers Hugo Boss (4,093 sq ft), Elie Tahari (3,159 sq ft), J. Crew (5,006 sq ft), Cole Haan (3,770 sq ft), Lacoste (3,657 sq ft) and Polo by Ralph Lauren (14,956 sq ft) to the outlets. We’ve been told that the mall’s landlords will announce more retailers today at the groundbreaking, including possibly some of these we’ve just mentioned. 

The mall’s first phase will cover a total of about 366,000 square feet, with an expected 80,000 square foot addition as its second phase. The first phase will feature roughly 80 retailers, according to its lease plan. We’ve been told that the construction costs are expected to surpass $110 million for the mall’s first phase.

The mall is a joint venture between Simons Property Group, SmartCentres and Calloway REIT.

The mall’s groundbreaking is scheduled for 10:00am today. The mall currently has no website. Keep reading as we’ll update you on any interesting retailers announced today for the Montreal Premium Outlets.

For a closer look at Montreal Premium Outlet’s tenants, as of August 30th, we direct you to this lease plan. 

CANADA’S 1ST MANOLO BLAHNIK BOUTIQUE IS NOW OPEN AT YORKDALE’S HOLT RENFREW

By
Retail Insider
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Photo: Manolo Blahnik

*****Update: The official opening for this boutique will be November 21st, 2013. The store will include a Spring 2014 fashion preview between 4-6pm*****

Canada’s first Manolo Blahnik women’s shoe boutique is now open at Yorkdale’s Holt Renfrew. We previously reported that the Blahnik boutique will join shops for Jimmy Choo and Gucci, as well as a shop for Christian Louboutin that is inspired by his Paris apartment. These are all part of a new 10,000 square foot women’s shoe floor which is being revealed as part of a world-class expansion and renovation of Yorkdale’s Holt Renfrew store. 

We’ll be reporting periodically on Holt Renfrew’s Yorkdale store, as it will be the prototype of how the rest of Canada’s Holt Renfrew stores will look and function. We’re very impressed with what’s in store so far, so keep reading for updates. 

Thank you to Tara Turnbull for the above photo. 

[Holt Renfrew website]

[Manolo Blahnik website]

CHANEL’S YORKDALE STORE IS SET TO OPEN THIS FALL

By
Retail Insider
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Hoarding for Chanel, Yorkdale. Photo: Jal Baltz

A Chanel Boutique will open this fall at Holt Renfrew’s expanded Yorkdale Shopping Centre store. It will have entrances both from within Holt Renfrew as well as directly from Yorkdale. 

In November, 2012, we first reported on Chanel opening at Holt’s Yorkdale. Construction continues and it appears to be on track to open in a few weeks. 

The boutique will reportedly carry Chanel’s ready-to-wear collections as well as accessories, jewelry and footwear. 

It will be the fifth Chanel Boutique in Canada when it opens. Chanel has one Canadian free-standing store in Toronto (131 Bloor Street West) as well as three shops-in-store within Holt Renfrew stores in Vancouver, Calgary and Toronto (50 Bloor St. W.)

Photo: Jal Baltz
[Holt Renfrew website]
[Chanel website]

ALTON GRAY OPENS IN SUBURBAN MONTREAL

By
Retail Insider
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Alton Gray - Photo: David Goldmann

Alton Gray has opened a 3,660 square foot store at Le Carrefour Laval in suburban Montreal. The store carries mid-priced men’s and women’s ready-to-wear and accessories. It is owned and operated by the Sonoma Group.

Alton Gray is located next to Zara Home, which recently opened in the mall. Other new upscale retailers are opening in the mall, including a recently opened Harry Rosen store. The mall is also home to Canada’s second MontBlanc boutique, up the hall from Alton Gray and across from Hudson’s Bay.

Le Carrefour Laval is one of the most productive malls in Canada, with sales in excess of $770/square foot according to landlord Cadillac Fairview.

Thank you to Retail Insider David Goldmann for this retail tip.

[Le Carrefour Laval website]

[Alton Gray website]

LA MAISON SIMONS’ CANADIAN EXPANSION: INTERVIEW WITH PETER SIMONS

By
Retail Insider
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Simons' Chief Merchant and former CEO Peter Simons

Quebec City-based La Maison Simons is expanding across Canada, having most recently secured space in suburban Vancouver. We interviewed Simons’ CEO Peter Simons for details of his company’s expansion across Canada. 

It was a long interview, so we’ll summarize it below as briefly as possible. Each paragraph briefly covers a topic discussed with Mr. Simons:

Future Simons store locations in Canada: Simons is actively looking for stores across Canada including both urban and suburban sites in Toronto, Calgary, Winnipeg, Vancouver and possibly another Ottawa-area store. More specific details to follow…

Future Simons store(s) in Calgary? Simons is talking to landlords in Calgary and Simons is examining possible locations for as many as two Calgary stores: one in a downtown location, and one in the city’s suburbs. We’ll discuss this more at a later date.

Future Simons store in Winnipeg? Winnipeg is on Simons’ radar, and a store could open somewhere in the suburbs. Moreover, Simons at Polo Park may not be a possibility at the moment, and a deal for a store in an upscale mall north of Polo Park fell through a couple of years ago. It appears there will be no imminent Winnipeg store announcements for Simons.

Future Toronto-area Simons stores? Simons is negotiating with Oxford Properties to open in Toronto’s Yorkdale Shopping Centre as well as Mississauga’s Square One. This would be in space to be vacated by Sears. Simons had no comment on the progress of negotiations for stores in these malls, though he mentioned that as many as 3-4 Simons stores could eventually open in the Greater Toronto Area.

Simons’ new Ottawa (Rideau Centre) store: Simons will build a 105,000 square foot store with about 95,000 square feet of retail and about 10,000 square feet of service space. It will incorporate a re-built facade of the site’s former Ogilvy department store. It will also feature an art installation, similar to the award-winning art display at Simons’ West Edmonton Mall store.

How large will future Simons stores be? Simons is aiming to open new stores in the 100,000 square foot range. Its new Ottawa and Vancouver stores will each be about 105,000 square feet, being comprised of about 95,000 square feet of retail space and about 10,000 square feet of service space. Its recently opened Galeries d’Anjou store is slightly larger, at about 115,000 square feet.

How many Simons stores can we expect per city? Simons says that he has no particular goal for a number of stores per city. More to the point, the right space has to come available for a Simons store. Mr. Simons did mention, however, that the Toronto area could see as many as 3-4 Simons stores open in the coming years, though he couldn’t provide specific locations yet.

Urban vs. suburban Simons Stores? Simons has no preference, though downtown stores can be exciting as they can contribute to building ‘urban place’, like what is expected to happen with its downtown Ottawa store at the Rideau Centre. Acquiring 100,000 square feet of downtown retail space can be challenging, while securing suburban space is sometimes simpler and less expensive. Vancouver’s first store, for example, will be in a West Vancouver mall rather than downtown, even though downtown Vancouver now boasts some of the highest retail sales of any retail area in Canada. Currently, downtown Vancouver lacks the 100,000 square feet of contiguous retail space desired by Simons.

Highest-selling Simons stores: Not surprisingly, Simons’ two most productive stores are still in the province of Quebec. Its flagship Place Ste Foy store in suburban Quebec City, along with its downtown Montreal store, are currently its highest selling. West Edmonton Mall’s Simons could surpass these stores’ sales within a couple of years, though. Edmonton has the chain’s largest store at 118,000 square feet, including about 100,000 square feet of retail and about 18,000 square feet of service space.

On opening shoe departments at Simons: Simons, at the moment, is avoiding carrying shoes in their stores. Simons has narrowed its product mix to ready-to-wear and some accessories for the time being.

Simons’ designer/private label merchandise mix: All new La Maison Simons stores are expected to carry both designer clothing for men and women as well as Simons’ private label designs. The chain’s smaller Quebec stores carry less designer merchandise than its larger stores. All new Simons stores will be larger and are expected to include assortments of designer clothing.

Simons’ biggest retail competitors: Shoppers are more fluid and Simons carries both expensive designer and lower-priced, fashionable private-label products. Competition therefore spans the likes of Holt Renfrew to Zara and H&M. Online shopping also provides increased competition, though Simons offers it on their website.

On opening restaurants within Simons stores: Future Simons stores could include restaurant offerings, similar to Soup Soup which recently opened within Simons’ Les Galeries d’Anjou store. Each location will be considered individually, and local restaurants may be considered if the right “fit” is present.

Future in-store public art installations: Simons says he expects all new stores to have art installations, similar to an award-winning installation in his Edmonton store, which opened last year.

The company’s future growth strategy: Simons is a family-owned business that has been around for almost 175 years. Recognizing this, it will grow itself gradually and intelligently so that it will continue to exist for generations to come. New store openings will therefore be gradual, with no more than two stores opening per year. Simons is also looking for ways to economize on store construction, as its Edmonton store cost more than expected. The Edmonton store, nevertheless, received a prestigious award: International Store of the Year by Chainstore Age.

We’ll provide further details on Simons’ possible Calgary store locations soon.

[La Maison Simons website]

UPSCALE DOWNTOWN HALIFAX DEPARTMENT STORE “RE-OPENS”

By
Craig Patterson
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Mills in Halifax (Image: Adams Photography)

Halifax’s upscale downtown department store, Mills, is having a grand “re-opening” starting Saturday. The store was recently purchased by four women who have relocated the store and have modernized its branding and product selection. We spoke to owner Lisa Gallivan about her new store. 

Mills did something bold in the world of North American retailing – it stayed downtown, while so many retailers have chosen to open in suburbs. Mills opened in 1919 and has remained downtown ever since. Mills first occupied an entire tutor-styled building of about 37,000 square feet. Previous owners downsized the store to only about 8,000 square feet, while the rest of the space was leased to smaller retailers. Mills left that space after being purchased by the four women, who moved it up the street. 

The new Mills is only about 9,000 square feet over two floors, but it’s more open and better laid-out than the previous store. The new location is within a shopping complex called Spring Garden Place.

[Photo Source] Adams Photography

Mills concentrates on women’s ready-to-wear, accessories, shoes and some cosmetics. It carries some impressive brands, meaning that Nova Scotia shoppers may be less inclined to shop elsewhere for unique and upscale products. Women’s clothing brands include Armani Collezioni, Ted Baker, Michael by Michael Kors, Basler, Hugo Boss, Trina Turk, and several Canadian designers including Obakki. Clothing brands coming soon include MaxMara Studio and MaxMara Sportmax Code. Upscale handbags and shoes from Stuart Weitzman, Michael by Michael Kors, Marc by Marc Jacobs and L.K. Bennett are featured, and there are beauty lines that include Chanel, L’Occitane and Molton Brown.

There isn’t much for men, though some Michael Kors clothing is available, and a men’s skincare line called Jack Black is also featured.

[Photo Source] Adams Photography

The store is concentrating on catering to women of a wide variety of ages. This is a smart move, as the previous Mills client was traditionally more mature. As Halifax’s population ages, bringing in new, younger shoppers will be beneficial to the store’s success.

The store’s “grand re-opening” event starts Saturday and continues until October 5th. For a complete list of events, we direct you to this link.

We’re pleased to be reporting on retail in Atlantic Canada, and we’d like to do more. If you’ve got any retail tips for things happening in Canada’s Maritimes, please feel free to email us at: insider@retail-insider.com

Thank you for reading Retail Insider, and have an excellent weekend.

Photos: Adams Photography, Halifax.

[Mills website] [Mills Facebook page] [Mills Twitter]

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