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!
Looks a bit like a Macy's or Nordstrom. Source: Eric, lulumen.blogspot.com
A reader sent us photos and a description of an enviro-friendly or ‘green’ Hudson’s Bay department store in a Waterloo, Ontario mall. What first impressed us was the changing colour/video screen of its interior-mall signage, video above.
And below… it can even do images. We like. Back to the article…
We were provided some exterior and interior shots. The store is clean and modern, not unlike a suburban Macy’s or Nordstrom in the US. The store is at Conestoga Mall in suburban Waterloo.
We were not familiar with this 120,000 square foot store until our reader provided us with the pictures and description provided below. And it’s worth a quick read, as this particular department store is quite innovative. From the September 17 2008 press release”
(Bonnie Brooks, President/CEO) … “as well as appealing to the community’s environmentally progressive nature through unique green initiatives like solar panels, wind turbines, energy efficient lighting and even recyclable carpet.”Among the store’s many green innovations are:
– Special energy efficient lighting inside and out – LED exterior signage lights, which uses 10 percent of the energy required for conventional lighting; Fluorescent lighting uses energy efficient T8 and T5 ballast which save energy and reduce cooling loads while providing same lighting quality within the store. – High efficiency roof top units use ozone friendly R410A refrigerant. – Accent lighting uses highly efficient Metal Halide light fixtures. – Solar panels mounted on the front of the store enabling the store to draw less power from the local grid. – Two wind turbines, which will generate enough electricity to offset the power consumption of an average home. – White TPO roofing to reflect heat and reduce thermal islanding; the cooler roof reduces the need for air conditioning and is recyclable at end of life. – Waterless urinals and touchless water faucets and toilets for water conservation. – Carpet tile is recyclable. – Fully automated energy management system controlled by HBC.
The store includes distinctive with frosted glass accents and chrome finishing throughout.
Oakridge Shopping Centre is getting three newly-built anchor stores, as well as a new Safeway grocery store. We recently reported on Oakridge’s substantial renovation that will double its retail square footage.
These floorplans are only initial renderings and anchor tenant sizes and shapes may change to suit tenants. We have done some measurements to determine the size of the three department store anchors on the floorplan, below. These will include:
1) a 175-180,000 square foot Hudson’s Bay store, 2) a 125,000 square foot Target store and 3) a 145,000 square foot ‘mystery anchor’ store.
Floorplan: Henriquez Partners Archetects. Red Lettering by Retail Insider
We previously speculated that the ‘mystery anchor store’ might be La Maison Simons. We’re wondering if this will no longer be the case. 145,000 square feet is larger than what Simons wants. Granted, as we mentioned, this anchor store’s size could change to suit a prospective tenant.
145,000 square feet could be about the right size for either a Nordstrom or Holt Renfrew. Could it be either of these? Our initial answer is “no”… Holt Renfrew likes to maintain a ‘radius’ around each of their stores, and Oakridge is much too close of a drive or by transit from its Pacific Centre store. The same goes for Nordstrom, which will occupy the former Sears store at Pacific Centre. Nordstrom prefers to space-out stores where possible to prevent canibalizing sales from their own stores.
We have been made aware that several potential large format retailers are interested in an Oakridge anchor space. We will not speculate until we receive some confirmation of what retailers may be interested (re-word this). We will keep you updated when we find out what will occupy the department store space at the South-end of Oakridge Centre.
Ever wondered what Hudson’s Bay Company President/CEO Bonnie Brooks earns per year? You may have heard her voice on various radio ads to promote daily sales at Hudson’s Bay. She certainly earns her keep, and here are the numbers straight out of The Hudson’s Bay Company’s Sedar filing:
Answer? She does well. With a base salary of $1mill and other perks, her compensation package is valued at over $2.5mill/year. That’s a lot more than this author, that’s for sure!
Below are the ‘notes’ explaining payment, for those who are interested (all taken from Sedar documents filed by HBC)
(Continued from the previous page)
With earnings like that, we think Bonnie is more likely to shop in her store’s luxury department The Room than for the lesser-priced Material Girl. Just sayin’ 😉 Hudson’s Bay website: www.thebay.com
The first-ever Hudson’s Bay Company Trading Post has opened at Pearson International Airport in Toronto.
The store is located in the domestic part of Terminal 1 (Arrivals, After-Security) and sells a range of items from fashion to home accessories including the world-famous HBC Point Blanket. The store also showcases the history of Hudson’s Bay as well as our Canadian history.
The Hudson’s Bay Company turned 342 years old in May of this year, making it the oldest commercial corporation in North America. Its history is a substantial portion of Canada’s history, be it good or bad.
We’ll be checking it out next time we fly to Toronto.
TopShop Downtown Vancouver, Skytrain station entrance. Image: http://pricetags.files.wordpress.com
TopShop/TopMan will have 10 full-sized Canadian stores by March 2014, according to TopShop managing director Mary Homer. More Canadian locations are on the way but finances are restricting store expansion.
Four of the 10 TopShop stores will be in Toronto. These will include TopShop stores within Hudson’s Bay department stores at the Queen Street flagship (Opened October 2012) and Yorkdale Mall (Opened October 2011), as well as new locations at Hudson’s Bay stores. We will announce these shortly.
Three of the ten stores will be in Montreal, including a TopShop at the Downtown Montreal Flagship Hudson’s Bay store and two suburban locations that we will announce shortly.
The last three TopShop stores will be located within Hudson’s Bay stores in Vancouver (Opened October 2012), Downtown Calgary and Downtown Ottawa, both of which will coincide with substantial renovations to each of these Hudson’s Bay stores.
We can expect future TopShop stores in Edmonton, Winnipeg and Quebec City. Keep reading our website as we’re keeping a close eye on Canadian retail expansions.
