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ROOTS WILL OPEN AT 89 BLOOR ST. W. IN TORONTO

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Retail Insider
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Roots 89 Bloor St. W

Readers may be disappointed to learn that Roots has leased the retail space at 89 Bloor St. W. in Toronto. The space had sat vacant since early 2011. We’ve been told that Roots will be vacating their 100 Bloor St. W. retail space.

The narrow retail space at 89 Bloor will be difficult to merchandise for an apparel retailer. 89 Bloor is not even 1,700 square feet, while Root’s current 100 Bloor store is about 15,000 square feet. We’re not sure if the 89 Bloor Roots will be for a limited collection of Roots products, such as childrenswear or accessories.

Thank you, again, to our Toronto Retail Insider ACT7 of Urban Toronto for researching and locating the name of this new tenant. 

Yesterday we reported on the rampant speculation regarding what tenant was moving into 89 Bloor. We were informed that talks with Links of London had initially been fruitful but that a lease agreement subsequently was unsuccessful.

Current Roots flagship store at 100 Bloor St. W.

Roots once occupied neighboring retail space 95A Bloor Street West until 2002. The space is now occupied by Victorinox.

We’ll update you when we find who will replace the current Roots flagship store at 100 Bloor Street West.

[Roots website]

FORMER MAC SPACE, 89 BLOOR ST. W. (TORONTO) IS FINALLY LEASED

By
Retail Insider
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Photo: Google Streetview screenshot

MAC Cosmetics‘ former space at 89 Bloor Street West, Toronto, has sat empty for over 2 years. It is located on what is arguably Canada’s most upscale retail strip. Speculation has been rampant as to who might lease the space. ACT7 of Urban Toronto has discovered which tenant has finally secured the space, and we’ll announce who the tenant is tomorrow.


The space is narrow and under 1,700 square feet. This poses a challenge for merchandising, especially for a clothing retailer. And in fact, we’ve been informed that the new tenant at 89 Bloor Street will sell clothing.


The vacant retail space has gained plenty of online attention. Jacob Ritka of The Grid (Toronto) wrote on its continued vacancy last year, and it has been discussed at length on the discussion forum at Urban Toronto.


Speculated tenants have included Links of London, Jimmy Choo, Breitling, Roberto Coin (to be run by Birks Jewelers) and others. We can confirm that the tenant will be none of these.


Check back tomorrow when we’ll announce who the new retail tenant will be for 89 Bloor Street West.

TORONTO PREMIUM OUTLETS FLOORPLAN AND TENANT LIST REVEALED

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Retail Insider
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Toronto Premium Outlets Map

The Toronto Premium Outlets has just released its floorplan and corresponding tenant list. To see the map and retailers closer up, click the images to expand them on your screen. The Outlet mall opens next Wednesday, August 1st.  Burberry comes in December. 

[Toronto Premium Outlets website]

HERMÈS FRAGRANCE SHOP PART OF HUDSON’S BAY’S RENOVATED VANCOUVER STORE

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Retail Insider
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Photo: Hermès

On the weekend we visited the partially renovated ground floor of Vancouver’s downtown Hudson’s Bay store. Renovations to the north-east part of the store (formerly part of the 2010 Olympic Shop) are nearly complete, and they include vendors such as an Hermès fragrance shop.

This Hermès fragrance shop is different from the one we reported on at Holt Renfrew in Toronto’s Yorkdale Shopping Centre. The Vancouver location doesn’t carry certain fragrance exclusives only available at the Yorkdale concession.

The look of the rest of the renovated Hudson’s Bay space is simple, clean and white. Ceilings are high and smooth, creating a sense of volume. We’ll post more photos when the space is completed.

Further cosmetics vendors will open in the renovated Hudson’s Bay ground floor, including popular cosmetics retailer Bobbi Brown.

Martin Margiela fragrance display. These are temporary until the space is completed.

Hudson’s Bay’s jewelry department is next to be renovated, according to a source at the store.

If you’d like to submit photos of stores in your area, feel free to email them to: insider@retail-insider.com. We can credit you as a source if you like, or we can keep your name anonymous.

[Hudson’s Bay website]

UPDATE: TORONTO PREMIUM OUTLETS OPEN AUGUST 1ST, WITH BURBERRY IN DECEMBER

By
Retail Insider
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Image: Toronto Premium Outlets

The Toronto Premium Outlets are scheduled to open a week from today, on August 1st. We’ve got an update – in December 2013, Burberry will be joining the outlets. 

Included will be Canada’s first Hudson’s Bay Outlet store, which will carry clearance merchandise from Hudson’s Bay stores. 

For a complete list of retailers opening August 1st, please refer to our previously published article about the Toronto Premium Outlets.

Retail Insider ACT7 of Urban Toronto will be at the opening. We’ll report back following this event, which we’re sure will be very busy. 

[Toronto Premium Outlets website]

LOUIS VUITTON’S CANADIAN ONLINE STORE LAUNCHES WITH LOWER-THAN-AMERICAN PRICES

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Retail Insider
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Louis Vuitton has just launched a Canadian version of its online store.  It appears that many Canadian prices are lower than those on the American website. We’ve done price comparisons and we’ve noticed consistently lower Canadian prices, made even lower with our weaker Canadian dollar.

Louis Vuitton products are generally not discounted, though prices may vary country-to-country. Higher prices for Louis Vuitton goods in China, for example, have led to Chinese shoppers buying overseas. Louis Vuitton bags are priced about 35% higher in Shanghai than in Paris, for example. 

Will lower Canadian prices encourage Canadians to shop online on Louis Vuitton’s website? Tourists already make up substantial sales at Canadian Vuitton shops, and time will tell if lower online Canadian pricing will affect volume sales of Vuitton in Canada. 

Thank you to Retail Insider Jal Baltz for being the source for this article. 

Image: Screenshot from Louis Vuitton Canadian website. 

[Louis Vuitton Canadian website]

(This image was added to this article on July 25th 2013, after it was emailed to us by Louis Vuitton)

BROWNS SHOES OPENS ON VANCOUVER’S ROBSON ST, WHILE CLOSING SISTER STORE B2

By
Retail Insider
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Photo: Retail-Insider.com

Browns Shoes has just opened a flagship location at 1068 Robson Street in Downtown Vancouver. At the end of this week, however, it will close its sister store, B2, located a block away at 1112 Robson Street. 

The new Browns includes one level of retail space and a massive second-floor shoe storage area. Shoes are brought down to the retail floor from the second-level via dumbwaiter. 

Browns replaces a former Levi’s store. We first reported on Browns’ Robson Street opening last April.


B2’s closing on Robson Street is another setback to the street’s 1100 block. A substantial portion of the south side of Robson Street’s 1100 block is currently for lease. 


A replacement B2 store is expected to open in Downtown Vancouver some time in late 2014-early 2015. We’ll announce its location when we can confirm its exact location.


Browns Shoes continues to expand throughout Canada. Keep reading for updates. 

[Browns Shoes website]


HBC’S BID ON SAKS FIFTH AVENUE COULD FAIL: NEW BIDDER EMERGES

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Retail Insider
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[Image Source]



The Hudson’s Bay Company‘s (HBC) bid for Saks Fifth Avenue could fail now that a new bidder has stepped forward. Starwood Hotels owner Barry Sternlicht has submitted a bid for Saks, and his bid could beat that of HBC and another bid speculated to be from the Middle East.


Sternlicht’s bid for Saks could win partly because he would keep Saks management ‘as is’, whereas HBC would hire new Saks management as well as possibly expand Saks into Canada. Saks’ CEO Stephen Sadove wants to keep his job. 


The third bidder for Saks is speculated to be a Middle Eastern sovereign wealth fund. Few details on its identity or bidding price are known.

Barry Sternlicht [Image Source]



A source tells the New York Post that Sternlicht has offered roughly $2.5 billion for Saks, about the same as the offer made by HBC. That works out to a Saks price-per-share of between $17 and $18. 


Saks owns about two thirds of its stores, including its 650,000 square foot Fifth Avenue flagship which has been valued at over $1 billion. In total, Saks’ real estate holdings are valued at over $1.5 billion. 


Last month we first reported on HBC’s potential purchase of Saks. We subsequently discussed possible Canadian Saks locations that could either be located within existing Hudson’s Bay stores, or be free-standing. We’ll keep you updated with any new developments. 


Thank you to a source who wishes not to be named for forwarding us this article source from the New York Post. 


[Hudson’s Bay Company website]


[Saks Fifth Avenue website]

EXPECT APPLE STORE FLAGSHIPS IN CANADA

By
Retail Insider
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Image: Apple

We’ve been asked countless times: Why doesn’t [Canadian City] have a flagship Apple Store? Many cities worldwide already have massive Apple flagships that are both roomy and architecturally interesting (not to mention massively productive). A source tells us that Canada is on the map, especially Downtown Toronto and Vancouver. 

A source with the company (a personal friend of this author, since relocated to California) tells us that Apple is actively seeking space in Downtown Toronto for at least one if not two large Apple Store flagships. Ideal locations for Toronto would include the Yonge/Bloor area of Toronto (1 Bloor Street East has been hinted at) and around the Toronto Eaton Centre/Yonge Dundas Square area. Downtown Vancouver is also potential Apple Store flagship territory, though our source wasn’t clear if either Robson Street or the Granville Street/Pacific Centre areas are currently being investigated.

Image: Apple

Some existing Apple Store flagship locations are stunning, with more interesting ones on the way. San Francisco will get a large glass block Apple store on a prominent site in the popular Union Square shopping area (top picture in this article). And, interestingly, construction of an Apple Store in Madrid (Spain) unearthed a 15th century ruin. 

Image: Apple

We’ll prod our source periodically in the hopes that we’ll be the first to report on new flagship Apple Stores in these and possibly other Canadian cities. 

WHICH BRAND BEST REPRESENTS YOUR CANADIAN PROVINCE?

By
Retail Insider
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Which brand/corporation best represents each Canadian province? We came across this American map (above) highlighting one author’s opinion on what corporation or brand best represents each American state. If we were to create a similar map for Canada, what corporation or brand would you choose? Please feel free to comment below or on our Facebook link to this image. 

Map creator Steve Lovelace describes his map as follows: 

“For each of the fifty states (and the District of Columbia), I selected a corporation or brand that best represented the states. My criteria are subjective, but in each case, I picked a brand that a) has ties to that state and b) is still in business (as of 2013).
I encountered several challenges while making this map. Major corporations are not evenly distributed across the country. Some states, such New Mexico, Alaska, Montana and West Virginia, simply do not host many big corporations. Others host so many that choosing one was difficult. In these cases, I went with the company that I though best represented the state, rather than the biggest or most notorious. Hence, I used Dr Pepper for Texas instead of ExxonMobil. I used Apple for California instead of Google or Facebook…”



[Steve Lovelace’s ‘The Corporate States of America’]

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