SHT Initiative at IKEA Canada (Image: IKEA Canada)
Retail giant IKEA has launched its Second-Hand Tax (SHT) initiative in Ontario at its As-is Marketplaces to promote sustainability and affordability.
The initiative saves customers from paying the 13 per cent HST (harmonized sales tax) twice in the province.
Currently until April 11, IKEA stores across Ontario will offer the SHT to IKEA Family members looking to shop more sustainably and affordably. Every item purchased in the As-is marketplace in-store will be reduced by 13 per cent to offset the tax burden, making shopping circular even more attractive, said the retailer.
Selwyn Crittendon
“We believe in doing more with less,” said Selwyn Crittendon, IKEA Canada CEO and Chief Sustainability Officer. “With our “Second-Hand Tax” initiative, we’re making sustainable choices, that also save people money, more attractive to average Canadians. It’s our little way of making a big difference.
“This is really about making sure that we bring meaningful change . . . It’s a counter tax that saves the value of HST on our second-hand items.”
Unfortunately today every time a second hand product is sold it is taxed.
Image: IKEA Canada SHT at IKEA Canada (Image: IKEA Canada)
The initiative, he said, helps to bring about a more circular economy and push for change to happen.
But SHT isn’t a permanent solution, said IKEA Canada, which is inviting the government and like-minded companies to help them put an end to the double tax on second-hand items, so that all Canadians can shop circular for less. Signing up for IKEA Family is free on IKEAFamily.ca. To show support for ending the double tax on second-hand items, the company is asking people to visit change.org.
“It’s a great initiative but we need more people and as of today we’ve got over 3,200 people that have signed our petition to make that change,” said Crittendon.
“IKEA believes second-hand furniture shouldn’t have another tax if we’re encouraging Canadians to do more with less. With our Second-Hand Tax initiative we aim to spark conversation about the unfairness especially with government and community stakeholders.”
SHT Initiative at IKEA Canada (Image: IKEA Canada)
He said it’s another way of helping consumers and sparking some change in behaviour by helping them save 13 per cent on purchases.
“We want to make sure that affordability and sustainability are the true super powers of how we move forward. They should be lockstep but unfortunately it’s not always the case when you tax second-hand goods,” added Crittendon.
“That’s made IKEA Canada take a stand, urging consumers to shop sustainable and affordable second-hand options that are good for our planet and their wallets,” said the retailer.
Crittendon said the initiative began in Ontario and the impact already has been major. It has resonated with consumers in the province.
For IKEA, it’s not so much just about the opportunity for consumers to save money but it’s an opportunity to make change.
SHT Initiative at IKEA Canada (Image: IKEA Canada)
The initiative is part of Earth Month, a time to celebrate the planet and take action to protect it. Earth Day is Monday April 22.
Crittendon said the SHT initiative is only in place in Ontario right now but the company is “looking at many more ways to spark this conversation.” This initiative is just a step in that direction.
“This is not just IKEA trying to try another sales gimmick. This is IKEA taking the conversation and really bringing affordability and sustainability together in one topic. And if we can find a way to remove the tax on second-hand goods, this is an opportunity where we band together and we sign that petition and we make sure that we can make lasting change for many Canadians across this country,” he said.
The IKEA As-is Marketplace is a place where the retailer sells discontinued items, gently used and even its ex-showroom displays.
As months pass, Statistics Canada’s reports suggest that food inflation is easing, and prices are gradually stabilizing. However, many consumers are not experiencing this stabilization firsthand. This perceptual discrepancy has raised questions about the accuracy of Statistics Canada’s data on food prices.
Assessing the accuracy of data from the federal agency has been challenging, but recent analysis provides some insights. Through systematic price checks across the country, a discrepancy between Statistics Canada’s reports and the Agri-Food Analytics Lab’s Price Portal data has emerged. As methodologies and data access can vary, discrepancies are expected. But this of course raises concerns about the accuracy of national statistical forecasting and its impact on consumers and policy decisions.
For example, the February 2024 list of selected food products released by Statistics Canada last week shows significant differences compared to the prices observed in grocery stores. That list is always released a few weeks after the CPI. When comparing our list of prices with Statistics Canada’s data, we found that the Mean Absolute Error (MAE) between the two lists is 5.59. This means that, on average, prices reported by Statistics Canada deviate from the actual observed values by 5.59 percentage points.
Specifically, February 2024 data reveals significant variances in food price changes. For instance, oranges were reported at -6% by Statistics Canada, while our data shows an increase of 20.1%. Similarly, avocados were reported at -4% by Statistics Canada, compared to our observation of a 9% increase. These discrepancies are not isolated instances; they are part of a pattern where 47% (16 out of 34 items listed) of food items are underestimated by Statistics Canada. This suggests that the agency’s reports may not always accurately reflect food inflation, although it is not indicative of a deliberate underestimation.
Produce at Metro (Image: Dustin Fuhs)
The implications of these underestimations and overestimations are significant. For consumers, it means that the cost of living might be higher than anticipated, impacting household financial planning. For the economy, it suggests that inflation in the food sector might be more pervasive than official figures indicate, potentially leading to misinformed policy decisions.
The MAE of 5.59 is not just a statistical figure; it represents the variance in real-world costs that Canadians face daily. This variance can exacerbate financial strain on families and may necessitate a recalibration of social assistance programs to accurately reflect the cost of living.
To enhance the accuracy of food price data, there is a clear need for Statistics Canada to refine its data collection and analysis methods. Collaboration with independent research bodies could improve the reliability of the data, ensuring that it accurately reflects market trends and aids in better-informed decision-making.
In October, Minister François-Philippe Champagne announced an investment in the Contributions Program for Non-Profit Consumer and Voluntary Organizations to broaden the scope of existing consumer projects, including expanding research in the retail sector, specifically in groceries. However, further investment is necessary.
Regardless of public opinion, Statistics Canada remains a crucial source of economic indicators. However, these are just that—indicators. Canada could benefit from a broader spectrum of reliable data sources.
While there is no reason to believe that these differences are deliberate, the discrepancies highlighted by Dalhousie University’s Price Checks urge a re-evaluation of how food price data is collected and reported in Canada. Canadians need to feel confident about the accuracy of the federal agency’s reports. Addressing these discrepancies is crucial for better budgeting and policy planning, ultimately affecting the economic well-being of all Canadians.
American-based women’s fashion brand Windsor is launching its first five stores in Canada this Spring with plans to significantly grow its footprint in the future.
The new stores will open in southern Ontario at CF Lime Ridge Mall in Hamilton, the Oshawa Centre in Oshawa, Hillcrest Mall in Richmond Hill, Upper Canada Mall in Newmarket, and Dufferin Mall in Toronto.
“We are beyond excited to serve the Canadian market with the opening of five new stores this Spring. We look forward to providing an opportunity for our customers in the region to experience the brand in-person and have access to our unique value proposition,” said Catherine Seaton, VP Marketing of Windsor.
“As we continue to make fashion accessible to all, we’re eager to invite women to experience the Windsor oasis that inspires and empowers through an ever evolving assortment of apparel and accessories for all of the meaningful moments in their lives.”
Grand Opening of Windsor Fashions at CF Lime Ridge Mall in Hamilton, Ontario (Image: Windsor) Windsor Fashions at CF Lime Ridge Mall in Hamilton, Ontario (Image: Windsor) Windsor Fashions at CF Lime Ridge Mall in Hamilton, Ontario (Image: Windsor)
The brand, which is based in Santa Fe Springs, California, and today has about 350 locations in the U.S. and Puerto Rico, was founded in 1937 by the Zekaria family.
“Our founders were two brothers and really what they were trying to bring to the market is fashion that was accessible for the broader public. They saw a lot of celebrities with these gorgeous gowns that a lot of people couldn’t afford,” said Seaton.
“They wanted to provide a place for a woman to go to when has a special occasion in her life that would have styles that she would look beautiful in, but that were also much more affordable and accessible from a price point perspective. That’s really the whole heart of where we come from as a brand in terms of making fashion accessible and we service her across all of the occasions in her life.
“Our assortment really is very broad. We’re almost like a mini department store in that we dress her from head to toe, inside out, with everything from casual denim to formal dresses and everything in between . . . We really focus more on where she’s going and what she’s looking to dress for, the occasion that she’s dressing for.”
Windsor in Florence, NC at Magnolia Mall (Image: Windsor)Windsor Fashions in Longview, TX (Image: Windsor)
Windsor in Florence, NC at Magnolia Mall (Image: Windsor)
Seaton said the brand expanded to Puerto Rico a few years ago and when it began to think of where to expand next it took a look at its existing customer base.
“We actually have a lot of customers in Canada, the majority of which are in the Greater Toronto Area. So there’s a very natural affinity that we already saw with customers purchasing online from us and even going across the border into our stores in New York and shopping from us there as well. So it just seemed like a really natural next step for us,” she said.
“Canada is also a large market in that there is an opportunity for more than five stores for sure. We see a lot of potential there.”
Carm Sivers
Carm Sivers, VP/Managing Director, Canada, said she was approached by Windsor at the end of 2022 about expanding into the Canadian market. She had experience in this previously for a number of different brands including The Gap, American Eagle and Psycho Bunny.
“I did my research. I talked to them a number of times and I said ‘you know, you’ve got something here because there’s a void for sure in the Canadian marketplace, when it comes to just a place where any girl/woman can go to get what she needs to feel pretty and feel special’,” she said.
Sivers felt moving into the Canadian market was a “sure-fire win” for the brand. With her experience in the Canadian market with other brands, Sivers looked at what real estate would be best for the initial expansion into the country.
“It started with outreach to the landlords to introduce the brand. We were knocking on doors, explaining who we were, what void we were trying to fill in the marketplace and selling our culture. I knew once they saw the concept they would be sold,” she said.
“There’s not a lot of vacancy in our Canadian malls. Real estate in the shopping centres in the US is quite different. You might be able to go into 10 malls and get 10 spaces just like that, where in Canada it’s not that easy. So it was more about what was available in the malls we wanted. Was it the right size? Was is the right market?
The first store opens at CF Lime Ridge on April 11. Oshawa Centre will open April 18 followed by Upper Canada and Hillcrest on April 25 and Dufferin Mall on May 9.
“We’re going to be able to serve a lot of the Toronto market because of the locations that we’re in,” said Seaton.
Windsor in Olympia, WA at Capital Mall (Image: Windsor)Windsor in Olympia, WA at Capital Mall (Image: Windsor)Image: Windsor
The stores opening in Canada have an average space of about 3,800 square feet. The brand usually looks for spaces of between 3,500 to 5,000 square feet.
“I think this has a lot of legs,” said Sivers. “After the first five, I already have my next strategic rollout in my head after that and then it’s filling the Ontario market and then we branch out to the West Coast, so we will be looking at both the B.C. and Alberta markets. The goal is to follow the feedback from our customers and put trust in our team’s on the ground.”
“When I look at it, honestly we can grow the Canadian market to be in the range of 60-80 stores. It will all depend on the consumer demand. We don’t want to oversaturate the market. I don’t believe in doing that.”
Windsor in Parkway Place in Huntsville, AL (Image: Windsor)
Seaton said the brand is growth oriented. Over the last two and a half to three years, the brand opened about 200 stores. The last two years it has opened 30 to 35 stores. The year before that it was 65 and then it was 30 the year before that. Even in COVID in 2020 it still opened about 12 stores.
“We know (Canada) is a different market than the U.S. We’re not going on with that U.S. consumer mindset. We understand it’s a different consumer, it’s a different market and we want to make sure that we’re really understanding what the Canadian customer is looking for from us and how we can service them in the right way and so we’ve done a lot of research there. We’ve done focus groups . . . to understand how do we really become a part of the community in a meaningful way as we step into these markets,” added Seaton.
“We strive to create the oasis experience for every guest. The oasis is about giving her that special experience, making her feel special. We want to differentiate ourselves by providing her that escape, and by cultivating the right guest experience so that when she has those special occasions to shop for, she thinks of Windsor and we become the brand of choice,” said Sivers.
Those interested in applying to work with Windsor, the link is available here.
Retail Insider is streamlining its Canadian retail news from around the web to include a handful of top news stories that can be viewed quickly during the day. Here are the top stories from the past three days.
Future Chop Steakhouse at Adelaide Place in Downtown Toronto (Image: Dustin Fuhs)
Chop Steakhouse & Bar is set to open its newest location in the Financial District in Downtown Toronto.
Chop Toronto will be located at 181 University Avenue at the corner of University and Adelaide Street. The space was home to The Merchant restaurant from 2015-2020 and a Fionn McCool prior to 2014.
The Canadian brand started in Edmonton, Alberta in 2006 and has since expanded to 17 locations from coast to coast, which includes a 2022 opening in Coal Harbour in Vancouver.
Future Chop Steakhouse at Adelaide Place in Downtown Toronto (Image: Dustin Fuhs)
Chop Steakhouse is joining a number of new restaurants and dining options that have opened recently in the Financial District, as the area starts the journey back from a pandemic that took a huge toll on the core.
2024 is set to be a banner year for restaurant openings in Toronto, and the downtown core is standing out with the brands that are betting on an influx of return-to-office and those going into the city for events, sports and concerts.
First Canadian Place Seeing Multiple Openings
Future Sing Sing at First Canadian Place (Image: Dustin Fuhs)
Sing Sing by hospitality group Freehouse Collective is set to debut it’s Toronto location at First Canadian Place, which Retail Insider announced back in 2023. Formerly The Donnelly Group, Freehouse Collective is a hospitality group with Restaurants, Pubs, Bars, and Nightclubs in Toronto & Vancouver.
In the same area of First Canadian Place is Edna + Vita, an apparent rebranding from Red’s. Career links for front line positions (mixologist, host, servers, etc) include a blended messaging, with Red’s interchangeable with Edna + Vita in places. We’ll follow up with this location as more information becomes available.
Edna + Vita (Image: Dustin Fuhs)
First Canadian Place recently saw another entertainment offering announced in Retail Insider, with the expansion news of Modern Golf. Founder Paul Fisher shared that the golf social experience “is really where the fastest growth in the sector is coming from and will come for the golf industry going forward.”
Vancouver-based Glowbal Restaurant Group opened Black + Blue Steakhouse last year in the former home of the Toronto Stock Exchange in Exchange Tower, which is at the First Canadian Place campus. The 9,000 square-foot two-storey space also includes a 2,000 square-foot patio, which has prime street appeal with the TTC King Streetcar route.
Black + Blue at Exchange Tower (Image: Dustin Fuhs)
Adelaide Street Continues to Attract
Future Everyside on Adelaide (Image: Dustin Fuhs)
In addition to Edna + Vita, Adelaide will see the opening of Everyside Restaurant and Brewery. The space was vacated in 2020 with the exit of Montreal-based 3 Brasseurs.
Not much is known about Everyside, as the social media was launched in late March and describes the location as “your perfect sip of home. Brewed locally with care, our flavours are made for every moment.”
Future Everyside on Adelaide (Image: Dustin Fuhs)150 York with Alobar Toronto (Image: Dustin Fuhs)
Alobar opened at 150 York St. in 2023. The second location for the concept follows the 2018 opening in Yorkville, which is tucked along a pathway which also includes B Hemmings & Co and CNTRBND.
Alobar is part of Alo Food Group. Chef & Owner Patrick Kriss opened Alo in 2015, the Michelin starred fine-dining flagship at Queen and Spadina in downtown Toronto. Michelin recommended Aloette opened in 2017, with additions of Salon (2019), Aloette Go (2021), Alo Catering (2022) and Alder at the Ace Hotel in 2023.
LOCAL Public Eatery on Adelaide (Image: Dustin Fuhs)
LOCAL Public Eatery Adelaide opened in February 2024 at 141 Adelaide St. W., marking its fourth Ontario location (three in Toronto and one in Lansdowne in Ottawa). The restaurant concept is part of the JOEY Restaurant Group, which is set to open a flagship JOEY location at 20 King Street.
CKTL & Co opened at 330 Bay Street with a stock-themed bar concept, which features a fluctuating pricing structure that changes throughout the day.
Marbl will be opening its second downtown Toronto location at the Bay Adelaide North Tower. Renderings have been shared for the space, which will be aiming to open in 2024.
Marbl Financial District (Image: Dustin Fuhs)Image: Marbl Financial District
Retail Insider can also confirm that Estiatorio Milos will be opening a flagship restaurant at the corner of Bay and Adelaide. We will follow up with more details as they become available.
Union Station Continues to See Activity
Union Station in Toronto (Image: Dustin Fuhs)(Image: Blue Bovine Steak+Sushi House)
Retail Insider announced the Liberty Entertainment Group’s newest location back in 2022, with Blue Bovine opening to great fanfare in February 2024. The opening of the 10,000 square-foot restaurant, with a 1,500 pound bronze bespoke bull adorning the entrance, is just the beginning of a busy year of activity within the transit hub.
We’ll be circling back with details as they become available, with curious transit-goers looking at a couple large areas yet to be announced.
#DESI opened its taste of India market recently, joining Hazukido across from the Foodie Aisle at Union Market. Nespresso also opened it’s new concept location, as it moved operations from it’s shop-in-shop at Hudson’s Bay Queen Street.
Future Purpel at Union Station (Image: Dustin Fuhs)
Purpel will be opening a new location for its acai bowls and smoothies, which will be located in the space that formerly housed Oakberry. Craig’s Cookies, Venezolano, Taco Bell and Cinnaholic will also be opening in the near future at Union Station, with the Cinnaholic construction hoarding being removed last week to showcase what’s in store for travellers.
Soon to open Cinnaholic at Union Station (Image: Dustin Fuhs)Louis Bon Bon at Royal Bank Plaza in Toronto (Image: Dustin Fuhs)
Louis Bon Bon recently opened at Royal Bank Plaza, just across the TTC Union Station concourse. The space was most recently The Body Shop, which shuttered during the pandemic. Also opening at Royal Bank Plaza will be a relocated Starbucks, which has secured a space next to Brooks Brothers, leaving its prior space at the entrance to Union Station available for lease.
Table Fare + Social at CIBC Square opened its 40,000 square foot food hall at the end of 2023. The location is set to continue expansion, with a number of new stalls and a flagship restaurant set to open.
CIBC Square in downtown Toronto (Image: Dustin Fuhs)TABLE Fare | CIBC Square (Image: Sierra Curtis / TABLE Fare)
The first new tenant in the building opened recently, being The Joneses by Oliver & Bonacini. Cafe Landwer, which is taking over the former Fran’s location, is in full construction build-out mode. Oliver & Bonacini Cafe Grill and Biff’s both shuttered earlier this year to make way for the revamped concepts to join the property, which includes Osteria Giulia and a re-imagined Biff’s.
Retail Insider will be following the transformation on this project closely and will report on any new announcements.
The Joneses at 33 Yonge Street (Image: Dustin Fuhs)Former Biff’s at 33 Yonge Street (Image: Dustin Fuhs)Mossop’s Social House at Hotel Victoria on Yonge Street (Image: Dustin Fuhs)Mossop’s Social House at Hotel Victoria on Yonge Street (Image: Mossop’s Social House)
Moving up Yonge Street from the Hockey Hall of Fame, the Hotel Victoria recently opened a social house called “Mossop’s“, which opened in October of 2023.
The space opened as part of a renovation and will appeal to crowds from a section of the neighbourhood that is still in transition from pandemic closures.
The Irish Embassy has yet to reopen, with the most recent social post being from March 2021 and a temporarily closed notice on Google with no reopening notice on the website.
In addition, a number of retail spaces in the blocks from Yonge at Front to King have stayed vacated for years. Staples consolidated both Yonge Street and Corktown into a single location at Richmond and Parliament. Rexall shuttered both the Yonge at Wellington and Yonge at Gerrard locations, with both still available for sublease. The vacated Marche/Richtree at Brookfield Place continues to look for a permanent tenant, as the space has most recently been used for pop-up touring exhibitions.
Shuttered Irish Embassy Pub and Grill (Image: Dustin Fuhs)Lucie at 100 Yonge Street (Image: Dustin Fuhs)
Just north of Yonge at King, which has recently seen a new Mad Radish open, along with soon-to-re-open Starbucks, there is another recent opening.
French fine dining restaurant Lucie opened in 2023 at 100 Yonge Street. Paying homage to owner Yannick Bigourdan’s late Grandmother, the 4,000 square-foot concept is just the latest in the career of highlights. From Nota Bene to The Carbon Bar and bringing Union Chicken and Mike’s Smash Burger to market with a partnership at Open Concept Hospitality, he sold his interests in the concepts in 2023 to acquire full control of Amano Trattoria, alongside Mike Angeloni and Adam Teolis.
The restaurant took over a former long-standing restaurant called ‘CRU’, which shuttered in 2021.
Future Kinton Ramen Express at 140 Yonge Street (Image: Dustin Fuhs)
Kinton Ramen is set to open a Kinton Ramen Express in the former A&W location, just south of Yonge and Richmond at 140 Yonge Street.
The location is across the street from a brand new Greenbox, which opened in the space that was home to Tractor, a farm to table concept that opened in summer 2018 and shuttered during the pandemic in 2021.
Turkish cafe and bakery Mado recently opened at 144 Yonge Street, taking over for Walking on a Cloud shoe store, which had been at that location for more than 20 years and relocated south across from One King West.
La Mouette opened on the second floor at 144 Yonge, in what the brand described as a “culinary haven where sophistication meets Toronto charm. La Mouette invites you on a gastronomic journey inspired by the rich traditions of international cuisine.”
Mado at 144 Yonge Street (Image: Dustin Fuhs)
Neighbourhood Destinations Continue to Grow
The Financial District borders a number of Business Improvement Associations, including the Entertainment District, St Lawrence Market Neighbourhood, The Waterfront and Downtown Yonge. Each district has its own influx of openings, which is poised to see an uptick in leasing activity for comparable commercial spaces as foot traffic will grow into the summer and fall.
Future Mott32 at Shangri-La Toronto (Image: Dustin Fuhs)
In the Enterainment District, just across University Avenue from Chop Steakhouse, is Mott32 at the Shangri-La Toronto. Mott32 recently had a job fair for its new restaurant at the Shangri-La Hotel Toronto and will be opening in the foreseeable future, taking over for Momofuku after the David Chang restaurant shut its doors in 2022.
Nobu at 30 Mercer Street is set to open this year, alongside Fogo de Chão, which are set for openings in 2024/2025. Renderings have been released for Fogo de Chão’s upcoming Toronto location at Blue Jays Way and Mercer Street.
Fogo de Chão Toronto (Image: Dustin Fuhs)Fogo de Chão Toronto (Renderings: Fogo de Chão Canada)
The Waterfront saw a number of highlights, including the opening of NBA Courtside and Second City at One York.
Downtown Yonge will be seeing a number of new entrants, including The Tenor’s upcoming slate of Shack Shack, The Ballroom Bowl and Hard Rock Cafe. The CF Toronto Eaton Centre saw Milestones take over the operations of the mall’s Hendricks restaurant. Banh Mi Boys moved from the corner of Yonge & Gerrard to the former home of Silver Snail Comics on the second floor of 329 Yonge Street, above Five Guys Burger and Fries.
The St. Lawrence Market area will see The Berczy Tavern replace the recently closed Le Papillon on Front.
“We are the proud owners of the highly acclaimed Amano Trattoria and Bar Notte in Toronto,” shared the brand online. “As hands-on operators with a track record of success, we’re excited to announce our latest venture: The Berczy Tavern. Positioned in the heart of Old Town Toronto at Church and Front Streets, The Berczy is set to redefine the casual fine dining experience, blending contemporary Canadian/American cuisine with Mediterranean influences. With plans for a comprehensive cocktail program, extensive wine list, and a vibrant piano bar, The Berczy is poised for a grand opening in June and aims to become a cornerstone in Toronto’s dining scene.”
The Berczy Tavern will take over the former Le Papillon on Front (Image: Dustin Fuhs)
The area will also be seeing a number of new offerings, as leasing activity ramps up in the neighbourhood as condo developments like Time and Space at Front & Sherbourne are in the final stages of construction.
We’ll continue to report on new additions to the Financial District, as leasing activity will continue to be active as the downtown core looks to the future with consumer demands, economic shifts and the Ontario Line subway, which will impact the centre of the city for the next seven to 10 years.
“Offering a one-of-a-kind, welcoming, and professional experience, we use top of the line equipment and a library of experiences that suit every desire and genre,” said Robert Bruski, CEO and Co-Founder.
“The Ctrl V brand is the stamp of approval in VR, ensuring that virtual reality gaming is a premiere and memorable experience. Growing across multiple countries, Ctrl V is actively expanding and looking for people that suit the DNA of a successful franchisee.
“This is a brick and mortar facility where literally everyone can come in and just experience VR. If you’re a person that likes gaming or shooting Zombies, we’ve got that. But way beyond that there’s so much more. We do a lot of corporate events. We do birthday parties. We do date night. We had our second marriage proposal in VR this past August. We get schools or home-schooled families come in to learn chemistry, astronomy, biology on VR. We’ve got escape rooms in VR. We’re big with the autism community because VR provides a lot of relief for people with autism.
“We’ve got senior citizens. We’ve got this 93-year-old that comes in with his great grandson to play a par 42 mini golf course or someone who wouldn’t be caught dead in a bikini is now swimming with whales or hanging out with gorillas. So we have all this experiential stuff as well. It’s really for everyone. Sports. It’s all there.”
Image: Ctrl VImage: Ctrl V
The first location was in Waterloo. There are six locations today – Delaware, Texas, Waterloo, Guelph, Lindsay (Ontario) and Red Deer, Alberta. Prior to the pandemic lockdown, it had 25 locations.
“A lot of businesses took a hit and the vast majority of the VR arcade industry shut down but we had such a solid business model that we were able to make it through. So now we’re back in the growth mode,” said Bruski. “We have a massive pipeline. So there’s a lot coming.
“From a growth potential standpoint, I know it sounds super cliche but it really is limitless. And the reason I say that is because nobody else is really doing this and those who are trying to do it aren’t doing it very successfully. Literally every market is sort of open to us.”
Bruski said the aim is for about 4,000 square feet for its locations.
“From a Canadian standpoint our big focus is on a lot of the cities in Ontario. There’s the Greater Toronto Area. I don’t know if downtown Toronto would be very successful but the suburbs like Mississauga, Etobicoke, Richmond Hill, Markham, Brampton, Vaughan, Pickering, Ajax, Oshawa. Everything that ecompasses the Toronto area,” he said.
“We do have one coming to Barrie which isn’t really considered Toronto but is kind of close. And then further from Ontario we have the peninsula there where we’ve got Oakville, Burlington, Hamilton – Hamilton could probably handle two locations – then we’ve got London and down towards the border around Windsor and northern Ontario of course as well where we’ve got Sudbury, Thunder Bay and Sault Ste. Marie. We’ve got the entire East Coast that’s available to us. Probably one or two locations in each one of those provinces. Winnipeg will probably be the only location we’d open in Manitoba because of the population density. Saskatoon and Regina in Saskatchewan. In Alberta, we’ve got a heavy focus right now in Edmonton. And B.C. is sort of the same scope as Ontario. Probably not downtown Vancouver but suburbs around it. And we’ve got a focus on the U.S. as well. The most thriving economies in the U.S. right now are Texas and Florida. But there’s a number of other states we’d like to go into.”
Image: Ctrl V
Bruski said VR is becoming more and more popular.
“It’s absolutely compelling. It’s almost hard to describe. You need to try it to understand it,” he said. “But from the standpoint of Ctrl V that’s becoming and is actually incredibly popular.
“We use VR as a tool. We don’t consider ourselves as a tech company. It’s a tool and we use it to deliver incredible experiences.”
Good Neighbour, a thoughtfully curated lifestyle and fashion department store, has opened its third, and biggest location in Toronto, on Yonge Street.
The store is 6,000 square feet in the Summerhill area at 1212 Yonge Street, said Aziz Alam, an owner of the company.
The brand’s first store opened in 2014 at 935 Queen Street East in Leslieville in 4,000 square feet of space. The second store opened during COVID in 2021 at 415 Roncesvalles Avenue in 2,200 square feet of space.
Good Neighbour Summerhill (Image: Good Neighbour)
“I’ve been in retail for 40 some odd years. I was young when I started retail and I worked for the big guys. We lived not far from Leslieville. We had little kids and we used to have to go to Queen West to get some stuff. I thought this was crazy,” he said.
“There’s such an amazing demographic in Leslieville. Nobody thought of anything. I eyed this location for almost a year and a half. I tried to negotiate. They didn’t want retail. We finally convinced them. We took a small footprint of that store. We opened up with 1,700 square feet 10 years ago in October and since then we continued to take more space there and we became a 4,000 square feet store. During COVID we doubled our footprint in that building.
“Basically I always wanted to satisfy a need in a niche neighbourhood which we saw a demographic of young parents, young families like us and cater to the needs of the family.”
Good Neighbour Leslieville at 935 Queen Street E (Image: Good Neighbour)Good Neighbour Leslieville at 935 Queen Street E (Image: Good Neighbour)Good Neighbour Leslieville at 935 Queen Street E (Image: Good Neighbour)
Alam said the idea was to create a unique, thoughtful and fun shopping experience with everything from hot sauce to blue jeans.
He said the new location in Summerhill offered a great opportunity for the brand.
“Nobody around here caters to the needs of a household which is exactly what I’m after all the time, especially a young household. You can buy not only a pair of jeans but you can buy dishes and you can buy soaps,” said Alam. “It’s a concept of what you need at home and for yourself and going to someone’s house with a gift.
“We will grow. We realized after expanding into Roncesvalles, even though it’s a smaller footprint, definitely we know how to scale ourselves and what we have people love. And we have a niche. We’re sort of high volume inventory type of people but not cheap at all. I’m still looking to be very design conscious and brand conscious.”
Good Neighbour at 415 Roncesvalles (Image: Good Neighbour)
Alam said brick and mortar customers want an experience.
“They’re not just going to a clothing store anymore because they can buy anything online now. In order to make that experience, you need to give them the ambiance, to give them the full exposure. I go after people who travel a lot. Anybody that’s been to Paris, anybody that’s been to anywhere, Copenhagen, shopping, when they come into our store they can relate to all these stores in L.A., in Paris. There’s an experience they don’t get in Toronto or really in Canada,” he said.
“There’s very few people doing what we’re doing and how we do it. We know what customers like about us is basically being able to come in and leave with something in their hands and the store has a lot of stories, it has a lot of little departments so you get into the store and you get lost into the world of departments and categories.”
Good Neighbour Summerhill (Image: Good Neighbour)Good Neighbour Summerhill (Image: Good Neighbour)Good Neighbour Summerhill (Image: Good Neighbour)
In the new store, there’s also a lounge with beverages.
“The name itself we know now resonates very nicely with communities and neighbourhoods. Are there more neighbourhoods left in Toronto that I see? We have the East, the West and the Centre now. Where we go next will be other cities. We’ll definitely grow. My heart tells me to go to Vancouver before anywhere,” said Alam. “We’re careful with how we spend our money too. So do we want to try an out of town experience first in a place like Oakville or Collingwood before we go test ourselves in a place like Vancouver. We are definitely going to grow.”
Retail Insider is streamlining its Canadian retail news from around the web to include a handful of top news stories that can be viewed quickly during the day. Here are the top stories from the past 24 hours.
Anatomy of a Leader: Ian Rosen, President and COO of Harry Rosen
With a grandfather and a father being icons in the Canadian retail industry, it was probably only natural that Ian Rosen would end up today as President and COO of Harry Rosen, one of the country’s most recognizable brands.
“Actually if you had asked a straw poll of people in my family before I joined, who will join, it would not have been me,” said Ian Rosen.
“I was just dead set on figuring out my own interests, my own path, developing probably my own confidence at the end of the day. And through a happy coincidence at every stage of my professional career I ended up realizing that the things that excited me just so happened to be in the world of consumer and retail and fashion.
“My first job out of school was at a smaller strategy consulting firm before I joined Bain (& Company) and my first project was working with a big mine. They were trying to figure out how to improve operations and mine more effectively, get more out of their resource pool, deploy capital differently. I visited the mine, it was a real interesting problem to solve and I loved doing it once but if you told me to do it again, I wasn’t excited. It was predictable in a lot of ways.”
Image provided by Ian Rosen
The thing that really excited Rosen was the first time he ever did a project where consumer goods and consumer retail was involved with one unknown variable – the customer.
Rosen joined the iconic retailer in 2018 and was Executive Vice President of Digital & Strategy, with the challenge of transforming the company’s online business, until February 2022 when he took over his current role.
“You got to inspire them to act. You can’t force them to act and it got me really addicted to the idea of coming up with strategies a customer might mobilize around and if they don’t how are you going to change what you do and how do you take big risks knowing that unknown variable,” said Rosen. “It’s something that got me really excited and led me to where I am today.”
Prior to joining the family business, he did a number of placements in retail including Harry Rosen at a young age.
“My funniest story is that my first employment stint here I was asked to leave because I was showing up late to the store all the time. I got no preferential treatment when I was 16 or 17 years old,” said Rosen.
“But I grew up around the business and before I did my MBA I spent four or five months supporting the executive team and learning how we do business which I think is very important. I joined in the digital role and I was at Bain & Company right beforehand working in the U.S. doing strategy consulting, as much as possible with companies that were in the retail side of things. And a lot of them were thinking through their ecommerce strategy . . . I got a lot of exposure to that and got the itch to say ‘hey I really want to do this somewhere else where I can own it and see it through’.
“And Larry (Rosen, his father) convinced me there was an exciting opportunity here.”
Image provided by Ian Rosen
Rosen did his undergraduate degree at the University of Western Ontario at the Ivey Business School in London. He then did an MBA at the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University in Chicago.
After being asked to leave the Yorkdale location when he first started working with Harry Rosen, he managed to convince his boss to give him another shot and he worked at the Bloor St location for two weeks over the holidays.
“My job was to organize and clean up tables after the holiday madness had started. I think probably the most amazing experience – I still contrast it to what Boxing Day is today – we were setting up for Boxing Day weekend, rows and rows and rows of overcoats and suits organized by size. We had a big gate crasher and a lineup outside. The doors opened early and the shopping madness was like people were grabbing things and tossing them on the floor, it was chaos in the store. And my job was to clean up quickly after the chaos,” said Rosen.
“That was a really fun experience, getting to really appreciate just how offline retail used to be high volume especially during the holiday period.”
Rosen grew up as a young boy always shadowing either his father Larry or a man named Bob Humphrey who was the CEO before Larry and was Rosen’s grandfather Harry’s right hand man.
“Getting to walk a store with Harry was a treat. Moments I cherish especially after his passing.”
Rosen said the funny thing about being a part of a retail family is a vacation is always turned into a work trip. You’re down in Florida and you have to check out the latest shopping centre to notice the different trends and what people are up to.
“I can’t tell you how many times I drove down to Buffalo or to Detroit to check out what Nordstrom was up to or Neiman Marcus was up to. It was always ‘do you want to go see the Bills game’ and it turned into a stopover at the Walden Galleria and checking out things,” he said.
“Definitely a lot of memories in tagging along and it was a master class in how to look at retail. Harry was able to pick apart how people were speaking to the customer better than anybody else.”
Image provided by Ian Rosen
Surrounded by such legendary Canadian retail personalities like his grandfather and father, Ian Rosen learned many things first hand about the retail business.
From his grandfather Harry, he learned that saying it’s all about the customer doesn’t mean talking about it. It’s about doing it. It’s being around the customer. Asking them questions. Observing them while they are in the store.
“If someone did a horseshoe around the store and didn’t connect with anything, Harry was the first person to chase them out of the door and say ‘can I just ask you a few questions? What didn’t you see? What did you come in here for?’ He was always looking to learn not in an invasive way ‘hey I want to close the sale’ but he was very obsessed in understanding what the customer was doing,” said Ian Rosen.
“And number two with Harry, he was just a legendary merchandiser. He could articulate how a store was speaking to a customer. Like what signals we were giving off . . . He was just a master of that and I got to walk so many stores and malls with him. In fact, when I joined I did a day every two weeks with Harry just walking stores and I would try and teach him about ecommerce . . . I was trying to teach him and see if he could add anything to what the client experience ought to look like.”
Image provided by Ian Rosen
Rosen said his father Larry is phenomenal at inspiring standards and scaling excellence.
“Harry came up with a brilliant idea of how to become a square peg in a round hole. How to mean something just for men and develop an expertise there. But how do you take that and scale it across 18,19, 20 stores? How do you train a leadership team to embrace that way of doing things? Pass on those standards. How do you measure success? Harry I think came up with a phenomenal concept but Larry and his leadership did a really good job evangelizing the way we do things,” said Rosen.
“These are still some of the same ways we do things today. And that’s really key.”
With Larry still in the role of CEO and Chairman, he is constantly available to give advice about the retail industry and the business.
“To my father’s credit he’s surrounded himself with a youthful leadership team that brings a fresh perspective and he realizes that fashion is a bit of a younger person’s business. He’s not on the cutting edge of what’s in and hip and he doesn’t want to pretend to be. So he needs to bring points of view into that.”
Image provided by Ian Rosen
Ian Rosen said he reminds himself on a recurring basis that he is not Harry Rosen, and he is not Larry Rosen. And he will not be either of those two gentlemen. His brother Graham is the retailer’s Executive Vice President of Corporate Strategy and Finance.
“He and I talk about how we’re not one another either,” said Rosen. “You can’t replicate it. In terms of my leadership style, I really love to understand how it works and I will invest a tremendous amount of energy in understanding why we’re doing things the way we’re doing it because I don’t want to bring anybody along on a journey that I can’t speak credibly to.
“And I think the worst thing that I’ve seen in my past life is when a dogmatic point of view starts to shift an organization one way and everybody underneath says they don’t understand, it doesn’t make sense to them. So I’m really invested in understanding why and I think that allows me to bring more and more people along with me and I think especially during COVID that was a huge win for me in my old role where we were taking a monumental step forward with respect to ecommerce and how we invest in technology.
“I can tell you where all the data is stored and how it’s mobilized and what systems speak to what systems. I put in the energy there so that we can come up with the right solution.
“I’m also a bit of a coalition builder. Once we build and shape the vision I like to work with a team that’s going to inspire the solution and come up with an answer. It’s not about me baking the cake.”
Image provided by Ian Rosen
Rosen said he also likes to be approachable as it allows him to build stronger connections with not only his team around him but also their reports. Rosen doesn’t mind being forthcoming with his own shortcomings and he doesn’t mind picking on people for the expertise he believes they should have. He tries to make sure the company isn’t too hierarchical in the way it’s speaking to one another.
Outside of work, Rosen is busy with his family with three young girls and another one on the way. He enjoys playing hockey in a league. He loves to spend time in the pool. Skating as well.
“I had my first (child) at the end of 2019. COVID was the strangest blessing because the business I was in and charging forward was facing such an existential problem but I also got to be around for my first child’s firsts every step along the way because we were all locked up inside our houses,” he said.
“It showed me that the balance is so important.”
Today, balancing work and family remains important to Rosen. He said as a leader you have to be very trusting of the team around you.
“One of the best leadership sound bites that somebody shared with me recently that I’ve been leaning into is one of the luxuries you have as a leader is you get to set the expectations. You get to be very clear and ask ‘I need this to do my job’. That’s a luxury you have and if you don’t use it you’re not doing your job and you’re not helping other people do their jobs effectively.”
Image: Ian Rosen
He said it’s also important to understand where to find things that give you energy so you’re more productive with the limited time you do have.
“This isn’t about clearing your email inbox. It’s about driving a business forward and sometimes you’ve got to sacrifice answering that email to make sure you’ve really weighed in strategically on a key project. That ultimately becomes one of the biggest challenges in front of people these days.”
The Body Shop at CF Toronto Eaton Centre (Image: Dustin Fuhs)
Mid-market retail has been facing challenges for years. As early as 2015, publications like this one documented the sector’s struggles, and casualties so far include Sears, The Body Shop, and Bed Bath & Beyond. The reasons cited range from supply chain disruptions and labor challenges to the burdens of private equity and unsustainable debt. But among these, the most pervasive is consumers’ flight away from the mid-market. What is unique about the current moment is that there is a real opportunity to turn things around.
Defining the Mid-Market Dilemma
Photo: Sears Canada (2017)
The mid-market’s identity crisis stems from its nebulous definition: not discount, yet not luxury. At Faculty of Change, our anthropologists invest hundreds of hours annually in ethnographic research. They’ve repeatedly validated that customers seek status, exclusivity, and quality at luxury retailers, while discount retail appeals for its price and convenience. Historically, mid-market retail promised the best of both worlds, offering superior quality to discount options without the premium of luxury. Over time, prices rose and perceived quality eroded, disrupting the balance that was key to this market. The post-pandemic landscape presents both monumental challenges and fresh opportunities for strategic renewal — a process of leveraging core capabilities to spur new growth.
Challenges to Overcome
Based on our scanning of the retail market and ethnographic studies, customers frequently talk about their challenges with the mid-market which are quality, the rise in resale/vintage and limited access. This highlights where the opportunities for strategic renewal lie.
Customer’s impression of product quality, once the segment’s hallmark, is diminishing, leading consumers to pivot towards discount alternatives or save up for luxury splurges. The rise of vintage and resale markets, seen on platforms like Facebook Marketplace, offers quality and affordability and so encroaches on traditional mid-market territory. Meanwhile, the dwindling presence of mid-market retailers in already shrinking retail spaces, caught between the increase of luxury experiences and the convenience of big-box retail, is compounding the challenges of accessibility and visibility.
Aritzia at CF Masonville Place (Image: Cadillac Fairview)
As a practical example in apparel, the Aritzia story is indicative. While recovered from last winter’s lows, the stock still trades at roughly half its 2022 levels. From the consumer perspective (as seen on forums like Reddit), the quality has fallen off, leading customers to ask, “is it worth it?” They can either purchase vintage or resale clothing for less or splurge for luxury items that they know they can resell when their tastes change.
Increasing customer interest in vintage and resale items is a small but emerging challenge to the mid-market. In the minds of customers, when looking for a sub $2,000 sofa, Leon’s competitor set is not Rove and Article as much as it is Facebook Marketplace. Second-hand allows customers to meet their quality benchmarks (which are otherwise perceived to only be available at luxury stores) at a more affordable price.
Lastly, the places where consumers would come across mid-market retailers are disappearing. With tier 1 malls focusing on luxury retail experiences and tier 2 and 3 malls being converted into residential developments, the number of potential great locations for mid-market retailers are disappearing. Every town has a big box mall nearby and luxury retailers are destinations unto themselves. They do not need to be widely retailed. Additionally, given the volumes that mid-market retailers do, ecommerce tends to be subscale. This results in limited competitiveness against the DTC brands that are trying to grow in their markets.
Spotlights of Success
Image: EQ3 CF Polo Park
Despite these adversities, the mid-market segment has had its success stories in categories like affordable workwear, athleisure, and home goods — sectors thriving on consistency and functionality. These underscore a critical strategy: applying legacy capabilities and strength to redraw what the market is. Retailers in these segments build off their history and capabilities to better align to specific customer needs and values, thereby rebalancing the mid-market equation.
– **Banana Republic’s Renaissance**: The brand’s 2021 relaunch, expanding into baby, home goods, and athleisure, underscores the power of cultural relevance — a focus traditionally reserved for luxury brands. This pivot not only spurred growth but also realigned Banana Republic with contemporary consumer values, carving out a new customer base from luxury segments.
– **EQ3’s Strategic Positioning**: In the home goods domain, EQ3’s emphasis on quality manufacturing has allowed it to capitalize on the public’s disillusionment with many DTC brands. The company’s expansion into the U.S. market, leveraging the demand for durable, high-quality furnishings, illustrates a successful counter to the challenges facing mid-market retailers.
Call to Action: Embrace Strategic Renewal
For mid-market retailers pondering their future, the time is ripe for strategic renewal. The cornerstone of this is answering a few questions: What does the company excel at? What are the unique strengths that will make the company competitive? What has changed in the lives of target customers? How has what they value shifted? How can the company’s expertise be applied to provide unique value to customers?
By reframing customer needs and values, retailers can uncover growth opportunities and, navigate the rocky retail landscape with agility and clear direction. The path forward involves not only a re-evaluation of product offerings and quality but also an innovative approach to customer engagement and value creation. In the dynamic retail ecosystem, strategic renewal is not just an option — it’s an imperative for survival and growth.
