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.
“We’ve recently completed five new restaurant deals to replace the four existing concepts,” said Devan Sloan, Vice President, Leasing for GWL. “One of them is Café Landwer and beside them will be the third concept for the owners of the award-winning Giulietta and Osteria Giulia. It will be uniquely branded and although we don’t know the name yet, it will be an Italian steakhouse.”
“We’re then splitting the former O&B (Oliver & Bonacini) space in half and O&B will do two concepts – a new version of Biff’s, taking half of the space, and then a new Latin concept in the other half.”
33 Yonge Street (Conceptual Rendering: GWL Realty Advisors)Oliver & Bonacini at 33 Yonge Street (Image: Dustin Fuhs)
O&B is also opening a third concept in the building.
“It’s a mid-century modern American restaurant,” said Sloan.
The five deals represent close to 30,000 square feet of space.
Biff’s at 33 Yonge Street (Image: Dustin Fuhs)33 Yonge Street (Image: Dustin Fuhs)
The 13-storey building was built in 1982 and has a total square footage of about 550,000 square feet with about 40,000 square feet for retail which is about 13 units. The building is primarily office with about 200,000 square feet of availability. The anchor tenants include Altus and GWL. CIBC recently moved out of the building, vacating about 190,000 square feet.
Brandon Gorman
Brandon Gorman, Senior Vice President, Broker, Agency Retail Group, JLL, said a few smaller units of retail space are available at the building.
“We’ve got a number of smaller units available but we’re being very selective with the remaining space. This is a really great story . . . Cafe Landwer and Giuletta are two of the best operators in the city and O&B, who has been a prominent tenant at 33 Yonge for years, has multiple exciting new concepts planned for the building”
Former Fran’s Restaurant at 33 Yonge Street (Image: Dustin Fuhs)33 Yonge Street (Image: Dustin Fuhs)
33 Yonge Street is a landmark building that connects two of Toronto’s most remarkable locations – the Financial District and the historic St. Lawrence neighbourhood.
“We’re very excited about the new amenity offering,” said Sloan. “These restaurateurs will make 33 Yonge a restaurant destination in the financial core.”
33 Yonge Street (Conceptual Rendering: GWL Realty Advisors)
33 Yonge Street (Conceptual Rendering: GWL Realty Advisors)
33 Yonge Street (Conceptual Rendering: GWL Realty Advisors)
33 Yonge Street (Conceptual Rendering: GWL Realty Advisors)
Gorman said GWL also has significant lobby renovation planned for the building.
“Ownership is investing a substantial amount of capital and will be completing a significant renovation of the lobby – the renovation along with the new food and beverage offerings will completely transform the asset. By the end of next year 33 Yonge Street is going to be spectacular”
Sloan said the ownership group feels the building straddles the Financial core and the St. Lawrence market neighbourhood.
“So it’s sort of the introduction from the St. Lawrence neighbourhood to Bay Street,” he said. “We really have that unique mix of a professional office building in the core with a neighbourhood feel. It’s one of the few atrium buildings in the city. The atrium cuts the building in half and provides significant natural light to the lobby and office space.”
“It’s a very well-known and well-located building close to Union Station but it also fronts onto Berczy Park. You have this whole set of amenities East of 33 Yonge that is totally unique to being on Bay Street.”
33 Yonge Street (Conceptual Rendering: GWL Realty Advisors)33 Yonge Street (Image: GWL Realty Advisors/JLL)
“We have this unique opportunity to reset the retail and invest money into the lobby in order to take the amenities to a whole new level. The idea here is we’re repositioning the retail for the building to appeal to our customer and we really think of our customer as being our office tenant.”
The Hockey Hall of Fame is situated directly across the street.
Walmart Canada at Hillside Shopping Centre in Victoria, BC (Image: Walmart Canada)
Walmart Canada has launched Delivery Pass, offering customers access to unlimited, free next-day delivery on thousands of items for less than $2 per week.
The subscription program includes free next-day delivery and discounted same-day and express delivery from stores; a competitive price of $8.97 monthly or $89 per year to access unlimited delivery; and an opportunity for consumers to spend less time shopping in-store with groceries and more delivered right to their door.
Laurent Duray
“Canadians don’t have to choose between fast, convenient delivery and our everyday low prices. We’re transforming our omnichannel offering to better serve Canadians, aiming to build the most efficient, consistent and affordable way to shop in Canada,” said Laurent Duray, Chief E-commerce Officer, Walmart Canada. “Delivery Pass is going to be a gamechanger for Canadians by giving them the products they need, when and how they want them, at the best prices.”
Image: Walmart Canada Delivery Pass
Amanda Shoalts, Senior Manager, Store Fulfilled Strategy, Walmart Canada, said the Delivery Pass is very simple to use. A time for delivery is booked that is convenient for the customer, items to be purchased are added to checkout and delivery fees are waived.
Amanda Shoalts
She said the Delivery Pass is currently available for purchase through the Walmart app. Once the Delivery Pass is purchased customers can place orders on either the Walmart app or on walmart.ca.
“We know that customers are really busy and always looking for ways to save both time and money,” said Shoalts. “So we were really trying to find a way to hook up with saving time and money for either a monthly or an annual fee. Our mission is to build the most convenient, fast and omnichannel experience. We identified a way we could provide our customers with access to unlimited free next-day delivery on thousands of items for less than $2 a week through Delivery Pass.”
She said Delivery Pass will be a “game-changer” for Canadians, giving them the products that they need when and how they are looking for them at the best price.
Today, it’s available to customers in the Greater Ottawa Area and the Greater Toronto Area.
“We’re excited to continue to roll out the Delivery Pass across the country,” added Shoalts.
“We’re committed to rolling Delivery Pass out across the country over the coming weeks and months to provide Canadians across the country with access to an additional way to save time and money with Walmart.”
Image: Walmart Canada
Walmart says the Delivery Pass includes more than 65,000 items, including groceries and general merchandise.
Ignacio Baladrón
“Not only will our customers save money when shopping with Walmart Canada, they can now spend less time shopping in-store with groceries and more delivered right to their doors from our stores. We’re unlocking access to unlimited, free next-day delivery on items including groceries, electronics and toys, at a low price they can afford,” said Ignacio Baladron, Vice President, Omnichannel Operations, Walmart Canada. “We’re excited to launch today and already have ambitious plans to evolve the program and unlock new features. Delivery Pass is just getting started!”
Walmart Canada operates a chain of more than 400 stores nationwide serving 1.5 million customers each day. Its online store is visited by more than 1.5 million customers daily.
Canadian based clothing brand, Wolfe Co., is going to be adding more locations in Canada, has a new wholesale program, and is in the process of developing a new sister brand.
The brand opened its first flagship store in 2021 in Huntsville. Consumers can find a variety of Canadian made products and Brit Powell, the founder and CEO of Wolfe Co., designs all products and has them made in Toronto or Vancouver. Everything from the stitches to the labels are made in Canada as staying local is important to the brand. Consumers can find a variety of clothing options for men, women, and children.
Almost two years after opening the flagship location in Huntsville, Powell has opened a second location in Muskoka in Minett, but as a pop-up location. The seasonal location is 400 square feet and opened last month and will remain open until Labour Day. Consumers can find its “newest and hottest” products.
Image: Wolfe Co.Image: Wolfe Co.
“This year I jumped on opening another location and it has been exciting. It is nice to expand because as much as it is still in Muskoka – Muskoka is still a big place and there are a lot of cottagers. Muskoka’s Summer Experts, puts on a pop up village in two of their locations. They have Minett and they also have Port Carling. They basically have a collection of shipping containers that you can rent out for the summer season and it really took off a few years ago,” says Powell.
Along with the brand, Powell says consumers can find other retailers such as Waxon, Lululemon, Roots, and more.
New Wholesale Program Coming Soon
Image: Wolfe Co.
A few years ago, Powell said the company tried opening a wholesale program; however, due to the demand of being a small business – Powell had to put the brakes on. Fast forward to today, and Powell is ready to open the program across Canada and internationally.
“It was difficult as a startup to maintain a wholesale program in addition to trying to sell directly to consumers online and in-store. So we decided to dial it back and just focus on ourselves for a while, but now everything is pretty settled and we have a good collection of items that are here to stay now. So, we started building applications to retail stores across Canada and internationally and there has already been some interest, so it is exciting.”
Powell said she has been focused on Ontario for the past few years, and now she would like to move beyond, and now with the wholesale program she can expand. The program has already received applications from California, the West Coast of Canada, Ontario, and more are starting to roll in.
The earliest consumers will be able to see retailers carry its products will be Spring of 2024. Powell said she would like to see retailers in Toronto, Halifax, Victoria, and Vancouver carrying her products so she is keeping her eyes open for locations. Instead of big box stores, Powell said she is looking for independent retailers.
“We are looking for more independent small to medium sized retailers. We do not really want to get into big box stores at all. It just does not fit with the aesthetic or the brand’s values. So we are looking at stores that typically stock local, sustainable, and ethically produced high end brands – that is what we are going after.”
Powell said she decided to open the wholesale program as it is a perfect way to expand the brands presence without having to put any of their own resources into it.
Upcoming Sister Brand
Image: Wolfe Co Apparel (38 Main Street East. Huntsville, ON)
“Still fairly confidential, but what I can say is right now we are working on a sister brand for Wolfe Co. and the first few products are already in production – so we should be seeing that in the very near future.”
Powell said the sister brand will be focusing on menswear and a couple of the products will be available this upcoming Fall. The new brand will be focusing on using a lot of natural fibers, will be “very rugged in the same way that Wolf Co is already, but will be a lot earthier, neutral, and will have a lot of wool and linen cotton.”
The sister brand will have its own website and digital presence, but until those are ready, Powell said they will be rolling out the new products on the Wolfe Co. website.
Expansion Plans
Image: Wolfe Co.
Within the next five years, Powell says she is looking at expanding by adding a few more locations – either permanent or pop-up locations.
One pop-up location Powell says she is working on will be in Toronto.
“We are working on the possibility of another short term pop-up location in Toronto later in 2023, but I have not finalized any details yet. We have a lot of people up in Huntsville who are from the GTA, so it just makes sense to meet them where they are and try to see what our success would be like in a bigger city like Toronto.”
Powell says the pop-up location would be around November during the holiday season. As for other locations, Powell said she is keeping an eye out for locations in Nova Scotia and British Columbia.
Powell, along with nine other women, won the Visa grant for IFundWomen. This is the fifth year of the organization and Powell said the top ten recipients from 3,500 applicants across Canada, received grants of $10,000. The winners also receive memberships to different business organizations across Canada and a one year mentorship program through York University.
“It was a shock for sure. They held a big networking event, had an entrepreneurship panel, and a big catered party last week in Toronto, so it was very exciting. We got to showcase all of our products and connect with Visa executives so it was a great opportunity and has driven a lot of attention to the brand.”
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 48 hours.
L.L. Bean at Amazing Brentwood (Image: Shape Properties)
L.L.Bean, the iconic, Maine-based outdoor retailer specializing in quality and durable outdoor gear and apparel, is opening its first two Quebec locations: Saint-Bruno-de-Montarville and Boisbriand.
L.L.Bean is also launching a French version of its website for its customers in Quebec and across Canada. In advance of the launch, customers can visit www.llbean.ca/Quebec for more details.
Stephen Smith
“It’s an honour for L.L.Bean to be able to expand into Quebec and bring the L.L.Bean shopping experience to our Quebecois customers. We are also excited to reach new outdoor enthusiasts via our retail presence and our new French language website. We are looking forward to enabling everyone to enjoy the restorative power of being outside,” said Stephen Smith, President and CEO, L.L.Bean.
With 18,000 square feet of floor space, the Saint-Bruno-de-Montarville store, located at CF Promenades St-Bruno, will be ready for August 25. The Boisbriand location, in the heart of the Faubourg, will open its retail space of 11,500 square feet on September 29.
L.L.Bean at West Edmonton Mall (Image: Christopher Lui)
Charlie Bruder, Vice-President and General Manager of International & Wholesale at L.L.Bean, said the brand’s purpose is to inspire and enable people to experience the restorative power of being outside.
Charlie Bruder
“So we really want to create those connections with the outdoors and as we think about Quebec, it is a great match for our purpose,” said Bruder. “We think about the green spaces, the parks, the mountains, the access to all those fantastic outdoor activities that are so restorative, it just felt like a perfect coupling.
“We’ve been serving the market through our website and have seen great growth there. Our business in Quebec through our website has doubled over the course of the past four years. For us, that was a great indicator that we’re really ready to create some physical presence in the market. That ultimately is what led us to the timing of now.
“Both are going to be in malls in outdoor lifestyle centre locations. Historically, we’ve seen those kind of more suburban locations, the ones that are a little bit on the outskirts, they tend to be the gateway to the outdoors and they’re places that people are traveling through as they’re going outside. They’re easily accessible. As we were doing our research we found an incredibly strong demographic fit for the brand. That’s what led us to those locations specifically.”
Exterior of L.L.Bean first Canadian store at Oakville Place. Photo: George Pimentel
Bruder said the retailer sees more potential growth in Quebec.
“With these two stores and continued momentum in our direct business, we’re going to look to re-double our business in Quebec in the near term here. We’re very excited in the tremendous potential in the Quebec market,” he said.
The company said the two new stores will ensure a coast-to-coast presence in Canada for the company.
Wayne Drummond
“Since launching L.L.Bean in Canada five years ago, the brand has been actively expanding its physical presence in every major city from coast to coast. We’re delighted with the positive response and are excited to continue our growth with the opening of two new stores in Quebec, in Saint-Bruno-de-Montarville in August and Boisbriand later this fall. The addition of these new stores allows us to continue serving outdoor adventure enthusiasts in Quebec by providing them with quality clothing and equipment for their outdoor activities,” said Wayne Drummond, President, Jaytex Group. Drummond was president of Hudson’s Bay stores until last year when he retired from the company after 34 years.
L.L.Bean has 110 years of history and nearly 100 stores around the world, including 13 in Canada operated by Canadian licensing partner Jaytex Group.
Image: L.L.Bean (Ottawa Train Yards)
In addition to apparel and outerwear, the company also offers travel, hiking and camping equipment, footwear, and home and pet products. Outdoor enthusiasts will find everything they need.
“We are going to continue to strategically assess opportunities (in Canada) but we want to continue to grow our store footprint in partnership. We actually work with a fantastic partner who licenses our brand and operates our stores up in Canada – Jaytex Group out of Toronto. And they do a fantastic job and have been awesome partners and they’ve been constantly looking very opportunistically at the market for where would be a good fit,” said Bruder.
L.L.Bean, Inc. is a leading multichannel merchant of quality outdoor gear and apparel. Founded in 1912 by Leon Leonwood Bean, the company began as a one-room operation selling a single product, the Maine Hunting Shoe. Still family owned, Shawn Gorman, great grandson of Leon Leonwood Bean, was named Chairman of the Board of Directors in 2013.
L.L.Bean operates 56 stores in the U.S and 25 stores in Japan, and has 13 licensed retail store locations in Canada. The 220,000-square-foot L.L.Bean retail store campus in Freeport, ME, is open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year and welcomes more than three million visitors every year.
McArthurGlen Designer Outlet in July 2023. Photo: Lee Rivett.
McArthurGlen Designer Outlet Vancouver has experienced an 18 per cent increase in visitor numbers over last year (year to date), and an impressive 11 per cent visitor increase when compared to pre-pandemic levels in 2019.
Local foot traffic has remained high, with a strong 70 per cent of shoppers being local visitors, a 10 per cent increase from pre-pandemic levels.
Robert Thurlow
Robert Thurlow, General Manager of the shopping centre, said 2023 has been a very strong year for the shopping centre.
“Actually from a footfall and numbers point of view, what we’re looking at is we’ve been trending high double-digit growth compared to last year, 2022 . . . Toward the end of last year, we were already achieving and we had already regained and kind of come back to pre-COVID numbers last year in 2022. It was a very successful year,” he said.
“But we were continuing to add on to that throughout this year. So we’re seeing nice double-digit increases compared even back to 2019 which was of course for anybody in the retail business that was their high water mark.”
McArthurGlen Designer Outlet in July 2023. Photo: Lee Rivett.
McArthurGlen Designer Outlet in July 2023. Photo: Lee Rivett.
While cross-border shopping has slowed down, McArthurGlen has seen a positive increase in domestic shoppers.
A recent report by Statistics Canada said tourism spending in Canada grew 2.6 per cent in the first quarter of this year, due to an increase of 3.5 per cent in domestic tourism spending by Canadian residents.
The benefits of shopping and traveling close to home attracted a growing number of shoppers, making up a larger percentage of visitors than ever before.
McArthurGlen has seen strong domestic tourism from Ontario, Alberta and Quebec.
“What’s interesting is that domestic visitors is actually 15 per cent higher than it was in 2019,” said Thurlow. “We’re seeing people in really strong numbers who are coming out here who maybe would have decided to maybe do a European vacation or maybe go to the Caribbean.
McArthurGlen Designer Outlet in July 2023. Photo: Lee Rivett.McArthurGlen Designer Outlet in July 2023. Photo: Lee Rivett.McArthurGlen Designer Outlet in July 2023. Photo: Lee Rivett.
“But obviously with interest rates being very high and airfare being very expensive, especially to foreign destinations, we’re seeing a lot of those people maybe change their plans and deciding well you know I don’t want to spend $10,000 going to Europe, I’ll spend $5,000 and stay in Canada.”
The shopping centre now features more than 80 designer brands, 10 cafes and restaurants, a playground, and a variety of annual family-friendly events.
In 2022, traffic was up 29.8 per cent from 2021 and just over 30 per cent up in sales.
Caffe Artigiano at McArthurGlen Designer Outlet in July 2023. Photo: Lee Rivett.Furla at McArthurGlen Designer Outlet in July 2023. Photo: Lee Rivett.Interior of Furla at McArthurGlen Designer Outlet in July 2023. Photo: Lee Rivett.Karl Lagerfeld at McArthurGlen Designer Outlet in July 2023. Photo: Lee Rivett.Interior of Karl Lagerfeld at McArthurGlen Designer Outlet in July 2023. Photo: Lee Rivett.
In 2022, the centre opened seven new stores – Furla, Karl Lagerfeld, Pandora, Harry Rosen, Browns, Steve Madden and Castella Cheesecake.
The second phase of McArthurGlen was opened just a few months before the pandemic struck in March 2020.
Thurlow said a new Plenty store has opened recently at the shopping centre as well as a permanent Moose Knuckles location. Oak & Fort will be opening a new permanent location later in the year as well as the introduction of Psycho Bunny.
McArthurGlen Designer Outlet in July 2023. Photo: Lee Rivett.Pandora at McArthurGlen Designer Outlet in July 2023. Photo: Lee Rivett.Harry Rosen at McArthurGlen Designer Outlet in July 2023. Photo: Lee Rivett.
The current Versace space will be expanding and moving into a larger unit.
“There’s been lots happening here on the leasing front and by the time we get to year end we’ll be what I would consider to be fully let. We’ll be at 99 per cent. Really not much space left after that point. I think that speaks to what’s been going on in our market for people coming to Designer Market. We are the only Designer Outlet in the region so it sets us apart from others. And I do think we’re seeing consumers who had maybe been shopping in regular full price retail everywhere discovering us for the first time.”
McArthurGlen currently has about 325,000 square feet.
McArthurGlen Designer Outlet in July 2023. Photo: Lee Rivett.Steve Madden at McArthurGlen Designer Outlet in July 2023. Photo: Lee Rivett.Plenty at McArthurGlen Designer Outlet in July 2023. Photo: Lee Rivett.Interior at Plenty at McArthurGlen Designer Outlet in July 2023. Photo: Lee Rivett.
“We are planning a phase three. We’re working on that now . . . we do have land on the northeast corner of the property right now,” explained Thurlow in a previous Retail Insider story.
“It’s about another 65,000 square feet that will be our phase three. That will be about an additional 30 to 35 stores depending on how we carve up the space. That’s coming on the radar very quickly and I think we should have an announcement about that within the next few months about our planned timing for that phase.”
Future Versace location at McArthurGlen Designer Outlet in July 2023. Photo: Lee Rivett.Current Versace location at McArthurGlen Designer Outlet in July 2023. Photo: Lee Rivett.Future Oak + Fort location at McArthurGlen Designer Outlet in July 2023. Photo: Lee Rivett.Current Oak + Fort location at McArthurGlen Designer Outlet in July 2023. Photo: Lee Rivett.Interior of current Oak + Fort location at McArthurGlen Designer Outlet in July 2023. Photo: Lee Rivett.
For retailers in Canada, particularly in major cities such as Vancouver, Toronto, Montreal, Ottawa, Calgary and others, tourism is a key part of their success.
After a couple of tough years due to COVID, the overall tourism and travel sector in Canada is slowly returning to pre-pandemic levels.
According to Statistics Canada, tourism spending in the country grew 2.6 per cent in the first quarter, due to an increase of 3.5 per cent in domestic tourism spending by Canadian residents. Tourism gross domestic product (GDP) (+2.3 per cent) and jobs attributable to tourism (+2.7 per cent) also rose in the first quarter.
McArthurGlen Designer Outlet in July 2023. Photo: Lee Rivett.Current Jimmy Choo at McArthurGlen Designer Outlet in July 2023. Photo: Lee Rivett.Future Jimmy Choo location at McArthurGlen Designer Outlet in July 2023. Photo: Lee Rivett.
Passenger air transport (+2.9 per cent) contributed the most to the growth in tourism spending in the first quarter, followed by food and beverage (+4.7 per cent) and accommodation (+2.2 per cent) services. As a result of this continued overall growth, tourism spending rose to 86.7 per cent of its level in the fourth quarter of 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic, said the federal agency.
It said tourism spending in Canada by Canadians increased 3.5 per cent in the first quarter of 2023, following a 1.3 per cent decline in the previous quarter. In the first quarter of 2023, increased spending on passenger air transport (+4.6 per cent), food and beverage (+6.1 per cent) and accommodation (+4.4 per cent) services contributed most to the rise.
But StatsCan said tourism spending by international visitors edged down 0.1% in the first quarter of 2023, after double-digit increases in each of the last three quarters of 2022. In the first quarter of 2023, declines in passenger air transport (-3.2 per cent) and accommodation services (-0.6 per cent) were mostly offset by growth in non-tourism products (+2.7 per cent), vehicle fuel (+7.5 per cent) and vehicle repairs and parts (+6.8 per cent). Overnight travel by non-residents declined 0.4 per cent, while same-day travel by non-residents increased 10.5 per cent.
Swarovski at McArthurGlen Designer Outlet in July 2023. Photo: Lee Rivett.McArthurGlen Designer Outlet in July 2023. Photo: Lee Rivett.
Dr. Phone Fix at West Edmonton Mall (Image: Dr. Phone Fix )
Edmonton-based Dr. Phone Fix, Canada’s fastest growing cell phone and electronics repair chain, is continuing to expand its footprint in Canada and is opening a unique location soon at the West Edmonton Mall.
“For us, we’re thrilled to be going into West Edmonton Mall because of its reputation/worldwide profile. It’s an amazing opportunity to showcase our brand,” said Warren Michaels, VP, Brand and Business Development for the company.
Michaels called it a golden opportunity, an extraordinarily valuable marketing opportunity and a centre piece of its promotional strategy, with the shopping centre seeing 90,000 visitors a day, up to 200,000 a day on high traffic days such as during Christmas.
Image: Dr. Phone Fix
It will be the company’s eighth store in the Greater Edmonton Area.
“Ordinarily we’re in plazas. New shopping plazas and we do that because of convenience. People can get in and out very quickly. They park in front of our store, drop off a cell phone, they jump out and head out again. We don’t ordinarily go into malls. That’s not our plan, our format,” said Michaels.
“But West Edmonton is a super opportunity because it enables us to not only have a presence in the mall but also to be seen by 90,000 visitors a day. We’re not going to get all those going past our store or in our store but at least we have that chance. We have that opportunity. That’s one of the biggest things, the opportunity for branding.”
Until it opens in WEM, it’s using the storefront as a giant billboard.
Dr. Phone Fix at West Edmonton Mall (Image: Dr. Phone Fix )
Dr. Phone Fix currently has 34 locations in 20 cities in four provinces. The plan is to grow the national footprint to about 200 stores.
“Our goal is 500 people in total. Way over 400 technicians,” said Michaels.
“Our growth continues to explode. We’re moving fast. We’re burning up the road in my mind.”
Image: Dr. Phone Fix
In the past year, the company has opened six new locations.
“Each store is somewhat identical in terms of the layout and the shelving and so on,” said Michaels. “We have a format but depending on the space you get you’ve got to work with the space.”
Stores are about 1,000 square feet and the West Edmonton Mall is about that size.
It now has 14,000 online verified positive Google reviews – a big jump since last year’s 4,000.
Last year, it had 50 technicians. Today it has 65.
“We have struck deals with the world’s two largest cell phone makers to provide repair services for their customers. We project that will be a new multi-million-dollar revenue stream for the company,” said Michaels.
Image: Dr. Phone Fix
The growth in the industry is pretty obvious these days with a staggering number of people with cell phones and many of them have more than one device.
“I wouldn’t say we’re recession-proof if a recession happens unfortunately but we’re pretty well protected. Everybody has cell phones and there’s certain things they would not do without and a cell phone is one of them,” said Michaels in a previous Retail Insider story.
“People are now keeping their phones slightly over three years as opposed to model changes almost yearly. And so if a recession was to hit, people would be buying our pre-owned phones rather than buying up.
“It’s a massive, massive growth industry. It’s hard to get solid numbers.”
Craig speaks with Dave Nerada, President of Ricki’s and Cleo Fashion, to discuss the changes happening in the women’s fashion brand Ricki’s. They talk about the focus on bringing relevancy back to the brand through a new web platform, improved product quality, and the launch of a new store design. They also mention plans for renovations in current stores and the accessibility of the brand’s price point. The conversation touches on the customer base, the updated website, shipping options, store locations, and future product offerings.
A transcript of the conversation can be found below.
If you prefer to listen to the audio version, it is available below:
The Interview Series audio podcasts by Retail Insider Canada are available on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, TuneIn, Google Play, or through our dedicated RSS feed for Overcast and other podcast players. Also check out our The Weekly audio podcast where Craig and Lee discuss popular content published on Retail Insider which is part of the The Retail Insider Podcast Network.
Featured during this interview:
Dave Nerada, President Ricki’s and Cleo Fashion Inc.
Craig Patterson 0:03 Welcome to the Retail Insider Video Interview Series. I’m your host, Craig Patterson, and we’re joined here today with a special guest. This is Dave Nerada and he is the President of Ricki’s and Cleo – the women’s fashion brand. Thank you for joining us, Dave.
Dave Nerada 0:17 No problem. Thanks for having me today, Craig, I appreciate it.
Craig Patterson 0:20 Now, let’s quickly talk about yourself. Tell me how did you come into the company, it’s about a year ago, I think it was. What’s your background in retail?
Dave Nerada 0:29 It was just over a year ago, where I joined both sides of the business with Ricki’s and Cleo. But I’m an old school retail guy, I actually got my start a really long time ago as a stock boy in the back of a Club Monaco. And before I realized that I fell in love with the industry and I fell in love with the chance just to take a customer and find a way to connect her to a product where she felt really good. And from that journey, it’s led me along a pretty exciting road where I’ve had a chance to work with some pretty impressive businesses through with Club Monaco to Aldo. Spent some time at YM. Urban Barn, which is a fantastic company, incredibly well run. And then most recently at Princess Auto before I had the chance to join the Ricki’s Cleo team here.
Ricki’s and Ardene at Sherwood Park Mall – February 2021 (Photo Primaris Management)
Craig Patterson 1:15 Terrific, terrific. Now, Ricki’s is going through a bit of a change under your direction. Can you tell us about that?
Dave Nerada 1:21 Yeah, you know, the one thing that we’ve really been focusing on over the last little while is about what do we mean to the customer? And how do we really bring relevancy back to some of these really impactful brands. So over the next little while, the customer is going to really get a chance to see what that means. So this week, as an example, we’re launching a new web platform, which is going to just really help to bring some relevancy, remove some ease, and just really show the product in a really different light. We’ve also got new product that’s going to be coming through in fall, where we’ve really focused in on the quality, the texture, the real price value equation, and giving her everything that we can and every one of our products. And then most importantly, what we’re really excited about is a launch of a new store, which is going to be coming this way in August inside of Willowbrook mall, where it’s a whole new design that just talks and feels softer, it feels feminine, but it’s just a place where we believe our customer will feel really comfortable to come and shop and experience the brand that we’re talking about today.
Craig Patterson 2:22 Tell me a bit more about this Willowbrook store, I’m curious to hear what the components are going to be within it.
Dave Nerada 2:30 We’ve paid a lot of attention to just softness and texture, right. I think in many cases, a lot of folks will talk through fixtures and talk through like just the way things are designed. But we really wanted to have a bit more of an emotional connection. We’re going to use a little bit more softer woods, we’re going to tone down some of the color palettes. But just to create a just a little bit more of an elevated experience for the customer as she walks in. Right. So I think it’s a it’s an important thing when a customer comes in and wants to shop with you that you create an experience where she feels really comfortable, and feels really welcome and really warm inside of that space.
Ricki’s Grasslands
(Image: Ricki’s)
Craig Patterson 3:07 Terrific. Are other Ricki stores going to see renovations or what are we going to see in terms of this?
Dave Nerada 3:13 We’re going to slowly start to take components, right. So as we begin to learn, where the customer sees these different components of the brand is at the evolve, take a few of those different pieces and slowly start to introduce them into a lot of our current stores. So if it’s a wood slap wall to soften if it’s, you know, really maybe painting the walls to just pull down some from the white to just a little bit more neutrals, we’re going to slowly through over the next couple of years slowly start to invest a little bit more in some of the components as we start to roll out the concept.
Craig Patterson 3:47 Terrific, terrific. Now, the product itself within the stores is going to be changing a little bit as well tell me about so the clothing that we’ll see. Well, I guess even into the summer here, or is it more fall-winter that we’re gonna be seeing changes with Ricki’s?
Dave Nerada 3:59 Its going to be fall-winter driven, right, like, we truly know that our customer loves coming to us, you know, for that everyday wear to work product, right. And we want to make sure that she can feel the weight and feel the texture behind the the quality of the product that we’re starting to move with. So great example is in some of the sweater programs, really working through to bring some cashmere through some of the blends to feel softness to it, a lot of wool and some of our outerwear to bring the quality back. But the buyers have spent a lot of time into the little details so that when that customer not only touches the product, as she wears the product, she’s going to really feel incredibly different and all while still maintaining, you know, and the goal is maintaining the same price points that we currently sit with today. So really making sure that she feels that the product that she’s getting into is going to last for a long time but also at the same time, feel good and make her feel even more amazing.
Ricki’s Grasslands
(Image: Ricki’s)
Craig Patterson 4:55 And the price point is quite reasonable in terms of – I think that I don’t want to say there isn’t a lot of competition. But certainly, it’s kind of a sweet spot where it mean, it’s not a fast fashion price point. And it’s not a luxury brand either. But it is accessible to many Canadian women, I think, is that correct?
Dave Nerada 5:10 It is. When you start to look at some of the products where you know, a really great fitting pair of black dress pants, you know, at $59.90 or $69.90. In some cases, that $49.90, the team has worked really hard at actually taking a look at the fabrics, looking at the construction, but getting that fit just right for her because nothing beats a perfect black pant. Right? And I think, you know, our customer knows us for that. But at the same time making sure that there’s options, and there’s full outfitting so not only can she come to us for one, but we’ve got teams of people that are ready to help her go a little bit head to toe to make sure that we help her feel really good with what she’s what she’s walking out of the store with.
Craig Patterson 5:51 Is there a particular type of customer that shops at Ricki’s like a bit younger, bit older professional? Tell me about even sort of the psychographics that might be there?
Dave Nerada 6:01 Yeah, I think there’s sometimes a lot of people try to put an age, but I think it’s a moment in time, right? And I think it’s an every day working person who could be a teacher. We talk a lot about how we’ve got a really strong core customer base inside of teachers or educators. People spend a lot of time, you know, teaching our children teaching in our society. But we also have those people that are starting their career. They’re coming into the career, it could be the first time that they’ve got to wear more professional clothing. Or it could be that, they’ve been with us for some time, and they know the fit, they know the quality, and they come to us for that. One thing that we always get excited about is we have a program that’s called 10 items, 10 ways. And what it does is it just helps to show the customer the different ways to wear these outfits and pull them together. So it just makes it easy for her, right? Because we know that our customers busy, we’re all busy, we all want to make sure that we feel great and that we look great. And anytime our team members, or even through digitally where we can help her work her way through that collection. It’s the perfect time and place for us.
Craig Patterson 7:12 Now, tell me about the website, you said that it’s been updated, I had a look earlier and it wasn’t quite finished. And now it is actually up. I was trying to do some homework because I’m obviously not a Ricki’s shopper, being a guy. But I gotta tell me a bit about the website itself and what it entails now.
Dave Nerada 7:27 Yeah, the exciting part is the website is live today. And what we talked about as a team is that the website going up today, step one. Anyone who’s ever done an implementation, we know that it’s about listening. It’s about getting a website that will have better functionality for the customer. It’ll remove some of the friction as you shop through the process to make it a lot easier for you. But what we’re really focused on is just listening to her and as she shopping with us and where she’s spending time, so that we can continue to evolve the experience so that it’s better suited suited to her. But I think the thing that we’re most excited about is the product pages look fantastic. The quality of the imagery is much better. And I think it’s just going to create a different shopping experience, that she’s going to feel really good as she moves through the website.
Craig Patterson 8:14 Excellent, excellent. And things are shipped to the home or a person could possibly pick them up in the store or tell me a little bit about that part of the experience.
Dave Nerada 8:21 Yeah, so right now for us, it’s really about E comm. You know, it’s really that channel. The goal, as we continue to go through the platform, we do have the ability to ship that product to the store. So again, through ease of customer experience. We’re all busy, we all know we have a lot of things going on in our lives. But we’ve always had the capability to fulfill that order from our E commerce center into any of the locations that’s close to her. And we can actually have it delivered to any Ricki’s, any Cleo, or any Bootlegger, because we’re all a family of brands. So it makes it really easy for the customer. We’ve also implemented something that we call in store ordering, which allows for a customer while standing in a store, that if we don’t have that size for them for whatever reason that we will gladly place that order have it brought to the store or sent to their home. So it’s just really about making sure we create ease and remove the friction points. So the customer just gets the best experience that we can offer to her.
Craig Patterson 9:21 Oh, that’s great. That’s great. Now stores themselves. They’re in a mix of locations. You’ve got some shopping centers that are enclosed, you’ve got some, I think even outlet centers and strip malls. Tell me about that. And are we going to see any new stores opening with Ricki’s?
Dave Nerada 9:34 Yeah, I think right now, the biggest thing like a lot of retailers, it’s just really about after the pandemic, settling things down, and about really focusing in. We’re always looking to grow and we’re looking for the right places of where we can connect with our customer. But we believe it’s important to have a good mix of, you know, really strong shopping centers. You know, as an example, if you think of TD center where we’ve got a great Cleo location there, Polo Park, Masonville has some really strong properties. But it’s also great to have a collection of other properties that are, you know, really rural suburban markets that are easy for the customer, where she can still get to. In and out quite fast if there’s a product that she needs to pick up or something that she’s got delivered there. So we’ll always maintain that mix. So for us, it’s settling, it’s really focusing, but ultimately, being really aware of where’s my customer? And how can I actually be there for her to simplify the journey?
Craig Patterson 10:31 Terrific. Is there going to be an expansion in product in terms of clothing offerings, again, not being an expert in terms of footwear, handbags, or tell me a little bit about any sort of new products that are coming with Ricki’s?
Dave Nerada 10:45 Yeah, I think the big thing for us right now is just back to return to the basics of where we where we started, which is really around that where to work. And that’s that percent professional feeling. And then we’re really looking to elevate the casual side of the business a bit differently. So just bringing in some different textures bringing in some different feeling. So it’s not only will she wear it to work, but it’s also a great opportunity to go out to spend some time with her friends. You know, we know our customer, she loves to work, but she loves to laugh, and she loves to have fun with her friends. So you’re going to see a little bit of a return back to that a little bit more elevation, some really great textures and feels. But really back to the basics, Craig. I think that’s what a lot of retailers are trying to focus on. We’re trying to focus on, you know, that’s our brand difference is being that retailer that gives her that great blazer, great bottoms, lots of different options. And then again, just some really great elevated casual for her to spend some time with her friends or go shopping.
Craig Patterson 11:46 And are there any sort of colors that women are gravitating towards? Or are Canadian women a bit more conservative than wearing blacks and browns and grays? What do you see in terms of fashion.
Dave Nerada 11:57 I’m never the guy that talks about those things. You know, I have a super talented team, that is always the one that’s guiding the fashion. But I think the there is just going to be some really subtle neutrals and some soft colors that I think it’s going to really stand true. But I would love to set up some time with you and our GMM, who is by far. I am not the fashion guy. I’m the other one. But again, I think you’re going to see that the customer just wants to return back to quality products, right? I think she wants to find the value behind what it is that she’s pleased with where she’s choosing to make that purchase. But you’re going to start to feel that and see that in some of the textures.
Craig Patterson 12:38 Terrific. Terrific is anything else we should mention about Ricki’s here today? As it embarks on this expansion journey with sounds very exciting.
Dave Nerada 12:46 No, honestly, I just what I’d love to share with the customer is that we constantly listen, and we’ve heard, and we’re really coming back to the roots of you know, who we are and what they expect out of us. But most importantly, is we’re trying to cement all of these digital assets and transformations back to an amazing experience inside of our stores. And we believe that we have an incredibly talented team out in the retail industry that just want to spend that time with the customer and do everything they can to make her feel super special, and feel really connected back to the brand that we’re trying to rebuild.
Craig Patterson 13:21 Thank you so much. This has been a really interesting conversation and learning about fashion learning about retail. I hope everything goes well with Ricki’s and Cleo and Bootleggers as well as this group expands. So thank you so much, David Nerada, the president of Ricki’s and Cleo.
Dave Nerada 13:37 Thanks, Craig. Thanks again for the time.
Craig Patterson 13:39 Great, and I’m Craig Patterson. I’m the founder of retail Insider, and I’m the host here of the Retail Insider Video Interview series. Thank you so much, everyone for joining us here today. Take care and bye for now.
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% Arabica Toronto Union Station (Image: % Arabica)
Japanese coffee brand % Arabica has opened its first downtown Toronto location at Union Station. It’s the second Canadian location for the company.
The Union Station location is in the Bay Street Promenade of the Downtown Toronto transit hub, making the location accessible to commuters of the TTC, VIA Rail and Go Transit. The storefront is across the hall from Sephora, TD Bank, Decathlon, and LCBO.
The opening comes off the December 2022 Canadian launch of % Arabica at Toronto’s Yorkdale Shopping Centre, which saw the store take over the former DavidsTEA location. This location was originally part of the 2012 luxury wing expansion, debuting beside the Nissan Design Lab (now Alo Yoga).
The next opening for % Arabica in Canada will be in Whistler, BC.
% Arabica Toronto Union Station (Image: % Arabica)
Founded by Kenneth Shoji in 2013, % Arabica is an independent coffee brand based in Kyoto, Japan with 155 stores globally.
“After a successful first launch into the Canadian market last year at Yorkdale Shopping Centre, we are thrilled to bring our first Downtown Toronto location to the core of the city at Union Station ” says % Arabica partner. “We are proud to provide an enhanced coffee experience whether living in, arriving, or leaving the city, starting with the beautiful design of this location. When you step foot into the thoughtfully designed % Arabica, you’ll feel your coffee experience has been up-leveled with a space that allows you to enjoy the moment with the world’s best coffee.”
% Arabica Toronto Union Station (Image: % Arabica)
Designed in collaboration with Tacklebox Architecture under the leadership of Jeremy Barbour, the Union Station locations’ design is inspired by the geological and glacial formation of the surrounding landscape.
“Drawing inspiration from the layered beauty of glacial ice, folded rock, and the strata of the underlying bedrock, this space is defined by a floor-to-ceiling, faceted wall terrain. This monolithic surface is comprised of 172 faceted blocks that have been meticulously carved from 3,452 layers of stacked gypsum wall board– a ubiquitous building material commonly sourced in the region but used here in a unique and extraordinary way,” shared the brand.
“This crisp, white geometric surface is punctuated at intervals by 24 powder-coated steel niches that house bulk coffee bags and merchandise on display. A continuous white corian surface folds and carves space to form front and back service counters where visitors gather to receive % Arabica’s finest coffees sourced from around the globe.”
% Arabica Toronto Union Station (Image: % Arabica)Toronto Union Station (Image: Dustin Fuhs)
The Union Station % Arabica opening coincides with a summer of openings at the complex, which included the opening of Union Market which houses a wide range of retailers and food vendors including:
Patties Express
The Alley
MyOlive
Lena’s Floral Designs
Manotas Organics
Kibo Market
Chocolatta.
Pop-ups for Virtue Vintage and Collective Arts are among the tenants. Construction hoarding has also recently been installed for Nespresso, The Source, #DESI, and Hazukido at Union Station.
% Arabica at Union Station (Image: Dustin Fuhs)% Arabica at Union Station (Image: Dustin Fuhs)% Arabica at Union Station (Image: Dustin Fuhs)% Arabica at Union Station (Image: Dustin Fuhs)% Arabica at Union Station (Image: Dustin Fuhs)% Arabica at Union Station (Image: Dustin Fuhs)% Arabica at Union Station (Image: Dustin Fuhs)% Arabica at Union Station (Image: Dustin Fuhs)% Arabica at Union Station (Image: Dustin Fuhs)% Arabica at Union Station (Image: Dustin Fuhs)% Arabica at Union Station (Image: Dustin Fuhs)% Arabica at Union Station (Image: Dustin Fuhs)
