Grace Yan Discusses the Future of Calgary’s Nordstrom Space with Craig Patterson [Video Interview]

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March 13, 2023

Nordstrom at CF Chinook Centre (Image: Lee Rivett)

Craig sits down with Grace Yan, Commercial Consultant at Blackstone Commercial, to discuss the departure of Nordstrom store in CF Chinook Centre in Calgary. Yan says that times are tough in the Calgary market, and that there are opportunities to do something interesting with Nordstrom’s 140,000 square foot Calgary space after the retailer exits Canada this summer.

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Grace Yan, Commercial Consultant at Blackstone Commercial

Transcription

Craig Patterson
I’m Craig Patterson. I’m the founder and publisher and CEO of Retail Insider. We’re talking about Nordstrom today, specifically in the Calgary market. Nordstrom announced that it’s going to be leaving the Canadian market and that’s affecting all kinds of different cities, including Calgary, which has a Nordstrom store at CF Chinook Centre. This is Grace Yan. She’s a broker with Blackstone Commercial, and a community advocate. You also ran for mayor, Grace, a little while ago in Calgary.

Grace Yan
I did. Yes. And thanks for having me, Craig.

Craig Patterson
Now, are you surprised with the closure of Nordstrom in Canada?

Grace Yan
Well, I was and I wasn’t. I mean, I’m at Chinook all the time. I’ve seen Nordstrom and other stores that aren’t busy. Saks isn’t busy. Saks is even closed for the day. So I wasn’t really surprised. And sometimes, and lately, the past little while going into Nordstroms they haven’t been restocking. So it then you’re wondering, well, there’s just nothing. It’s just been bare lately. So yeah, I think wasn’t a surprise, but you’re just hoping that they sort of figure something out to stay because, it was exciting when they came to Calgary.

Craig Patterson
I wonder if that restocking issue had anything to do with the fact that Nordstrom was already thinking about leaving Canada, I wonder?

Grace Yan
Well, I think you know, when you do your decision making around, sort of the future of the stores, you have to look at when you’re restocking, or even hiring, and that’s what it takes and have to plan well in advance. And so, you know, you kind of saw the writing on the wall. Which is sad because even the cafe there, it’s not busy either. And so, you know, with Nordstrom is leaving, and which is a huge anchor for Chinook Centre. With CF Chinook Centre and CF Market Mall, being one of our “Class A” shopping malls, they are just not busy. You there’s so many closures in those malls. You just see that all of a sudden the store is gone. And you don’t see anything else that’s coming in. And so it it’s a perception to people that “Oh, no. Another store closed?”.

Craig Patterson
And that’s in a mall that’s actually quite busy. I visited CF Chinook Centre, I think it was in October. And I’m always blown away with the foot traffic that’s coming through there particularly around the Louis Vuitton store where it’s just like a hoard of people that always seems to be coming by towards the Apple store.

Grace Yan
Yeah, the Apple Stores always usually busy. As of January, the traffic has slowed. You’ve seen more stores close. All you just see as these stores closing, and now Nordstrom is closing. We’re told that Alberta’s in a boom but when you see stores like this closing and like Bed Bath and Beyond closing 160 stores, Walmart’s closing I think two locations in Alberta. So there’s going to be a shift and I think we need to really repurpose these malls. They do this in Toronto, they do this in different parts of the world, where there’s the main floor commercial and then they build up condos and there’s a built in clientele. Like a Lifestyle Center.

Craig Patterson
What do you think is going to happen? What do you think is going to happen to this Nordstrom box at CF Chinook Centre? Do you think they’re going to extend the mall? Do you think they can find one tenant? Or do you think that they’re going to split it up into a bunch of smaller retailers?

Grace Yan
I think they’re going to have to demise it. I know that Zellers is coming back in, but within Hudson’s Bay locations. Some people are saying why are they going to put a dollar store there now? We’re seeing more and more lower end, retail stores popping up.

Craig Patterson
How do you think that the closure of Nordstrom and CF Chinook Centre is going to impact other retailers as well as say, even perhaps some commercial real estate deals? The reason I asked this question is because I was told recently, in a major city that there was some negotiations for some commercial real estate space, the moment that the announcement was made about Nordstrom, brokers called and said, “Hold on, we need to figure out what’s going to happen with these Nordstrom boxes, because we don’t know what the foot traffic is going to be like”. What do you think it’s going to be like at CF Chinook Centre, as Nordstrom closes in the foot traffic changes?

Grace Yan
Of course, Nordstrom has a draw of people. With them leaving, it’s going to impact the traffic. And so other potential tenants are going to be rethinking, because if they’re not going to have the same foot traffic and see if can guarantee same foot traffic, and that’s going to affect everyone’s sales overall. It’s been a challenge to foot traffic anyways, since COVID. A lot of the box-mortar type retail stores are really struggling to get back to where they were pre-COVID. Because that was two years of people adjusting to online, and they were forced to adjust online. So now that people are used to this, so I’m just at home and I’m just ordering everything. It’s convenient. You don’t have to find parking. So I think that’s why these malls (in general), have to repurpose to attract people to be there. And that maybe means you have to build up and build condos on top of it. Where there’s restaurants, you know, grocery stores, gyms, cafes, bakeries, it’s all it’s all there. And I think that would really attract a different model that most North American malls don’t have. But other malls in the world are set up like that.

Craig Patterson
Now, you mentioned foot traffic. You also mentioned that the Saks Fifth Avenue store in the mall – knows for those that are not aware, there’s three anchors, there’s a Hudson’s Bay store, there’s a Nordstrom store that’s going to be closing in due course, and there’s a Saks Fifth Avenue. Now the Saks Fifth Avenue has been quite quiet. If Saks Fifth Avenue was to shut down at CF Chinook Centre and Calgary, what do you think could happen there? Because that would be quite catastrophic for one mall to lose two relatively high end anchors.

Grace Yan
I mean, it’s a disaster already that Nordstrom is leaving. If Saks was to leave, and, again, I see Saks randomly closing, sometimes it’s open, sometimes it’s not. And sometimes they’re closed early. The hours are so random, that I know that some of these stores are saying we’d rather take the fine of closing than having to open and pay the costs to staff it for the day. You know, and I think the bigger picture, though, Craig, is that we wouldn’t have to worry about all of this if the economy overall was in better shape. If if we had instead of all these companies leaving Canada, if we had them coming, and we’re employing people, which means giving them incentives. For the first five years of being here, you want to attract businesses to come to Canada. And I think the question is that we have to think about why are they leaving? Why are they losing money? Canada is a great country, and a lot of positives of setting up a business in Canada. But when we’re losing Bed Bath and Beyond and Abercrombie and Fitch and all these companies that have left, the list is endless that are leaving Canada. And so I think, as a country, we have to think, Well, why? Why are they leaving? Why aren’t they making money? We know the numbers. We know the losses. We know what the problems are, we have to offer solutions. I think we have to talk more about the solutions of keeping and retaining, excellent companies like Nordstroms. I would be sitting down with Nordstroms and saying, This is a disaster. What can we do even on the government side or on the landlord side, we all have to work together and make sure we don’t really lose companies like this.

Craig Patterson
Now, yeah, let’s talk a little bit about retailing Calgary, generally now, obviously, CF Chinook Centre, which is not downtown for those that may not know the Calgary area very well. What are you seeing downtown because of downtown Calgary, there are also three retailers. There is a Hudson’s Bay store, which has been downsized. There’s a La Maison Simons store, which is quite large, I think, 92,000 square feet if I remember the article that I wrote, and there’s a Holt Renfrew store, which recently just renewed its lease. What if you seen anything in downtown Calgary in terms of retail, as well as say, the dominance of Holt Renfrew in the market at the higher end?

Grace Yan
Yeah, I think the only way we’re going to retain a lot of these businesses, especially downtown because our downtown is still 70% vacant. Okay, we’re seeing more and more people get back to work. But there’s still a lot of the head offices that have left Calgary, so we still have hundreds and 1000s of square feet vacant. And the only way we’re going to retain businesses downtown is rent adjustments. I get it, it needs to work for the landlords as well. But that’s the only way we’re going to retain businesses and even attract them. I represent franchisors that expand globally, and across Canada. And it’s always, calculating, of course, labor costs and, and lease rates, that’s a huge, huge impact on decisions of where you’re going to be either in Canada or elsewhere in the world, like lease rates in the US, I mean, way, way more attractive, and margins are way better in the States. And leasing is a lot easier, as well. And, overall, I think we need to make the whole process of leasing in our only lease rates, but just the time it takes, it’s it’s gets to be too lengthy of a process even for companies to even want to expand. So there’s many, many challenges. But I think we wouldn’t be even talking about these issues if people had money to spend. And, we were bringing companies here, rather than talking about them leaving.

Craig Patterson
Do you think that one of the big either Asian or European department stores might look at coming into the Canadian market? I know that Galleries Lafayette from France intended to come into with Montreal and possibly Toronto markets before the pandemic, but that never happened. You’ve obviously got some incredible stores that are in places like say, Seoul, you’ve got Lotte you’ve got Shinsegae — do you think any of these retailers might look to come into the Canadian market? Or do you think that we’re too small and not wealthy enough?

Grace Yan
I hear that a lot. Okay, when I work globally, and a lot of these companies do say that Canada is not a big enough market. You know, I think our population is the same population as California. So for them to really consider Canada as an expansion, then we really have to have something that would benefit them, whether it’s lease rates or certain concessions, tax incentives. Because there’s a you’re right, like, I mean, in Asia, they’re fine with the sheer population, you know, Asia, Europe and US. They’ve got the population to sustain their models. Canada doesn’t have the population, nor do we have the tax incentives. So, this is what we have to think about, yes, we want those companies coming internationally, okay, we really do. And so that’s why we have to learn to work with the rest of the world. And we’re the only country in the world that has to have everything in two languages. For a model for a company, that’s a big decision, because that’s an extra cost, extra approvals by the government and all the products. And so these are all things that companies are saying, forget it. This is, you know, let’s just, let’s just go where it’s easy, and it’s comfortable, and our margins are better.

Craig Patterson
What do you think’s gonna happen with the Nordstrom space at CF Chinook Centre over the next couple of years?

Grace Yan
I hope it doesn’t stay vacant. Because that would just be horrendous. Is it’s looking sad as it is, okay. Chinook mall and Market Mall. Being the best malls in the city. I compare it to other places where we, you know, we want to be a world class city. But it looks old and tired. And it just looks sad. Especially when you see that there’s nobody there and it’s not it’s not vibrant, you don’t get that vibrant, feeling like, you know, things are happening and things are growing. And here now we’re seeing Chinook losing Nordstroms and it’s gonna be more sad. They’ll probably have to demise it. And they seem to be putting in I said lower and type retail, you know, like, which is great, as long as it’s filled, I think. And it drives people there that’s what we really need.

Craig Patterson
Makes a lot of sense. Makes a lot of sense. We’ll wrap it up here. Grace. This is Grace Yan, your broker with Blackstone Commercial, community advocate, former mayoral candidate. You’ve also got the Philippine Chamber of Commerce in Calgary?

Grace Yan
Yes, yes. I am the President of the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and that’s what we’re trying to do, Craig is, is attract businesses, from the Philippines to Canada. So we’ve got some brands already that are coming in, that are here trying to expand as well. And it is it’s it’s a challenge, but I always think let’s just focus on the solution, because there is a solution to this. And we can grow and companies like Nordstroms shouldn’t have to leave. And we don’t want them to leave. We don’t want Nordstroms to leave, we don’t want Saks to leave, or Bed Bath and Beyond. Because then now we have less and less selection and then people are now going to order from Amazon. We we have less options now. Which is not good for the consumer.

Craig Patterson
Landlords or anyone doing deals in terms of retail.

Grace Yan
Yeah, yeah. So I think let’s focus on the solutions and get these companies not leaving.

Craig Patterson
Oh, absolutely. Thank you so much for joining us, Grace. And I’m Craig Patterson. I’m the founder, CEO and publisher of Retail Insider Media Ltd. This is the Retail Insider video series. We’re going to be talking more about Nordstrom and its spaces, what can be done, what went wrong, these conversations are going to be here and I think we’re going to be seeing some more announcements coming down here in Canada. So thank you so much again, everyone for joining us today. Take care and bye for now.

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Midtown Centre in Downtown Saskatoon Seeing New Retailers Opening [Interview]

By

Mario Toneguzzi

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March 13, 2023

The Midtown shopping centre in the heart of Saskatoon has seen the opening of several new retailers in the past year or so.

Tara Faris, General Manager of the mall which is managed by Cushman & Wakefield, said Bailey Nelson opened in the fall – a first to market eye retailer for the Saskatchewan city.

“We now have Urban Kids in the centre down by The Bay,” she said. “And then we’ve got the new Suzy Shier/Le Chateau combo store in the centre. That opened last fall as well. We’ve got Aura Hair (Salon) which is expanding into Saskatchewan from Manitoba. They also opened shortly before Christmas.

“And then we have a 14,000-square-foot Dollarama and that opened at the end of October. Of course, lululemon is a full year with us now. They opened in mid December of 2021.”

Faris said there’s been some significant recovery coming out of the pandemic.

“For Midtown, we are the downtown fashion destination in this market. Lots of first to market retailers call Midtown home in terms of Aritzia, Victoria’s Secret and like. So we’ve got good foot traffic coming back to the centre coming out of the pandemic,” she said.

“Retail certainly is in recovery mode . . . Seeing the activations in the centre and seeing people come back to that pre-pandemic way of shopping. So it’s been really positive in Saskatoon.”

Faris said the Hillberg & Berk store in Midtown is expanding and relocating in the centre and is currently under construction.

Future Hillberg & Berk at Midtown (Image: Midtown)

“We have Pitchfork Market which is kind of a boutique local grocery store here in the city. They’re taking about 18,000 square feet. They should be starting construction here in the next couple of weeks with a late summer, early fall 2023 opening date. We’ve got the store within a store with Zellers coming inside the Hudson Bay store at about 9,000 square feet. So we’re excited to see how they put that concept together for us.

“We have Torrid coming actually and they’ll be new to market for us and they’ll be taking possession here for fixturing come April. We look to have them open for summer of 2023. That’s exciting as well.”

Faris said there remains about 18,000 square feet of available retail space.

“We are actively looking for a good first to market user for that space too,” said Faris. “In terms of overall occupancy, I’d say we’re about 96 to 97 per cent. Lots of activity, not many dark stores, and of course we’ve got a very robust popup program that incubates local tenants.”

Last fall the shopping centre launched its newest event space, The Studio at Midtown, which is a community-focused hub for people to connect, create and discover.

“The Studio has actually been a great success for us, having artisan markets, art shows. A lot of those retailers that are coming as part of those markets are actually filling our retail pipeline a little bit. Some start in The Studio and then do longer terms in inline spaces. That’s kind of a cool good news story, just cultivating those local retailers, incubating their ideas and their concepts and giving them opportunities to their concepts and get some market data from real consumers. That’s working out very well for us as well.”

Faris said sales productivity at the mall has also recovered from the pandemic.

“All positive things here in Saskatoon.”

Midtown is owned by Kingsett Capital.

Competition in Eyewear in Canada Unprecedented with Fallout Expected Following Specsavers Entry [Op-Ed]

By

Retail Insider

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March 13, 2023

The eye-care industry is regarded as one of the healthiest and most durable retail sectors in the world. It has a predictable purchase cycle and is almost recession proof. That’s what’s made it so attractive for many investment firms over the last couple of decades with a great deal of consolidation within the industry from independents Optometric offices to optical stores, and the acquisition of some retail chains.

This industry has been through a number of changes. With the introduction of contact lenses and laser surgery all were thought to do away with eyewear. And then back in the late 90’s the industry started its transition in eyewear from being only function to fashion. Even online has not deterred consumers shopping in stores. Although the pandemic has a few now closing stores.

The Canadian marketplace has been benign competitively for well over a decade, there haven’t been many major threats over the years, there has always been enough for everyone. Needless to say, this retail/healthcare sector has had a great deal of consolidation again with no major impact, it has been a very orderly market. In many ways it has been a hospitable marketplace for competitors. Brands like LensCrafters, New Look and FYI Doctors have led the category and focused quite successfully on quality eyewear and eyecare.

Lenscrafters at Park Royal Shopping Centre in West Vancouver. Photo: Park Royal Shopping Centre.

However, the Canadian market has encountered more competitors recently but nothing serious enough to change the landscape. Who are some of them? From Australia with Oscar Wylee and Bailey Nelson. And not to forget Warby Parker online and in stores and whole lot of others available online who have been operating for a while as well. And then a bigger announcement came along which was SpecSavers who entered Canada with a plan to open approximately 200 locations and many of us have been seeing those boarded up store fronts announcing their new locations more frequently.

This time things are a little different on a few fronts. My expectations are that many mistakes will be made by existing brands who will either dismiss the new level of competition or not do enough to respond to it. 2023 will be the first year of a true post pandemic marketplace coupled with inflation, higher cost of borrowing, price sensitive consumers and a potential recession.

Many of us in the industry are very well aware of SpecSavers, their offer, and the power of their marketing messages. They have changed the optical industry in many of the markets they’ve entered. Weaker and tired brands will struggle in this new environment. Many optical retailers large and small who have established their brands on service and product values will be challenged.

Resilience in this industry is a bit of a myth and usually works in a stable and competitively friendly marketplace. That’s what Canada had been for years. In fact, the last time a threat like SpecSavers came along was when LensCrafters entered Canada and introduced their one-hour service to manufacture your eyewear on site, it really upended the industry.

However, with SpecSavers it is a little different for the first time a physical retail chain enters the market to tell Canadians you can have fashion for your eyes at an affordable price. There are other discounters in the market but none as effective in their branding and messaging. Which has been very successful in markets that they’ve entered.

To be fair the lowest price is not always the best eyewear choice. In fact, not all eyewear and lenses are created equal in quality and performance. Especially when it comes to picking the right frame and lenses with the needs of defined by a prescription. And for those that are new to this category, few humans have the same prescription in both eyes. The right eyewear and lenses matter a lot!

How will optical chains react to this new landscape? Keep in mind that SpecSavers won 40% market share in Australia. Therefore, initially by way of tactics everyone will have their best shot out of the gates early with discount offers and I expect a lot of price matching and messaging to that effect. This will be the wrong response. Effectively heavy discounting will tell consumers they have been overcharged in the past.

With my past corporate experience and work with Private Equity firms, I can say with conviction that not all optical players are as sophisticated at winning in this kind of environment. Here are my top four priorities for anyone in this industry to win in this landscape.

The first is the strength and resources of the leadership team to respond to a changing competitive landscape. Experienced talent matters.
Second, the ability to introduce and execute the right strategies. This is where many fail.
Third is the customer/patient experience. In this convenience driven consumer economy, the overall service process is time consuming in this industry and needs to be reinvented. It is time to invest in technology to enhance that experience. And no online eye-exam appointments are not revolutionary.
Fourth, define your brand values and attributes to consumers, what differentiates your brand? And deliver on it!

In closing, this retail space is prime for disruption both technologically and competitively. I can’t emphasize enough the importance to innovate and respond effectively to changing demographics and competition. Things will be very different going forward.

George Minakakis is the principal of Inception Retail Group Inc. Author of The New Bricks & Mortar Future Proofing Retail.

Canadian Cosmetic Chain Dermapure Expanding Locations Rapidly After L’Oreal/LVMH Investment [Interview]

By

Shelby Hautala

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March 13, 2023

Dermapure, a Canadian based cosmetic clinic, currently has 70 stores across Canada and is looking to add 80 more clinics within the next few years, along with expanding internationally.

The cosmetic clinic was founded 14 years ago as Marilyne Gagné, President and Founder of Dermapure, noticed a gap in the industry.

“I used to train doctors in different technologies in the industry, and I saw a lack of support on the administration side so I decided to give a brand where we can give more support to doctors while also creating an amazing customer experience to celebrate taking care of the skin,” says Gagne. “Now, we are looking at opening more clinics in Canada and internationally.”

“The Gym For Your Skin”

Dermapure offers a variety of non-surgical services for patients who are looking to improve their skin such as skin tightening, complexions, texture, vascular options for those with skin conditions such as acne, and injections such as botox and fillers. Dermapure also provides maintenance services such as facials, peels, and “everything for the health and beauty for the skin and also for the body.”

Gagne said its main demographic is between the ages of 35 to 55, but also serves younger customers and its goal is to educate people and to be responsible.

“We are more into positivity aging than trying to change everybody and we want to be a responsible leader in this industry. Being the largest premium in the world, we feel very responsible and we want to make sure we don’t create needs at the early age where people don’t need anti-aging treatment yet, but that doesn’t mean we are not serving younger people.”

Dermapure has also recently partnered with L’Oreal and LVMH. Gagne said this is the first time L’Oreal invested in services and is a great partnership as Dermapure fits with L’Oreal’s philosophy and values. Now with L’Oreal and LVMH on board, the brand can continue to grow rapidly as it is planning for expansions.

Dermapure was able to expand to 70 clinics or so through their recent merger with Functionalab Group and FYi Aesthetic Medicine’s division, announced at the end of 2022. This is when L Catterton came in as an investor.

Expansion Plans in Canada and Internationally

Currently Dermapure has 70 locations spread out in Canada and Gagne said she would like to see that number be 150 locations in Canada within the next two to three years.

“We want to complete the country and it is very exciting to grow more in Canada and be able to be in all the cities as possible. It will be doubling our size and we want to partner with the best people.”

The next locations customers can expect is in the Greater Toronto Area in Yorkville and on Yonge Street, which will be a large flagship store. The new location on Yorkville will be ready as of August or September; however, the Yonge Street location won’t be ready until the end of the year. Gagne said she has plans on adding ten locations in the GTA and twenty in other parts of Ontario.

“We are focused on the GTA this year and next and it is the area we have not spent a lot of time in yet. Dermapure will be shining in the province and will be a great luxurious destination for people.”

Dermapure has also recently opened its second headquarters in Calgary and has opened two training centers in Sherbrooke Quebec where the company began. The training centers allow product innovation as Dermapure creates its own products in Canada.

In addition to expanding in Canada, Gagne says she is opening locations in the United States and has her eyes out on additional counties such as China, Brazil, and Europe. Before expanding overseas, Gagne said she would like to expand into the US within the next three to five years and then start looking at other countries.

“We are in the beginning of chapter two, we are having a lot of meetings with American doctors so we can expand into the US, and then we will target other countries, so it is an ambitious plan but we want to explore different countries starting with the US. We have something to be proud of, this Canadian company will soon shine in other countries, so hopefully we can be a large brand that is deployed everywhere.”

Image: Marilyne Gagné, President and Founder of Dermapure

Each location is generally around 4,000 square feet and generates between two and ten million dollars annually. Each clinic has a doctor or two where they supervise the visits and patients should expect to have a natural result as that is one of Dermapure’s priorities.

“If people want something that does not look natural – we will say no. We want to define ourselves by saying no and I think it is appreciated by our patients. It is very important to us and this is what people can expect from us. It is also important that people feel comfortable and don’t feel guilty. I like to say that you train your body, you eat well, you are allowed to train your skin. So it is a way of living and hopefully people feel they deserve it.”

Canadian Retail News From Around The Web For March 13th, 2023

By

Retail Insider

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March 12, 2023

News at a Glance

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 3 days.

Sanctuary marks first commercial test of “human’like” robots in Mark’s clothing store (Betakit)

Air Miles program not likely to vanish thanks to BMO (Toronto Sun)

Cashback, reward apps helping Canadians save, but where is the data going? (The Canadian Press)

Indigo Books’ union says company not protecting workers after data leaked to dark web (Globe & Mail / subscribers)

These Indigenous Fashion Designers Are Ready to Show and Tell (Elle)

Which Fredericton grocery store is cheapest? This analyst says it’s not clear (CBC)

Final SLGA liquor stores preparing to close (980 CJME)

Manitoba revives plan to test liquor sales in more retail outlets (Canadian Press)

Burdock Brewery Opens New Location in Toronto’s Kensington Market (Canadian Beer News)

Michael Kors To Open in CF Pacific Centre

By

Lee Rivett

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March 12, 2023

Construction Signage for future Michael Kors at CF Pacific Centre on lower level on February 14 2023. Photo: Lee Rivett.

International fashion brand Michael Kors will be returning to CF Pacific Centre in downtown Vancouver, B.C. after leaving the shopping centre in 2020.

The multi-platform retailer, owned by parent company Capri Holdings Ltd who also owns Versace and Jimmy Choo, will be bringing women’s wear, menswear, handbags, footwear and other luxury goods back to the shopping centre in summer 2023.

The new location will be located on the lower level spanning 2,535 square feet being situated between Ted Baker London (2,974 square feet) and a vacant space (2,539 square feet) before the new Coach boutique (2,308 square feet). Michael Kors occupied a 2,797 square foot space on the upper level up until 2021 when it was replaced by US-based electric car brand Lucid Motors.

The downtown Vancouver location will join four other Michael Kors locations located in the lower mainland. The other locations in B.C. are located at:

Michael Kors Outlet at McArthurGlen (McArthurGlen Designer Outlet Vancouver, Richmond)
Michael Kors Richmond (CF Richmond Centre, Richmond)
Michael Kors Metropolis (Metropolis at Metrotown, Burnaby)
Michael Kors Outlet at Tsawwassen Mills (Tsawwassen Mills, Tsawwassen)

Future Michael Kors at CF Pacific Centre on lower level. Photo: Cadillac Fairview Lease Plan (2023)

Former Michael Kors at CF Pacific Centre. Photo: Cadillac Fairview Lease Plan (2021)

Holt Renfrew Extends Lease in Downtown Calgary while CF Chinook Centre Flourishes [Podcast]

By

Retail Insider

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March 12, 2023

Holt Renfrew Extends Lease in Downtown Calgary while CF Chinook Centre Flourishes

Craig and Lee talk about some recent retail news in Calgary. That includes Holt Renfrew extending its lease in downtown Calgary at The CORE while adding new brands including a ‘World of’ Gucci concession. They also discuss CF Chinook Centre which is seeing new retailers being added such as Nike and Uniqlo.

The Weekly podcast by Retail Insider Canada is 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 Interview Series podcast where Craig interviews guests from across the Canadian retail landscape as part of the The Retail Insider Podcast Network.

Retail Insider content discussed this episode:

Transcript

Announcer
This is a ‘Retail Insider’ podcast. You’re listening to “The Weekly”.

Lee Rivett
Welcome to this week’s episode of “The Weekly” by Retail Insider. I’m Lee Rivett and I’m joined with the owner and publisher of Retail Insider Media, Craig Patterson, to discuss this week’s most read articles on retail-insider.com. So thanks for joining me, Craig. Now we are currently recording on March, 1, 2023 and we had a couple of articles that were coming out of Calgary that were very popular that we wanted to focus this podcast on. One was to do with the number of retailers that were going to be opening in Chinook Centre that’s just south of the downtown Calgary as well as Holt Renfrew confirming a long term agreement with The CORE shopping centre in downtown Calgary as well. So Craig, which would you rather start with the suburbs or more downtown?

Craig Patterson
Hello, everyone. Let’s start downtown Holt Renfrew extending its lease in downtown Calgary in a shopping centre called “The CORE”.

Lee Rivett
It’s a stunning shopping centre.

Craig Patterson
Well, in my opinion, “The CORE” shopping centre is the nicest looking downtown shopping centre in Canada. I just think they did an incredible job with that centre.

Lee Rivett
Remind me, who owns that shopping centre?

Craig Patterson
It’s owned by Ivanhoe Cambridge. It’s got a lovely Holt Renfrew store there, that’s about 150,000 square feet. About 30,000 square feet at the top on the fourth floor is not being used. So not all of that space is retail space. But it’s a lovely looking store.

Lee Rivett
Now is it normal for large format retailers like Holt Renfrew to sign long term leases? Or do they typically like the freedom or flexibility to kind of get out at any time?

Craig Patterson
I think it would be.

Lee Rivett
Now of course, it didn’t actually say how long the lease was going to be for in this long term. But do you have any guesses of what that might be?

Craig Patterson
My guess. I mean, the store has been there for 14 years, probably at least a five to 10 year lease. They didn’t specifically say in the press release, nor was it revealed how long that time period is going to be. My thought is given the investment that was made in that store, which was astronomical because it’s so big and so beautiful. It’s got to be for a good number of years, or at least I would hope it would be because that store I think is a real jewel in downtown Calgary and Edmonton does not have a Holt Renfrew store at all.

Lee Rivett
No. And how long has Holt Renfrew actually been in the Calgary marketplace for?

Craig Patterson
Yeah, so Holt Renfrew has been in the Calgary market since goodness me the 1970s or 1980s. It had some smaller stores at one time. Holts actually had three stores in the Calgary market. There was a small one downtown. I think it was Penny Lane mall or it was in that area.

Lee Rivett
Yes.

Craig Patterson
There’s a small one at the Chinook Centre, which is now CF Chinook Centre and a store at Market Mall as well in the suburbs.

Lee Rivett
Holt Renfrew opened in The CORE in about 1992 With initially 30,000 square feet and then it grew into the 149,000 square feet that it is today with the massive renovation. I think it was the original Eaton’s location in downtown Calgary which then got taken over by Sears. And then it got taken over by and then retrofitted out to become the present day Holt Renfrew as far as I recall.

Craig Patterson
It’s really beautiful architecture, a bit of history there. The Calgary Holt Renfrew store as we now know it, this large store opened in 2009. And it was the second location as part of Holt Renfrew strategy to create these large format superstores, essentially, which also include a lot of luxury brand concession boutiques within. The first store that Holt Renfrew did that was quite large under this new concept was in 2007, in Vancouver, in the downtown core. That new Holt Renfrew store, which at the time was 137,000 square feet in downtown Vancouver, has since expanded to about 190,000 square feet, but Calgary was the second one in terms of the superstore concept. And then we continued to see this expansion in 2012 with the Yorkdale store expansion, Bloor Street since 1979, has been pretty big. We eventually saw the store Sherway Gardens, which was quite small, close and relocate to Square One and about 130 to 140,000 square feet or so. And Montreal…. well, originally they were going to be expanding the big store on Sherbrooke Street to about 100,000 and something square feet but the plans were dashed and Holt Renfrew and Ogilvy merged there is now an Ogilvy store on St. Catherine Street. We know it today, a 250,000 square foot Holt Renfrew for Ogilvy store. So now we’ve got these big stores across the country. These big six flagship stores for Holt Renfrew exist while some smaller stores in markets like Ottawa, Quebec City and Edmonton have closed and anyways, I’m just giving a long bit of a rambling history around why downtown Calgary has this gigantic Holt Renfrew store and why other cities in Canada have them and why there are now so few of them compared to when Holt Renfrew used to have over 20 stores in the Canadian market, most of them being quite small, and some of them located in the lobbies of hotels.

Lee Rivett
So besides the long term tenant agreement between Holt Renfrew and the core in downtown Calgary, was there any additional juicy tidbits of news that came out of the release or any other juicy information about Holt Renfrew that we can share as well during the podcast?

Craig Patterson
Yeah. So what we saw in a press release and was confirmed by one of the head management people for Holt Renfrew in Western Canada, that on the main floor of the whole Renfrew store is going to be a ‘World of Gucci’ concession boutique. I’m not sure how large that’s going to be. But the ‘World of Gucci’ at Yorkdale in Toronto is somewhere between I think, 5000 and 6000 square feet. So it’s pretty gigantic for a concession.

Lee Rivett
Wow. Yeah. And they didn’t just have that space laying around. You know, what was there before that it’s going to be replacing?

Craig Patterson
There was a boutique for luxury brand Miu Miu and another boutique space, which I can’t remember which brand it is, but they are going to be joined together for this new Gucci which will have men’s and women’s ready to wear clothing as well as the bags and the shoes. And we’ve been tracking and hearing rumours for a while that Gucci was looking to move into the CF Chinook Centre in the suburbs.

Lee Rivett
Oh yeah. And that would have been a major blow to the downtown Calgary.

Craig Patterson
Yeah, we had Louie Vuitton in 2019 actually leave Holt Renfrew in downtown Calgary and move to the CF Chinook Centre. So there was a bit of a fear that all of the brands in Holt Renfrew would leave downtown and would move into CF Chinook Centre and that hasn’t really happened. CF Chinook Centre definitely has some really great brands. Tiffany is there. Tiffany is also downtown at Holt Renfrew. But, Holt Renfrew has really managed to hold on to its really key brands.

Lee Rivett
And speaking of CF Chinook Centre, which is south of the downtown in the suburbs of Calgary, we had a very popular article that was written by Mario Toneguzzi that talked about a lot of the new brands that were going to be coming to that mall, as well as some photos of the construction signage and stuff, but that was them actually building it out, which is very exciting, which we got a lot of comments at the very bottom of the article and it was very well read. So Craig, why don’t we go through a little bit about what some of those brands that were announced in the news coming to CF Chinook Centre.

Craig Patterson
Mario Toneguzzi, our journalist who’s based in Calgary, I think it was in January wrote an article about CF Chinook Centre and some new retailers that are coming in. So we got to announce (I don’t know if we were allowed to but we did and it was nobody questioned it) Uniqlo is going to be opening its first store in the Calgary market at CF Chinook Centre. We did know that Nike is building a flagship store on the second floor of the shopping centre. It’s joining three or four smaller retail spaces together to create this flagship space. And there were a few other retailers that were named in the article and we can get into it a little bit more because Lee you were actually just in Calgary quite recently.

Lee Rivett
Absolutely. And there’s a big flashy, like Nike store flagship that is going on the upper level, which was very interesting and obviously can’t miss it. But there’s other news that I thought was really interesting, like the Zara that was in the mall as well, right?

Craig Patterson
Apparently that store is expanding significantly according to the article that Mario wrote. Herschel, a Vancouver based brand known for its backpacks but it’s got all kinds of other product lines now, recently opened to store there. Jeweler Mejuri is about to open a jump to consumer brand which seems to be expanding like crazy. I think it’s got some venture capital. Jo Malone, the luxury fragrance and I think skincare brand (I’m not a big customer) will be opening its first and probably only Calgary location that’s standalone anyways at CF Chinook Centre.

Lee Rivett
Even Birk’s relocated its store in the mall.

Craig Patterson
Near Harry Rosen and Tory Burch and a few other retailers around in CF Chinook Centre. And Birks will have a Rolex boutique. And they’re actually – I’m not sure to be honest if it’s open yet. I don’t think it is. And also in the article that mentioned that Victoria’s Secret is going to be relocating at store I think nearby. Now Lee when you were in the CF Chinook Centre quite recently, you located the new Victoria’s Secret tell me about what you saw.

Lee Rivett
Yeah, well, when I was at the mall, I went through what they call it level one (which is ground level). I went through entrance number three, which is next Zara, the location that’s going to be expanding likely what we were mentioning before. You kind of walked by on the right the Pottery Barn Kids and Baby and then there’s a Marble Slab Creamery and then there’s this vacant 15 foot wide facade that has a construction hoarding saying that Victoria’s Secret is going to be coming here which is very small, because it’s just in that you know, artery that goes to the main flow of the traffic in the centre of the mall, which I was confused by. So I continued by the Jewels by Maxine’s and made a right and then continued walking down the main artery and all and suddenly there’s four separate storefronts that are being merged into one as the new location and new look at Victoria’s Secret which is kind of cool. And if you continue down past Pottery Barn and The Gap, you come across the old location of Victoria’s Secret in the mall that was, and I guess still is, but it’s 12,762 square feet. And all the shelves and stuff like that we’re still in there, you could still see the, you know, screens and stuff, but none of the merchandise was in there. So the look and feel of the Robson Street and Burrard Street location in downtown Vancouver is like the ‘legacy’ kind of look. So I’m looking forward to see what their new location ‘look’ looks like that I went around. But it was a surprise to me.

Craig Patterson
Ya, now CF Chinook Centre is a terrific shopping centre. One thing that blows me away, I’ve been in the mall at various times and the amount of foot traffic that you see particularly near the Louis Vuitton store — it’s almost like this aggressive crowd of people that’s always passing by. So it really shows that the mall has good foot traffic, but also it just feels really, really busy. So I think CF Chinook Centre will continue to see a lot of first market retailers at least Calgary opening there. It’s a very strong shopping centre as well as well, the article that Mario wrote had mentioned that there could be an intensification on the site in terms of adding mixed use around there, including possibly some residential, really what we’re seeing is about all of the downtown and a suburban shopping centre for shoppers and I’ve been asking myself lately and others as well, what’s the future of downtown cores in Canada? I’ll be tracking this we’ll be discussing it. Hopefully not at nauseam but definitely having future discussions around suburban versus downtown retail in Canada. Something I’m quite passionate about. And I’m definitely a downtown booster. So I really like it when downtown retail survive, but I like it when all retail is successful as well.

Lee Rivett
Well, thank you for going through the two popular articles around Calgary for this week. And I’ll talk with you next week, Craig.

Craig Patterson
Thank you so much, Lee, and thank you so much everyone for listening today. Thank you and take care.

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Mobile App ‘A Safer Walk’ Launches to Help Women Safely Connect with Other Women in Public Spaces

By

Mario Toneguzzi

-

March 12, 2023

A Safer Walk, a free mobile app, has launched, which is dedicated to helping women safely connect with other local women, in any moment, to share: quick walks through questionable parking lots, longer walks home at night from school or work, sharing cabs or public transit, or just getting together for a jog, gym, or some time outside.

Trevor MacDonald, Co-Founder of the Edmonton-based platform along with Jessica Tomory, said the app also has dedicated walk Groups, which are being offered to business towers and complexes, as well as university campuses.

“While A Safer Walk is a free download for women to use in public, we license the access and facilitation of our dedicated walk groups to building management groups offering it as a value-add to their tenants,” said MacDonald.

He said the project has its roots back a year and a half ago.

“We spent quite a bit of time interviewing women, asking questions around how women felt about the safety in Edmonton and other cities in traveling. And really how that reflected in transit and daily things and things that women did to avoid conflicts or unwanted encounters,” said MacDonald.

“We came back with the idea that women needed a tool where they could engage other women on the fly to complete safer walks as short as going to an underground parking lot in a building or all the way home from a commuting situation from their workplace.”

The app is available North American wide.

While there’s endless GPS tracking and check-in apps available, these are reactive and often late in response. A Safer Walk describes itself as a proactive and preventative approach, discouraging confrontations and reducing assaults by empowering women with mobile technology that helps organize spontaneous pairs or groups when traveling by foot or shared ride.

A Safer Walk only provides accounts for women. User IDs are all verified from government IDs from all States and provinces so women can access the network under a verified term.

“Gender-based violence is an under reported and under supported area of our society, particularly for minorities. With concern, recent statistics indicate the rate of violence against women as on the rise. The numbers suggest women and other vulnerable groups need far more action, support, and resources from local and federal governments, while gaining access to better tools and resources to help proactively avoid confrontations and assaults,” says the initiative on its website.

“Excluding incidents committed by intimate partners, 39 per cent of Canadian women, aged 15 years and older, reported experiencing at least one physical or sexual assault since age 15.”

MacDonald said he sees the app as a tool by building managers of shopping centres and other commercial buildings that can be extended to the tenants and staff working in these buildings.

“Obviously in a retail complex you’re going to have probably more women than men working in those spaces and those are complex buildings with a lot of blind spots and what can be scary areas to loop through,” he said. “If you’re someone alone, if you’re closing up a retail outlet at night and leaving through that complex to your parking situation or maybe taking public transit, this is a tool that connects women within the building with one another.

“So you work at one store, I work at another. There’s no reason we would socially know each other but through this verified network we can connect with each other to see each other’s posted walks and rides that women are looking for people to share with.

“The idea is to give women a tool that helps them coordinate pairs and groups for better mobility and can reduce the stress in their commute and hopefully discourage unwanted encounters that they might experience if they were alone.”

MacDonald said a dedicated walk group could be set up through the app. It can also be used to provide information specifically geared to women in a certain building environment.

Once women have an account for A Safer Walk they can immediately start scanning their local area for current Posted Walks by other women in their 1-40 kilometre range. Or maybe Post A Walk themselves for leaving downtown on foot, sharing a train ride home from work, splitting a cab, or possibly just going for a walk or jog.

A Safer Walk provides women:

A free 24/7 online service;
Driven by women on the go in your community, no volunteers required;
Potential walk / cab rides / transit commutes going to-and-from destinations;
A woman-only experience;
Multiple walk options and scheduled flexibility;
Ability to connect with other women off-campus (ie. events);
More focused and direct trips for users avoiding ‘milk route’ delivery for large walk groups;
No zero-sum for matching students with walks.

Brazilian Restaurant Concept Fogo de Chão Secures 1st Canadian Location as it Announces Expansion [Interview]

By

Mario Toneguzzi

-

March 12, 2023

Post-exterior — The Post, Vancouver. (Rendering: QuadReal)

Fogo de Chão, the internationally-renowned restaurant from Brazil, is making its Canadian debut in 2024 with the opening of a new location in downtown Vancouver at The Post, a two-tower office development.

It is scheduled to open in February 2024.

And a Toronto location will follow right after that.

“Bringing Fogo de Chão’s first Canada location to life in downtown Vancouver is very exciting for us, given the brand’s established success in the USA and across the world,” said Michael Wilkings, CEO and Founder of Debut Development Group, and President of Fogo de Chão Canada. “We’re looking forward to providing the city of Vancouver and visitors to The Post with the Brazilian hospitality and next-level dining experience that Fogo is renowned for.”

The new location — representing 7,778 square feet of the project’s 185,000 square foot retail component — will showcase Fogo’s recent brand transformation with enhanced design and innovation platforms in a warm, timeless and approachable setting that complements British Columbia while honouring Fogo’s Southern Brazilian heritage.

Churrasco Grill at Fogo de Chão (Image: Fogo de Chão)

Wilkings said the brand started in Southern Brazil more than 40 years ago.

“The whole organization is geared to celebrating and encapsulating the whole essence of Southern Brazilian hospitality,” said Wilkings. “They have 57 restaurants open in the United States all of which are corporately owned and operated and across the entire chain they’ve managed to maintain this kind of vibrant Southern Brazilian energy in the whole hospitality operation.

“They’re a very, very successful company. They’re not the biggest restaurant company in the United States obviously but probably the most profitable. They have a unique operating formula. What it does is it delivers a very, very profitable business. They have an average revenue per unit across the whole 57 restaurants in the States over $10 million US. It’s an extraordinarily high profitability factor.”

Fogo de Chão Canada also plans to open a restaurant in Toronto in early 2024 with location details to come in the near future.

Avi Behar and Greg Rabin at The Behar Group Realty Inc. represent Fogo de Chão Canada in its real estate expansion across Canada.

The Post, Vancouver. (Rendering: QuadReal)

The Post is QuadReal Property Group’s revitalization of the historic Canada Post building, at 658 Homer Street in downtown Vancouver.

“We are beyond thrilled that Fogo de Chão has chosen The Post for their first Canada location,” said Chrystal Burns, Executive Vice President, Retail, QuadReal Property Group. “Fogo de Chão’s next-level dining experience is a welcome addition to the project, pairing perfectly and deliciously with the best-in-class, experience-based retail tenants we have already solidified for the project including The Joseph Richard Group, Loblaws City Market, Deville Coffee and Evolve Strength.”

“We are thrilled to open our first Canada restaurant in downtown Vancouver at iconic building, The Post, in partnership with Michael and his accomplished team at Debut Development Group,” said Barry McGowan, Chief Executive Officer of Fogo de Chão. “We look forward to expanding our presence in the Vancouver area and bringing the culinary art of churrasco to more guests throughout Canada in the near future.”

Jim Bowen, Vice-President of Development for Fogo de Chão Canada, said the literal translation of the restaurant name is ‘ground fire’ – a bonfire.

It speaks to the culinary art of churrasco as chefs butcher, prepare and grill cuts of protein over an open flame.

Bowen said the company has been looking at the three major Canadian markets – Vancouver, Toronto and Montreal – with the hope of Toronto being the first location.

“But Toronto is a very competitive market and it took us a little while to find the right site,” he said. “The problem we have here is we’re in a phenomenal site. We’re in the heart of the entertainment district. We’re sandwiched between the Bisha Hotel and the new Nobu Hotel that will be opening later this year. The Toronto Film Festival, the Dome Stadium, everything is kind of right there. But it’s a condo project and the building won’t be completed until October this year. So we can’t start our construction until October which probably puts us opening around a month after Vancouver.”

The Toronto location will be on the corner of Blue Jays Way and Mercer Street.

“Our commitment for Fogo is 10 sites over 10 years and we think we can do 10 sites over five years,” said Bowen. “Although we have two sites that we’ve announced, we have another three or four brewing away that we hope to be able to announce in the next six months.”

Fiona Ayers, Vice-President of Operations for Fogo de Chão Canada, said Calgary would be a good location for the brand because of the city’s rich cowboy heritage and culture.

Wilkings said the average size of a Fogo in the US is about 7,400 square feet.

Debut Development Group is a leading developer, owner and operator of high-end restaurants, hotels, resorts, and entertainment venues worldwide.

Brazilian Steakhouse Concept Fogo de Chão to Enter Canada with Plans for 10+ Locations

Canadian Retail News From Around The Web For March 10th, 2023

By

Retail Insider

-

March 9, 2023

News at a Glance

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.

Canadians making fewer grocery store trips as food inflation continues to bite: report (The Canadian Press)

Canada’s Purolator to invest C$1 bln to electrify fleet amid green transition (Reuters)

Loblaw president defends price of chicken; images shared are of ‘specialty product’ (CTV)

Independent grocers defend chains against food inflation accusations (CTV)

U.S. Retailers Often Fail in a Key International Market – at Big Cost to Holders (The Street)

Fatburger Canada opens first Toronto location, plans further Ontario expansion (Canadian Business Franchise)

Ellie Mae Releases Collection In Support With Kids Help Phone (Style Democracy)

Crews battle fire at Shoppers Drug Mart in Thompson, Man. (CBC)