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.
Qeelin Construction at Yorkdale Shopping Centre (Image: Dustin Fuhs)
Kering-owned luxury jewellery brand Qeelin is building its first store location for North America at Toronto’s Yorkdale Shopping Centre. The brand launched several years ago at Holt Renfrew and strong sales have prompted Qeelin to open its first standalone store.
Qeelin will be located next to Hublot on the mall’s centre run near several other luxury brands. Qeelin’s Yorkdale store will be similar in size to Hublot, spanning just over 700 square feet in a retail space formerly occupied by coffee retailer Second Cup.
Many people may have not yet heard of the brand which primarily targets Chinese consumers. Qeelin’s products refer to mystical or superstitious symbols strongly embedded in the Chinese culture. The name Qeelin is said to come from the Qilin, an auspicious Chinese mythical animal and icon of love.
Image: QeelinImage: Qeelin
Qeelin was founded in 2004 by Dennis Chan (who is currently the Creative Director) and Guillaume Brochard. Chan got the idea to create the luxury brand strongly embedded in the Chinese culture while visiting the Dunhuang Caves along the Silk Road in 1997. Seven years later in Paris, Chan co-founded the brand with Brochard. Qeelin’s first collection, the Wulu, became a commercial hit after actress Maggie Cheung wore it at the 2004 Cannes Film Festival.
The company is currently headquartered in Hong-Kong and in 2013, French luxury group Kering acquired a majority stake in Qeelin which provided resources for a store expansion — Qeelin already had a store in Paris at the time and seven more opened shortly after Kering’s acquision. The acquisition also helped expand Qeelin’s line to include a high jewellery collection.
Qeelin’s Wulu collection revisited the legendary Chinese gourd, an auspicious emblem in Chinese tradition. The brand’s creations that followed used the symbols of the panda (Bo Bo), bells (Ling Long), kissing goldfish (Qin Qin), and dogs (Wang Wang).
Photo: screen shot from the Holt Renfrew websitePhoto: screen shot from the Holt Renfrew website
In 2015, Qeelin entered the North American market in a handful of stores, including Holt Renfrew in Canada where it continues to maintain a presence. All six of Holt Renfrew’s full-line stores carry Qeelin though the Vancouver store appears to have the lion’s share of pricier items of over $10,000, according to Holt Renfrew’s website. If Qeelin were to look to open a second standalone store in Canada, Vancouver would be a likely target given current sales at Holt Renfrew as well as the city’s affluent Chinese population which may already be aware of the brand.
Globally, Qeelin has 45 stores in China and only five stores in other markets. Stores outside of China include two locations in Paris (26 Place Vendome and a concession at Galeries Lafayette), one in Kuala Lumpur Malaysia at KL City Centre, one in Singapore at the Shoppes at Marina Bay Sands, and one in Sydney Australia at Westfield Sydney in the city’s downtown core. Yorkdale will be only the sixth standalone store for Qeelin outside of China.
Qeelin is a huge score for Yorkdale, which has the densest clustering of luxury brands in Canada. The mall continues to add new luxury stores and affluent consumers continue to flock to Yorkdale for its brands that are in some cases not available elsewhere in Toronto or even Canada.
As technology evolves, e-commerce will change with it to continue to meet consumer needs and to enhance experiences. From where e-commerce has been to where it is going, experts David Nagy, Larry Leung, and Liza Amlani discuss in depth about the future of ecommerce.
Pulling Back of Ecommerce Stores
Currently, David Nagy, the Founder eCommerce Canada, said the amount of e-commerce stores available right now, would be like walking into a mall that is 15 stories and consumers are being overwhelmed by their options and it needs to be pulled back.
David Nagy
“The consumer is overwhelmed with so much being accessible to them all the time, it is like walking into the mall and its 15 levels high and there is indistinguishable brand after brand. None of us would make money except for the first one that you walk into because the rest of them are so overwhelming and I can’t possibly think I would spend my time shopping at a giant store like this,” says Nagy.
As today there is no barrier to entry to create an e-commerce store, anyone can do it. Platforms such as Shopify make it easier for people to create an online store as the platforms even provide dropshipping. Something Nagy said was not so easy in the past. Even ten years ago, Nagy said it was very cost restrictive, you needed a lot of training, and experience to bring a brand online, but now because of platforms like Shopify – there are just too many and people are opening up stores without researching. This is causing too many of the same stores and Nagy is hoping in the future, it will calm down.
“We lose reason when we think about online businesses. We just think about how it’s easy, low cost, and the mentality of I can get into the game so therefore, I will. But the vast majority are not successful. The future of e-commerce is consolidation. Through the pandemic, there was a mad race to be online with any little thing and it drove us to do things that made no financial sense, and so there is a bit of a reckoning right now as some of this has to be pulled back. We have built online stores in such a short amount of time and a lot of them are not going to make it.”
As consolidation in the near future for e-commerce, Nagy says this will be a good thing as the industry itself will be better on the other side as it will lead to better talent and successful businesses will be able to become stronger over the next few years. “This is what I am excited about,” says Nagy.
Ecommerce Enters Metaverse
As the Metaverse continues to evolve, will e-commerce stores evolve with it? The short answer is yes, consumers should see a shift towards shopping in the Metaverse – although if this is a good thing is debatable.
“We just can’t ignore the fact that the gaming community is a larger and wealthier industry than the entertainment industry. It is often overlooked and these things are gigantic. So how quick do brands need to be preparing themselves for that and how effective do we need to be with our virtual storefronts and virtual products? Is that tomorrow? I expect some level of it, but I don’t know what it looks like as it moves fast,” says Nagy.
Nike has already held a virtual storefront event in Central Park where there were no products there but people used the VR headsets to see and pick up products. Nagy suggests the virtual world could be the new way of getting user feedback of products and also for testing your new store concept before wasting money.
“Are we heading there – I can’t see why we wouldn’t. That technology seems to be the first mover, not so much in the gaming space but more in the experiential space as there is real commercial value to having an entirely digital ecosystem set up. Test your new store concepts in VR, before you spend money test them all in VR see how it works, test the traffic, see what the user feedback is. Of course, this makes all the sense in the world,” says Nagy.
Larry Leung, Customer Experience Leader, also predicts e-commerce will dive into the Metaverse world and will possibly create a worldwide digital currency from a gaming company or from Apple. However, as he agrees with Nagy about the positives of retail joining the Metaverse world, Leung also sees how it could become dangerous.
Larry Leung
“There are pros and cons of people just staying in one physical space. It is not healthy mentally or physically. And the technology has not proven effective enough where you are physically ill after 30 minutes. So right now with virtual reality, most people can only be on it for around 30 minutes after that they get dizzy and there are some people that get dizzy immediately. And I think the question is, do you want to live a life only inside the Metaverse or do you want to live life outside,” says Leung.
Metaverse e-commerce stores could also open up more bullying and crimes as it is already so easy for people to pretend to be someone else that the Metaverse would make it easier.
“It could open up potential crime because a lot of people are already pretending to be other people. So, that likely would not change if it is in the metaverse, if anything it could be worse because your voice, persona, and how you act would all be very different than who you really are as a person. I worry about that but I think the opportunities outweigh the potential positives but I just believe they have to be regulated to ensure safety – especially with younger people,” says Leung.
So, in the future, customers could find themselves shopping within the Metaverse world, but what this will look like really depends on how advanced the technology gets. Will they make it into a store that customers would walk into a store and shop like they would in the real world? Possibly, but we will have to wait to find out.
Integrating All Channels into One
As retail stores usually have multiple channels such as social media, physical store, and e-commerce platforms – to enhance the consumers experience, stores need to start thinking about making it all one experience instead of division and how they can make the consumers’ experience more personalized.
As online customers are feeling unknown when they shop in physical stores, Leung sees stores integrating more and to do that they need to keep track of their e-commerce stores and physical stores to combine the experience into one. That way, if you buy an item online and walk into the store the salesperson should know you when you identify yourself and therefore, recommend options based on your online shopping.
Leung said he sees more integration in the future because a lot of consumers are feeling unknown from retailers even if they shop online and therefore, do not have a sense of loyalty. By making the customer known online and in store, it will drive the customer to come back again and will create a sense of loyalty to the brand.
Liza Amlani
Liza Amlani, the go to expert in Retail Merchandising, also sees an increase in integration of channels as that is the way to become closer with consumers and find out what exactly they are looking for.
“The biggest change is that there will be a seamless integration across all channels due to e-commerce being a drive for retail,” says Amlani. “So what I mean by that is real time inventory, a seamless customer experience and engagement across all channels. The future of e-commerce will become more seamless.”
“I think what we will see is a better understanding of how the consumer views a brand and what they see is the brand – they don’t see a channel.
It needs to be a seamless journey, not e-commerce vs. physical store. It shouldn’t be about that, it should be about the consumer and placing the consumer in the middle. So investing in one or the other is not the right move, investing in the entire experience is what the brand and retailer should be doing,” says Amlani.
Amlani says getting closer to the consumer is what should drive all strategies, no matter what channel it should all come down to the consumer and how the brand can delight them. So whatever is next for e-commerce, whether that is diving into the metaverse or combining channels – the customer experience should only be getting better.
The world’s largest Activate, an active gaming facility, has opened at Bramalea City Centre in Brampton, Ontario – its fifth location in Canada.
Activate consists of a series of 11 interactive game rooms where people can play arcade-style games by actually jumping, climbing and dodging. The new Activate at Bramalea City Centre is 13,000 square feet and features laser lights, glowing walls and huge high-tech rooms where people can play games like Arena, Hoops, Mega Grid and Climb.
Nicole MacPhail
Nicole MacPhail, Marketing Director at BCC, said Activate is located at the exterior entrance of the shopping centre, next to Decathlon.
“We’re finding, and I think this is a lot of shopping centres, a need for more I’d say retail-tainment. We want to really pull our shoppers off of their phones and get them back into the mall,” she said. “So something like Activate Games gives our shoppers a reason to come to the mall, hopefully a motivation to come out and shop but also to experience something different.
Image: Activate
“Activate really is something cool . . . We see immersive events but this is basically like you’re almost in an immersive video game when you’re actually participating and playing as opposed to people who spent a lot of time sitting at home playing video games. This is now bringing people out of their homes to actively participate in the game itself.
“I think it’s a really nice social activity to have and it’s a great form of exercise. There’s lots of different levels you can go through so you can kind of do it as a social activity or you can come and really get competitive and do it as a super fun workout.”
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Activate at Bramalea City Centre
Activate at Bramalea City Centre
Activate at Bramalea City Centre
Activate at Bramalea City Centre
Activate at Bramalea City Centre
Activate at Bramalea City Centre
Bramalea City Centre is the largest shopping centre in the City of Brampton, and the fourth largest in Ontario. The two-level shopping centre offers 1.5 million square feet of retail shopping space, showcasing a tenant mix of over 300 stores and services including Aritzia, Decathlon, H&M, Browns Shoes and Sephora.
Recently, besides Activate, the shopping centre has also seen the opening of JD Sports, Stokes and WLKN.
MacPhail said that through the pandemic people got comfortable being at home and being able to order things from home.
“Shopping centres are just really looking for ways to draw people out of their homes. Maybe now we’re not as much just a shopping destination but we want to be more of that entertainment destination and a place for the community to come out and meet again. I think it’s really important and we’re seeing that with a lot of shopping centres where they’re having more events or reasons to come to the mall,” she said.
Image: Activate
“Our traffic levels are doing really, really well. We’re seeing people returning to the mall and we’re seeing our sales matching with that. It’s really positive to see that people still want to come to the mall and people are shopping when they’re coming to the malls. We’re seeing some really positive results.”
Activate also has locations in Burlington, Scarborough, Edmonton South and Winnipeg.
It offers high-tech games that test a team’s physical and mental agility across a wide variety of real-life challenges. Once inside, people can choose from hundreds of combinations of games and difficulty levels, each lasting one to three minutes. An electronic wristband tracks the score and progress throughout a person’s experience. A minimum group of three people is needed to play, as games are played in groups of three to five.
Kris Mutcher of Colliers International represents Activate Games for their rapid expansion efforts internationally, and Paul Courchesne in Ontario, with plans to open one location per month in 2023 across Canada and the US.
Sleep Country Express at Walmart Canada (Image: Sleep Country)
Sleep Country is expanding its footprint within Walmart Canada stores with seven more locations across the country.
The initiative builds on a pilot project first launched last fall and the second phase will bring the total number of “Sleep Country Express” stores to 17, including three Dormez-vous locations in Quebec.
“With this new expansion into Western Canada and more parts of Ontario, we’re thrilled to strengthen our ongoing mission to awaken Canadians to the power of sleep,” said Stewart Schaefer, President and CEO of Sleep Country. “We’re excited to continue our strategic retail expansion with Walmart Canada to provide more consumers with convenient access to premier and transformative sleep brands that encourage healthy sleep habits and overall wellness.”
Sleep Country Express at Walmart Canada (Image: Sleep Country)
Schaefer said the presence in Walmart stores gives Sleep Country exposure to the giant retailer’s massive foot traffic across the country.
Stewart Schaefer
“Another reason (for being in Walmart) is broad customer segmentation. I think Sleep Country is considered mid to high. It expands into a broader customer segmentation not only for maybe a mid and maybe lower end consumer but also the 400,000 immigrants that come to Canada on an annual basis know companies like Walmart and maybe Costco and maybe IKEA but may not know Christine Magee ‘why buy a mattress anywhere else?’ (slogan). So it’s a great way of exposing the brand to those 400,000 immigrants because for sure they’re shopping at Walmart.
“We’re seeing it driving customers to our stores. The stores that are near those Walmarts and we’re already seeing that in our data.”
Sleep Country Express at Walmart Canada (Image: Sleep Country)
Schaefer said the potential is to expand to perhaps as many 100 store-in-store locations in Walmart.
Sam Hamam
Sam Hamam, Senior Director, Licensees of Walmart Canada, said the first year of the partnership was a success and reinforced the company’s commitment to the wellbeing of all Canadians.
“We look at our licensee program as part of our portfolio strategy where we try to provide a one-stop shop for our customers where they can complete all their shopping in one place,” he said. “Their groceries, their apparel. They can grab their kids a meal, etc.
“By launching this pilot about a year ago this time, we launched 10 stores, seven in Ontario and three in Quebec. We had some good success with it and together with Sleep Country we said ‘okay let’s continue to roll out more’ and we will have more to follow after this as well.”
Image: Sleep Country Canada Head Office
Typically, the Sleep Country Express stores are in the front of Walmart locations. The seven new “Sleep Country Express” locations have an average footprint of 700 square feet, a substantial increase in size from the initial 10 stores, which averaged 400 square feet. The larger footprint features an expanded selection of pillows and a greater assortment of mattresses, including a well-curated assortment of bed in a box mattresses that are conveniently ready for purchase and carryout, as well as traditional mattresses delivered with the company’s white glove service. “Sleep Country Express” will be staffed by the brand’s highly trained Sleep Experts.
“I think there’s obviously the ability to continue to expand this. We’ll have 17 by the end of this year. Our objective is when we find a service or an offering that our customers like and both the partner and us are both enjoying the value there we’ll continue to roll that out and that’s what we’ll do in this case,” added Hamam.
The Walmart portfolio strategy includes services such as health care, quick service restaurants and mobile phone repairs.
“We have a bunch of different concepts we continue piloting and trying and we’ll continue to add new concepts like Sleep Country and others,” said Hamam.
New “Sleep Country Express” store locations and opening dates:
Scarborough Walmart, 5995 Steeles Avenue East, Ontario (Opened September 30)
Bolton Walmart, 150 McEwan Drive East, Ontario (Opened October 21)
Saskatoon Walmart, 3035 Clarence Avenue South, Saskatchewan (Opening November 2)
Lethbridge Walmart, 3195 26th Avenue North, Alberta (Opening November 15)
Sage Hill Walmart, 35 Sage Hill Gate Northwest, Alberta (Opening December 1)
Duncan Walmart, 3020 Drinkwater Road, British Colombia (Opening December 3)
Edmonton West Walmart, 18521 Stony Plain Road Northwest, Alberta (Opening December 17)
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.
The return to fitness centres across the country is taking place but make no bones about it the industry may have forever changed due to the lockdowns and restrictions it experienced during the past two-years plus because of COVID-19.
Blake MacDonald, President of Orangetheory Fitness Canada, said the pandemic “absolutely decimated the fitness industry” but his brand is poised to grow in the coming years.
Blake MacDonald
“The fitness industry has been probably one of the hardest hit. So there was a couple of things. Number one was obviously the constant closures and the constant restrictions that were being placed on us – distancing restrictions, indoor masking, all that kind of stuff. It really took a toll on our membership bases,” he said.
“Fitness is an interesting business in that we’re not like a restaurant where you open the doors and people just come in. We typically run off a membership base which is recurring membership and it takes awhile to build those members up. So if you’ve lost a whole bunch of members because you’ve been closed for six months, or you probably lost most of them, you kind of have to start from scratch. You only have a smaller percentage of those that actually come back when you reopen. You have to build it back up every month and you try to get back to where you were.
Orangetheory Fitness launches 100th virtual studio in Canada on the strength of its Orangetheory Live platform (CNW Group/Orangetheory Fitness Canada)
“This last round of closures which was really January, February of this year, we came out of that probably in the worst shape we’ve been as an industry. A lot of fitness facilities were at 50 to 60 per cent of their pre-COVID member numbers or even less than that. It’s been a slow build. I think what we saw with the summer is a lot of people were not anxious to get back into the gym. They were anxious to travel and to live their lives and do all the things that they didn’t get to do for the last couple of years. It was a very slow summer but we’re now seeing a huge return to the studios at the end of August and September. But in the interim, the industry has lost probably somewhere between 30 and 40 per cent of its competition. A lot of studios and big box gyms have just gone out of business. They’ve folded up operations and I think there’s a ton more carnage to come. We expect another 20 to 25 per cent to go bankrupt within the next six months based on the fact that a lot of the assistance that was provided by the Canadian government was provided in the form of loans and those loans are now coming due. The principal and interest payments are now becoming payable. Most operators in this industry are not in a cash flow positive position on a monthly basis, they have not built their membership levels back and a lot of people are just running out of money.”
Currently, Orangetheory has 112 locations in the country with another five in development scheduled to be open by the end of the year.
The first location opened in Canada in October 2012 in St. Albert, near Edmonton. The first franchise location was in 2014.
MacDonald and his business partner own the rights for Canada and are majority partners in 30 studios and the rest are individually franchised.
Image: OrangeTheory
During the pandemic, he said, there was a big feeling that people’s exercise habits would shift to working out at home. Online concepts like Peloton took off. Many people flocked to them immediately. But MacDonald said people found out that they missed going to the gym – the social aspect, the community, a fitness professional.
“The industry, we believe, we’re very bullish on the fact that we will get back to where we were pre-COVID. (Recently), the brand in Canada hit 70 per cent of our pre-COVID membership levels which is about 77 or 78 per cent of our pre-COVID revenues,” explained MacDonald. “So we’re definitely on our way back to recovery within the Orangetheory brand itself.
“The only thing that’s really changed with the industry is if you’re going to be a bricks and mortar operator you need to offer more than just equipment rental. You’re not just selling memberships for people to come and use it. You need to provide them an experience that is superior to what they could get working out from home.
“That’s why we’re very bullish on how Orangetheory will perform in the next two to three years. We think we have the best workout in North America and quite honestly the best coaches and we think we’ll be big winners in this thing and we’ll be the ones that can offer that premium Ritz Carlton member experience.”
MacDonald said the age demographic of members has shifted younger.
Image: OrangeTheory
Image: OrangeTheory
While the industry has been very hard hit, and some brands have lost perhaps 50 to 60 per cent of their locations, Orangetheory is not one of them. MacDonald said the company has had very limited turnover of its locations with only a few closures across Canada and those have been flipped around and are being reopened by new franchisees.
“I think we’ve come through this a lot better than the rest of the players in the industry and that’s why I think we’re also positioned to be one of the top growth brands going forward,” he said.
“We’re in growth mode again and I think we’re very much on our way back. There was a time between 2017 and 2021 where we were opening 20 or more locations per year. We expect to get back to that level of growth and expansion within the next couple of years here.”
Amsterdam-based custom suit brand Atelier Munro has opened its first standalone location in Canada in Toronto’s Bloor-Yorkville area, and there are plans for more stores in major cities. The Toronto location spans three floors and is only the second in the world for Atelier Munro.
The beautifully renovated 3,000 square foot space at 19 Hazelton Avenue took months to construct in a former Victorian house that was most recently occupied by a bridal store. The space includes several working desks where customers can collaborate with employees to customized designs, with the store featuring walk-in wardrobes, several fitting rooms and social spaces.
The store was designed by Dutch firm Unknown Architects, light fixtures were created by Tim Hooijmans and a handmade tapestry made by David Kulen.
“We are thrilled to be making our official Canadian debut with the launch of our new Atelier Munro House in Toronto,” said Joachim Baan, Creative Director of Atelier Munro. “While we have been dressing clients in the city for quite some time, this is a particularly special moment for us as this is truly the way we believe to service the people around us, our clients, our brand ambassadors and everyone interested in made-to-measure clothing and personal taste and style. We are really looking forward to strengthening the existingAtelier Munro community, while introducing our brand to a new wider audience in Canada.”
The Atelier Munro House-Toronto
The Atelier Munro House-Toronto
Suits and sweaters can be made to order, as well as shirts and even custom handmade shoes. There are also ready-to-wear options for someone looking for an immediate purchase. The entry level for Atelier Munro suits is about $800 and prices go higher depending on materials used. A custom garment takes about four weeks to make. Shirts are priced between $160 and $300 typically.
The third floor of Atelier Munro acts as a gathering space, and can be used for private events with a kitchen and seating areas. It’s actually the largest of the three floors and extends over the George C. store located next door. A private outdoor terrace will also be renovated and is expected to open next spring according to Brand Experience Leader Domenic Esposto.
The Calgary market is next for an Atelier Munro store, and as of press time a location had yet to be secured. Vancouver is also a market where the brand is looking according to Esposto. Other major markets such as Montreal will also eventually have locations.
The Atelier Munro House-Toronto
The Atelier Munro House-Toronto
Atelier Munro entered Canada in 2016 in a partnership with menswear retailer Harry Rosen. After Atelier Munro exited Harry Rosen, the multi-brand menswear retailer launched its own private custom suit brand called Harold.
Atelier Munro was founded in 2007 by a group of men wanting to create customized apparel that was like made-to-measure only quicker, easier, less expensive, and more adaptable. Atelier Munro’s price point is higher than Vancouver-based Indochino and considerably less than the bespoke offerings at pricier retailers.
Walmart Canada officially opened its new Edmonton Kingsway Walmart Supercentre in Alberta today (CNW Group/Walmart Canada Corp.)
Walmart Canada has opened its newest Supercentre at Edmonton Kingsway – the first new store in Alberta since 2015 as the $10-million investment has created more than 100 new jobs as well as more than 100 trade and construction positions.
The retailer said the new Supercentre, which is 149,000 square feet at Edmonton’s Kingsway Mall, replaces the Edmonton Westmount store with the new addition of a fresh food assortment. The new store is more than a third larger than the previous location and has many new features, including Walmart Grocery Pickup and Walmart Grocery Delivery.
Derreck Cuschieri
“We are bringing the best of Walmart Canada to Kingsway Mall,” said Derreck Cuschieri, Vice President of Operations for Western Canada, Walmart Canada. “This new location has more space, more products, more services and more options for our customers. Kingsway’s close proximity to downtown Edmonton will help more people save money so they can live better. We’re proud to be investing for growth in Edmonton while creating jobs for the community.”
Walmart Canada officially opened its new Edmonton Kingsway Walmart Supercentre in Alberta today (CNW Group/Walmart Canada Corp.)
Walmart’s presence in Alberta dates back to 1994 and today it has 61 stores in the province, four distribution centres and more than 16,000 employees. The retailer has invested more than $80 million in Alberta store upgrades over the past two years and it recently purchased about $200 million worth of products from Alberta-based suppliers over a 12-month period.
The Edmonton Kingsway Supercentre represents a more than $10 million investment in the community. In September, Walmart Canada announced $1 billion in infrastructure investments this year, including approximately $330 million to renovate more than 80 stores across Canada. These investments are part of Walmart Canada’s aim to make the online and in-store shopping experience simpler, faster and more convenient.
Aisan Khan
“This new store is going to be a huge win for our customers,” said Store Manager Aisan Khan. “Edmontonians will appreciate the wide assortment of fresh produce available and many international food options to serve this diverse community. The Supercentre is more modern and spacious than the previous location. Our associates are thrilled with the move and we are very excited to serve our valued customers in central Edmonton.
“We are really excited for this location, especially it being so close to the downtown core. It makes it really easy for the customers from downtown . . . The Kingsway Mall is truly a one-stop shop where they have the mall, they have Walmart here for groceries as well because there’s no other retailer in the mall that’s full fledged produce, fresh and grocery.
Walmart Kingsway in Edmonton (Image: Walmart Canada)
Walmart Kingsway in Edmonton (Image: Walmart Canada)
Walmart Kingsway in Edmonton (Image: Walmart Canada)
“We’ve been talking to a lot of customers here and they’re excited. They’re excited to have this location here and also for the students right across the street at NAIT (Northern Alberta Institute of Technology). Of course looking for jobs. And we have the jobs for them. We have hired already over 120 people but now that we’re looking at it we think we need more people and we’ve opened the hiring again and we’re hiring more people.
“When you come in here you can feel that newness in the store. 2015 was the last store that was opened (in Alberta) in Calgary Sage Hill. And it’s always exciting to have a new store and opening those jobs and people right now the way things are with the economy people are looking for jobs and we are offering those jobs.”
Khan said the store features electronic shelf labels. It has a full offering of fresh with a huge bakery and produce department. When the store was set up, Walmart looked at the ethnicity and diversity in the community and there’s a full ethnic section in groceries.
Walmart Kingsway in Edmonton (Image: Walmart Canada)
New features and offerings include:
Expansive international section including Asian, Indian, Middle Eastern, Italian and Portuguese foods, plus a dedicated international frozen food section;
Walmart Pharmacy that is eager to offer new and longtime patients expert advice, compassionate help on health-care issues and assistance with products, prescriptions and immunizations, including COVID-19 and flu vaccines;
Sustainable features including a transcritical CO2 refrigeration system with rejected energy being reclaimed for building heating systems, advanced building automation system for lighting and HVAC controls, LED lighting and low flow fixtures; and
Store hours are 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. every day.
“We are very excited to welcome Walmart to Kingsway this fall,” said Susan Lovie, Director and General Manager of Kingsway Mall. “This Walmart will be a significant addition to the area and opens a new chapter in the development of Kingsway. We are always excited to welcome retailers that help us better serve the needs of our community, and know that Walmart offers the products and convenience that our customers look for. It will greatly add to the best-in-class shopping experience we offer at Kingsway.”
Susan Lovie
The retailer said the Edmonton Kingsway Walmart will be providing charitable support through its community giving program year-round. In 2021, Walmart Canada raised and donated more than $5.4 million for charities in Alberta. When it officially opened recently, the store donated $7,000 to local charities, including Edmonton Gleaners Association, Spruce Avenue School, Avonair Curling Club, Youth Emergency Shelter, Bent Arrow Traditional Healing Society.
Walmart Canada operates a chain of more than 400 stores nationwide serving 1.5 million customers each day.
Vancouver-based women’s fashion retailer Aritzia has opened a renovated and expanded location at CF Markville in Markham, north of Toronto.
Karen Janes
The original Markville store opened in 2013 in a 4,707 square foot space. The expansion effectively triples the footprint for the retailer, adding in an A-OK Cafe and more than 10,000 square feet to the location.
“Expanding in our already existing markets provides us with a runway to continue to connect with our clients,” shared Karen Janes, Executive Vice President, Real Estate & New Business Development. “The expansion of our A-OK Cafe further provides Aritzia’s commitment to an elevated shopping experience and Everyday Luxury alongside our engaging service, beautiful product and aspirational shopping space.”
Aritzia at CF Markville (Image: Aritzia)
The now 15,102 square foot location includes an A-OK Café, the in-house coffee shop which brings a curated menu of gourmet drinks and locally baked goods. In a first-to-market concept, the Markville location saw an expanded menu that includes alcohol.
“Markville clients will also be the first to sample the newly expanded menu which offers a selection of alcohol including wine, beer and cocktails, and small plates featuring paté, burrata and olives. A-OK Cafe further proves Aritzia’s commitment to an elevated shopping experience and Everyday Luxury,” shared the brand.
The in-house coffee shop at the Markville Aritzia gives customers a curated menu of gourmet drinks and locally baked goods. Beverage highlights include micro-ground teas, specialty iced beverages and espresso made with their signature A-OK roast.
Aritzia A-OK Cafe at CF Markville (Image: Aritzia)Aritzia A-OK Cafe at CF Markville (Image: Aritzia)
Aritzia has 112 stores, with 68 permanent locations in Canada and 44 in the US.
Janes shared with Retail Insider during the Yorkdale store expansion announcement that Aritzia has 6 total planned openings for the rest of 2022: 3 expansions: (1) CF Markville, Markham, ON (2) CF Polo Park, Winnipeg, MB (3) Washington Square, Portland, OR and 3 new boutiques: (1) Standford in Palo Alto, CA (2) Fashion Outlets of Chicago, Chicago, IL (3) Shops at La Cantera, San Antonio, TX.
“With every expansion and opening, our goal is to provide our clients with an aspirational environment. Many of the elements and design ideas will be integrated in future boutiques in an organic way,” explained Janes.
Aritzia at CF Markville (Image: Aritzia)
The retailer describes itself as a design house with an innovative global platform.
“We are creators and purveyors of Everyday Luxury, home to an extensive portfolio of exclusive brands for every function and individual aesthetic. We’re about good design, quality materials and timeless style – all with the wellbeing of our People and Planet in mind,” added Janes.
“Founded in 1984, in Vancouver, Canada, our world-class team creates immersive, and highly personal shopping experiences in our 100+ boutiques throughout North America and at aritzia.com to everyone, everywhere.”
