Video Interview: Indochino Partners With Nordstrom For Mini Showroom Presence
Drew Green, CEO/President, Indochino, discusses the brand’s partnership with Nordstrom.
Green talks about the concept of mini showrooms within the retailer’s stores, how many exist today, plans for the future, if more are coming, whether Indochino will look at other retailers to introduce the concept, any recent developments for Indochino, the introduction of a women’s line and the impact of the pandemic on the business
The Video Interview Series by Retail Insider is available on YouTube.
Connect with Mario Toneguzzi, a veteran of the media industry for more than 40 years and named in 2021 a Top Ten Business Journalist in the world and the only Canadian – to learn how you can tell your story, share your message and amplify it to a wide audience. He is Senior National Business Journalist with Retail Insider and owner of Mario Toneguzzi Communications Inc. and can be reached at mdtoneguzzi@gmail.com.
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Calgary-based thrift store WINS (Women In Need Society) continues to use innovation and creativity in its business model to thrive in the post pandemic period.
Founded in 1992, WINS is a thrift charity, providing basic needs resources and support to women and their families. It started with one thrift store location then and today has six across Calgary in addition to its Donation Centre. In 2020 it launched a bulk thrift store, MORE! along with an online thrift box service, TwiceNEW.
Today, people from all walks of life frequent the thrift stores knowing that their purchases and donations make a difference.
Image: WINS (Women In Need Society)
Karen Ramchuk, President and CEO of WINS who has been in the role for almost five years, has seen the tremendous growth of the concept in recent years with more growth to come.
Karen Ramchuk
“One of the things that is super interesting for me is actually the fact that I came from corporate retail. I worked at Loblaw for over 20 years and I learned a lot. I was 10 years in operations, 10 years in merchandising at Loblaw Companies,” said Ramchuk.
“They taught me so much and I’m so thankful for everything they taught me because when it came to WINS, I really stumbled upon that social enterprise model and I could see how WINS could become something that was totally sustainable, that really could impact the community. And it gave me a passion to take my retail learnings and do more than just generate profit for an organization.
“I got, almost for lack of a better word, addicted to the social good. At WINS through my course of five years we’ve been able to double our budget and we’ve been able to introduce new types of ways of selling donated goods. We’re locked in by CRA (Canada Revenue Agency) to selling donated goods because we’re actually a charity run as a business and the CRA defines business for charity only in selling donated goods.”
During the COVID-19 pandemic, WINS launched Twice New by WINS, a nationwide online thrift shopping enterprise that brings thrifted clothing to Canadians in a safe and convenient way.
WINS also recently celebrated the second anniversary of the More Store, a unique bin-style thrift store that was launched in June 2020. An extension of WINS’ existing thrift store enterprise, the More Store offers a wide variety of gently-used clothing at discounted prices where every item is sold for one dollar or less – the more someone buys the less it costs them.
“When I look at the business model WINS has in Calgary, you can take this business model and pop it into any location. You could do it in a small town, you could do it in a city,” said Ramchuk. “You could do it from one end of Canada to the other end of Canada and have something that would really be able to help support more Canadians in a more wholesome way.”
In 2021, WINS provided 22,255 services to more than 14,000 Calgarians and diverted 4.1 million pounds of clothing, household items and furniture from Calgary landfills.
Image: WINS (Women In Need Society)
Image: WINS (Women In Need Society)
“Between what we sell, what we give away and what we recycle, this year we will keep over five million pounds out of the Calgary landfill,” said Ramchuk.
“We’re also a low cost, sustainable shopping option for all Calgarians. For our social impact, this year we’re going to probably help 15,000 Calgarians in their fight against poverty and we do it through a wholistic wraparound approach which is really unique in the area that we’re in. We help first off with basic needs support and in that way we’re a lot like the food bank, although we do emergency food, we also do hygiene items, we do clothing, we do furniture, we do household.
“We supply all of that for free for women and their families. We also supply through our community resource hubs emotional support and navigation of the system of care so helping her to build her confidence and giving her all the tools and the resources to help her to stay sustainable on her journey. And we have an employment training program which is very different and very supportive and caring to prepare women for careers in retail and wholesale warehousing through our employment service that we do.”
Ramchuk said WINS also works with many for-profit retail companies around diverting goods from the landfill. WINS is able to take some items that those retailers could potentially put on clearance at stores but they don’t want to use the sales floor space, saving them from ending up in the landfill.
WINS (Women In Need Society) x Southcentre
WINS (Women In Need Society) x University of Calgary
“It gives them an option to repurpose that in a way that does community good,” she said. “We have some really great partners. TJX Canada is one of our major partners and we also have a partnership with Endy Mattress . . . We also have a great partnership with Amazon that’s fairly new where items that they’re overstocked on, they give to us to give away to our families in need as well.”
Ramchuk said one of WINS’ goals is “a great place to be for everybody.” Whether that’s a customer, an employee, a volunteer, someone coming for help, the organization wants everyone to leave WINS “feeling fabulous.”
“The thrift market is absolutely growing. Obviously I think everyone’s aware of the inflation and the cost of living across Canada. So thrift is great low cost, sustainable shopping. And it’s not just only about the inflation, it’s about being kind to the environment as well. That’s a big part of the work that we do. We believe in being kind to people and being kind to the environment. So everything we’re doing is to make Calgary a better place whether we’re helping women, whether we’re diverting stuff from the landfill, whether we’re offering Calgarians a fabulous place to shop at low prices, whether it’s someone from Ontario shopping our online. Everything we do is to help,” said Ramchuk.
She said the WINS’ strategy is to continue opening more locations in Calgary.
“My personal goal is one day to move beyond Calgary but that’s a personal goal that’s not approved by the board yet or anything. But I would love to take this model and have it grow,” said Ramchuk, adding that WINS could easily have a total of 12 stores in Calgary.
Toronto’s Union Station is alive with activity this summer as people come out to participate in more personal experiences in the post-pandemic period.
TD Union Summer has returned for its fifth anniversary with food vendors and 63 days of live music and performances, feature films, and games nights right in the heart of the city.
The annual outdoor summer festival brings together locals, tourists, friends, families and features an eclectic mix of summer and street food from Gus Tacos, Mikey’s Smashburgers, Naansense by Butter Chicken Roti, Souvla by Mamakas, and drinks by Moosehead at the TrulyTO bar.
Jessica Lemire, Manager of Marketing Activations and Event Sponsorship, said Union Summer is inspired by the convergence of food, art and culture and is designed to give people a chance to connect with each other and everything that the city has to offer through its showcase of local and international artists. It strives to create an experience that is both welcoming and accessible, while offering free programming that is a reflection of Union’s commitment to celebrate the diversity of the city it lives and works in.
Union Summer launched on June 27 outside on Front Street and will run until August 28.
TD Union Summer at Union Station (Image: Spring Morris / Union Station)TD Union Holiday at Union Station (Image: Spring Morris / Union Station)
Union Holiday, also presented by TD, is the annual free outdoor skating rink experience designed to bring a bit of magic to Front Street to celebrate the holiday season. The plaza will be transformed from an outdoor patio to a full skating rink within months. Union Holiday is the first of its kind to offer not only a free skating rink, but free skate rentals and lessons in Toronto. The idea and concept of the ice rink was conceived by the Programming and Special Events Team at Union Station to create a special experience that allows participants to immerse themselves in the experience in an environment that welcomes all levels and lets everyone enjoy a quintessential Canadian pastime. More information to come on this.
Jessica Lemire
These two programs are a focal point for connecting communities and arts and cultural placemaking in a public space, said Lemire.
“To us, Union Station is more than just a transit hub in the downtown core. To the hundreds of thousands of people who walk through the doors of this national historic building each day, it may be a means of getting from one place to another, but it is also an opportunity for exploration and connection between arrivals and departures. Union strives to be one of the world’s most engaging civic experiences – bringing compelling retail and cultural experiences all under one roof,” she said.
“From national brands to independent start-ups, acclaimed artist to emerging talent, its Beaux-Arts architecture in the Great Hall and preserved original 1927 storefronts to the 210 biomorphic pods adorning the ceiling of the Union Food Court and its innovations in the digital space, Union offers commuters and visitors a blend of history, discovery and culture. In addition to being an operational train station for local, regional, and national services and a retail destination, Union has a multidisciplinary programming department that offers free public events year long. Led by the Executive Director of Programming, Syma Shah, the programming vision comes to life through artistic installations, performances, exhibits, marquis events and cultural partnerships with local and international organizations.”
Davids Tea Pop-up at Union Station (Image: Union Station)Jessica Lemire (Manager, Marketing Activations & Event Sponsorship), Syma Shah (Executive Director, Programming and Special Events), Julia Rocchi (Associate, Events and Production) Kim Gravel (Director, Events), Alexa Polenz (Manager, Brand and Partnership) Not pictured: Danielle Arsenault (Associate, Events and Production)
Lemire joined Union in 2016 after moving to Toronto from Montreal and while commuting through the Station each day, she thought that a dynamic and fluid approach to retail would best fit a building with significant returning traffic.
“From there, I developed a few programs that are ultimately designed to enhance people’s experience through rotating pop-ups and sampling activations that would entice people to stray from their regular patterns and bring in Torontonians and tourists into the Station that would otherwise not necessarily have gone down to Union. We carefully select our pop-ups to bring in exciting, unique, and exclusive concepts, which includes working with national brands like Louis Vuitton, OREO, SodaStream, DAZN, Kombi, M&Ms, and Bauer,” she said.
“When a brand approaches us to host a pop-up at Union, we work hand-in-hand with them to brainstorm ideas that will make commuters want to skip their train and catch the next one! We also believe in the concept of city-building through support of local independent brands. Having access to such a busy location with impressive foot traffic, we wanted to provide the opportunity for smaller brands to be featured, which is why you’ll see startups, entrepreneurs or artisans in the space throughout the year as well. Union is a place of discovery and adventure and is ever-evolving to meet the needs and interests of Torontonians, and we follow that vision all the way into our pop-up store.”
Union Station Sephora (Image: Arash Moallemi / Sephora Canada)Decathon City at Union Station facade (Image: Decathlon Canada)
“The merchandising strategy was targeted on securing unique, first to market and sought-after independent operators, who represent the ethnic and cultural mosaic that Toronto is. The goal (is) to give the commuters, tourists, visitors, and residents of Toronto a taste of what the city has to offer. As well, we’ve strategically positioned national and international anchor retailers such as Sephora, Decathlon, % Arabica, Fika, and LCBO along the Bay St Promenade corridor. These efforts continue to solidify this major transportation hub as a world-class destination.”
With the opening of some of its new retailers like the LCBO, Decathlon and Sephora, Union Station is attracting more high-profile brands than it did five years ago, added Lemire.
“They are all very keen on working with our team to develop programs, experiential events, pop-ups and activations, and we’ve done a great job at elevating concepts that are presented to meet the needs and vision of the station. Louis Vuitton had their Time Capsule Exhibit that debuted in Hong Kong in 2017 and touched down in 17 cities including Los Angeles, Shanghai, Dubai, Singapore and Union in Toronto. As soon as I saw it, I knew we needed to have this here. They were revisiting the brand’s landmark innovations in technology, travel and design since 1854, and there was no better fit than our historic transportation hub to host this phenomenal museum of luxury,” she said.
“We worked with them to feature pieces from their archives that were more focused on travel and we even had a pop-up store where all items were under $300, for those looking for a souvenir or gift home. Most recently, we’ve worked with Bauer Hockey on a sponsorship for our Union Holiday skating rink, which was topped with an exclusive “Beyond the Rink” pop-up store in the Front Street Promenade. We’ve had the pleasure of hosting Johnnie Walker’s engraving and tasting pop-up two years in a row in partnership with Vibrant Marketing and Diageo inside the station for the holidays, while outside on the plaza, we had the largest LEGO Mystery Mural in the western hemisphere, curated specifically for Union Station. These pop-ups by high profile brands are something we love seeing at Union and that commuters truly enjoy, but it’s also a great way for us to bring people into the Station and letting them discover what retail and cultural programming we have to offer.”
Johnnie Walker at Union Holiday (Image: Spring Morris / Union Station)
Union Station on August 9th (Photo by Dustin Fuhs)
Union Station (Photo by Dustin Fuhs)
Union Station on August 9th (Photo by Dustin Fuhs)
Union Station on August 9th (Photo by Dustin Fuhs)
Union Station on August 9th (Photo by Dustin Fuhs)
Elena Price, General manager at Union Station, said that at the height of the pandemic Union Station was severely impacted by the absence of transit-users passing through the Station. Before that, the Station was frequented by office tower workers, support staff, students, sports enthusiasts, restaurant goers, and tourists, to name a few.
“During the pandemic, our restaurants and food vendors experienced all the same closures and restrictions as major shopping locations across the province. By Q2 2022, there was only one permanent closure . . . The vendors of Union Station have begun to recover as traffic increases and the Toronto downtown core comes back to life. Overall sales are over 50 per cent of comparable 2019 sales, and June sales were 20 per cent over the previous month,” she said.
Elena Price-Bozzelli
“Over the past two years, when the Station was quiet and visitors were absent, the revitalization construction project at Union Station moved forward delivering the transformation started nearly a decade ago. Today, people coming back through the Station after a two-year hiatus are discovering the new Union Station. It’s encouraging to see people’s reactions to the new Bay Promenade wing, especially hearing “someone built a mall inside Union Station”.
“With SEPHORA and LCBO already open, Decathlon, TD Bank and a Dental Studio preparing to open in Q3, followed by the re-opening of our Foodie Aisle mid-September, and several more tenants in Q4, the 2022 holiday season will offer so many new and exciting shopping options. Our team is preparing for the launch of our Fresh Market in Q1 2023, welcoming over 25 new specialty food tenants in 38,000 square feet of new retail space. Looking forward, Union Station’s transformation will redefine how millions experience their entry into the Toronto’s downtown core, as this is the gateway into North America’s fourth largest metropolis. It’s truly an exciting time at Union Station, and we are definitely back on track.”
Podcast: Downtown Edmonton Struggles, and the Future of Retail in Canadian Downtowns
This week Craig and Lee discuss challenges for retail in downtown Edmonton and its retreat over the past couple of decades, as well as the situation and projections for downtowns in cities across Canada. Craig is also an advisor at the University of Alberta Centre for Cities and Communities.
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 ourThe Interview Seriespodcast where Craig interviews guests from across the Canadian retail landscape as part of theThe Retail Insider Podcast Network.
Drop us a line at Craig@Retail-Insider.com. You can also rate us in Apple Podcasts or recommend us in Overcast to help more people discover the show!
Background Music Credit: Hard Boiled Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com). Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/
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.
International Brazilian steakhouse Fogo de Chão has announced that it has entered a franchise development agreement to expand into the Canadian market with plans to open about 10 locations over the next decade, if not sooner.
The buzzy upscale 45-year-old restaurant concept partnered with Debut Development Group which is a leading developer, owner and operator of high-end restaurants, hotels, resorts, and entertainment venues worldwide. Plans are in place to bring 10 franchised Fogo locations to Canada over the next decade as part of a broader international expansion.
For the Canadian expansion, Fogo de Chão and Debut partnered with brokerage The Behar Group, which will be involved with site selection and negotiations for restaurant locations. Avi Behar and Greg Rabin are contacts at The Behar Group for landlords.
The Washington DC restaurant is located in the historic Evening Star building — photo by Fogo de ChãoMarket Table, Photo: Fogo de Chão
The plan is to open a first Fogo de Chão location in downtown Toronto in the summer of 2023, followed later next year with a location in downtown Vancouver. Actual locations in those cities have yet to be finalized. Longer-term, an expansion into the Calgary, Edmonton, Ottawa and Montreal markets is expected with Winnipeg also being a possibility according to Behar. One Fogo de Chão location is expected for most of these cities though the Greater Toronto area could see several, similar to Chicago.
Restaurant locations will ideally span in the 6,000 square foot to 10,000 square foot range with 7-8,000 square feet being a ‘sweet spot’ in terms of targeted size. Downtowns are a target as well as suburban areas — the recent opening of a Fogo de Chão at Oakbrook Mall near Chicago is indicative that malls such as Yorkdale and Square One could become a target. In terms of visitors, Millennials are an important target market for Fogo de Chão which also sees ample foot traffic from tourists, families and those hosting business meetings.
“We are focused on scaling Fogo and executing on our strategic growth goals. The Canadian market represents a strong opportunity to continue our growth in North America and to bring our distinctive Fogo experience to local guests, many of whom have visited us on their travels around the globe,” said Barry McGowan, Chief Executive Officer of Fogo de Chão in a statement.
Oakbrook Centre near Chicago — photo by Fogo de ChãoPhoto: Fogo de Chão
Fogo de Chão was founded in southern Brazil in 1979. The name Fogo de Chão means “ground fire” and summarizes the traditional gaúcho method of roasting meats over an open fire. The dining experience includes showcasing the culinary art of churrasco where guests can watch as gaucho chefs butcher, hand-carve and grill high-quality cuts of meat over an open flame. Gauchos themselves will carve meat at diners’ tables — possibly a benefit given the challenges of otherwise finding serving staff for restaurants as we come out of the pandemic.
Also included in restaurants are fresh and seasonal Market Tables and an award-winning Bar Fogo menu which features hand-crafted cocktails and South American wines.
The restaurant chain has 66 locations worldwide and continues to expand — plans are in place to open 10-12 locations this year (including corporate and franchised) with the newest openings including Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, El Segundo, Calif., Coral Gables, Fla. and Monterrey, Mexico; and planned openings in Queens, N.Y., Fort Lauderdale, Fla., Paramus, N.J. and others expected later this year.
Toronto-based Debut Development Group is a hospitality and hotel owner, developer, and operator with an extensive global footprint including brands such as Grand Hyatt, Margaritaville, Nikki Beach, Wolfgang Puck Café, Juliana’s, Cipriani, the Vogue Club, and others.
When it comes to engaging and acquiring customers, few instances within a brand’s evolution and growth are more significant than that of the first impression. The initial interaction between customer and brand, as brief as it might be, often sets the tone for the relationship that will be developed throughout the months and years that will follow. It’s a truism for any retailer, despite the category or vertical that they operate within. However, given the relative newness of the cannabis sector – one that’s bourgeoning, continuing to cultivate further growth – the importance for retailers competing in the space to convey the right message and vibe to customers in the communities they serve may just be greater. And, according to Jacob Bergsma, Marketing Manager at Garden City Cannabis Co., the role of a smart store design in supporting that message and vibe is critical, providing cannabis retailers with the opportunity to create differentiation for themselves within a near-saturated market.
“Ensuring a welcoming and appealing store interior is very important, especially in an industry with a pre-existing stigma like the cannabis industry,” he says. “This type of retail experience is new to all of us. We have to expect first time visitors to approach the store with some uncertainty. So, it’s important that our store design and interior aesthetics showcase a personality that makes customers feel welcome and comfortable to ask questions, whether they are coming in as first-timers or seasoned shoppers.”
Creating community
Garden City Cannabis (Fort Erie)
Garden City Cannabis Co. operates three locations in the Niagara Region, with one in St. Catharines, another in Welland and a third that just recently opened in Fort Erie. In order to support its growth and meet its objectives, Bergsma and his team knew that the company needed help in developing and implementing a store design and aesthetics that could create an exceptional retail experience. To that end, it sought the help of Matrix Marketing – a leader in the design and manufacturing of merchandising and display systems with more than 30 years of experience working with retailers and brands with strategic solutions for the store environment designed to increase shopper engagement. The agency’s expertise, says Bergsma, is “first-class”. However, most importantly, he adds, Matrix’s understanding of both retail as well as the specifics and nuances inherent within the cannabis sector proved to be incredibly valuable.
“We’re purveyors of responsible cannabis culture in Niagara,” asserts Bergsma. “We’re hyper-focused on the cannabis needs of our community. And, as citizens of the region, we want our customers to know that this culture isn’t just a business. It’s something much more than that. It’s not the headshops that we all grew up reluctantly visiting. It’s community, personality, knowledge and customer service. We’re proud to take the step forward with the industry while paying respect to the sacrifice and hard work of the legacy market that got us here. The team at Matrix understand the message that we wanted to convey around this theme and really helped us amplify it for our customers.”
Differentiating from competitors
Garden City Cannabis (Fort Erie)
To execute the project, Matrix worked with Garden City Cannabis Co. to first understand the brand’s needs. After an extensive review of the location, the team at Matrix then went to work on developing the right fixture design that would meet those needs and create the most engaging store environment. After a 3D rendering and virtual store walk through was presented to Garden City Cannabis Co., the team at Matrix got to work on production and execution of the design.
The installation of the store design, which consists of a number of impressive features, was completed in less than a week. Large digital screens present interactive and colourful displays, And unique lighting fixtures, which are suspended from the ceiling by cables, illuminate the space, lending a coziness to it while also highlighting and bringing attention to the merchandise that’s on display beneath in custom millwork displays that include glass doors, shelving, custom lighting and category signage. In addition, the store’s secure storage room has also been equipped with gondola shelving, providing an elevated storage system with a significant amount of room to store product, facilitating a high functioning back of house. It’s a design explains Dave Sprunt, Senior Sales Director at Matrix Marketing, that the entire team worked tirelessly to achieve, and is one that he believes captures the essence of Garden City Cannabis Co.
Garden City Cannabis (Fort Erie)
“The aesthetics of a store is an incredibly important aspect that essentially dictates the consumer’s overall experience with the business,” he asserts. “The overall visual and physical cohesiveness of the space must allow visitors to both have a seamless engagement within it while also committing the brand to memory, increasing the chance of repeat visits. From a design standpoint, Fort Erie was a success in terms of visual consistency. We were able to carry over the visual aesthetic from the other locations in order to maintain a consistent theme and brand recognition while also introducing new elements that elevate the space and highlight merchandise. The final product is a modern, inviting and functional retail environment that garners compliments from patrons and other industry professionals.”
In addition to helping to create a modern and inviting environment to offer customers of the Garden City Cannabis brand, Bergsma points out the fact that the design has also assisted the cannabis company in honing its identity, enabling it to differentiate itself within a fiercely competitive sector.
“Matrix has been a great partner to work with. We started this collaborative journey with only the essentials of our visual branding. Working with Matrix, we were able to take our brand assets and develop that into an experience. From store to store, they have been able to assist us in making custom improvements to further showcase our brand personality. The stores are aesthetically pleasing, while maintaining functionality and efficiency. And, most importantly, through their extensive background in retail and strategic design, they helped us arrive at decisions that have ultimately guided us in finding our own personality and place in the market, creating a vibe that is recognizably Garden City Cannabis Co. Our competition is fruitful and ruthless. Without bold differentiators it would be nearly impossible to stand out.”
To learn more about the ways Matrix’s design, fixture and marketing services help retailers and brands stand out from their competitors and create an exceptional retail experience, visit matrixmarketing.com
*Partner content. To work with Retail Insider, email: craig@retail-insider.com
Fresh Restaurants has expanded to its eighth location in the Greater Toronto Area with a new space in the city’s Danforth neighbourhood and plans to continue the plant-based brand’s growth eventually into markets beyond its home base.
Ruth Tal
For more than 20 years, Ruth Tal, founder of Fresh Restaurants, has been on a mission to prove that a plant-based diet can be satisfying, energizing and crave-able.
Randall Papineau, Vice-President of Growth and Operations, said the company has a couple more locations that are coming inside the GTA.
“And we are looking actively for sites outside of the GTA, across Ontario and across the country. We are looking in places like Guelph, Oakville, Port Credit, Hamilton, Dundas, Kitchener, Waterloo, Ottawa, Kingston, to name a couple of strategic markets that we’re moving into in the coming months and years,” he said.
Fresh on Danforth (Image: Fresh)
How many locations does the company want to grow to in the future?
“As big as we can take it honestly. The brand has legs to grow across the country. We’re excited about BC. We’re excited about US expansion in the future as well. The Fresh brand is unique, true omni-channel, takeout, delivery and pickup. We launched the Fresh app a couple of years ago and we’re currently working on a new iteration of that Fresh app with new features,” he said. “We’re looking to open a location a month starting in 2023 essentially for as long as we can take it there.”
“I only want to grow at the pace that won’t damage or dilute the integrity of the concept of the brand, of the mission. The quality. And just staying true to our roots and being community driven, being community based . . . It’s really about the quality and the neighbourhoods that we’re in,” added Tal. “It could be one a month but I would rather have fewer that are fantastic and are true examples of the brand than too many. So we’ll go at the right pace.”
The history behind the brand is an interesting one. When Tal was 16, she dropped out of high school and worked at a full-time job because her dream was to travel the world. She left when she was 18 and ended up traveling all over the world and working until she was 25.
When she came back, “intending to please my parents and really get going on my future, I went to Ryerson (University) and I was getting the credits that I needed to complete high school and get accepted hopefully to U of T,” she said.
“That summer I had my first glass of carrot juice. I walked into a little health food store at Avenue and Davenport and up to that point I’d never seen anything juiced. I’d seen people cut oranges and juice them. But seeing a whole carrot go into a machine and then come out this beautiful bright orange liquid. Drinking it and feeling how alive it was. And getting to know what the concept was about eating live foods and freshly squeezed juice – so wonderful and amazing and energizing and nutritional benefits of vegetable juice.”
Fresh on Danforth (Image: Fresh)
Fresh on Danforth (Image: Fresh)
The health food store had a number of different books that were not widely available in regular bookstores. Tal started reading these books about the plant-based lifestyle and saving the planet and being more proactive in health by eating more plants and vegetables.
“This lightbulb just went off for me and I bought a little juicer and started juicing at home and making all these amazing and wild combinations using beets and carrots. Going on long juice fasts. I became plant-based, 100 per cent vegan pretty much overnight,” explained Tal. “I was feeling so good, so vibrant, the best that I ever, ever felt. I became a bit evangelical about it. I wanted everyone to feel this way.
“I looked around the food landscape in Toronto and there was nowhere for someone like me to eat. Someone who wanted to eat yummy, good food who was in her mid 20s and hip, still wanted to hang out with cool people and not be the vegan eating the iceberg lettuce salad by myself at a health food deli. I wanted more. I wanted great atmosphere and beautiful presentation and great service and innovative gorgeous plant-based food that wasn’t a sacrifice in flavour or in experience.”
Fresh on Danforth (Image: Fresh)
Her first full-service restaurant opened on Bloor Street in 1995. But the springboard was opening a pop-up juice bar in 1991 called Juice for Life. After developing a cult following with her pop-up, she opened a permanent location in the Queen Street Market across from CityTV, developing the signature juices and vegan dishes that form the core of the menu.
She identified this need in Toronto really out of her own need to have an all-vegan juice bar, cafe. That was the founding of the business in the early 90s. She scraped money together, got a student loan to go to U of T and took that student loan as seed money for the original name of the brand Juice for Life. She paid back the student loan and ended up employing a number of students.
“It all worked for the best. I realized that my calling was not to go to university and please my parents so to speak but to spread the word, to spread what for me at that time was the plant-based gospel,” said Tal, who has published five cookbooks. “There are other ways to take care of yourself and take care of the planet and enjoy your food at the same time and that became my mission. And then it grew and grew.”
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 several days.
Vancouver’s online luxury clothing and consignment store FAULKNER continues its partnership with world-leading resale platform Grailed – building the FAULKNER brand across the globe.
“It’s amazing. With the way fashion’s moving, it is becoming more of a sustainable practice to resell. It’s also such an amazing outlet for young people who ordinarily can’t afford to buy some pieces brand new. Grailed has become such a big community, and it really keeps you in touch with young people who are on the pulse of fashion – who not only know what is happening but also where it is going,” said James Faulkner, owner and founder of FAULKNER.
“Grailed reached out and wanted us to be one of their trusted sellers, delivering monthly capsules. Now we’re super excited because it exposes use to a global audience.”
“Over just our last two drops, we have grown an in-house audience of almost 1,000 people from around the world on the platform, which is just incredible.”
Image: FAULKNER
Image: FAULKNER
The company began in May 2017 with a small storefront in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside and has since evolved into an office in the historic Gastown district, carrying sustainably sourced clothing and accessories.
FAULKNER is Grailed’s only Canadian featured seller, and this is their second collaboration to date. Grailed is a peer-to-peer marketplace featuring one of the largest catalogs of luxury designer, streetwear, and archival fashion on the internet.
“When Grailed first started, it was basically for people who really had an appreciation for more obscure designers,” said Faulkner.
“It appealed to the kind of purists who were into these styles of clothing, and then Grailed exploded globally. It’s become a bit of an institution. A lot of trends come from Grailed now because it’s such a massive platform.”
In late July, FAULKNER launched a curated collection of deadstock and archive Arc’teryx, blokecore with a vintage twist — including rare original training jerseys from the early ’90s — luxury items, a few notable collaborations (Raf Simons x Colette, Louis Vuitton x Richard Prince), and a bit of Dries van Noten, Issey Miyake, Rick Owens, & Prada.
Image: FAULKNER x Grailed Image: FAULKNER
Photography & Styling: Jay Kim Valentine
Model: Deion Ramos
FAULKNER’s founder drew the blokecore elements of this collection from his time growing up in a small town outside of Manchester in the ’90s, where he played recreational soccer and later worked as a coach across the U.S.
At the moment, the retailer has about 50 pieces a month on the Grailed site but that could jump to 75.
“Basically, over a month or so we’ll build our collection. We’ll try to theme it and keep it within the season,” said Faulkner. “Once the collection is ready, we get the models in, shoot the e-comm, and put in crazy amounts of detail in the item descriptions. Then we submit the listings over to Grailed.”
“On the drop dates, they have promoted us on Instagram, sent out an email push and app push, and featured us on their home page. It’s a pretty awesome thing, really.”
