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

By
Shelby Hautala
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Image: Dermapure

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” 

Image: Dermapure

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 

Image: Dermapure

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.”

Image: Dermapure

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.”

Related Retail Insider Articles

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

By
Retail Insider
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Canadian Retail News From Around The Web

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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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.

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

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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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
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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.  

Image: A Safer Walk

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. 

Trevor 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.

Youtube video

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.”

Image: A Safer Walk

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
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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.

Michael Wilkings

“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.

Pasadena Fogo de Chão
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.

Chrystal Burns

“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.”

Barry McGowan
Fogo de Chão in Friendswood, Texas

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

Jim Bowen

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.

55 Mercer (Image: CentreCourt)

“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.

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

By
Retail Insider
-
Canadian Retail News From Around The Web

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)

Pusateri’s Fine Foods to Open Store Near Toronto’s Little Italy as the Retailer Marks 60 Years [Interview]

By
Mario Toneguzzi
-
Image: Pusateri's

Pusateri’s Fine Foods is planning a new store location at College St. and Ossington Ave., in Toronto, set to open late summer 2023 as they celebrate the brand’s 60th anniversary this year.

In a fitting manner on this milestone occasion, Pusateri’s will be opening their latest store in the neighborhood where their original store, Pusateri’s Supermarket, opened in 1963. To be located at 899 College St., the community close to Little Italy community can expect this new location to uphold the same reputation Pusateri’s is known for – a high quality assortment of everyday, speciality, and unique products and exceptional services for any special occasion and everyday celebrations with fresh and prepared foods, gifting items, and florals.

An exciting addition to the new location will include a café concept offering breakfast, a coffee bar with signature brews, and daily menu with indoor and outdoor seating, creating a neighbourhood hub for the local community to come together and share a delicious meal. 

“Our current growth plans for Pusateri’s consist of getting back to our roots and rejoining the community where it all started with the opening of the Little Italy store. When expanding our business, we carefully consider how we can meet and exceed each individual community’s needs,” said Paolo Pusateri, Head of Marketing at Pusateri’s Fine Foods.

Image: Pusateri’s
  • Image: Pusateri’s
  • Image: Pusateri’s

“From its early beginnings, Pusateri’s has always been passionate about introducing Toronto to many delicacies from around the world, believing in only sharing the best, high quality products. This has remained their guiding principle and the standard of excellence they set on premium grocery shopping. Pusateri’s customers have the unique experience of being able to enjoy a gourmet hot lunch while having an upscale shopping experience, finding a quality assortment of everyday, speciality, and unique products.”

He said the first Pusateri’s, previously named Pusateri’s Supermarket, opened in 1963 in Corso Italia at Dufferin and St. Clair by Salvatore and Rosaria Pusateri and their children. There are currently four Pusateri’s Fine Foods stores located within the Greater Toronto Area (Avenue Road, Bayview Village, Yorkville and the Saks Food Hall at CF Toronto Eaton Centre). All Pusateri’s products are also available on its e-commerce website, offering accessible delivery within the GTA. 

“After immigrating to Canada from Sicily in 1957, Salvatore and Rosaria Pusateri felt compelled to share their passion and love for food by opening a small produce market in Toronto’s Little Italy (Dufferin & St. Clair). What started as a local community market gained a reputation for quality extending throughout the city, and it established the foundation for what is now known today as Pusateri’s Fine Foods,” he said. 

“Envisioned by their son, Cosimo Pusateri, he set out to create a special place for those who appreciate quality, by sourcing artisan products not seen in Toronto before creating a destination shopping experience and a reason to celebrate with food each day. With Pusateri’s coming store opening, we’re returning to Little Italy (College & Ossington) and rejoining the community where it all started.”

Image: Pusateri’s
Saks Food Hall by Pusateri’s – CF Toronto Eaton Center (Image: Dustin Fuhs)

Pusateri’s opened a second phase of the CF Toronto Eaton Centre Saks Food Hall location in October 2022 in response to the market rebound of the Financial District. In this phased opening, Pusateri’s expanded fresh offerings for the lunch crowd and on-the-go shoppers. The location currently offers gourmet, fresh-to-go meals, with a selection of pastries, produce, cheese and deli, snacks and pantry items. A further third phase of the reopening is planned as traffic in this market continues to recover. 

“Pusateri’s is a special place for those who appreciate quality – where exploring artisan foods with thoughtful service creates a reason to celebrate each day. This mantra resonates with our customers as they look to Pusateri’s for reliable, consistent butchers, fresh produce, worldly products, fresh baked goods, and the city’s finest prepared fare no matter the occasion,” explained Paulo Pusateri.

“The pandemic gave Pusateri’s the opportunity to re-evaluate how to best continue serving their customers by expanding into the digital shopping environment and investing in their own fully enabled e-commerce website. Pusateri’s online store offers the same availability of high-quality products, catering, and family meal planning boxes with door to door delivery. 

“While Pusateri’s e-commerce website continues to remain a vital tool to serve our customers, in-store offerings are still the core of the Pusateri’s experience and ultimately why we are expanding to the Little Italy neighborhood. The new location will embrace meeting in person again with a new café concept offering breakfast, a coffee bar with signature brews, and daily menu creating a neighbourhood hub for the local community to come together and share a delicious meal.” 

Pusateri’s Future Little Italy Location
Image: Pusateri’s Bayview Village

He said the retail sector is flooded with many choices and rising inflationary cost pressures are restricting sales opportunities. Not many stores meet all consumers’ needs, leaving them struggling to find reliable retailers that offer quality products with a variety of selections to make for an easy one-stop-shop. 

“Pusateri’s has always recognized this winning combination and structured our business model to offer a wide selection of quality products, catering for all occasions, and fresh-to-go ready meals, making an effortless shopping experience for our customers,” he said.

Martin Moriarty Discusses Future of Downtown Vancouver Nordstrom Site with Craig Patterson [Video Interview]

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Retail Insider
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Nordstrom at CF Pacific Centre (Image: Lee Rivett)

Craig sits down with Martin Moriarty, Senior Vice President at Marcus & Millichap, to discuss the departure of Nordstrom store in CF Pacific Centre in Vancouver. The conversation includes a discussion of what could be done with the space, the revitalization of Granville Street, and how things are in terms of retail leasing in downtown Vancouver.

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Why Canada Needs a Plan to Safeguard Consumers Against Counterfeit and Pirated Goods [Op-Ed]

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Retail Insider
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Counterfeiting is a chronic problem faced by Canadian consumers. According to Canadian manufacturers and exporters, counterfeiting — or the sale of products that purport to be something they are not — costs Canada between $20 billion and $30 billion annually.

Canada is not the only country struggling with counterfeiting — the practice is prevalent in many other countries and across different industries. A 2017 World Health Organization study found that around 10 per cent of medicines sold in developing countries may be deceptively counterfeit.

Similarly, the U.S. Government Accountability Office found that 20 of 47 items purchased from third-party sellers such as Amazon, eBay and Sears Marketplace were counterfeits. Examples included counterfeit versions of 3M N95 masks on Amazon.

Given the scale of this ongoing issue, Canadian governments and industries must come together to design new strategies that will protect Canadians while maintaining the country’s competitive advantage in the global marketplace.

Contributing factors

Several diverse factors contribute to the persistence of counterfeit goods in Canada. The first relates to consumer behaviour, as some buyers may intentionally buy (or fail to avoid) counterfeit goods out of shrewdness or economic necessity.

Second, in terms of product quality, fakes can be very similar to the real thing. For example, the Canadian Intellectual Property Council reported that a counterfeit version of a particular Procter & Gamble shampoo was so close to the original even the company’s own sales force couldn’t tell the difference.

Seized counterfeit footwear, including copies of Adidas and Kanye West Yeezy Boost trainers, are displayed at U.K. Border Force offices in London in February 2017. (AP Photo/Matt Dunham)

Third, Canadian laws on counterfeit goods are notoriously lax, hindering effective enforcement. In fact, the Office of the United States Trade Representative has placed Canada on its watchlist of countries offering the weakest intellectual property (IP) protections.

A fourth factor stems from outsourcing production to overseas suppliers. This leads to a form of counterfeiting called the “third shift.” After a business outsources production, the supplier uses the business’ IP rights to produce counterfeit products in the same factory the original product is made.

Canadian home product manufacturer Umbra has been plagued by numerous suppliers using a third shift to reproduce its products.

Finally, although some customers may rely on review systems to assess the authenticity of items they buy online, these systems are far from reliable. Counterfeit sellers have found ways to manipulate the review system — by purchasing fraudulent five-star reviews, for example.

In light of these difficulties, Canada needs a carefully thought-out approach to mitigate counterfeiting.

Combating counterfeits

Because the source of counterfeit products is often the same factory that produces the original product, one remedy is to provide supplier factories with limited quantities of raw materials. Hewlett-Packard does this by providing its suppliers with a certain number of printheads that are used to manufacture ink cartridges for the company.

Another solution is to allocate parts to different suppliers so that no one supplier has all the parts needed to build a particular product.

At the same time, many emerging market governments are stepping up enforcement efforts to strengthen IP protections. In 2020, China’s State Administration for Market Regulation released an IP enforcement plan called Iron Fist to better protect the IP rights of various manufacturers.

Similarly, India’s IP strategy is to “put greater emphasis on trademark enforcement.”

The Philippine government’s recent IP legislation aims to “ensure efficient and expeditious adjudication of IP cases” and make “IP litigation less costly and faster.”

For these governments, addressing IP protection is critical to ensuring manufacturers continue to feel comfortable outsourcing operations to their countries. As such, Canada should prioritize and incentivize outsourcing to countries that embrace IP protections.

Using technology

Businesses can also use technologies, such as radio-frequency identification or holograms, on their products to help customers identify counterfeits.

Recently, blockchain technology has been considered as a promising solution to counterfeiting. Several blockchain-based applications have been launched with the aim of tagging products with unique identifiers that can’t be duplicated.

Blockchain solution provider BlockPharma helps patients check the authenticity of their medicines, while luxury goods giant LVMH Group has partnered with blockchain firm ConsenSys and Microsoft to authenticate products.

This tech-focused strategy aligns with the fact that governments around the world are increasingly encouraging blockchain adoption. The U.K. government, through Innovate UK, has pledged the equivalent of C$24 million to fund blockchain companies and the European Union Intellectual Property Office uses blockchain for anti-counterfeit.

A joint approach is key

The many factors that increase Canada’s risk concerning counterfeits, including weak laws and IP protections, make this a challenging policy issue.

However, anti-counterfeit strategies and the advent of new technologies like blockchain present opportunities for Canadian policymakers and industry leaders to develop an effective plan to combat counterfeiting.

Together, Canada’s business and political leaders can build consumer trust while further building Canada’s global advantage.

By Hubert Pun, Professor, Ivey Business School, Western University

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

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