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.”
Video Interview: Shashi Behl, Founder/CEO of Joydrop, Discusses Future Plans & RCC Award
Shashi Behl, Founder/CEO, Joydrop, discusses her award as Retail Council of Canada’s 2022 Independent Retail Ambassador of the Year.
Behl talks about what the award meant to her and the company, the history of Joydrop and what it does, the impact of the pandemic, lessons learned through the pandemic and future plans for the company.
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.
Also check out the other series offered by Retail Insider, including The Weekly podcast and The Interview Series, which are both available on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, TuneIn, Google Podcasts, or through our dedicated RSS feed for Simplecast and other podcast players.
Roden Gray, a luxury men’s designer store in Vancouver, is expanding to its second store in early September and will be celebrating its 15th year in November.
The expansion was supposed to happen in 2020, but Covid changed the original plan.
Roden Gray Gastown (Image: Roden Gray)
“We were planning on doing the expansion previously before Covid, it was planned for 2020. At the time there was another location that we were thinking of, but when the pandemic hit it altered our thinking,” says Jacky Huang, the Creative Director at Roden Gray. “But now, an opportunity opened up with Richmond Centre and it just worked out, so we agreed on a deal to expand at that location.”
The new store will be featuring similar brands as its first location at 8 Water Street while also expanding to include unisex and lifestyle options.
“It’s a mixture of what we currently offer along with exclusive brands that will only be offered at the second location. So, some designer level goods, some contemporary brands, along with eyewear, apothecary, and home goods. But we are going to be more diverse and accommodating to our clients, rather than a menswear specific store, which is what Roden Gray is now.”
Roden Gray was first established in 2007, now almost 15 years later, it has continued to expand its brand names. Huang said in 2017, its brand list was around 38, now Roden Gray is carrying over 50 brands. Customers can find a variety of products, including clothing, outerwear, footwear, apothecary, home goods, and accessories. Huang said the category variety is something that makes them stand out from other designer shops as the store carries “designer level products, contemporary products, and then lifestyle to home goods.”
“Being the bridge between designers and customers”
Roden Gray Gastown (Image: Roden Gray)
Selling clothing is not the only priority at Roden Gray as it focuses also on educating and making customers feel comfortable in a luxury environment.
“Our job is to really become the bridge between the customer and the brands, presenting the designer’s point of view to our local clientele. We educate the customer based off product knowledge sessions that we schedule with brands, so consumers can understand why these brands exist and why they are at a certain price point. Our main job is to really do that. Not only speak for the designer, but also allow customers to understand the difference between a $300 shirt and a $50 shirt. And where that difference is in terms of quality and fabrication.”
Roden Gray’s main demographic ranges from ages 25-34 years old, and Huang said they want to make every customer understand more about what they are buying and more about the background of the product, such as the fabric and the designer.
“There are still guys like me, who appreciates fashion and design and want to learn more but find it intimidating, and that is something that should be challenged. At the end of the day, clothes are just clothes. But, if customers come in and feel comfortable around the environment then they can understand, touch and feel the designer products, and learn –then I feel like we have done our job.”
Future Plans
Roden Gray Richmond Centre (Rendering: Roden Gray)
Roden Gray Richmond Centre (Rendering: Roden Gray)
Roden Gray Richmond Centre (Rendering: Roden Gray)
Roden Gray Richmond Centre (Rendering: Roden Gray)
Roden Gray Richmond Centre (Rendering: Roden Gray)
In addition to opening its new store, Roden Gray will also be revamping its website with Post Projects and will be available at the same time the new store will be opening.
During Covid, Roden Gray was forced to close its main store and before the global pandemic, 80 percent of its customers shopped in-store and 20 percent shopped online.
“So, the biggest fear right away was how to sustain. But in 2018, when the switch of ownership [from Rob Lo to Alvin Chen] happened one of the first things we did was to invest in our online marketing and creative team. And luckily, we saw the results of that and got a lot more support from our local and long-term international followers.”
Roden Gray Gastown (Image: Roden Gray)
Huang said its online store increased by 200 percent and these numbers are growing: “right now, I think we are about 65 percent North America, 20 percent Asia with Japan being the highest level of traffic for online, and then about 15 percent elsewhere.”
The new store will also be featuring new designers and will include pop up brands to cycle in new creative looks to the store. Customers can expect the store to open in September.
“For Roden Gray, the designers that we carry are unique and special. We try to highlight as much as we can in interviews and campaigns with designers to allow our customers to understand a bit more about what they’re buying and to appreciate the brands. There is nothing like this experience, consumers will get a whole new level of experience within the traditional mall setting.”
Montreal-based m0851, which designs and manufactures leather bags, accessories, jackets and outerwear, is expanding with the opening of a new store on Bloor Street in Toronto.
And the retailer expects to continue to expand the brand’s footprint in different parts of the world.
“We do believe in flagship stores to sort of make sure that the clients experience the lifestyle, the brand, the feel, the service, the product, the touch and feel of the product which is really important,” said Faye Mamarbachi, President of the company.
“Our plans are not to open many in each city but more flagships in major cities across Canada and the US. We also have opportunities overseas. We have franchises overseas as well. People reach out to us to open concept stores within their market.
Saturday opening day for m0851 at 89 Bloor St. W. in Toronto. Photo: Craig Patterson m0851 at 89 Bloor St. W. in Toronto. Photo: Craig Patterson
“We’re continuing to grow the Asian market, the China market, which is owned by another group. Obviously, ecomm becomes predominant. With the pandemic, natural growth within the ecommerce platform was exponential at this point and so we’re going to continue to grow that platform as well. But having flagship stores both domestic, in Canada, and US and overseas is going to help each other on both platforms. So the growth on the ecomm platform becomes really important as well as those flagship stores within important cities.”
The name of the company is interesting. The ‘m’ stands for the first letter of her father’s, the founder, last name. And the numbers represent his birthdate as August 1951. Frederic Mamarbachi founded the company in 1987.
The first store opened in Montreal followed soon after by a second store in New York City. It currently has six stores with the opening of the Bloor Street location. Three stores are located in Montreal and another one in Bayview Village in Toronto.
The brand also has three stores in China – two in Shanghai and one in Beijing.
“Obviously it’s Asia so it’s a larger market,” said Mamarbachi. “There are plans for opening throughout the China market in the next couple of years. Obviously with the retail situation we’re kind of just adapting the situation as we go along but the plan is to continue to expand in China as well.”
m0851 at 89 Bloor St. W. in Toronto. Photo: Craig Patterson m0851 at 89 Bloor St. W. in Toronto. Photo: Craig Patterson
The company said the brand’s inherent charm comes from its approach to design – anchored in a combination of sleek and functional aesthetics, coupled with high-end raw materials sourced around the world.
“From the Purity of our Designs emanates simplicity, vitality and contemporary science. Innovation is born from experimentation at m0851. Trial and error are an intrinsic part of life, and new products are more often than not the result of these experiments,” it says on its website.
“Life is a continual search for equilibrium. Our brand identity has always been rooted in a combination of enthusiasm and know-how, one theory on striking a balance between charm and functionality.”
m0851 Bloor (Rendering: m0851)
m0851 Bloor (Rendering: m0851)
All m0851 products are designed in Montreal, and over 90 per cent of them are entirely conceived and crafted in the company’s Montreal workshops. Since the beginning, it has voluntarily chosen to favour local production, despite the challenges. As a result of this choice, it makes full use of the outstanding talents of its artisans and it maintains full control over the quality of its products at every stage of the manufacturing process.
Mamarbachi said m0851 is constantly sourcing quality raw materials around the world. Whether it’s full grain leather, high-tech fabrics, silk, cashmere, wood or metal, the company’s criteria for selecting new raw materials are simple but stringent: innovation, authenticity, superior quality and, of course, charm. It strives to buy its leathers and fabrics from equitable and eco-conscious sources even at a higher cost.
“It’s our 35 year anniversary. We’re quite honoured and proud,” said Mamarbachi.
CBRE listed the commercial space at 89 Bloor St. W. where the new store is now open. A MAC store formerly occupied the space.
