Retailer Terrell Maxwell has some lofty ambitions for his sneaker company.
“I want to be the Footlocker of sneaker resale,” said Maxwell, owner and founder of SAFE (Sneakers Available For Everyone). “I want to become a big brand – have lots of stores. Right now I’m developing a plan, building a brand store concept.
“Once we’re done our concept design then we’ll be looking at where exactly we’re trying to expand. We’re trying to do a really big expansion – to more than 10 stores. We’re working on Canada expansion, the US.”
SAFE at CF Lime Ridge (Image: SAFE)SAFE at CF Lime Ridge (Image: SAFE)
The brand first started as an online business in November.
“If you look at our logo, the S has like a lock on it and a shoe in the middle. Essentially to show that we sell authentic, verified products and we’re safe to buy from,” said Maxwell.
“I started the online sneaker marketplace and that wasn’t doing so well and then when I converted to the stores it picked up a lot because you also have in-store traffic and you have brand trust and stuff like that that you don’t receive when you’re just trying to do an online only business.”
The first store opened on November 1 at CF Fairview Mall in Toronto followed by the opening in CF Lime Ridge Mall November 15 in Hamilton, and recently in CF Shops in Don Mills in Toronto. CF Masonville in London is coming up soon as the newest store.
SAFE at CF Markville (Image: SAFE)SAFE at CF Markville (Image: SAFE)
“We are an online company but we also have that in-store experience which a lot of online shoe marketplaces don’t offer. They don’t offer the omnichannel. That’s something we offer that nobody offers,” said Maxwell.
“When you’re looking to buy a certain sneaker – all of our sneakers are rare – in a size 9 you just can’t walk into any store and get that. If we don’t have it or it’s out of stock, we always have it in our warehouse because we have the online marketplace.”
Maxwell said the sneaker market is growing every day and is expected to grow by three times in the next four years.
SAFE at CF Don Mills (Image: SAFE)SAFE at CF Don Mills (Image: SAFE)
“People always want the most in stuff, the hottest items. People see their favourite celebrity wearing a shoe that we sell and then the price goes up. They want to get it. It’s all like a culture,” he said. “Sometimes shoe prices go up in December, they come down in January and they skyrocket in the summer time.
“Sometimes you might buy a shoe that’s $300 and then it goes up to $3,000. Sneakers is almost like an investment, in a sense, depending on how good you take care of them.”
Jeff Berkowitz and Jennifer Bowyer of Aurora Realty Consultants are working with SAFE on its store expansion.
Dimitry Toukhcher, president of LGFG Fashion House, describes his business as a “little homegrown Calgary suit company” but since its inception in 2010 it has developed into a fashion house for famous musicians, actors, athletes and business executives.
Recently, it designed a whole new wardrobe for icon Alice Cooper – an entire series of suits covering his career.
Toukhcher said he started the business out of his condo building in downtown Calgary.
“I was basically selling suits. Cold calling different lawyers and stuff and going to their offices and kind of started building a business,” he said.
Alice Cooper and LGFG Fashion House
Alice Cooper and LGFG Fashion House
“LGFG is a custom tailoring company where our executive clothiers (tailors) visit clients right in their office or home, saving them valuable time, while delivering designed-in-England, top-of-the-line customs suits, shirts and related accessories. It just kind of grew from then.”
In recent years, the company has pivoted. The business model has evolved to visiting clients in their homes now as well as their offices where the concept began. In the beginning, the Fashion House focused on suits and sport coats up until 2020 but since then there has also been the sale of casual clothing and accessories.
Highly-trained clothiers, tailors, visit clients to create the clothing for them.
Canadian heavyweight boxing champion Lennox Lewis has been a well-known client, wearing the clothing on Fox Sports during television commentary.
Alice Cooper and LGFG Fashion House
Alice Cooper and LGFG Fashion House
“One of the coolest things in 2016 I got to do suits for a Hollywood movie which was pretty awesome and that was Skyscraper which was one of the Rock’s (Dwayne Johnson) movies,” said Toukhcher. “I made 12 suits for that movie and flew them to Vancouver to deliver those because they were filming there.”
The connection to Alice Cooper came from an actual “cold” email.
“We were basically looking for somebody that we thought would capture our brand. We sort of like to be a little bit non-conformist, a little bit stylish. We always thought of ourselves as like rock and roll in a very sort of classical music market,” said Toukhcher. “When you’re selling luxury clothing, it’s all about being chic and very classy and we’re like a younger company. Even though Alice Cooper is not a younger rocker, we just thought man he’s a fashion icon, he’s somebody that stands for what we like with disruption and stuff.
“So we thought hey let’s give it a shot. We cold emailed him and we got a reply. We have kind of a partnership with him. We said hey you can get clothing anywhere, anyone will give you clothing, whatever, but what we want to do is actually design a wardrobe for you that really encapsulates your career and tells your story to a younger audience. Obviously Alice Cooper is very famous with your generation, my generation, but as a new generation of rock fans and music fans emerge, his sort of media was always touring and radio. It wasn’t like Instagram and TikTok and all these social media platforms.
Alice Cooper and LGFG Fashion House
Alice Cooper and LGFG Fashion House
“And so we said look if we can tell your story through a wardrobe, obviously a younger generation is always into clothing and style, then you’ll have another channel to access a new audience to tell about your legacy.”
Toukhcher said the company did 12 suits for Cooper and each suit was complemented with shirts, shoes. And each of the suits tell a unique story about Alice Cooper.
“And we have videos of each of those stories on top of having photographs. We have a series of 24 videos that tell the story about Alice Cooper and the outfits in which it’s told that he will be releasing at some point through his social media to tell his story.”
The retail ecosystem is one that’s ever-evolving and expanding to include more touchpoints and opportunities for engagement between brands and consumers. Facilitated most recently by an accelerated digitization of the industry and world around us, it’s an ecosystem that today features a number of maturing channels of communication, information sharing and commerce, as more are added to the mix with mindboggling regularity. It’s growth that is reflective of the innovation and ingenuity that continues to drive Canadian retail forward. Despite the current trajectory toward an increasingly more digitized world, however, shopping centres very much remain a powerful conduit for human interaction, still serving a critical role in providing a place for community and a platform for physical experiences. It’s a philosophy firmly held by Matthew Kingston, Executive Vice President, Development and Construction at H&R REIT, and is one that he says has been a driving force behind the redevelopment of one of Canada’s most beloved places of community – Toronto’s Dufferin Mall.
“For a very long time, malls have served a really important role in Canadian communities as a place of interaction and engagement, entertainment and escape,” he says. “They’ve provided many cities and neighbourhoods across the country with a centre, a hub of commercial and social activity, that often reflects the cultural and philosophical identity of the given area or region. And, given circumstances over the course of the past two years, a period of time that’s resulted in a pent-up demand for experiences within Canadians and a real desire for physical human connections, malls that can deliver on the experiences consumers are going to be looking for are set to play an even more important role in the communities they operate in. It’s one of the things that makes the Dufferin Mall redevelopment so exciting. The mall has always been recognized as an integral part of Toronto’s Brockton Village neighbourhood. It’s very much a part of its history and is beloved by residents of the area. It’s one of the reasons that we decided, even before the project began, to avoid altering the existing mall in any way, and instead expand on it and everything that makes Dufferin Mall such a great place to visit.”
Expanded retail presence
Image: BDP QuadrangleImage: BDP Quadrangle
Kingston notes that the decision that was made by Primaris REIT (the owner and manager of Dufferin Mall which was spun off from H&R REIT on December 31, 2021, and is now operating as a standalone, independent, publicly-traded REIT) to expand on the existing structure, rather than to demolish and rebuild it from the ground up, differentiates this project from others that are in development across the country. It involves a redevelopment of the northern part of the 21-acre site with a focus on extending the existing mall. The plans allow Primaris to introduce new uses to the current site, including the construction of 1,300 purpose-built residential rental units, 120 of which are affordable housing units. In addition, the redevelopment will also involve the provision of new park space to complement Dufferin Grove and the creation of improved streetscaping and an enhanced pedestrian experience. Making way for all of it is the relocation of the existing surface parking lot, which currently spans the majority of the site, with a new three-level below-grade facility. And, serving to enhance the entire offering, says Kingston, is the addition of 130,000 square feet of new retail space.
“The addition that we’re making to Dufferin Mall’s retail presence adds to the current 588,000 square feet, and will bring the total commercial space at the mall to over 700,000 square feet,” he asserts. “It’s a mall that, prior to the pandemic, was already welcoming more than 12 million visitors every year. With respect to shoppers per square foot, there aren’t too many malls in North America that are busier. It’s incredibly well-travelled. And, despite the tumultuous times that retailers have been experiencing of late, the mall has next to no vacancies. With respect to the new retail space that’s going to be opening up as part of the expansion, we have a number of potential tenants currently involved in very productive discussions with us. We’ve never doubted our ability to fill the spaces that are going to be added. Our focus, since the start of the project, has been on arriving at the right retail mix that’s going to complement the mall’s existing offering while enhancing the experience for shoppers.”
Augmenting and enhancing
Image: BDP Quadrangle
He goes on to explain that Dufferin Mall is fortunate to have impressive anchor tenants, including Walmart, No Frills and Toys R Us, which generate a lot of traffic to the mall. Though, he adds, the Taco Bell, The Beer Store and LCBO locations will need to be removed from the site in order to execute the vision of the redevelopment, explaining that they are certainly tenants that the mall would like to see come back once the redevelopment of the mall is complete. In addition, Primaris and its partners have been mindful during the planning process to ensure that, during construction, aside from the aforementioned locations, none of the mall’s retailers will need to close for any period of time. And, although the start of construction is still about a year out, with the activation of new retail tenants a further three years from the time that ground breaks on the site, Kingston says that the excitement around the project is palpable.
“Dufferin Mall is such a unique shopping destination that serves an equally unique community surrounding it. Everyone that’s involved in the project is really proud to be delivering this retail expansion and the other additions to the site that will only serve to elevate the mall’s offering and enhance the experience that its visitors enjoy. And we’re hoping that, in approaching the redevelopment in the way that we are, it will also serve as one that people look to when embarking on similar projects in the future to understand the value inherent in existing properties. We’ve been able to arrive at a strategy that leverages the character and history that Dufferin Mall has already developed through the years, while augmenting and enhancing it with commercial, residential and public spaces that will benefit the community immensely. It’s a great project to be a part of and an honour to be involved in something that will show others what’s really possible when it comes to property redevelopment.”
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.
Future Daniel's Chai Bar at Vaughan Mills (Image: Daniel Lewis)
Brampton-based Daniel’s Chai Bar has announced a new pop-up location which will be opening at Vaughan Mills near Toronto on March 1st, 2022.
This will be the second location for the quick service beverage concept, which opened its first store at Bramalea City Centre in late 2021 under the new branding of ‘Daniel’s Chai Bar’. The founder’s former brand was called ‘T by Daniel’ and that was retired during the pandemic as a shift towards the new franchise model.
“This is the beginning of an extensive growth plan for Daniel’s Chai Bar in which we will pop-up in specific retail locations, test the market and if the demand and LOVE is there… we will push for a permanent deal,” said Founder Daniel Lewis.
Rendering: Daniel’s Chai Bar (Vaughan Mills)
Future Daniel’s Chai Bar at Vaughan Mills (Image: Daniel Lewis)
Future Daniel’s Chai Bar at Vaughan Mills (Image: Daniel Lewis)
Daniel Lewis
Daniel’s Chai Bar has signed a three-month long lease with Vaughan Mills in a vacated Starbucks located near the Legoland Discovery Centre. With Starbucks having consolidated its operations in the mall to a single location, the second location has been converted into a valuable pop-up asset.
The Vaughan Mills Daniel’s Chai Bar location will feature an enhanced menu of offerings and has given Lewis, the Tea Jedi of Daniel’s Chai Bar, an opportunity to test new concepts and store layout designs.
Lewis has also announced that the brand will be opening up a pop-up location at Square One Shopping Centre in Mississauga and has extended its lease at Bramalea City Centre for an additional six months.
SAKS OFF 5th at South Edmonton Common Closing (Image: South Edmonton Common Facebook)
Hudson’s Bay Company off-price chain Saks OFF 5TH is shutting its store at South Edmonton Common this year after opening there over five years ago.
The 32,000 square foot store opened in September of 2016 in South Edmonton Common which is one of North America’s largest open-air retail developments, and is owned and operated by Cameron Development Group.
SAKS OFF 5th at South Edmonton Common Closing (Image: South Edmonton Common Facebook)
It was the first OFF 5TH location in the Edmonton market with a second location opening at the Skyview Power Centre in April of 2017.
“After careful consideration, Saks OFF 5TH has decided to close its South Edmonton location,” shared Saks OFF 5th. “Through the regular course of business we continually evaluate store performance and other factors, and, from time to time, may determine it necessary to close a store. We expect this store to close to the public in April 2022. Customers can continue to shop with us at Saksoff5th.com and at our other locations.
We are committed to offering support and assistance to our team impacted by the closings. Eligible associates will receive appropriate employment separation packages and transfer opportunities will be explored where feasible.”
SAKS OFF 5th at South Edmonton Common Closing (Image: South Edmonton Common Facebook)
Saks OFF 5TH entered the Canadian market in 2016 with plans for about 25 stores. Between 2016 and 2018 the retailer opened 18 stores in Canada and then halted the expansion — some landlords said that the retailer had been struggling in terms of sales with some locations selling less than $100 per square foot annually. Product in Saks OFF 5TH includes a range of brands and merchandise picked specifically for the outlet as well as some private-label merchandise and some clearance items from Hudson’s Bay stores, including pieces from luxury department The Room.
Saks OFF 5TH currently has stores in the Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton, Winnipeg, Ottawa, Toronto/Southern Ontario, Montreal and Quebec City markets.
The retailer competes with other off-price retailers operating in Canada including TJX banners Winners and Marshalls as well as Nordstrom Rack which entered Canada with its first stores in 2016.
So far only the South Edmonton Common Saks OFF 5TH location is confirmed to close, though we’re hearing that more closures could be coming and we’ll be providing updates.
Friggitello at 79 Kensington Avenue (Image: Dustin Fuhs)
So whatever happened to the so-called retail apocalypse that so many people expected to take place as a result of the devastating economic impact from the COVID-19 pandemic?
Despite a tumultuous time in the past nearly two years, and upheaval everywhere, caused by lockdowns, closures and strict public health measures, many retailers have weathered the storm and the number of bankruptcies across the country is nowhere near what some experts had forecast.
However, is there a day of reckoning coming when government support programs inevitably come to an end? And perhaps the overall statistics also don’t account for many of the smaller businesses who simply shut their doors and didn’t file officially for creditors’ protection or bankruptcy.
McEwan Yonge & Bloor Closed (Image: Dustin Fuhs)
Michael Kehoe
“The predicted 2021 retail apocalypse never happened, however, there were obvious winners and losers on the Canadian retailing scene,” said Michael Kehoe, a Calgary-based commercial real estate broker with Fairfield Commercial Real Estate and a spokesman for Consumer Real Estate Canada. “Home fashion, furniture and junior women’s apparel excelled while other categories weren’t so fortunate as they were confronted with staffing and supply chain issues amongst other challenges.
“We witnessed a definite thinning of the pack as a number of retail chains entered court protection, consolidating locations or folded all together.
Many retailers avoided bankruptcy with the temporary cooperation of their suppliers, lenders and / or landlords. By kicking the proverbial can down the road, future survival or success is not assured as many landlords are playing it tough on lease renewals or extension of rent reductions often taking spaces back to be recycled with new tenancies.
“2022 will be a pivotal year as many new retail ventures emerge and new retailers enter the Canadian market. Retail is always evolving and changing especially in this unprecedented time of disruption and opportunity.”
According to the most recent report in November from the Office of the Superintendent of Bankruptcy Canada, business insolvencies for the 12‑month period ending November 30, 2021, decreased by 15.4 per cent compared with the 12‑month period ending November 30, 2020. The two sectors that registered the biggest decrease in the number of insolvencies were retail trade and accommodation and food services. Finance and insurance; and administrative and support, waste management and remediation services experienced the biggest increase in insolvencies, said the report.
The retail sector experienced 196 bankruptcies in 2021 until the end of November, which was down 29 per cent from the 276 for the same period the year before. The number of proposals, which is an offer to creditors to settle debts in a formal agreement under the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act, fell by 53.4 per cent to 54 compared to 116 the previous year.
Henry Louis
Henry Louis, Editor of the Insolvency Insider publication, said many government programs, including wage and rent subsidies, “have propped up a lot of businesses.”
“Additionally lenders have been holding off from calling in non-performing loans. As such, companies have not yet needed to resort to filing for creditor protection or declaring bankruptcy,” he said.
“We just did a survey in which the overwhelming majority of insolvency professionals are predicting more insolvency filings this year. The government subsidies are ending and lenders are starting to take action, though it will likely take a few quarters to see an increase in filings. What also does not get reflected in the statistics is the number of small businesses that just informally close and never reopen. If I had to guess, this is a very big number in Canada.”
George Minakakis, principal of Inception Retail Group Inc. and author of The New Bricks & Mortar – Future Proofing Retail, said the human retail story is that the future only rewards the bold.
George Minakakis
“When 2020 arrived many of us were expecting more store closures. A spill of 2019, if you will. By March 2020, there was a stay of execution on that fallout. Because of the abrupt impact of the pandemic, the government was introducing subsidies through loans. However, let’s be realistic. We had a spillover in 2020 with bankruptcies and restructures. The timing was right to expose vulnerable and weak businesses large and small,” he said.
“Like Le Chateau which filed for bankruptcy and ultimately was acquired to relive as an online business. And Reitmans, which recently emerged from its restructuring. I believe these are the lucky ones. There are a plethora of small retailers that have not been so lucky and have closed their doors silently. Meaning they could not afford bankruptcy or a restructure. And some mid-large retailers may have had some sort of business transformation into the digital world. We have no evidence that this was enough to keep them competitive.”
The challenges for many retailers are not over. Current events, inflation, supply chains, higher interest rates, and more of the virus lead to a potential consumer slow down.
Closed ALDO Shoes (Image: Dustin Fuhs)
“The equity markets are reacting to that right now, in the technology sector primarily. In other words, the gold rush with existing businesses who could pursue digital transformations is predominantly complete,” said Minakakis. “All retailers face these challenges and whoever was on edge at the beginning of 2020 needs to start repaying government loans and competing without a safety net.
“Now we enter a stage for retailers to prove they are competitively sound and positioned to survive. Over the next three to four months, a tough but true story will begin to surface from the shadows of government subsidies into the real economy. The strategic choices of retailers will allow them to fly and be first in the market, or fade.”
Bruce Winder
Bruce Winder, author of RETAIL Before, During & After COVID-19 and president of Bruce Winder Retail, said several retailers, specifically small to medium sized retailers, are surviving from government loans and in some cases grants.
“These programs are literally keeping them solvent. Others have been able to reduce operating costs to survive on a lower revenue base. Finally, some have pivoted to e-commerce to offset in-person sales and have used marketplaces to increase virtual footfall,” said Winder.
“Once Omicron fades and hopefully the pandemic becomes an endemic, retailers will need to adjust to a new normal while paying back significant debt in many cases. Sadly, I think we will see more retailers leave the industry at that time when subsidies are eliminated. Of course the silver lining is that new retailers will emerge from the ashes.”
The burgeoning e-commerce retail sector has sparked an insatiable demand for industrial real estate across Canada with companies constantly in search of warehouse, distribution and fulfillment space.
In many of the major Canadian markets, such as Vancouver and Toronto, available space is at a premium and hard to come by with developers launching new construction to try and keep up with the demand.
Marshall Toner, Managing Director/National Lead, Industrial for JLL Canada, said the rhythm of consumer purchasing has changed – their behaviours and expectations.
“Their expectations are speed delivery, competitive prices and in some regards free shipping. That has made companies shift from traditional bricks and mortar to more warehousing type solutions. So the retail footprint has gone down and the industrial footprint went up to satisfy the consumer expectations,” said Toner.
“Some would argue that e-commerce requires three times more logistics space than when you have a traditional retail model. So as we gravitate to more and more and more e-commerce, all that product that was in the whatever brand store you want that footprint shrinks and the industrial footprint goes up.”
Warehouse Robotics
Toner said e-commerce has also created a different type of distribution centre because companies need high power for all the robotics in some cases and they like higher ceiling heights.
“In some of these fulfillment centres, we never used to see giant parking lots on the side of a distribution centre because the amount of staff inside was fairly minimal, but now if you look at an Amazon or someone like that, similar to that, they have a high degree of personnel working there so they need more parking and you never used to see that,” he said.
“Another significant change is reverse logistics. What do we do with all of the returns? So now we have companies that are in the reverse logistics business, that are independent of whoever the retailer is, opening up warehouses where they have all the returned goods for sale in there at a discount – or handling the returns for the retailers in some shape or form which takes space.”
Toner’s career in the real estate industry is about 30 years and the veteran said he has never seen the demand and low availability of space like it is now.
“It’s across North America. Industrial vacancy in Vancouver is sub one per cent. Calgary it’s now sub three per cent. Toronto is between one and two per cent. Montreal just over one per cent,” said Toner. “E-commerce is driving a lot of this. It really is. E-commerce has a bunch of ancillary businesses that come with it.”
In its Q4 2021 industrial real estate market report, JLL said vacancy in Vancouver dropped another 30 basis points in the last quarter of 2021, recording a historic low of 0.7 per cent – the first-time vacancy has recorded below the one per cent mark.
“The lack of supply in Metro Vancouver has also resulted in users being redirected to other markets, mainly Calgary, to fulfill their demands. Due to historic pent-up demand, Greater Vancouver has seen a 22 per cent increase in under construction space since the last quarter totaling just over eight million square feet,” said the report.
“With a year of quarter-over-quarter historic lows, vacancy is expected to continue decreasing through 2022 despite a strong development pipeline. The projected deliveries of strata and mixed-use industrial space in the coming year will continue to play a role in accelerating rental rates and will further diversify the tenant mix of industrial space.”
There is also just over 11.2 million square feet under construction.
“Vacancy is expected to remain at or near historic lows throughout the year. The relatively strong construction pipeline will likely do little to alleviate current market conditions. Furthermore, continued supply chain issues and rising costs for building materials will likely continue for much of 2022 and intensify both construction delays and rising occupancy costs,” said JLL.
Toner said at some point some sort of critical mass will be reached.
“For retailers, in satisfying consumer demand, at some point they’re going to get to some sort of concentration where it isn’t necessary for them to continue to acquire or lease the premises that they have been at the same velocity. I think the velocity will slow down in time. I just don’t know what that time period is,” he said.
This year is already starting off strong with five international brands opening first-to-Canada stores in January of 2022, and more on the way. Brokers are saying that this could be a banner year as retail becomes more global and Canadian cities are a target.
It’s encouraging news and shows confidence in the market as brands look to major cities to enter the Canadian market. We recently tallied a total of 21 international brands that entered Canada in 2021 by opening stores, including a breakdown of launch cities where Toronto was the primary focal point last year.
In January of this year, several international brands have opened first-to-Canada stores. Swedish designer/manufacturer of roof racks/carriers Thule opened its first Canadian storefront at Park Royal in West Vancouver. We reported that Vancouver-based retailer Rack Attack was opening the store in a retail space with an expected December opening date extended into January.
In Vancouver as well, Paris-based fashion and music brand Maison Kitsuné opened a combined retail space and café in the city’s Gastown area, marking the first location for the popular brand in Canada. More locations are expected to open with the Toronto market expected to be a focus.
With two international brands already opening first-to-Canada stores in the Vancouver area this month, the city only needs one more opening to match the three openings seen in 2021. We reported earlier this month that the greater Toronto area was home to 13 of the 21 international brands that entered Canada last year by opening stores.
In Ontario, three international retailers opened first-to-Canada stores over the course of January 2022. That includes US-based Carlo’s Bake Shop which opened its first Canadian location in the Port Credit area of Mississauga with more locations to come. At Toronto’s Yorkdale Shopping Centre, New York City-based Marc Jacobs opened its first Canadian storefront in the mall and more are said to be on the way — the new store concept features a price point on bags similar to what one might find at Hudson’s Bay. And in St. Catharines Ontario, a first Canadian location for Nigeria-based grocery chain Prince Ebeano opened in the city this month as well.
Brokers are telling Retail Insider that several more international brands are already confirmed to be entering the Canadian market by opening storefronts. We’ll reveal these throughout the year as we continue to report on the industry. It’s an encouraging sign for the retail industry which was clobbered by the pandemic. Consumer confidence is coming back and some retailers, including luxury brands, are in some cases seeing higher sales now than in 2019.
Already, we know that retailers such as Lafayette 148, Anne Fontaine and Paris Baguette will all be opening first-to-Canada locations on Bloor Street West in Toronto. We’ll be discussing other brands such as Acne Studios and Diptique which among others will open first stores this year as well.
Retail Insider will be tallying international retailers entering the Canadian market in the coming months as well as other retailers opening and expanding in this country. We will be showcasing this in a new portal that will be part of the must-read Retail Insider the magazine which is launching this spring, with more details to follow.
