Any potential expansion into Canada of giant international grocery chains would be met with many challenges.
“To make things happen for distribution really is not easy. It’s a very, very large country with no population density to support growth and to increase any market share in Canada is pretty difficult,” said Sylvain Charlebois, Professor, Director, Agri-Food Analytics Lab and Former Dean of the Faculty of Management, Dalhousie University.
Sylvain Charlebois
Two possible entrants into the Canadian market are Aldi and Lidl, both based in Germany. There has been speculation over recent years that they would expand here.
“I know both of them very well. I actually used to buy from both when I was in Europe, in Austria. They’re both very good retailers. They’re very efficient in their ways. They mix things up. Prices are very affordable. They’re very good distributors,” said Charlebois.
“But they’re still not overly comfortable with the North American market. Both of them are very, very capable grocers in Europe for sure.” Charlebois said that most grocers that come into Canada would acquire an existing player in the market.
Image: Lidl
“I wouldn’t be surprised if either one would actually enter the Canadian market by acquiring a retailer of some sort. The thing about Canada really is you’ve got the non-traditionals that are really creeping up. Now Costco is number three in the market. You’ve got Loblaws, Sobeys, and number three now is Costco followed by Metro. Metro has lost another three spots and Walmart is doing very well too,” he said.
“I suspect that there’s no more space for a traditional grocer unless one is acquired. That’s the thing. And your guess of who could be acquired is as good as mine.
“Sobeys is not for sale. Sobeys is actually on the hunt to acquire more. It’s been doing that for the last few years acquiring Farm Boy and it just acquired Longo’s this year. But Metro’s not for sale either. So you never know.”
Any expansion of an international grocer such as Aldi or Lidl would “tighten” things up in the Canadian grocery industry, explained Charlebois.
“We’ve seen it in Canada that whenever there’s a new player coming into the market things tighten up a little bit. Amazon’s acquisition of Whole Foods actually did disturb the Canadian market a little bit in 2017. It was the virtual space that really became a menace for grocers.
“Right now it’s really funny. A lot of people are actually thinking about bricks and mortar but it’s not just that anymore. It’s virtual. So Amazon is another potential grocer that could enter into the Canadian market really when you think about it.”
Charlebois said this year is not going to be an easy one for grocers given the extra costs they’ve incurred due to COVID and due to the fact that there’s been a lot of pivoting towards ecommerce and building infrastructure around that.
“That’s going to be difficult for them to manage all at once as they’re trying to figure out who is going to be next entering into the market,” he said.
Today’s retailers are recognizing that they are pillars of their communities. Their influential voices and platforms are making retailers leaders of the pandemic-propelled cultural evolution while consumers’ expectations grow to demand not only flawless frictionless, cross-channel shopping experiences but also transparency and trustworthiness at a whole new level.
In recent years, retailer discussions about Gen Z focused on the importance of value-based shopping. The pandemic experience and the ongoing anti-racism and inclusion conversations have opened many consumers’ eyes to supporting businesses they value and who valued them. Customers are speaking loudly through their wallets to frequent retailers who embody diversity, inclusion, sustainability, health and safety, and “shop local”.
Retail Council of Canada’s STORE Conference, which this year will be an all-virtual event on from September 13 to 16, 2021, will explore the new era of retail and the changing consumer (and employee) values and that are creating new opportunities for retailers.
IKEA Canada says over 90% of consumers want to live a more sustainable life. Recognizing that customers are asking for more accountability and transparency, the company has a bold ambition to become fully circular and climate positive by 2030. IKEA Canada’s CEO Michael Ward, who will be speaking at RCC STORE, is also taking on the role of Chief Sustainability Manager in Canada, a further demonstration of the organization’s commitment sustainability.
Inclusivity and belonging are also themes that will be explored at this year’s RCC STORE Conference. Rob Smith, founder and CEO of the Phluid Projectin New York City, will share his journey about empowering individuals through freedom and self-expression. Recognizing how gender is stereotypically portrayed in apparel marketing, Smith envisioned an experience free of the bombardment of gendered messaging which is found to be inconsistent with identity for many consumers. Phulid Project’s genderless apparel is making a safe, judgement-free shopping experience the imperative.
Industry leader Sephora continues its own journey to extend the value of belonging to both customers and team members alike. Debra Neff, SVP Marketing at Sephora Canada, will speak to Sephora’s holistic strategy and how its employee value proposition is a critical part of developing inclusive campaigns and in-store experiences that resonate with customers’ diverse needs.
After a year of so many ups and downs it is also critical for retailers pay close attention to their employees’ needs. Montreal HR, quality of life and well-being at work specialist Marie-Josée Nucci, who will also be presenting at RCC STORE, will discuss how well-being is the foundational layer of high-performing teams and a key factor to increasing productivity, retention, safety, collaboration, minimizing absenteeism and improving company culture. Now more than ever prospective employees are evaluating prospective employers for values alignment; employees are increasingly placing a priority on feeling supported at work.
This year’s all-virtual format makes this year’s RCC STORE very accessible to all retailers, small and large, from across Canada. With highly applicable retail-specific content, over 60+ speakers from around the world, and retailer participants from every retail sector, RCC STORE 21 will be the most informative, inspirational and biggest retail event this year.
Mickey & Friends at Pop-in@Nordstrom CF Toronto Eaton Centre - Photo by Dustin Fuhs
Disney has partnered with Nordstrom for the next in the series of themed pop-up shops that brings exclusive merchandise to select stores in North America. Included are two Nordstrom stores in Canada, located in Vancouver and Toronto.
The Pop-In@Nordstrom Celebrates Mickey & Friends will feature limited-edition merchandise with the Fab 5 (Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, Donald and Pluto with special guest Daisy).
The space has been curated to bring upcycled apparel, bags, accessories and footwear with Disney-inspired designs from brands like Champion, Diamond Supply Co., CASETiFY, Crocs, Herschel and Levi’s.
“I’ve always loved the nostalgia of Disney, and the characters they’ve created. Those characters were each of our friends from generation to generation.” said Olivia Kim, VP of Creative Projects and Home at Nordstrom.
“Friendship is something that is always worth celebrating, and what better way to celebrate than being with our friends including Mickey, Minnie and the whole gang. As our customers immerse themselves into the iconic and wonderful world of Disney’s Mickey and Friends that we have brought to life at Nordstrom through this partnership, we hope they will find joy in discovering some timeless treasures from pre-loved and upcycled t-shirts to all the everyday products featuring their favourite classic characters,” said Kim.
Mickey & Friends at Pop-in@Nordstrom CF Toronto Eaton Centre – Photo by Dustin Fuhs
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Mickey & Friends at Pop-in@Nordstrom CF Toronto Eaton Centre - Photo by Dustin Fuhs
Mickey & Friends at Pop-in@Nordstrom CF Toronto Eaton Centre - Photo by Dustin Fuhs
Mickey & Friends at Pop-in@Nordstrom CF Toronto Eaton Centre - Photo by Dustin Fuhs
“For generations, Mickey and his friends have been an example of genuine friendship, showcasing what it means to stay true to yourselves and one another,” said J.D. Edwards, Senior Vice President of Third- Party Commercialization at Disney Consumer Products, Games and Publishing. “Through our collaboration with Nordstrom, we have created the opportunity to tell compelling friendship stories through a unique shopping experience and bespoke product that fans of all ages can enjoy.”
Pop-In@Nordstrom Canadian locations for are at the CF Toronto Eaton Centre in Toronto and CF Pacific Centre in Vancouver and will run from July 23rd to September 12th.
The initiative was created by the Nordstrom Creative Projects team back in 2013. Partnerships have included Aesop, Allbirds, Alexander Wang, Casper, Converse, Everlane, Gentle Monster, goop, Hanes, HAY, Liberty London’s Flowers of Liberty collection, Nike, Opening Ceremony, Poketo, rag & bone, The Museum of Modern Art’s MoMA Design Store, The North Face, Topshop/Topman, VANS and Warby Parker.
Mickey & Friends at Pop-in@Nordstrom
Image: Nordstrom
Mickey & Friends at Pop-in@Nordstrom CF Toronto Eaton Centre – Photo by Dustin FuhsMickey & Friends at Pop-in@Nordstrom CF Toronto Eaton Centre – Photo by Dustin FuhsMickey & Friends at Pop-in@Nordstrom CF Toronto Eaton Centre – Photo by Dustin FuhsMickey & Friends at Pop-in@Nordstrom CF Toronto Eaton Centre – Photo by Dustin FuhsMickey & Friends at Pop-in@Nordstrom CF Toronto Eaton Centre – Photo by Dustin FuhsMickey & Friends at Pop-in@Nordstrom CF Toronto Eaton Centre – Photo by Dustin FuhsMickey & Friends at Pop-in@Nordstrom CF Toronto Eaton Centre – Photo by Dustin Fuhs
Bailey Nelson Construction at Willowbrook Mall - Photo by Lee Rivett
Australian eyewear retailer Bailey Nelson has continued to expand in Canada, including a new location being announced for Willowbrook Mall in Langley, BC.
Scheduled to open in September 2021, the store is currently recruiting for staff at BaileyNelson.com
The company opened its first location back in 2017, with their Robson street storefront. Since then, Bailey Nelson has shifted the cross-country expansion into rapid growth. At current count, the brand has 26 locations in three provinces (Alberta, BC and Ontario).
We will be following the brand as they continue to announce new storefront locations, which will include an expansion into Manitoba.
PHOTO: BAILEY NELSON (CF MARKET MALL)
Founded in Bondi Beach in 2012, Bailey Nelson has quickly grown into a global brand led by an incredible team with boutiques in Australia, London, Canada and New Zealand.
Bailey Nelson’s Website states that “Buying glasses should be one of life’s pleasures. And we’ve created a formula to make it one. We start with a process that’s clever and honest. We use it to craft eyewear that’s both beautiful and affordable. And we hire people who are passionate and genuine. It’s not rocket science. It’s just caring enough about what you’re doing to do it right.”
“We strive to deliver fantastic eyewear frames at a reasonable price, backed up by great service. We hope to empower individuality and self-expression through our beautiful, affordable eyewear, inviting stores and incredible people. So that’s us. That’s Bailey Nelson.”
Sweet shop and ice cream retailer, YUM, has officially survived the pandemic with its storefront in Vancouver’s Mount Pleasant neighbourhood.
Likely stemming from a guilty pleasure during his time as a body builder, the owner of the sweet shop has curated a selection of over 200 candies and gourmet sweets. The curation delves internationally from serving far-flung options like Hong Kong-style bubble waffles, and it also makes all of its ice cream and baked goods in-house.
“Life is short, have a treat” says Michael Gorenstein as he opened his labour-of-love at 4150 Main Street in Vancouver. The end result has given patrons access to numerous top sellers, including the vegan cat gummies and espresso chocolate beans as well as the champagne and Prosecco gummy bears.
The shop currently offers its assortment for sale within its brick-and-mortar storefront only and its website (at www.yumsweetshop.com) has online shopping planned for the future as well.
The following is a selection of sweets which YUM sent over to taste-test, including Rainbow Gummy Bears, Have Your Cake Bites, Vegan Cat Gummies and Raspberry Pig Gummies.
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Interior of YUM Ice Creamery and Sweet Shop.
The beautiful teal candy-parlour, designed by Hazel + Brown Design Company, amplifies the nostalgic candy shop experience with the beautiful gold detailings, French bistro designs, and classic bar top seating.
The 39,040-square-foot T&T grocery store will open at the north end of Willowbrook in the fall of 2021. The Asian grocery concept, founded in Vancouver, will be the first for Langley and will feature an in-house bakery, Asian deli, sushi, and Chinese BBQ departments. The Willowbrook location will also offer Asian-style health services as well as herbal and naturopathic products plus an onsite insurance agency, pharmacy, financial services, among other services.
T&T held a hiring fair on July 16-18th, which saw recruiting for large number of roles in departments throughout the store. The Willowbrook Mall website had the following hiring fair description “T&T Supermarket is currently hiring for the following positions in its Meat, Seafood, Produce, Grocery, Kitchen/Sushi, Bakery, Fulfillment, and Cashier departments …positions as Store Associate, Assistant Receiver, Cooler Keeper, Assistant Cooler Keeper, Beauty Advisor, Cook, Assistant Cook and more.”
We’ll be following the opening of this location of T&T Market and more news coming out of Willowbrook Mall
Altitude Athletic, a specialized fitness facility that simulates high altitude conditions, has opened steps from the Financial District in downtown Toronto.
Altitude Athletic has created a gym that can simulate high altitude conditions by lowering the oxygen levels while utilizing science to train for situations that athletes of all abilities will face in sport and adventures. Essentially, the team has built a mountain environment in Downtown Toronto.
“Toronto is at sea level, and although it would be awesome for many of us, it’s not practical to fly off to the mountains every weekend,” shared Altitude Athletic owner Melanie Miller. “So I had a vision to build Canada’s largest publicly accessible altitude training facility.”
The 1,200 square foot facility opened at 56 Colbourne Street on July 23rd, with construction and pandemic delays adding to the construction buildout.
Gyms and indoor activities were hit hard with pandemic restrictions, which have recently been allowed to open after Ontario hit Stage 3 in the reopening plan.
Click for Interactive Google MapAltitude Athletic – Photo by Dustin Fuhs
“Since science and innovation lay the foundation of Altitude, our vision also included translating this into our services and empowering our facility with a passionate and knowledgeable team,” Miller shared.
Toronto sits at 76 meters (approx. 250 feet) above sea level where there is approx. 20.9% oxygen in the air. In the altitude room, they are able to reduce this amount to as low as 9.7% simulating an elevation of over 6,000 meters (approx. 20,000 feet).
Each day of the week, the facility will rotate through three altitude zones, aside from Sunday, when the facility will remain at sea level for fitness assessments (or for sea level workouts). The altitude zones are as follows:
Montane Zone: 4000 ft – 6000 ft / 1219 m – 1828 m
Subalpine Zone: 6000 ft – 8500 ft / 1828 m – 2590 m
Alpine Zone: 8500 ft – 11500 ft / 2590 m – 3505 m
The facility was created in response to a market trend that saw fitness enthusiasts looking for access to the same tools as the pros and to train for elevations that they would encounter in competitions and adventures around the world without having to leave the city.
Altitude Athletic – Photo by Dustin Fuhs
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Altitude Athletic - Photo by Dustin Fuhs
Altitude Athletic - Photo by Dustin Fuhs
Altitude Athletic - Photo by Dustin Fuhs
Construction Image: Altitude Athletic Facebook Page
Construction Image: Altitude Athletic Facebook Page
Construction Image: Altitude Athletic Facebook Page
The facility is located in a block that will be seeing a significant change, with the addition of 65 King Street East at Leader Lane. The 18-storey office development by Carttera Equities will have a total gross floor area of 36,147 square metres of office space and 1,628 square metres of retail space at street-level.
Google has leased the entirety of the office space.
65 King Street East with Google Signage, designed by WZMH and IBI Group for Carterra (Via UrbanToronto)
Craig and Peter Simons have an honest discussion around the challenges the retailer faced over the course of the pandemic, and what the future might hold for the retailer which is striking unique partnerships.
The Interview Series 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 Weekly podcast where Craig and Lee discuss popular content published on Retail Insider which is part of the The Retail Insider Podcast Network.
Interviewed this episode:
Peter Simons, President and Chief Executive Officer of La Maison Simons.
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/
Months after acquiring the retail brand Frank And Oak, the new owner, Unified Commerce Group, has big plans for the retailer which went through the bankruptcy protection process last year.
The retailer was acquired by the new owner in October 2020.
Dustin Jones, President of UCG Canada Holdings and founder and CEO of Unified Commerce Group, said UCG will provide Frank And Oak with the necessary resources to continue to nurture the brand’s strong following within Canada as well as fuel its expansion into the United States and its growth into new markets, including Asia.
Dustin Jones
“There’s so many things we loved about the brand but ultimately it’s about nine and a half years old as a brand and we found it to be one of the most well-recognized Canadian brands that had the strongest potential for global scale,” said Jones.
“The brand itself, its purpose is material science and solving the pollution and the areas of the fashion industry that a lot of people don’t like to talk about. The fashion industry is the second most polluting industry in terms of effect towards the climate crisis that we’re facing.
“Frank And Oak has always been based in this terrific material science that really looks at how we can take the things that we consume today and how we can be kinder to our product and our people and our planet as a function of those things.”
Image: Frank And Oak –
Montreal – Mile End Womenswear
Image: Frank And Oak –
Vancouver – Gastown
Unified Commerce Group was officially launched in September 2019. Jones is a lifetime retailer with expertise in digitization. He has spent his entire retail career, just over 20 years, digitizing different areas of retail. His first 14 years was spent building macys.com and building Macy’s omnichannel. Then he moved to China for about five years working with the Alibaba group and a fashion portfolio group which owned 26 fashion brands.
Unified Commerce Group was founded by Jones and Wall Street veteran Greg Freihofner to build a portfolio of purpose-driven brands that connect with consumers on a global scale, and in the world’s most dynamic markets. The company has headquarters in New York, Montreal and China.
Greg Freihofner
“We focus on supporting founder created brands. Not necessarily brands that were started by some retail professional like myself but brands that were started by passionate founders with purpose. Brands that have real purpose and real commitment to something bigger than product and as a function of their purpose they end up creating product,” said Jones.
“We believe this is going to be the post COVID trend in terms of brand loyalty and consumer loyalty. And so purpose doesn’t have to be cause oriented. It can also be activity based, but at the end of the day the content is about the purpose not necessarily about just selling a sweater.
“And for somebody in retail who’s been part of the designer trend, the luxury trend, the fast fashion trend, the athleisure trend, for me the next phase of my career I really wanted to get behind supporting these purpose led brands. And I had spent a lot of time studying them pre COVID and we built Unified Commerce Group so we could embrace these companies and help them get from the wonderful place that they had gotten to today to a new frontier that allows them to be a globally relevant and powerful brand.”
Frank and Oak product tag – Photo by Dustin Fuhs
UCG’s tech-enabled platform drives scale for its brands through unified services; harmonizing strategy and execution to design, operate, and push boundaries in retail.
Launched in 2012 by long-time friends Hicham Ratnani and Ethan Song, alongside a small group of passionate creatives, Frank And Oak designs men’s and women’s apparel and accessories from its Montreal headquarters that are made to last with the highest standards to keep up with demanding lifestyles, while ensuring minimal impact on the planet.
A certified B Corporation, Frank And Oak is beloved in Canada and the US for its core values of sustainability, transparency, and functionality that are reflected in both its products and business practices, said UCG.
Like many retail brands worldwide, Frank And Oak was significantly impacted by the coronavirus pandemic and, as a result, filed a notice of intention to make a proposal in June 2020.
Jones said the brand had about 20 stores in Canada leading into COVID. Today there are 11.
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Frank And Oak -
Toronto Eaton Centre - Image: Dustin Fuhs
Frank and Oak Bag - Photo by Dustin Fuhs
Frank and Oak Bag
Frank and Oak at CF Toronto Eaton Centre - Photo by Dustin Fuhs
Frank and Oak at CF Toronto Eaton Centre
Frank and Oak at CF Toronto Eaton Centre - Photo by Dustin Fuhs
Frank and Oak at CF Toronto Eaton Centre
“We have a large expansion plan that’s underway. In near term we’ll open up a new portfolio of stores to go along with the existing portfolio,” he said.
“We’re in the process. We’ll go through a large PR campaign in about a month, maybe a month and a half, where we’re going to speak very broadly about what the strategy is and all the investments we’ve made in the company,” said Jones.
Over the past nine months, Jones said UCG wanted to get to know the organization well to protect the brand, the values of the brand and the talent it had worked so hard to cultivate.
It also spent time looking at efficiencies in how the brand operates. It also looked at the customer experience. The omnichannel experience is a critical investment to make and connecting that experience into one seamless, loyalty based customer flow. A new loyalty program will also be launched this fall.
Frank and Oak at CF Toronto Eaton Centre – Photo by Dustin Fuhs
“We have really strong ambitions for the brand. For us we think more about communities than we do stores. Where are we not saturated and where do we have existing consumers that want to belong to our brand in a more loyal way? We have also very strong customers in the United States and so you’ll hear us talk about later this year where our expansion plan looks like in the different communities in the United States. Our approach to that which isn’t just digital and physical but a combined effort. We’ll also talk in September about our expansion plans outside of North America which are well under way,” said Jones.
“We have very large numbers for our store portfolio. It will definitely be more than double the existing. But in terms of a specific number I probably wouldn’t give you one but it’s definitely far more significant than the 11 stores we have today and it takes us three or four years to really build out the fleet.
“We believe stores have to be redesigned and COVID taught everyone that they have to be redesigned and so our process isn’t looking at sales per square foot it’s looking at experience per square foot. So our stores have to go through a redesign. So the 11 we have today will also have to be redesigned. The first redesign happens in August and September and that really is about technology and enablement of our associates and connecting with our consumer and connecting with the consumer journey of the brand while in our store. But the long term will be about how do we design more experience and more community into these store environments and how these stores become a window to the brand lifestyle.”
