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New Horizon Mall Near Calgary Marks More than 50% Occupancy as it Opens Entertainment Concept

By
Mario Toneguzzi
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Sky Castle at New Horizon Mall - Image DHZ Media

A massive family entertainment centre has become a key anchor for the New Horizon Mall, just outside of Calgary city limits in Balzac, and could be a ‘game changer’ for the shopping centre.

Sky Castle is now the largest anchor tenant at approximately 34,000 square feet, followed by the Best Shop and Prairie Horizon Fresh Market. These three tenants collectively occupy approximately 74,000 square feet at New Horizon Mall, which is about 320,000 square feet.

The mall is about 53 per cent occupied/leased on a square footage basis with more than 100 stores open on a regular basis.

Toronto based, Torgan Group, with its partner, MPI Property Group (collectively “NHM Inc.”) developed New Horizon Mall. NHM Inc. retained approximately 30 per cent ownership of the Mall, about 114,000 square feet of space, and owns the larger units and has leased approximately 86 per cent of units owned.

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As Alberta’s first condo mall, stores at New Horizon Mall were sold and owners either operate their own store or lease to another store operator – 98 per cent of the total retail space has been sold. New Horizon Mall had a slow start before COVID-19 hit and continues to be a work in progress. Construction of New Horizon Mall was completed by Ledcor Construction in 2018.

A condominium board was set up to run New Horizon Mall and to represent all unit owners. An onsite management team is employed by this board to manage day to day operations and headed by General Manager Bob Parsons.

“We wanted a strong anchor tenant that would attract shoppers and families and found the perfect partner in Sky Castle,” said Ellisa Asaria, director, leasing, New Horizon Mall Inc. “I’m already getting more interest from entrepreneurs thinking of opening shops that appeal to kids and parents. Without question this is a game changer for our marketplace.

Ellisa Asaria

“Sky Castle is an exciting addition to New Horizon Mall. It is a major children’s attraction which will result in families coming to experience all the mall has to offer. While we had interest from different operators for our larger units, we felt that the addition of Sky Castle would bring forward our vision of New Horizon Mall.

“New Horizon Mall is quickly achieving our vision of a destination offering unique products, local businesses and great experiences. With the opening of Sky Castle, New Horizon Mall has taken another important step to become Calgary’s most unique shopping experience. Whether it is auto shows, craft fairs, scavenger hunts, cultural celebrations or other events, the mall has something for everyone. As the province and the country reopen, we hope to support the entrepreneurial spirit at New Horizon Mall and across the City.”

Sky Castle finalized its lease in early 2020 but the global pandemic significantly delayed construction and opening.

“Overall, we have noticed that business owners have more confidence in the retail market and there has been a pronounced uptick in leasing activity. People have a sense that there is light at the end of the tunnel and things are now starting to return to normal. We are optimistic about the future provided that we don’t have further pandemic restrictions,” added Asaria.

Han Liu, one of the partners in Sky Castle, said the concept is an indoor playground geared for children 10 years old and under. It has many slides, a snow castle, a donut slide, a Ninja area and a car track with theme rooms for birthday parties and private events.

“New Horizon Mall has always been my first choice. When I was looking for locations, I went to a couple of dozen locations out there. New Horizon Mall, the environment, the building itself, is just perfect for the indoor playground and also I like the idea of there are so many local businesses and entrepreneurs downstairs. I’m a community guy and I think this is definitely a community theme that would be very helpful for the longevity of the business,” said Liu. The play area is located on the second floor of the mall near the food court.

Parsons said COVID has been really tough for all retailers but with the province reopening and Sky Castle now open, the mall is optimistic about the summer.

Image: New Horizon Mall

“We are already noticing that shoppers are making a real effort to support local merchants and we think this is a turning point,” said Parsons.

“Since Sky Castle has opened there’s been considerable interest. I think the timing is right relative to the pandemic and Alberta’s positions and Alberta Health Services position relative to COVID and the different stages we’ve gone through for reopening. I think we’re well positioned for that. On a go forward basis lots of people have reevaluated what they’re doing as a family to make money and we’re positioned for small business incubator, small footprint opportunities in terms of retail. There really aren’t that many shopping centre or strip centre opportunities that have 150-square-foot retail units for rent out there.

“So a unit owner looking to rent their space they may have a 150-square-foot single unit. They might have a double unit of roughly 300 feet and there’s not that space available in the marketplace – readily available. I think the opportunities are there now that we’ve got a third anchor driving traffic through the mall with the other retailers we have. Things have turned the corner in terms of interest and popularity.”

Virtual and Augmented Reality Technology to Entirely Change the Retail Shopping Experience in Canada: Interview with ‘Retail Prophet’ Doug Stephens

By
Sean Tarry
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The digital age. It could be argued that its development began nearly three quarters of a century ago when Alan Turing created the Automatic Computing Engine – a digital computer with memory and the capacity to store information. And it’s commonly accepted that its progress was hastened by the Silicon Valley revolution of the 1980s which yielded such inventions as the Internet and laid the groundwork for the birth of mobile devices, social networks, big data, and computing clouds. However, it seems in many ways that we are only now truly beginning to enter the digital realm, realizing for the first time at least a small portion of technology’s potential and the ways in which its components and innovative applications can help support and enhance real human experiences. As retailers slowly climb out of the murk of the pandemic toward the reopening of communities and cities everywhere, they are increasingly looking toward modern digital solutions that can help differentiate their offering and improve engagement with consumers. It marks a new era of digital exploration for retailers. And, according to Doug Stephens, proficient industry analyst and Founder of the consultancy firm Retail Prophet, it also represents a starting point toward a new kind of retail reality.

“Within 10 years the practicality of physical retail as a primary means of distribution of product will have run its course,” he proffers. “Digital technology will allow for almost all of the functionality that consumers look for in physical stores, namely customer service, trial and almost immediate gratification through same-day and even same-hour shipping. This is probably common-sense masquerading as insight given what we already see shaping up in the market. Therefore, we won’t need physical stores anymore as a means of accessing products. However, that does not negate the value of stores as a media channel and I believe that’s precisely where their new value will lie. Physical, human and social experiences will be at a premium in a world where we’re all spending more of our lives online. Astute brands are already moving in this direction, treating their physical stores as a key media channel for the purpose of customer acquisition and measuring them accordingly.”

Approaching the ‘Metaverse’

Though the environment that Stephens describes may not come to full fruition for another decade or more, it’s one that he sees as an inevitability nonetheless, culminating in the creation and evolution of the ‘Metaverse’ – a term coined in Neal Stephenson’s 1992 science fiction novel ‘Snow Crash’ that’s used to help describe a parallel reality, consisting of and supported by a confluence of virtual worlds which people will be able to pass in and out of seamlessly. It’s a fascinating thesis which, enabled through the development of virtual and augmented reality technologies, is set to dramatically change the ways in which people live their lives and the means they leverage to engage with their favourite brands.

“The first shoe to drop is going to be that the old grid-based web experiences of today are going to give way to more immersive, intuitive and social shopping experiences,” explains Stephens. “Already, tech startups like Obsess are creating unique store environments that are redefining entirely the nature of digital shopping experiences. They also just raised $10M US in funding to accelerate those efforts. We’ll also see more and more brands adopting augmented reality to solve real consumer problems like the ability to try a product before buying it. All of these interim steps, however, are leading us toward a completely new internet. The ‘Metaverse’ represents a place in which people can engage in, commune in and of course shop in. The internet will cease to be something we use and become more like a place we spend a portion of our day living inside. We’ll even begin buying virtual products, clothing, jewelry and cosmetics inside the ‘Metaverse’ as increasing numbers of us begin communing, entertaining and working in the virtual world.”

Investment and consumer appetite

Indeed, if investment is an indicator that can be trusted, it seems the development of the ‘Metaverse’ is already well and truly underway. According to market research firm, Technavio, the virtual and augmented reality markets are set to explode, growing by $162.71 billion US and progressing at a compound annual growth rate of nearly 46 percent between 2021 and 2025. And, it’s investment that’s aligning nicely with current consumer sentiment around the desired use of these technologies in a retail setting. Recent data generated by Google – one of the largest players committed to the development of virtual and augmented reality technologies, along with other digital titans like Facebook, Microsoft and Samsung, to name a few – shows a penchant by today’s consumer to explore and understand the capabilities of the tools. The multinational tech giant says that global search interest in virtual reality continues to grow at a remarkable rate, while two-thirds (66%) of consumers surveyed say that they are interested in using augmented reality technology to help support their shopping experiences, with 6 in 10 stating that they want to be able to visualize where and how a product could fit into their lives. The data adds up to generate an image of what’s to come for retailing and the bold digital domain that we’re entering.

Refocussing and redefining purpose

Despite the anticipated advent of the ‘Metaverse’, however, and the possibilities that advancements in virtual and augmented reality technologies represent for the future of retailing, Stephens cautions those operating within the industry in their pursuit of acquiring and implementing such innovations. He recognizes the investments that are being made as well as those that will surely follow during the course of the next 6 to 18 months or so, but cites a retailers’ understanding of the value they offer to the consumer as the most important outcome of their current efforts. Then, and only then, can they begin crafting and honing the experiences they provide and the tools and solutions that they’ll leverage in order to support those experiences.

“It’s going to be essential for retailers to offer their customers something different and unique going forward,” he asserts. “The competitive environment coming out of the pandemic is going to be fierce. Amazon and other major global marketplaces have literally stoked their war chests into overdrive and are now building for a new era of their own evolution. In an effort to compete against them, large national retail players are building out third-party marketplaces, adding tens of thousands of new products and categories. In this environment, it’s going to be imperative that all other retailers refocus their brands with the aim of serving a very defined and clear purpose in the life of their customer. To begin, every brand needs to reflect on their offering and determine whether or not they provide their customer with a clear and definitive answer to a question in the market. Once they’ve established a renewed clarity of purpose, they’ll have to ensure that every nuance of the customer experience with their brand supports that purpose and positioning and brings it to life. Anything less and a retailer will become a sitting duck.”

He goes on to explain that once a brand has determined a clear understanding of their proposition to the customer, it can then begin to consider the exploration and implementation of technologies like virtual and augmented reality. However, he suggests strongly that any retailer seeking to do so should approach the task with the end-user at the heart of every decision it makes.

“The objective, always, should be to solve real consumer problems, alleviate points of friction and/or add experiential delight to every customer engagement,” he explains. “If a new consumer-facing technology doesn’t check any of these boxes then the brand should be questioning the investment. With that said, the only way a brand can determine a technology’s utility is to explore, experiment and test to understand where their application may add value.”

Current innovation and future state

Of course, there are already some within the industry that have been exploring the use of these technologies for some time in efforts to enhance the experience that they offer customers and create a more seamless engagement. Ikea for example is making excellent use of augmented reality to help consumers plan their decorating and design projects. Warby Parker is using the same technology to help redefine how consumers shop for eyeglasses. And personal care and beauty retailer Sephora has long offered its Virtual Artist tool that allows users to apply virtual makeup on themselves in real time using their smartphones to test the aesthetics of the product before making a purchase. And, although these tools have not yet been perfected by any means, they satisfy a need that the consumer has on their journey with the brands – a satisfaction that Stephens says is critical to provide, with or without the use of these technologies.

“It’s safe to say that as we move forward, we’ll see virtual and augmented reality play a greater role in shaping our online and in-store experiences,” he says. “But retailers have to be careful to not treat these technologies as novelties or frivolities. Instead, they have to begin by really digging into the design of their customer experiences and identifying aspects of the experience where AR for example can present a true solution or alleviate friction. The first step is to blow out your brand’s customer experience to truly understand every moment and micro-moment in the shopper’s journey. Some brands only possess a vague, superficial sense of their experiential architecture. Without understanding each micro-moment, where it takes place and the consumer’s need state, it’s impossible to make cogent decisions with respect to technology. Once that architecture is in place, however, a brand can then begin to examine it to find opportunities to introduce technology that can add value. Without an understanding of the value, effect or utility you’re attempting to deliver, every technology looks like a good idea, and attempts to implement could result in a waste of effort and resources for the retailer and a frustration for consumers.”

As investment continues to pour into the virtual and augmented reality markets, the savviest of retailers are heeding Stephens’ advice, seeking a clear understanding of the ways in which these modern technologies can help elevate their brands through enhanced engagement. And, given the overwhelming yearning for experiences that’s anticipated in a post-pandemic world, it’s likely that their understanding will be sought with force, ushering in a true digital age of innovation and creativity. It’s been a long time coming since Turing’s 1946 invention, to arrive at this precipice of technological transformation and the materialization of science-fiction premonition. And now that we’re here, the next logical destination with respect to virtual and augmented reality technologies and their use by humans is headlong into the future.

Sleep Country Canada Opening 2 Super Hubs Amid Explosive Retail Growth: Interview

By
Mario Toneguzzi
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Image: Sleep Country Canada Head Office

Sleep Country Canada is opening two new super hubs to drive operational efficiencies and unlock the next chapter of the company’s growth story.

The new hubs, in Calgary and Belleville, will increase the retailer’s storage capacity by 65 per cent. The storage hubs add 278,000 square feet to the company’’s existing network of 17 strategically located fulfillment centres. The Belleville hub will be located in a former Sears warehouse building.

Sleep Country is Canada’s leading omnichannel specialty sleep retailer with a national retail store network and e-commerce platforms. It operates under three retail banners: “Sleep Country Canada” with omnichannel operations in Canada excluding Québec; “Dormez-vous?” with omnichannel operations in Québec and “Endy“, Canada’s leading direct-to-consumer online sleep solutions retailer.

It has 287 stores across Canada. 

Inside of the Sleep Country Canada Super Hub (Image: Sleep Country Canada)

Stewart Schaefer, President, Sleep Country and Dormez-vous, said the new storage hubs will enhance and improve the overall supply chain logistics for the company.

Stewart Schaefer

“These new storage hubs further support our promise to deliver world-class customer experiences at each and every touchpoint,” he said. “Last year, we took advantage of market opportunities to secure competitive pricing for these facilities that will support our aggressive growth plans for years to come. Our record-breaking results and the overwhelmingly positive response from Canadians over the past year made this the perfect time to take the next step in our strategic growth roadmap.

“After 27 years in business, we know that investing in a powerful physical infrastructure is an important strategic element of our competitive advantage and an essential catalyst to support our growth. With these new storage hubs, we are well-positioned to execute growth opportunities including establishing new vendor partnerships, category and product innovation, improving our direct overseas sourcing capabilities and online marketplace expansion.”

The new storage hubs feature advanced technology, providing the retailer with efficiencies in fulfillment and distribution to support its growing direct import program for accessories and bed in a box, with expanded margins. The company said the new facilities will also ensure flexibility in receiving, picking and packing inventory to service its expanding online business and establish the infrastructure required to fuel Sleep Country’s aggressive future growth plans. The new storage hubs will reduce the company’s need to expand its existing fulfillment centre square footage in premium priced markets.

Schaefer said the hubs will handle the storage of containers of the product, lightening the load of the fulfillment centres but also putting them back to what they were originally designed for – to get goods in and out.

“Going forward those fulfillment centres will receive from our local supplier goods that are going in and out and will also receive from these two hubs which is our own storage that will populate and feed the other distribution centres both on the east coast and the west coast,” he said.

Schaefer said the company will continue to grow its store base.

“COVID has definitely shaken the world a little bit in how they look at the world in terms of bricks and mortar and e-commerce. There’s no question of that. Our e-commerce business exploded during COVID but at the same time while COVID was happening we were still opening stores and our stores were performing unbelievably well. The new stores we were opening were exceeding our expectations,” he said.

Sleep Country at CF Richmond Centre. Photo: Geetanjali Sharma

“But what we actually found out during COVID which was surprising when our stores were closed obviously you could only shop online but given the choice by the customer of having the e-commerce experience and the stores the fact of wherever they begin their journey whether they started on their phone, there is a visit to the store in that they were going in, testing the beds. The journey may have begun on the phone, may have involved the store, maybe concluded at the store, maybe concluded online, but the store was part of that journey.

“Our plan continued exactly the same way even more so as we look for great opportunities because some people have not been so fortunate and some real estate has become available. We’re going to continue to open up stores – eight to 12 stores is our plan, as we said a few years ago, every single year and that hasn’t changed.”

Canadian Retail News From Around The Web For July 7th, 2021

By
Retail Insider
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Canadian Retail News From Around The Web

Top Stories: National

Central/Eastern Canada News

Western Canada News

Swyft Helping Retailers Prepare to Deliver on Expected Surge in Fourth Quarter Consumer Ecommerce Demand

By
Sean Tarry
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There’s no escaping the fact that those operating within the retail industry have faced some monumental challenges recently. Impacts of the COVID-19 global pandemic have disrupted traditional operations, presenting retailers and other businesses with a raft of challenges that have ultimately resulted in decreased store traffic and a loss of sales and revenue. In conjunction with these challenges, there has been an acceleration of consumer behaviour toward online purchases, forcing merchants to enhance their ecommerce capabilities and strategies in order to meet the increasing demands and expectations of today’s digital consumer. And, according to Aadil Kazmi, CEO and Co-Founder of Swyft – a provider of software that supports fast and efficient ecommerce delivery – the need for retailers to do so is more important now than at any time previous.

“The pandemic has certainly altered the retail landscape,” he says. “It’s changed the customers’ journey with brands and the methods and channels by which they’re choosing to make purchases. Retailers have responded by accelerating their digital initiatives and focussing more on the development of their ecommerce capabilities in order to enhance the experience they offer their customers. Given the shortfall in sales that much of the industry has suffered over the course of the past 16 months, it’s going to be imperative that they provide fast and efficient delivery of products. We’re expecting an incredibly busy fourth quarter for ecommerce in Canada, likely representing a surge in online demand of about four to five times the average. To seize the opportunities, and to avoid the disaster that took place during the final quarter of 2020 when most of the major carriers and couriers left businesses in the lurch, retailers are going to need to offer carrier optionality.”

Faster, better, cheaper

The ‘lurch’ that Kazmi refers to is the uncomfortable position that carriers placed retailers and their customers in as a result of catastrophic shipping and delivery delays heading into the lucrative 2020 holiday season. The now infamous ecommerce failure still resonates with anyone unfortunate enough to have been affected by it. And it’s prompting many to become creative in their approach to ecommerce fulfillment and to explore alternative ways by which an enhanced digital experience can be created for their customers. It’s “only natural” that retailers are seeking improvements to their modes of delivery in light of last year’s ill-performance, says Chris Hamoen, Head of Sales and Marketing at Swyft, suggesting that the solution the company provides will revolutionize any business’s ecommerce operations, resulting in greater efficiency and increased customer satisfaction.”

“We offer same-day delivery for businesses of all sizes,” he asserts. “So, whether you’re talking about Holt Renfrew or the local retailer in your neighbourhood, we help them all leverage same-day service for the delivery of their products. And we make it available at a lower price than UPS, FedEx, Purolator, Doordash and all the others. The old saying with respect to developing a business or product is ‘faster, better, cheaper – pick two’, meaning that you can often really only satisfy two of those things. Swyft, however, ticks all three boxes. We’re faster because we ensure same-day delivery. We’re better because of our significantly superior customer experience. And, because of our model and the way in which we’re building the company, we’re able to bring down the price of same-day delivery service considerably.”

Democratizing same-day delivery

Founded in March 2020, Swyft is a technology company on a mission to democratize access to same-day delivery through the development and deployment of its ground-breaking software. Powered by the company’s proprietary algorithm, it helps retailers selling online to remove the risk from their delivery and logistics by opening up their shipping and fulfillment to a number of providers. Essentially, when Swyft’s software captures orders placed on a retailer’s website, it balances those orders in near real-time across a number of local delivery service companies in what Kazmi describes as an “extremely quick and intelligent way”. It facilitates the central gathering and sorting of packages and, leveraging a unique understanding of the markets the company serves, it enables smart routing for the most cost-effective and efficient delivery of product.

In addition, the mode by which Swyft organizes fulfillment, it’s also able to offer an eco-friendlier and more sustainable model for delivery. The company has run some preliminary numbers and has found that it’s able to cut emissions on an average per parcel basis anywhere from 8 to 12 percent, providing the opportunity for retailers to operate their logistics with greater eco-consciousness while meeting consumer expectations around fast and reliable service. It’s another way in which Hamoen, who was recently a key architect for Digital Main Street’s ShopHERE Program in Toronto, believes Swyft is revolutionizing ecommerce delivery for all retailers, despite their size.

“I’m very familiar with the needs of small businesses trying to compete in an online world,” he says. “Because the small business community in Canada doesn’t have the interest of any of the major carriers in the country, they don’t have access to competitive rates and so aren’t able to offer them to their customers, making it extremely difficult to compete with Amazon and other larger retailers. We’re able to provide them with those competitive rates and options, levelling the playing field for small businesses and allowing them to offer a best-in-class customer experience. For the larger players, we’re able to offer the same benefits of carrier optionality and diversity. Many of them aren’t able to offer same-day delivery because their delivery service partners aren’t able to provide it at scale. And, because Swyft is able to provide this level of service, we’re allowing larger retailers that don’t sell on Amazon to enhance their offering and elevate the ecommerce experience their customers receive.”

Best-in-class experience and expertise

The company’s Co-Founder recognizes the complications and difficulty in implementing same-day delivery nationwide at scale. And, so he should. Until April 2020, Kazmi served as Engagement Manager at Amazon, overseeing insights and analytics for the online giant’s CPG vertical on amazon.com. He left the company just 14 days before his equity vesting date, bringing with him a plethora of experience and expertise, in order to solve the same-day delivery headache for retailers everywhere. And, what’s more, Zeeshan Hamid, Kazmi’s Co-Founding partner and CTO at Swyft, is also a former member of the Amazon creative and tactical engine room. Working for five years as its Software Development Manager, Hamid is credited with building the company’s last mile logistics and running its delivery execution. Today, the pair are lending their vast knowledge toward the development of Swyft, raising the standards of shipping throughout North America. And, in light of their former employer’s recent announcement of ‘one-day’ shipping, the arrival of their competitive same-day delivery alternative could not have arrived at a better time.

“The move to same-day delivery for retailers is not a matter of ‘if’, it’s a matter of ‘when’,” Kazmi asserts. “Within the next couple of years, if you’re a retailer and you’re not providing same-day delivery of packages to your customers, you’re going to be losing out on sales, consistently. If a customer is looking for a belt bag, they’re likely to find the same or similar product in a number of places, including Bloomingdales, Nordstrom, Farfetch, Etsy, Goat, StockX and others. The belt bag is going to be the same price on every one of these websites. The retailer that’s able to offer the fastest shipping is the retailer that wins that customer’s business. And that’s true right across the board in retail. For retailers that are looking to grow their business and protect their base, same-day delivery will serve as their biggest and most important differentiator going forward.”

Full visibility and transparency

On top of the efficiency that Swyft provides its clients, and helping to support the seamless execution of its deliveries, is ultimate transparency in the way of real-time tracking that’s available to online shoppers. Unlike traditional ecommerce delivery which provides only partial transparency into the delivery status of orders, Swyft allows retailers to provide customers with full visibility into the tracking of their package in real-time, as well as an extremely predictive and precise estimated time of arrival, often reducing delivery time windows down to an hour. Customers are also given access to the driver of the delivery vehicle, allowing them to contact them in order to communicate special delivery instructions and other details and information relevant to the delivery. In addition, each of Swyft’s enterprise customers are supported by a dedicated account manager, providing them with a single point of contact in order to troubleshoot around issues and provide insights related to improving the customer experience.

“The real value in providing these layers of service is the ways in which they each contribute toward supporting an exceptional experience for shoppers,” Kazmi explains. “Through real-time tracking, we’re able to dramatically reduce delivery error rates, creating a more seamless last mile transaction and increasing customer satisfaction. And, our dedicated customer support allows Swyft to not only be a fast and efficient shipping carrier for businesses, but to also serve as a dedicated resource to help businesses grow. Our merchant success managers are working every day to bring insights to retailers to help them refine the process around same-day delivery so they get the most value out of it.”

Seamless integration

Swyft’s software is easy to introduce, allowing retailers to integrate their Shopify store in as little as three clicks, and fits effortlessly and seamlessly with any ecommerce platform. And, the company offers a spectrum of options with respect to integration. Clients can decide to leverage Swyft’s API connection, providing them with unlimited customizability options and access to advanced customer experience tools through a merchant dashboard. Or, they can choose to begin using Swyft’s services through a CSV upload, allowing them to get started with same-day delivery in less than three days. In addition, Swyft is also in the process of actively building partnerships with leading providers of enterprise resource planning and transportation management systems in order to include prebuilt integration into the platforms, further reducing integration times.

With such a robust and innovative solution to the same-day delivery conundrum for retailers, it seems instinctive to want to compare Swyft’s services with those of Amazon Prime, pitting them in competition with one another in a race to last mile supremacy. However, it’s not the way Kazmi sees it. Though, he certainly recognizes the potential that the company is currently tapping in order to continue growing and expanding its creative fulfillment offering.

“We don’t really look at ourselves as competitive to Amazon Prime,” he says. “Amazon has built an amazing and comprehensive logistics platform for Amazon sellers. We’re servicing all of the retailers and brands that sell outside of Amazon. Having said that, from a service level and performance perspective, we stack up very closely to Amazon Prime, which only offers same-day delivery in a select few markets and for certain products. At the rate that we’re growing, we’re going to cover the majority of Canada by the end of this year, servicing just about every major market.”

Ownership of customer data

Equalling the same-day delivery service of Amazon Prime is not only representative of an impressive feat by the company, it also enables it to offer an alternative to those currently selling with the ecommerce juggernaut. And, according to Hamoen, it provides a potentially massive competitive advantage to any retailer choosing to partner with Swyft in the way of access to customer and transactional data.

“For brands who really value their ability to offer same-day delivery, they’ve been forced to partner with Amazon in order to provide that service,” he says. “But today, they can decide to partner with Swyft and own their customer information while providing an equal or better customer experience. Without ownership of your customer information, it’s a race to the bottom for brands. Brands increasingly want to know who their customers are, where they made their purchase, why they made their purchase and what else they might be interested in to enable them to start building a meaningful profile of them. But, if you’re selling on Amazon, you’ll never have access to that information. Swyft allows brands to own their customer data and relationships, build a community and following and interact and engage with them in a really profound way.”

Rapid growth and expansion

Supporting Swyft’s incredible vision and the growth that the company is currently experiencing, Inovia Capital led a significant funding round with support from global venture capital firm Forerunner Ventures. And, further credence is given to Swyft’s sharp rise in the fulfillment space when considering the fact that it is the only carrier company that Shopify has invested in directly. Though its services are currently limited to the Toronto, Vancouver and Los Angeles markets, Hamoen says that the growth the company is experiencing is rapid and will only continue to intensify throughout the months to come, positioning Swyft as one of North America’s fastest expanding providers of delivery and fulfillment services.

“We’re in the process of launching our services in Montreal, Calgary, Edmonton, Chicago, Houston, Dallas and Atlanta. All of these markets will be covered by the end of the year, and there’s more to come. Within the next couple of years, Swyft will be operating within every single market throughout North America. And, before long, we’ll be seriously looking at international expansion in order to offer our services in Europe. However, our focus today is to help retailers in the markets we serve offer same-day delivery in an efficient and cost-effective way and to head into an important fourth quarter ready and prepared to capitalize on an increase in consumer ecommerce demand and enjoy a successful and prosperous holiday shopping season.”

For more information about Swyft and how it can help transform the ecommerce experience that you provide for your customers in an extremely cost-effective and efficient way, visit www.useswyft.com

Retailers and Restaurants Hope for Much Needed Boost with Calgary Stampede Launch this Week: Interviews

By
Mario Toneguzzi
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Image: Calgary Stampede

With Alberta now open for business as public COVID-19 measures are gone, retailers and restaurant owners are hoping the return of the Calgary Stampede will give business the much-needed boost it has desperately hoped for during the pandemic of the past year or so.

“The food service and retail sectors of the Calgary economy are locked and loaded for a robust reboot that will be triggered by the 2021 Calgary Stampede,” said Michael Kehoe, broker of Fairfield Commercial Real Estate in Calgary. “Traditionally the 10-day Stampede period has been a sales bonanza for local stores and restaurants and this year is expected to provide some much-needed momentum after the disaster of the 2020 lockdown.

Michael Kehoe

“Expectations are being kept in check as the lack of corporate spending and tourist-oriented visitors that will be missed on the bottom line this year. Local and regional Stampeders will be left to drive the footfall and sales numbers. Food service venues are busy ramping up staffing levels and many are booking live entertainment as customers hopefully flock back to their favourite watering holes to socialize and celebrate. 

“Stampede 2021 is an important milestone in the re-opening process of the Calgary economy and will serve as a vote of confidence for consumers to return to their pre-pandemic shopping and dining patterns.”

For businesses, the past week has been a good one as things start getting back to normal after a tumultuous and challenging year. On July 1, the province officially lifted practically all the mandatory restrictions in place to fully combat the spread of COVID, including capacity numbers for establishments as well as the requirement to wear face masks. The City of Calgary kept the mandatory face mask bylaw in place, however, until Monday when that too was repealed.

Image: Calgary Stampede

The Stampede is back after being cancelled last year. It officially runs July 9-18.

That’s welcome news for the hospitality industry which has been devastated in the past year or so.

Ernie Tsu, President of the Alberta Hospitality Association and owner of the Trolley 5 establishment in Calgary, said the opening up of the province on July 1 has meant everything for the industry.

“It’s now been able to give restaurants that didn’t have patios, or very small patios, a chance to work themselves out of debt and to try to stay alive,” said Tsu.

“I think the Stampede is important for the industry and the public in general. It’s that punch in the arm that the city needs coming out of this last 14 months, the pandemic. That sense of return to normalcy. For the restaurant industry it’s amazing just to see people back out again with such strong support of all their local restaurants and pubs.”

Tsu said the industry hopes the reopening of the province and the Stampede kick starts the turnaround for many businesses in the city.

“It’s going to take 18 months to recover but the next few months will be the first step,” he said.

“As a born and raised Calgarian, I’m looking forward to the Stampede and being able to have a little bit of that sense of normalcy again.”

Image: Calgary Stampede

Michael Holden, Vice President of Policy and Chief Economist at the Business Council of Alberta, said the reopening of the province is huge for retailers, restaurants and small business owners.

Mike Holden

“It’s something that businesses have been looking forward to for a long time. It’s a solid step towards getting back to normal. Everybody welcomes that step and welcomes this move towards progressing to fully reopening. Even though things are open it’s going to take a while for things to get back to normal. Some people will still be reluctant to head out. It’s not as if everything is going to suddenly, magically turn back into what it was like pre-COVID. I think there will be a more gradual process. There’s going to be bumps along the way. Whether it’s businesses trying to staff up and get the people they need or whether it’s individuals being fully willing to go out to restaurants and bars and into stores in general. But we’re on our way,” said Holden.

“The Stampede is the kind of shot in the arm that a lot of businesses have been counting to help them be able to get back on their feet again. We’re not going to see a Stampede like we did two years ago or prior to that. It’s going to be more subdued for sure partly because of the lack of international visitors and there will be some reluctance by some people to come out but others are going to be more than happy to come out. That extra push, that little bump in social activity in bars and restaurants is exactly what those businesses are going to need to help themselves start digging out of the challenges that they’ve been facing all this time.”

Deborah Yedlin, President and CEO of the Calgary Chamber of Commerce, said the reopening of business in Alberta and the upcoming Stampede is a note of optimism for the city after what it has been through.

Deborah Yedlin

“The fact that we’re being able to do it as a safe event and certainly there are measures that are being put in place for people who decide to go to the grounds and partake in the events on the Stampede grounds. But also I’m hearing a lot of conversations about ‘oh I’m going to have a Stampede party in my backyard’. That means we’re supporting local entrepreneurs in terms of the service sector which has been so devastated,” said Yedlin.

“But broadly speaking you know we’re looking at more than $280 million of economic impact that the Stampede has on Calgary every year and local businesses are a big part of that. Whether you’re an Uber driver or you’re a caterer or you’re selling water on the grounds, I mean there’s just so many pieces to this. They’re so important. And also the local retailers that supply us with Stampede clothing. There’s so much that goes into supporting local business in terms of Stampede. It’s critical.

“People have to regain a level of comfort for being out and this could be a very good way to sort of break that mindset of everyone having been inside and not really interacting as they have for the last 16 months.”

Willowbrook Shopping Centre to Expand Footprint with Unique Outdoor F&B/Entertainment Concept

By
Craig Patterson
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THE COURTYARD at Willowbrook Shopping Centre

Landlord QuadReal announced this week that it is expanding the Willowbrook Shopping Centre in Langley BC by adding a new 27,500 square foot section called THE COURTYARD. Included will be 10 new food and beverage options and an entertainment area in an outdoor village-like configuration as part of an effort to attract shoppers and increase dwell time at the retail centre. 

Construction on THE COURTYARD starts this month with a completion date expected to be a year from now. Design features will include a firepit, a water feature, and a pedestrian experience that will boast enhanced landscaping and lounge areas for social gatherings, entertainment and events.  

“We are building for the future of the Langley community and looking forward with a positive lens,” said Larissa Jacobson, VP of retail leasing at QuadReal. “We’re excited about the new development. This is the next step in curating Willowbrook’s unique offerings.”  

The first confirmed food and beverage operators at THE COURTYARD include: 

  • AO Ramen – an upscale Japanese restaurant with the only teppanyaki bar south of the Fraser River,  
  • Chachi’s – gourmet sandwiches and comfort food, 
  • Good Taco  – fresh, homemade tortillas and authentic fillings,   
  • Trattoria Italian Kitchen – classic Italian cuisine with a ‘neighbourhood feel’, and 
  • OEB Breakfast Co. – an all-day breakfast and lunch restaurant that offers ‘familiar classics’.  
THE COURTYARD at Willowbrook Shopping Centre Rendering

THE COURTYARD’s goal is to attract shoppers to Willowbrook by offering multiple food and beverage options that in themselves will be attractions on top of any entertainment that would be featured. Food and beverage is shown to increase dwell time at shopping centres which in theory would translate to increased sales in stores and other businesses. 

QuadReal has positioned Willowbrook Shopping Centre as a premium offering for the Fraser Valley region which is located east of Vancouver. Willowbrook has seen millions invested in the centre over the past several years including upgrades to the centre as well as new tenants. 

We reported last year that three junior anchor tenants would be aded to the centre including TJX-owned Winners, T&T Supermarket and Nordstrom Rack. In 2018 we reported that QuadReal was expanding the centre by 190,000 square feet in an outdoor configuration, adding retailers such as Toys R Us and Sport Chek in the mall’s former Target space as well as a new H&M store. 

QuadReal also owns several other shopping centres in Canada seeing redevelopments including the Oakridge Centre in Vancouver, Bayview Village in Toronto, Cloverdale Mall in Toronto, and others. 

Podcast [Interview]: Noah Stern, Co-CEO of Moose Knuckles

By
Retail Insider
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Craig speaks with Moose Knuckles co-CEO Noah Stern about the future of the company as it goes fur-free. Included in the discussion is how Moose Knuckles pivoted and grew during the pandemic as well as its future plans to expand the brand with standalone stores globally.

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.

**Podcast Sponsor (MSC): As one of the world’s leading container ship lines,  MSC is promoting a sustainable business model that goes far beyond the ‘business as usual’ approach. [Read more on MSC’s Sustainability Program]

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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/

Frank and Oak Ends ‘Style Plan’ Subscription Service Program

By
Lee Rivett
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Frank and Oak "Style Plan" box
Frank and Oak "Style Plan" box. Photo: Daily Hive.

Montreal-based fashion brand Frank and Oak launched its “Style Plan” back in 2018 where their in-house stylists would curate a selection of Frank and Oak products to ship out to clients. Each month, clients would receive an email with the recent picks and would automatically ship to customer. All items could be returned; however, a $25 styling fee would be charged if items purchased cost less than $25. There were other benefits (like 20% off their website, etc.) included with the service, but this was the core feature for the “Style Plan” service.

Starting in July 2021, Frank and Oak notified its “Style Plan” clients that the company was discontinuing the subscription service.

Email to Frank and Oak "Style Plan" clients announcing its discontinuation
Email to Frank and Oak “Style Plan” clients announcing its discontinuation. Photo: Lee Rivett.

While not outright stating that they were cancelling the “Style Plan” service, Frank and Oak basically is cancelling this service. The rationale provided for the change was “As part of our environmental pledge, we’ve decided to remove monthly boxes in order to reduce our footprint while offering a seamless shopping experience”.

In place of the “Style Plan” service, Frank and Oak is offering a free loyalty program which provides benefits such as member pricing, early access to new collections & events, private sales, and free shipping & returns on all orders. Most of these are standard fare for most online clothing retailers at this point.

To be convinced and have access to this site from anywhere in the world, do the correct setting up VPN Android. You can also use other sites for your needs with this helper. 

Image: Frank and Oak

In June 2020, Frank And Oak filed for bankruptcy protection with about $19 million in debts. The company launched as an online menswear brand in 2012 and began opening stores after that, and in 2017 launched womenswear that included some standalone women’s stores. The company had 20 stores and now only has a handful in Quebec, Ontario and British Columbia. Frank And Oak has struggled for several years and came up with creative ways to stay in business, including a partnership with Postmedia for advertising in return for an equity stake as well as with landlord Cadillac Fairview. In March 2020, Frank And Oak co-founder Ethan Song left the company.

Sporting Goods Retailer Decathlon Opens Pop-Up Store in Brampton

By
Dustin Fuhs
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Image: Decathlon Pop-up at Bramalea City Centre

French sporting goods behemoth Decathlon has continued its Canadian expansion with a pop-up at the Bramalea City Centre near Toronto.

The pop-up store in Brampton, ON carries a variety of the company’s best selling products. In addition, the brand is offering free shipping to the store on any product purchased at Decathlon.ca.

Decathlon has more than 1,600 stores in over 50 countries. It designs, manufactures, tests, and sells apparel and equipment for over 65 different sports. Decathlon teams provide a complete sports experience through in-store gyms, product test areas, sports classes, training apps and physical and virtual activities for the community. Currently, there are five Decathlon Canada stores in Quebec, one in Nova Scotia and two in Ontario.

Retail brokerage and consultancy Oberfeld Snowcap is leading Decathlon’s expansion in Canada under the direction of Sylvain Charron, Robert Weinberg and Darren Quayle. 

We will update this bulletin as the retail updates come in for the expansion.

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