A lot has changed within and around the retail industry since March 2020 and the first wave of lockdowns that were to set a tone for the 16 months that followed. Social distancing protocols and other public health restrictions quickly led to the cocooning of families and individuals across the country and a subsequent shift in consumer purchasing behaviour toward digital channels. The increased online activity displayed by Canadian consumers has no doubt benefitted perennial ecommerce giant Amazon. However, as much as the company has prospered as a result of the pandemic-induced transformation of shopping preferences, it’s also served a critical role in ensuring that the product needs of Canadians everywhere have been met while providing small businesses throughout the country with a platform and the reach necessary to succeed during these challenging times.
Small and medium-sized business boom
According to the 2020 Amazon Canada SMB Impact Report, which focuses attention on the performance of small and medium-sized Canadian businesses (SMB) selling on the Amazon marketplace, 30,000 Canadian-based third-party sellers from all 13 provinces and territories were active selling on Amazon.ca in 2019, grossing more than $1 billion. It’s a staggering number that represented a growth of 40 percent year-over-year, adding to the more than $2 billion that Canadian sellers sold on Amazon stores around the world. And, the numbers are only getting better. For the 12-month period ending October 3, 2020, Canadian SMBs enjoyed an average of $110,000 in sales, up from $65,000 the previous year, while the number of Canadian SMBs that surpassed $1 million in sales grew by more than 80 percent. Kristin Gable, Senior Manager, Corporate Communications at Amazon Canada, recognizes the influence that the pandemic has had on shopping behaviour, but believes that the success of its sellers is simply a continuation of the recent positive trajectory of sales on its stores, supported by the company’s commitment to help its partners grow.
Kristin Gable
“There’s no doubt that as Canadians have been forced to stay home during the pandemic, Amazon has played an increased role in supporting a lot of their shopping habits,” she says. “We’re very proud to have been able to get Canadians the products they’ve needed quickly and safely, while also protecting the health and safety of our employees. And we’re just as proud to have been able to create even more opportunities for our many selling partners during this time, whether they’re partners that have been with us prior to the pandemic or new sellers that have been looking for a new retail channel in the changing climate that’s been created by COVID-19. Our commitment is always toward helping them and supporting their continued growth. It’s a fundamental part of our approach and an extension of our dedication to maintain our focus on the customer.”
Flexibility and variety of selling plans
A sizeable amount of Amazon’s customer focus shows up in the selling plans that it makes available for its merchant partners, which are developed through the selection of a number of flexible service options. An Individual plan, for those who are perhaps just testing the ecommerce waters, costs sellers CDN $1.49 per unit sale, while the Professional plan, meant for businesses that sell a minimum of 30 products in a four-week period, costs CDN $29.99 per month. In addition to the cost of a merchant’s selling plan, Amazon charges a referral fee for each item sold which, for most of the product categories on the marketplace, ranges between 8 and 15 percent. Merchants also have the option to ship their own orders or, for a fee, leverage Fulfilment by Amazon (FBA) and allow it to handle shipping, customer service, and returns. Some sellers may incur additional fees, such as long-term storage fees, or choose to pay for optional programs like advertising or premium account services depending on the volume of product that they sell and their desire to grow.
It’s an impressive suite of services that the company has steadily built and refined since it first made its virtual shelf space on Amazon.ca available to sellers back in 2003. It’s allowed many Canadian businesses, despite their size and presence, to complement their existing offering and channels or to grow exclusively on the Amazon platform. The virtual marketplace, as Gable points out, has also served a significant and pivotal role in helping SMBs in the country not only endure a turbulent and uncertain time, but to thrive as well. But, most importantly, she says, the platform is providing an opportunity for innovative entrepreneurs to showcase their wares, increase their exposure and convey the personalities of their brands.
“The fact that there is such a significant number of Canadian small businesses selling on Amazon.ca speaks to how broad and robust the Canadian small business community is,” she asserts. “It highlights a very entrepreneurial spirit within the country. Many have conceived their idea and launched their business in the past year and have built their selling strategy exclusively around Amazon’s services. And there are also a lot of sellers who have a much more diverse retail strategy with a brick-and-mortar store and their own ecommerce storefront, but selling on Amazon helps them reach customers outside of their community, province or even country. Despite the business, however, Amazon’s Storefront marketplace provides them with the platform and opportunity to really express the uniqueness of their brand.”
Focus on Canadian entrepreneurs
Image: Drizzle Honey Products
To help increase exposure to entrepreneurs in the country, just last year Amazon launched its first ever Storefront aimed at spotlighting Canadian small businesses. The SMB Shop Small Storefront, found within Amazon.ca, is a dedicated space where products and specific offers are themed. Its objective is simple: to provide Canadian SMBs with a tailored portion of the marketplace to help support them in their efforts to meet the needs of their customers and to promote the importance of ‘shopping small’.
Aja Horsley
One such entrepreneur who’s benefitted from the Amazon.ca Shop Small Storefront is Calgary’s Aja Horsley, CEO and Queen Bee at Drizzle Honey Products – a purveyor of all-natural, raw, bee-friendly honey. The 100 percent Canadian-made product, produced with the support of local farmers, recently received an investment from Dragon’s Den investor Arlene Dickinson, allowing Horsley and her small team to execute on its vision to promote the responsible manufacturing of honey and the positive changes that are required within the food production industry. However, she’s quick to point out the fact that much of that execution would not be possible if it were not for the Amazon.ca marketplace, which she launched her product on in April of last year.
“When you’re selling on Amazon, there are a lot of eyes on your product,” she says. “Everybody shops on Amazon today, even some people who may not have shopped online prior to the pandemic. We were fortunate in that we had already been building our storefront before COVID hit and were able to launch at a good time, exposing our brand to a huge population of customers that would not have otherwise been aware of Drizzle Honey. We leverage Amazon’s fulfillment expertise, which removes a lot of the shipping and delivery challenges for us. But, from a business and revenue perspective, the biggest benefit for us has been the marketing capabilities that the platform provides. Our sales have been great and continue to ramp up on both Amazon.ca and .com. And I also believe that our presence on Amazon is also helping to drive traffic to the Drizzle Honey website. People often start their shopping journey on Amazon but end up purchasing on our site. It’s a really big benefit and result of the exposure that we receive.”
Global expansion
Image: The Cocktail Box Co
Another Canadian small business owner finding a significant amount of success by virtue of its partnership with Amazon is Chris Yee, Co-Founder of Brew Your Bucha and The Cocktail Box Co. The company’s, similar in vision, are dedicated to providing everything someone needs in order to brew kombucha and to make premium cocktails like a pro in the comfort of their home. The companies, each founded in 2016, are available on Amazon’s marketplaces in Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom and Singapore, and have performed extremely well. Yee echoes Horsley’s sentiments concerning the exposure that the brands have received as a result of selling on Amazon’s marketplace, adding that it serves as the perfect platform on which to launch prospective products.
Image: Christopher Yee
“For our businesses, Amazon has always been an amazing testing ground to introduce new products to the marketplace and get them in front of as many people as possible,” he says. “It really helps us generate the real-time feedback that we need to continue developing our products and offering our customers what they’re looking for. In addition, to help support what we’re doing as a business, the overall logistics benefits offered by Amazon are immense. When my business partner and I first started, we were preparing and shipping packages and performing customer service all from our apartment. It’s all very time-consuming, almost like running a separate business. Amazon has been able to take that portion of the work off of our plate. We use them not only from a fulfillment and warehousing perspective, but they provide all of the customer service elements related to shopping as well. The services they make available takes pressure and legwork off of the backend, allowing us to deliver product on a timely basis and focus on the other aspects of our business.”
Partnering for success
Considering the variety of services and offering that Amazon provides for its merchant partners, it’s no wonder that many of them are enjoying the success that they’re experiencing with the ecommerce leader. The combination of flexibility within its plans and the full scope of support that it offers business owners across the country is not only helping SMBs withstand the adversity of these challenging times, but to continue growing in spite of them as well. And, according to Gable, Amazon doesn’t have any intentions to divert its focus from cultivating and nurturing partnerships with the country’s entrepreneurs any time soon.
“Amazon is a company that is truly customer-obsessed and focused on innovation. We are incredibly proud of the partnerships that we’ve built with sellers and look forward to continuing to help small and medium-sized businesses in the country grow and extend their reach even further. It’ll be really interesting, as we approach a post-pandemic world when stores start to reopen, to see how the Canadian consumer continues to adapt their behaviour. And, as we enter that new normal, whatever it might be, Amazon will be maintaining its commitment to small and medium-sized businesses and continuing to develop ways by which we can help support Canadian entrepreneurs and ensure that their businesses have the opportunity to thrive going forward.”
Mary Brown’s Chicken, a Canadian national fast-food chain, has plans to aggressively expand the brand’s footprint across the country.
Demis Fant, Vice President of Real Estate & Construction for the company, said there are 188 locations currently in Canada and growing quite quickly.
Demis Fant
“We’re in every province except Quebec and PEI but by the end of the year we’ll be in PEI as well. This year we’ve opened 10 and are in the process of opening another 22” said Fant.
From a real estate perspective, Mary Brown’s looks for locations that can accommodate a drive-thru.
“That’s a big piece for us, especially for now with what’s been going on in the past year and a half. In general we’ve always been big with drive-thrus. High visibility, with a drive-thru or not, is a big plus. But drive-thru would be the ideal store for us.”
Image: Mary Brown’s Chicken
Fant said the company has experienced constant growth over the past 52 years. Over the past two years, it’s been growing consistently and growing substantially.
“Whether it’s existing franchisees wanting to grow their system, new franchisees wanting to get into the space, but we’ve been pushing really hard in real estate in looking for sites,” said Fant.
“We’ve looked at various ways to find real estate and various types of real estate. We’re again looking across Canada. We’re not stymied by specific-only areas. We know that we have the product, and we have the service and we have the staff and the hospitality. We know it’s going to work regardless of where we are. We have that benefit of having the background and the team behind us so we can work anywhere.”
Fant said there’s no reason within Canada that the company can’t grow to over 500 locations eventually.
Image: Mary Brown’s Chicken Website
“We have lots of room to grow. Lots of places to fill in. We’re looking at different layouts as well which might give us the opportunity to grow in non-traditional as well. We’re also partnering with a kitchen consultant out of the US to look at various options, layouts, efficiencies so that we can fit more areas and also make the whole system a little bit more efficient where we can,” said Fant.
“But we’re always looking for innovation in general so that we can always grow the volume of the stores.” Fant said one of the big trends coming out of the COVID-19 pandemic is that customers are going to be looking for more of an experience.
“So you do want to keep the store design and experience updated. It’s the right time I think coming out of this and we’re in a good position,” he said.
The brand was founded in 1969 by Mary Brown in St. John’s, Newfoundland & Labrador.
Image: Mary Brown’s Chicken Facebook (Store Address: 3241 Appleby Line Unit 3. Burlington ON)
“It’s a huge, huge brand in Newfoundland. It’s very well known throughout the Newfoundland community. That is where we’ve grown quite strongly over the years and now as the brand has grown and the connection grows we’re able to move it into all of Canada essentially,” said Fant.
Mary Brown’s has developed its very own proprietary cookers. Rather than pressure fried, which is the industry standard, the company said its cookers use heat to seal in juiciness and flavour and give its chicken its delicious natural golden colour.
Here’s what the company says on its website about how it started: “It was 1969. While the world watched the first man walk on the moon, we celebrated the first Guest walking through our doors in St. John’s, Newfoundland & Labrador. Needless to say, it was a giant leap for chicken. Word quickly spread and stores opened across the province. It soon became the chicken of choice. Iconic even. It was time to, pardon the pun, spread our wings. By 1972, the secret of Mary Brown’s tantalizing chicken was out. Two stores opened in Ontario that year in Oshawa and Mississauga. From there, growth expanded west to Alberta, back east to the Maritimes, out to the Prairies and more recently, all the way to British Columbia and the Northwest Territories.”
Fant said one of the things that has helped the brand grow in the last couple of years is the introduction of spicy chicken which is huge in the market right now.
“We also have the pick up app that came out earlier this year which brings us into the digital market. We also have the pick up lockers where people can walk up to the lockers rather than walk up to the counter, which we’re going to start using in July with our first store,” said Fant.
“The one big piece for us having started in Newfoundland is hospitality first of all but also the fact that we have the chicken not frozen. It’s fresh. When people taste the chicken obviously it’s a different quality, different product and it is the basis for how we’re able to grow at this kind of rate. Beside the team that we have, the product that we have allows us to grow.”
The retail sector may have been particularly hard hit in the past year or so due to the COVID-19 pandemic but Southcentre Mall in Calgary has been gaining momentum with the addition of several new retailers this year to its tenant mix including Western Canada’s first Decathlon store.
Jason Bos, General Manager at Southcentre, said Decathlon will be a significant addition to the area and will signal the next phase of redevelopment of the retail space formerly occupied by Sears.
Jason Bos
And he said that the iconic sporting goods retailer will be one of six new openings in the coming months at the mall.
“Lots of positive stories coming out of Southcentre in spite of a pretty challenging retail environment internationally never mind locally,” said Bos. “What this really signals to us is how things are certainly changing. It is more of an evolution. As we look at new retail, it’s about creating new experiences and doing things differently than we may have done in the past in terms of not only who we go after but what the individual stores have to offer themselves in how they deliver an experience to their customer beyond just racking and shelves and things of that nature.
“For us, Decathlon coming out West with the type of store that they’re bringing here really what it signals to us is this is what we see is more of the future of retail and very much the direction it’s going. With this store it’s not just a retail store. It’s also going to be the Western Canada fulfillment centre. Really what that does for us is we’re going to have basically their entire product line in stock at this store as well multiple different amenities within the store for guests to take advantage of.
SouthCentre Mall Exterior. Photo: Jessica Finch.
“Decathlon is pretty forward looking in understanding what the customers are looking for. In spite of all the doom and gloom people are still bullish on Calgary and Western Canada and really this is a pretty positive sign. In the last 12 months we’ve opened over 160,000 square feet of new stores in total. That does include Decathlon. Really to us what that signals is there’s a lot of positive momentum and positive stories.”
New store openings have included PetSmart, Winners, Suzy, iLahui and Couch9.
Southcentre Mall has about 160 stores and services in close to one million square feet of space.
Decathlon, a French sporting goods retailer, will open in mid September in a near 70,000-square-foot store on the second floor of repurposed store space where Sears formerly existed.
Officials said the Decathlon location will be a new store concept featuring extensive inventory and experiential zones along with programming and activities that will make the store a community sports hub. The store will also serve as the Western Canada distribution centre for fulfillment of online sales.
Decathlon: Dartmouth
The store will feature an automated warehouse to service e-commerce deliveries in Western Canada, as well as give customers access to a wide assortment of Decathlon products for more than 65 sports. The store will feature an experiential and showroom-based shopping journey, as well as a café, a co-working space, after-sale service workshops and a multi-sport area where activities and classes will be held by local coaches.
Bradley Jones
“This is an exciting time for retail in Calgary and we are pleased to partner with an international brand such as Decathlon as it expands into Western Canada. We are seeing increased interest from brands seeking to expand across Canada,” said Bradley Jones, Head of Retail at Oxford Properties, which owns the shopping centre.
“We aim to connect people to exceptional places and this wave of retail activity reinforces the position of best-in-class shopping centres such as Southcentre.”
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.
Richard Tremblay
“Our mission is to make the pleasures and benefits of sports accessible to the many and we are excited to bring our concept to Western Canada. We are also grateful to the local individuals and families that provided feedback in the design of this new store concept that is being piloted in Calgary,” said Richard Tremblay, leader for Decathlon in Western Canada.
Jaylone Lee
Jaylone Lee, CMO of Decathlon Canada, said the company is constantly scouting locations and “for us to confirm a location requires a specific set of conditions to be met, from pragmatic elements such as square footage, visibility and business terms, to softer elements like affinity with the local community.”
“Calgary is a great retail city with a young, vibrant and active population. The team at Southcentre and Oxford Properties have been great partners, as well,” said Lee.
Decathlon: Burlington
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Decathlon: Burlington
Decathlon: Burlington
Decathlon: Burlington
Decathlon: Burlington
Decathlon: Burlington
The most recent store opening for the retailer in Canada was in Burlington, Ontario last weekend.
After Sears closed its 235,000-square-foot store in Southcentre, a local furniture retailer went into the space while the shopping centre planned out the redevelopment. In late 2019, work began to subdivide the space for some large format tenants.
In late 2020, the first of those retailers opened, Dollarama. This year, PetSmart and Winners have also opened in the former Sears space. That was essentially the first floor.
The next phase of the redevelopment includes the second floor and Decathlon. Bos said there is an additional 10,000 square feet remaining on the second floor and about 80,000 square feet on the third floor.
“We’re really approaching this in phases right now. The first phase is the first floor and that’s all open. We’re now onto the second floor and obviously with this announcement we’re well under way,” he said, adding there could be three or four more retailers for the balance of the space.
“We’ll be targeting large format for the most part and alternative uses for the balance of the space.”
"The Glass House" at The Amazing Brentwood. Photo: Lee Rivett
Retail Insider continues its Photo Tour series of Canadian malls to provide a glimpse into shopping centres which may be less frequented lately due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Building upon the mall profile we did for The Amazing Brentwood in December 2020, we revisited the shopping centre in June 2021 to check-in on changes happening to the mall.
The Amazing Brentwood in the Greater Vancouver area. Photo: Map by The Amazing Brentwood
The Amazing Brentwood Lease Plan – Photo by Shape Properties
To recap, Shape Properties purchased the 28-acre site and shopping centre in 2010. The landlord began redevelopment plans to create a master-planned neighbourhood which would incorporate office, residential and retail components. The plans included increasing retail space from 500,000 sq. ft. to over 1.1 million square feet.
There are two phases to the property renovation: Phase 1 being the new construction being added to the shopping center and Phase 2 being the next iteration of the current Interior Centre. Photos of the legacy Interior Centre can be found in our December 2020 tour of The Amazing Brentwood and this update will focus on the new section in the Phase 1 retail development as it is where the most significant changes are unfolding.
Tour areas for The Amazing Brentwood tour
Tour Zones at The Amazing Brentwood. Photo: The Amazing Brentwood with overlay by Retail Insider
Retail Insider thanks Emma Fyfe, General Manager at The Amazing Brentwood for showing us around the shopping centre. The main areas for the tour broke down the shopping centre into:
Town Center Plaza (highlighted in Red): A one-acre signature plaza with a grand fountain to host community events, including concerts and celebrations. The perimeter will be lined with popular retail, restaurants and entertainment anchors, all facing the action and catching the energy. Day to night, season to season, The Plaza “will be Metro Vancouver’s signature venue for excitement and experience”.
West Mews (highlighted in Blue): Retail and social space to the north of the Town Center Plaza.
Brentwood Boulevard (highlighted in Orange): A beautifully landscaped, fresh air high street (opening soon to vehicular traffic but closed at the time of the tour during construction) with retail storefronts facing onto it.
East Mews (highlighted in Green): Retail and social space to the east of the Town Center Plaza.
Tables Food Court (highlighted in Yellow): The newly opened food court experience that connects the new sections of shopping centre to the legacy portion of the property.
Touring the “Town Center Plaza”
Video of the Town Center Plaza at The Amazing Brentwood
“Town Center Plaza” at The Amazing Brentwood. Photo: The Amazing Brentwood with overlay by Retail Insider
Ms. Fyfe was very passionate about the redevelopment. Underpinning every moment of the onsite tour was how each component connected with community. “Our goal at The Amazing Brentwood is to be the ultimate gathering place — a natural extension of our community. To us, The Amazing Brentwood is so much more than a shopping centre” said Fyfe. The Town Center Plaza exemplifies the community connection being the heart of the complex.
The Amazing Brentwood recently opened its ‘skybridge’ to the Skytrain platform to welcome visitors directly into the plaza. The foot traffic is greeted by a Bellagio-like circular fountain as they enter the one-acre plaza which offers a community experience of retail, dining and events.
Town Center Plaza
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Town Center Plaza. Photo: Lee Rivett
Town Center Plaza. Photo: Lee Rivett
Town Center Plaza. Photo: Lee Rivett
Town Center Plaza. Photo: Lee Rivett
Town Center Plaza. Photo: Lee Rivett
The Town Center Plaza is nestled into the intersection of Lougheed Highway and Willingdon Avenue where a grand staircase welcomes visitors arriving to the shopping centre on foot.
Grand staircase to “Town Center Plaza” from the Willingdon/Lougheed intersection. Photo: Lee Rivett
“The Glass House” at The Amazing Brentwood. Photo: Lee Rivett
One of the landmark structures for The Amazing Brentwood is “The Glass House” which resembles blocks stacked upon each other. Accessible from the Town Centre Plaza, “The Glass House” officially launches fall 2021 and will be a unique pop-up retail space to allow brands to showcase their product in a limited time and in an experiential fashion. The highly visible space – with a striking storefront – is planned to be a flexible, evolving space to pivot from a gallery of products, concepts and innovation to push the boundaries of retail.
The grand staircase, while eye catching, serves the purpose of addressing the natural slope of the land the shopping center was built upon. Below the plaza is the typical parking structure as well as the main tenant in this section, Sporting Life, which was announced in July 2018 and opened Nov 2019.
Sporting Life exterior from ground/parkade level at The Amazing Brentwood. Photo: Lee Rivett
Sporting Life at The Amazing Brentwood
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Sporting Life exterior at The Amazing Brentwood. Photo: Lee Rivett
Sporting Life interior at The Amazing Brentwood. Photo: Lee Rivett
Sporting Life interior at The Amazing Brentwood. Photo: Lee Rivett
Sporting Life exterior at The Amazing Brentwood. Photo: Lee Rivett
Sporting Life exterior at The Amazing Brentwood. Photo: Lee Rivett
Sporting Life exterior at The Amazing Brentwood. Photo: Lee Rivett
Touring the “West Mews”
“West Mews” at The Amazing Brentwood. Photo: The Amazing Brentwood with overlay by Retail Insider
The Town Center Plaza is flanked by two Mews – “West” and “East”. Beginning with the “West Mews”, the west building is home to the Cineplex VIP and The Rec Room which both are tentatively scheduled for a July 2021 opening depending on government COVID restrictions. Both have east and south views of Burnaby as well as overlook the Town Center Plaza.
The Rec Room entrance on 2nd level from “The Grand Lobby” at The Amazing Brentwood. Photo: Lee RivettThe Rec Room entrance on 2nd level from Town Center Plaza level looking upwards at The Amazing Brentwood. Photo: Lee Rivett
Cineplex VIP and The Rec Room (accessible from “The Grand Lobby”, to the right of above photo) viewed from the Town Center Plaza. Photo by Lee Rivett with logo overlay by Retail Insider.
The “Middle Building” on the lease plan contains “The Grand Lobby”. This is where access to Cineplex VIP, The Rec Room, and Evolve Strength (replacing Steve Nash) will be accessible from.
Grand Lobby entrance from Town Center Plaza at The Amazing Brentwood. Photo: Lee Rivett.
Continuing through the passage (on the left of the photo above) and passing under “The Rec Room” overpass brings visitors to the north end of the retail zone. This is where the Douglas Coupland sculpture named “Charm Bracelet” was unveiled in 2020.
“Charm Bracelet” by Douglas Coupland next to the future location of Suit Supply at The Amazing Brentwood. Photo: Lee Rivett.
The artists’ concept proposal states: “Burnaby is a mix of nature and industry and has largely been centreless until the arrival of the Amazing Brentwood. The idea of collecting themes central to Burnaby in the form of a necklace seemed like a relevant way of connecting retail culture to civic art and placemaking. Part of the Charm Bracelet experience is that of the viewer scanning it up and down to see what’s in it. No two people will have the same opinion on what ‘works,’ what doesn’t work, and what they think also ought to have been included. This in turn generates a lively discussion on the subject of what makes Burnaby Burnaby — which is what the piece is, at its core, all about.”
Future location of Suit Supply and “Charm Bracelet” (Douglas Coupland) from Brentwood Boulevard. Photo: Lee Rivett
Keeping the “Charm Bracelet” sculpture company at the north end of the ‘middle building’ is the future home of menswear retailer SuitSupply (shown with prominent green construction signage above). After entering the Canadian market in 2014, the Dutch men’s suit retailer continued to ramp up its expansion across the country. The 6,100-square-foot and two-level flagship store is anticipated to open later in the year. Suitsupply’s main floor will span about 3,850 square feet according to lease plans, with a second level spanning nearly 2,270 square feet.
Touring the “Brentwood Boulevard”
The vehicular street between the ‘middle building’ (home to “The Grand Lobby”) and the legacy “Interior Centre” (home to the new food court, Tables) is Brentwood Boulevard.
“Brentwood Boulevard” at The Amazing Brentwood. Photo: The Amazing Brentwood with overlay by Retail Insider
The fresh air high street was blocked off during the tour but it was designed to be the bridge between the the retail development of Phase 1 and the current Interior Centre of the upcoming Phase 2.
Artist rendering of “Brentwood Boulevard”. Photo: The Amazing Brentwood.
Walking the ‘Brentwood Boulevard” had us passing the two athletic stores currently open – an Adidas store (opened in May 2021) and the Nike store (opened in November 2020). Construction signage for upcoming retailers included Urban Outfitters (anticipated August 2021) and JAC by Connair (anticipated).
Nike Store at The Amazing Brentwood. Photo: Lee Rivett
Adidas Store at The Amazing Brentwood. Photo: Lee Rivett
Upcoming JAC by Jacqueline Conoir at The Amazing Brentwood (June 2021). Photo: Lee Rivett
Upcoming Urban Outfitters at The Amazing Brentwood (June 2021). Photo: Lee Rivett
Touring the “East Mews”
Completing the circuit to return to the “Town Center Plaza”, the other “Mews” with clothing and food retailers made up the “East Mews”.
“East Mews” at The Amazing Brentwood. Photo: The Amazing Brentwood with overlay by Retail Insider
Construction signage for H&M Home at The Amazing Brentwood. Photo: Lee Rivett
After entering Canada with their first home collection shop in West Edmonton Mall back in June 2014, H&M Home will open to the public on June 17. As was with West Edmonton Mall, the H&M Home opening coincided with the opening of an H&M flagship with men, women and children’s apparel.
Sephora at The Amazing Brentwood. Photo: Lee Rivett
The last marquee retail store in our tour was the Sephora flagship spanning over 4,563 square feet. The grand opening happened on June 4, 2021 and it became Sephora’s 14th store in British Columbia.
Restaurants in the “East Mews” includes Ramen, Neptune Seafood, La Taqueria and Oeb Breakfast.
Touring the “Tables” Food Court
The last new construction build in Phase 1 making up the final area of our retail tour is the “Tables” food court which was added onto the exterior of the pre-existing Interior Centre (which will be part of the Phase 2 plans for the Amazing Brentwood).
Exterior of new “Tables” addition to the existing Interior Centre. “Tables” is located on the second floor (in wood-grain accents shown above) at The Amazing Brentwood. Photo: Lee Rivett.
“Tables” at The Amazing Brentwood. Photo: The Amazing Brentwood with overlay by Retail Insider
Tables entrance from pre-existing Interior Centre. Photo: Lee Rivett
Sitting spaces at Tables Food Court.
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Sitting spaces at Tables Food Court. Photos: Lee Rivett
Sitting spaces at Tables Food Court. Photos: Lee Rivett
Sitting spaces at Tables Food Court. Photos: Lee Rivett
Sitting spaces at Tables Food Court. Photos: Lee Rivett
Sitting spaces at Tables Food Court. Photos: Lee Rivett
Sitting spaces at Tables Food Court. Photos: Lee Rivett
Food Vendors at Tables
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Food vendors at Tables Food Court. Photos: Lee Rivett
Food vendors at Tables Food Court. Photos: Lee Rivett
Food vendors at Tables Food Court. Photos: Lee Rivett
Food vendors at Tables Food Court. Photos: Lee Rivett
Food vendors at Tables Food Court. Photos: Lee Rivett
Food vendors at Tables Food Court. Photos: Lee Rivett
The redefined food hall concept features a curated collection of casual dining offerings, like Persian restaurant Cazba, Japanese-French fusion eatery Yugo Roll & Bowl, and specialty coffee roaster Soon Coffee.
The Amazing Brentwood Master Plan
The overall plan for The Amazing Brentwood includes 11 residential towers over three phases with +6,000 homes at completion. Residential Towers ONE, TWO, and THREE are currently occupied with Tower FIVE (506 homes) being offered for sale this fall. The commercial offerings has 3.9 million square feet of commercial space.
We hope you enjoyed this update of The Amazing Brentwood in Burnaby, B.C. and are always excited to see the changes at Canadian shopping centres. Don’t forget to check out our other retail photo tours over the past few months. Thank you for taking this tour with us.
Discover More Related Retail Photo Tours From Retail Insider:
Vancouver-based womenswear retailer Aritzia announced Monday that it has acquired a 75% stake in Vancouver-based men’s athletic wear brand Reigning Champ. Aritzia paid approximately $63 million, with the remaining 25% equity interest purchased in three instalments through 2026.
The move follows Aritzia’s first foray into menswear when in 2019 it introduced a puffer jacket which sold out quickly. Vancouver-based Aritzia was founded in 1984 and has more than 100 stores in Canada and the United States and continues to expand — the brand has also spun off its TNA, Wilfred and Babaton in-house brands into separate storefronts in some markets. Vancouver-based Reigning Champ was founded in 2007 and has two stores in Vancouver and two in Toronto as well as distribution in multi-brand retailers globally.
Reigning Champ’s co-founders Chris Nordee and Paul Heathcote will continue operating the business in partnership with Aritzia through a transition period of approximately five years. They said that this will allow both businesses to focus on sustaining their unique brands and cultures while leveraging mutually beneficial synergies and efficiencies.
Reigning Champ (CNW Group/Aritzia Inc.)
“We’re excited to welcome Reigning Champ. Rooted in classic, timeless athletic wear, their brand has been carefully curated for just short of fifteen years,” said Brian Hill, Founder, CEO and Chairman of Aritzia. “Building on Aritzia’s strong start to fiscal 2022, this acquisition meaningfully accelerates our product expansion into men’s while bringing incremental growth to our already surging women’s eCommerce and U.S. businesses. Capitalizing on our world-class operational expertise and infrastructure, men’s, merchandised independently, will become a meaningful part of Aritzia’s platform through our Reigning Champ acquisition.”
Hill has said in the past that Aritzia could eventually expand into menswear and it remains to be seen how Reigning Champ will be integrated into the company in terms of space in Aritzia stores, some of which surpass 10,000 square feet.
Craig Atkinson, Co-Founder and CEO of Reigning Champ said, “As an innovative design house offering exceptional experiences through its online and retail platforms, Aritzia’s well-established track record as a successful direct-to-consumer business is one that we’ve long admired. Leveraging Aritzia’s unparalleled world-class infrastructure and expertise, this partnership provides an exciting path forward to elevate Reigning Champ to the next level as a premium athletic wear brand. We look forward to working with the incredibly talented Aritzia team to capitalize on the limitless opportunities ahead.”
Reigning Champ on Robson Street in Vancouver (June 2021). Photo: Lee Rivett
Former Kate Spade store at 138 Cumberland Street in Toronto. Photo: Craig Patterson
Upscale American fashion brand Kate Spade shut its flagship store at 138 Cumberland Street in Toronto’s Yorkville area on Monday after opening there in June of 2013. A new tenant is said to have already leased the space.
The 4,000 square foot Kate Spade store opened to fanfare with a mix of bags, accessories and apparel and occupied a prominent corner location facing Old York Lane. It replaced a Hugo Boss store. At the time that it opened, Kate Spade was in expansion mode in Canada and was in the process of strategizing opening stores across the country. The Cumberland Street store was the second location for Kate Spade in Canada following the opening of a store at Toronto’s Yorkdale Shopping Centre in 2012. Kate Spade was one of many international brands that was entering Canada during a boom time that eventually faded and numerous brands have since quietly exited Canada over the course of the pandemic.
Kate Spade continues to operate 20 store locations in Canada including 10 full-priced stores and 10 outlet stores. In the Toronto area, Kate Spade has stores in Toronto at CF Toronto Eaton Centre, Yorkdale, CF Sherway Gardens and Square One in Mississauga as well as outlet stores at Vaughan Mills and Toronto Premium Outlets. The Vancouver area has a high density of Kate Spade stores including full-priced locations at CF Pacific Centre in Vancouver, Metropolis at Metrotown in Burnaby and Park Royal in West Vancouver with outlet stores at the McArthurGlen Designer Outlets in Richmond and Tsawwassen Mills in South Delta. In Ottawa, Kate Spade has a full-priced store at CF Rideau Centre as well as an outlet store at the Tanger Outlets. In Edmonton Kate Spade has a full-priced store at West Edmonton Mall as well as an outlet store at the outlet mall beside the airport and in Calgary Kate Spade has a full-priced store at CF Chinook Centre as well as an outlet store north of the city at CrossIron Mills. Other Kate Spade outlet stores are located at the Premium Outlets Montreal, Outlet Collection at Niagara near Niagara Falls and at the Outlet Collection Winnipeg.
Click image for interactive Google Map Kate Spade Yorkville Goodbye Notice – Image by Dustin Fuhs
New York City-based Tapestry Inc., formerly known as Coach, bought the Kate Spade brand in 2017. The Kate Spade brand is said to have struggled to attract younger consumers in recent years as it became somewhat ubiquitous with storefronts and outlets in major markets — when the Kate Spade brand was founded by the late designer of the same name in 1993, it became something of an “it” brand with limited distribution in stores such as Holt Renfrew. Tapestry also owns upscale brands Coach and Stuart Weitzman footwear which is also said to be looking to close its store on Bloor Street in Toronto.
Katherine Noel Brosnahan, later known as Kate Spade, sold a 56% stake in her brand to Neiman Marcus Group which acquired the remaining stake in 2006. In November of 2006 Liz Claiborne Inc. bought the Kate Spade brand and in July of 2017 Coach/Tapestry acquired the brand for a whopping USD $2.4 billion. In 2018, Kate Spade tragically took her own life at her home in New York City at the age of 55.
We have been informed of a brand that has leased the former Kate Spade space and we’ll report back with further details.
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Quebec’s Robert brothers – Jean-Philippe, François-Xavier and Guillaume – are continuing to expand their retail footprint with the acquisition of internationally-renowned Canadian luxury brand WANT Les Essentiels which has been operating in Montreal since 2007. The acquisition complements the brothers’ other retail interest, the winter coat brand Quartz Co.
“WANT Les Essentiels is a brand we have observed for several years with great respect. It stands out for its catalogue of exceptional flagship products, recognized worldwide, emerging from a rich creative universe that also integrates quality, responsible design, and functionality. This acquisition allows us to consolidate our position in the premium clothing and accessories market,” said Jean-Philippe Robert, President of Quartz Co.
Quartz, based in Montreal, specializes in premium made-in-Canada outerwear. The company started in 1997 under the name Quartz Nature. The brothers bought it in 2015 and made a few changes. Today, it operates one physical retail location as it’s mostly a wholesale company with close to 250 stores around the world it sells to. The physical store opened last September in Mile End, and accommodates a showroom, a store, a design studio, and an area that can host events and pop-up installations.
Image: Jean-Philippe, François-Xavier, and Guillaume Robert
“It’s a store that’s right next to our design studio, the showroom, the head office. It’s a real destination store. It’s been doing pretty good. We were expecting a lot more foot traffic because this is a big office area so obviously we were counting on more foot traffic but given the COVID circumstances, we’re pretty happy,” said Robert. “We’re looking at different locations for next season. I cannot confirm anything at this point.”
WANT has been another Montreal brand that the Robert brothers have been watching and admiring for many years. Founded in 2007 in Montréal by Byron and Dexter Peart and Mark and Jacqueline Wiltzer, WANT Les Essentiels specializes in luxury bags, shoes and accessories of minimalist, timeless and functional design.
Recognized for its commitment to sustainability, the brand furthers Montréal’s expertise in design and craftsmanship worldwide. Its products are sold online (wantlesessentiels.com) and at premium retailers in Canada, the United States, Europe and Asia, including Bloomingdale’s, Assembly, Carbon38, Litchfield, mrporter.com, farfetch.com and Liberty of London.
“We bought the brand for four different reasons. The first one is the brand awareness in the market is pretty strong here in Canada but also in the US and elsewhere in the world. Secondly the catalogue of products is also strong. There’s recognizable pieces, iconic pieces, that are a solid foundation for the catalogue,” said Robert.
“The third one is we see interesting synergies between our two companies because we share a lot of the same functions in the business. The plan is to keep the brands separate, to develop the brands separately, so each can seek its own DNA but there will be some synergies. And the fourth reason is that there’s a team coming with the brand which is solid and we plan to integrate through our business. It was very important to have people in place. It’s not just buying a brand.”
WANT used to have seven retail locations mixed with an apothecary concept. But they closed with COVID. The brand wholesales to about 40 accounts at this point and ecommerce is a pretty strong component of the business. Robert said the brothers will definitely look into opening retail locations for WANT.
WANT Apothecary store at 2579 Yonge St., Toronto. Photo: WANT Apothecary
“We believe in omnichannel. We think both retail and ecomm and wholesale really help each other. You have to be very strategic and select carefully where you open and when but this is something we’re really going to look into as we integrate the business,” he said.
Since 2015, Quartz has tripled its sales and grown at a rate of 40 per cent year over year. Its winter coats, designed and manufactured in Québec, are sold at major fashion banners and well-known outdoor stores in more than 15 countries, mainly in Canada, United States, Germany, France, Japan, Norway, and Greenland.
“I am convinced that WANT Les Essentiels will continue to flourish thanks to the leadership of Jean-Philippe, François-Xavier and Guillaume Robert. Their solid expertise in the fashion and luxury industry will allow them to propel the growth of this iconic Montréal brand, recognized all over the world,” said Mark Wiltzer, Managing Partner, Mark Edwards Group and co-founder of WANT Les Essentiels, in a statement.
In 2019, the entrepreneurs also acquired Confection Bécotte of Victoriaville and Les Confections Stroma, a major clothing manufacturing workshop established in Montréal for 50 years, allowing them to double Quartz Co.’s winter coat production capacity and triple its workforce.
In 2020, the Robert brothers expanded their new plant in Montréal’s St-Michel borough and decided to invest in the purchase of new equipment to produce thousands of gowns for caregiving personnel in the fight against COVID-19.
Retail Insider continues its Photo Tour series of Canadian malls to provide a glimpse into shopping centres which may be less frequented lately due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Building upon the video mall tour we did for Park Royal Shopping Centre in September 2020, we revisited the shopping centre this spring to check-in on changes happening to the mall.
In case you missed our first Photo Tour series video tour, check out the September 2020 video tour of Park Royal Shopping Centre below:
Location of Park Royal Shopping Centre. Photo: Google Maps
To recap, the Park Royal Shopping Centre has three separate shopping areas: Park Royal South (the largest portion of the shopping centre with interior and exterior components), Park Royal North (across Marine Drive to the north) and The Village at Park Royal (an outdoor, Whistler Village-like shopping area to the west of Park Royal South).
Park Royal Shopping Centre Overview. Photo: Park Royal Shopping Youtube Video
Park Royal South – Exterior Update
The Park Royal South portion of the shopping centre has both interior and exterior components. The outdoor section on the north/top portion is next to the new Gateway Residences currently under construction and sandwiched between Marine Drive and the indoor/interior portion of Park Royal South.
Park Royal South (Exterior and Interior). Photo: Park Royal Shopping Youtube Video
Peloton Opening
The first retailer in the Park Royal South outdoor component that we noticed wasn’t in our September 2020 tour was Peloton. The New York City-based fitness company, founded in 2012 and known particularly for its luxury stationary bicycles that live-stream spin classes, opened at Park Royal in West Vancouver in October 2020.
Peloton under construction during September 2020 video tourPeloton at Park Royal in West Vancouver in May 2020. Photo: Lee Rivett.
RYU Closing
A casualty of restructuring, Vancouver-based RYU (Respect Your Universe) Apparel issued a flurry of news releases in the past few months as it has embarked on stabilizing the retail operations with an optimistic outlook for the future. In Retail Insider’s CEO interview in March 2021, it was noted that the athletic brand RYU announced in February of 2020 several store closures to coincide with its restructuring. In a letter to shareholders, Marcello Leone, the company’s CEO, President and Chairman of the Board at the time, described 2019 as the retailer’s most challenging year since inception. Just over a year ago, the company had a total of 11 stores — there are now just three left in Toronto, Vancouver, and Williamsburg, NY.
RYU in normal operations during September 2020 Park Royal video tourRYU shuttered and empty at Park Royal in West Vancouver in May 2021. Photo: Lee Rivett. RYU shuttered and empty at Park Royal in West Vancouver in May 2021. Photo: Lee Rivett.
Former Loft location during September 2020 Park Royal video tour
Talbots at Park Royal in West Vancouver in May 2021. Photo: Lee Rivett.
Michael Kors Closing and Restaurant Opening
Once a Michael Kors boutique, the September 2020 video tour noted it was vacated with a “Eat – Coming Soon” banner in the window. Signage for the new “Hello Nori” Japanese restaurant was installed and will accompany the Robson location which opened in October 2020.
Former Michael Kors location during September 2020 Park Royal video tour
The Handroll Bar (Coming Soon) to fill the former Michael Kors space at Park Royal in West Vancouver in May 2021. Photo: Lee Rivett.
Park Royal South – Interior Mall Update
Heading indoors, the tour entered the enclosed Park Royal South which is located directly south/below of the exterior section in the map below. The interior mall opens up the two level shopping centre for guests to visit retail shops as well as to purchase takeout from the food court.
Park Royal South (Exterior and Interior). Photo: Park Royal Shopping Youtube Video
Shaw Communications Store Opening
Shaw Communications announced in August 2020 its intention to open 12 new concept stores in Western Canada. The new concept stores were redesigned to provide customers with an immersive destination where they can explore, learn, and interact directly with the latest Shaw products and services, including Shaw’s suite of in-home technology.
Shaw Communications construction signage during September 2020 Park Royal video tour
Shaw Communications retail store at Park Royal in West Vancouver in May 2021. Photo: Lee Rivett.
SwimCo Store Closing
Canadian swimwear retailer Swimco was operating just swimmingly during the September 2020 tour. Unfortunately, the Park Royal location was part of the company-wide closures when it went bankrupt and shut down on October 10, 2020.
SwimCo location which was open during September 2020 Park Royal video tour
Former location of SwimCo at Park Royal in West Vancouver in May 2021. Photo: Lee Rivett.
The Village at Park Royal – Mall Update
The other outdoor area of Park Royal is “The Village” which is similar to the shopping areas in Whistler Village where shoppers can walk from store-to-store in an open-air environment. This area is located to the west of Park Royal South.
Park Royal – The Village. Photo: Park Royal Shopping Youtube Video
Caposhie Closing and Room In Order Opening
The September 2020 video tour noted a vacant Caposhie location, a retailer known for small batch hand crafted and upcycled naturally made fashion items. Our recent visit noted that Room In Order, a home furnishing retailer specializing in organization solutions, had opened in October 2020.
Former Caposhie location during September 2020 Park Royal video tour
Room In Order at Park Royal in West Vancouver in May 2021. Photo: Lee Rivett.
Closing DavidsTea location during September 2020 Park Royal video tour
Former location of
DavidsTea at Park Royal in West Vancouver in May 2021. Photo: Lee Rivett.
We hope you enjoyed this update of Park Royal Shopping Centre in West Vancouver, B.C. and are always excited to see the changes at Canadian shopping centres. Don’t forget to check out our other retail photo tours over the past few months. Thank you for taking this tour with us.
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