The remaining three Disney stores to close in Canada are all in the Greater Toronto Area, and they will all close next month. Locations include CF Toronto Eaton Centre, Scarborough Town Centre and an outlet at Vaughan Mills just north of Toronto. According to Disney’s website, the Vaughan Mills store will close on or before September 15 while the two Toronto stores will shut on or before September 22. Liquidation will begin at the end of this month according to a source in the know who spoke with Retail Insider.
Several former Disney cast members have reached out to Retail Insider saying that they are unhappy with Disney’s lack of communication around the store closings. The company has yet to make a formal statement on its Canadian exit which is now confirmed. Prior to store closures, the Disney store website would be updated showing where locations would shutter with few other details provided even internally at store level. The lack of communication could harm the Disney brand in the eyes of consumers as well as its cast members who are in many instances ‘superfans’ of the brand.
Former Disney store at Toronto’s Yorkdale Shopping Centre on August 23, 2021. Photo: Craig Patterson
Disney stores have been closing globally with a significant pull-out in Europe as well as in major US markets. A report on August 23 stated that 57 more Disney locations in the United States will shut by September 15, leaving only 25 stores remaining and their future could be uncertain. Prominent locations, including Disney’s very first store at Glendale Galleria, have already shuttered.
Last month we reported on the Disney locations that were slated to close in Alberta, Manitoba and Ontario. In Alberta, Disney closed all stores in Edmonton at West Edmonton Mall and Kingsway Mall as well as in Calgary at CF Market Mall and Southcentre. In Manitoba, Disney operated a single store at CF Polo Park in Winnipeg until recently.
In Ontario, five Disney stores closed earlier this month including Toronto area locations (Yorkdale Shopping Centre, Upper Canada Mall), Hamilton (CF Lime Ridge), Ottawa (CF Rideau Centre), and London (CF Masonville Place).
In June we reported that Disney would shut its three stores in British Columbia at CF Pacific Centre, Metropolis at Metrotown and Guildford Town Centre.
Disney store at CF Toronto Eaton Centre. Image: Dustin Fuhs
Retail Insider was informed by multiple sources in April of this year that all Disney stores would be shutting in Canada. One source was a major landlord not permitted to speak on the record. Retail Insider made the initial store closing announcement in April partly to give employees time to attempt to secure alternative employment because Disney typically makes such announcements shortly before stores actually shutter.
After our report in April, we were informed that several retailers had been reaching out to Disney employees who are considered to be highly desirable. Since our first article was published, some employees have already secured new jobs and were working at the Disney stores until they closed in order to take advantage of severance moneys.
Earlier this year, mall landlords in Canada were said to have been working with Disney on an exit strategy which involved Disney paying out the remaining duration for its Canadian leases which in some cases had a duration of several years to bypass any potential litigation.
Some are speculating that Disney might come back to Canada in partnership with Toys R Us, which was recently acquired by Putman Investments.
Disney never launched e-commerce in Canada, nor did it secure warehouse space for product fulfillment in terms of ship-to-store or otherwise. If consumers ordered online from the company’s global website, taxes and duties would be charged. One source noted that several of the Canadian Disney store units, including the CF Toronto Eaton Centre and West Edmonton Mall locations, were among the company’s top-selling stores.
The Walt Disney Company reacquired the Disney Store business from Children’s Place Retail Stores Inc. in 2008, with 231 locations being purchased in Canada and the United States. Operating under the Disney Consumer Products division of the company until 2018, the stores were merged under a new division called Parks, Experiences and Consumer Products, which was previously under the leadership of Bob Chapek. Mr. Chapek was named the Chief Executive Officer of The Walt Disney Company in February 2020 and subsequently named Josh D’Amaro as his successor as the Chairman of Disney Parks, Experiences and Products.
Tokyo Smoke construction hoarding at CF Toronto Eaton Centre - Photo by Dustin Fuhs
Cannabis retailer Tokyo Smoke is moving in the shopping centre retail space.
In an interview with Retail Insider, Dave Bolan, VP, Real Estate, Tokyo Smoke and Ontario Brand License Holder, said the retailer’s enclosed mall strategy forms part of its larger new store development plan.
“Initially, the enclosed mall strategic pillar includes opening nine Tokyo Smoke stores in Ontario by the end of the year. Tokyo Smoke’s next wave of store openings will commence in early October and includes the following Cadillac Fairview properties: CF Eaton Centre, Toronto; CF Fairview Mall, Toronto ; CF Sherway Gardens, Toronto; CF Rideau Centre, Ottawa,” he said. “There were a few key factors that led to our decision to partner with Cadillac Fairview, First, our senior management has a long-standing relationship with CF, specifically through our parent companies’ restaurant business unit. Secondly and more importantly, CF’s robust portfolio in Ontario allows Tokyo Smoke, our award-winning brand with access to millions of shoppers and office population visits yearly, making a long-term in-property partnership an easy and strategic decision for the business.
“Both in-property and street front locations are important to our company, and we have both in our portfolio. Large-scale shopping centre’s present a unique opportunity for the brand to extend its reach to a larger demographic of consumers. Having a strong presence in Cadillac Fairview shopping centres will allow Tokyo Smoke the opportunity to penetrate a diverse mix of legal shoppers and employees, seven days a week. We’re thrilled to be able to play a role in how Canadians continue to learn about cannabis and to provide access to Tokyo Smoke’s carefully curated accessories and products, along with the brand’s best-in-class guest experience, which will be housed in convenient shopping centre locations.”
The Tokyo Smoke retail banner is under the Canopy Growth Corporation banner.
Future Tokyo Smoke location on Rideau Street at the CF Rideau Centre in Ottawa in August of 2021. Photo: Dustin Fuhs
Bolan said the company’s first enclosed Tokyo Smoke store recently opened in the newly redeveloped Devonshire Mall in Windsor, Ontario.
“The location provides guests with the convenience of visiting a wide array of shops and services and now cannabis, all under one premiere location. The store is conveniently located at the Shoppers Drug Mart mall entrance. A key site characteristic of the store at Devonshire is its interior exterior access which is an important feature for suburban centres,” he said, adding that the retailer is seeking partnerships with other shopping centre owners to establish retail stores in their properties.
“We have started executing our multi-year new store growth plan which includes opening in shopping centres (enclosed, strip, power, or regional) with large and small ownership groups. Our focus on opening Tokyo Smoke stores within a multitude of shopping centres is a key strategic growth pillar for the business.”
Bolan said the focus continues to be on Ontario and will remain this way for the foreseeable future.
“As cannabis consumption has become mainstream in society and with the natural churn of retailers coming and going the time is right,” he said.
“Not unlike a customer picking up a bottle of wine or spirits while shopping, cannabis as a category has earned its position as a staple in malls. Certainly, malls need fresh tenants too that can draw in weekly traffic to displace bankrupt retailers. As Tokyo Smoke is owned by Canopy Growth, which in turn is owned (in part) by Constellation Brands, this chain offers some stability as well.
“The challenge with all cannabis retailers is differentiation as store counts climb to saturation levels. This move helps Tokyo Smoke do that to some degree as they associate their brand with marquee shopping locations.”
Women’s retailer la Vie en Rose has been expertly designing lingerie, swimwear, and loungewear since 1985. The brand uniquely provides women with a seamless experience, both online and in-store, making shopping for intimate clothing both fun and effortless. Based in Quebec, the company has grown to over 275 retail stores in 18 different countries as well as an e-commerce channel offering a high-quality shopping experience to customers in Canada and the United States.
The Need
La Vie en Rose has a fast-growing e-commerce order fulfillment operation with plans to grow the site internationally. A manual picking process had begun to limit the retailer’s order processing capacity and over time realized that this would affect order accuracy, speed, and efficiency in the fulfillment process. A scalable solution was required to ensure that they could provide the shopping experience expected by their customers and maintain the brand image built over years of passionate customer dedication.
The Solution
Image: Dematic
To meet the growing demand for e-commerce, la Vie en Rose implemented a scalable and modular Dematic Put Wall system that optimizes order fulfillment for piece picking. The solution serves as an order consolidation and packing method that brings high productivity, order accuracy, speed, and efficiency to the order fulfillment process. Using a divide-and-conquer strategy, the solution combines lines from multiple orders and creates high density, efficient picking throughout the warehouse. The Dematic Put Wall system is used to consolidate and pack the items for each order.
Directed by Dematic software, the system includes Put and Pack workstations with shelving compartments that hold individual customer orders. Each Put Wall can support multiple order compartments that can also be configured into different sizes to support varying order volumes. The strategic focus of the Dematic Put Wall system is on an ultra-efficient order fulfillment process that deconstructs and reconstructs customer orders with a 100% quality check for each item. Order processing is efficient with large volumes for multiple order possibilities and order consolidation is integrated within the packing function. The entire process is paperless and managed in real time. For operational flexibility, each Put Wall can process multi-line orders. The modular design of both the Put Wall hardware and software allows for fast and easy future expansion.
The Results
The Dematic Put Wall system has been a process improvement generating multiple benefits for la Vie en Rose. Over the past two years, online demand for its products has grown by 300%, yet with the Dematic Put Wall system the company has been able to reduce labor costs, cut delivery times by more than half, and increase throughput by 350%. The system has also provided significant flexibility in order fulfillment. For example, la Vie en Rose can scale up quickly for peak seasons, with thousands of customer orders picked during each shift. Scan validation ensures high levels of accuracy within the picking process. In addition to the gains in labor productivity and order processing speeds, the paperless system helps to support environmental sustainability goals. The Dematic software provides real-time visibility into the operation, allowing la Vie en Rose to forecast and make data-driven decisions on when to further automate. The modular design will allow the operation to grow by adding Put Walls and/or Pack Walls as needed.
To learn more about the trends in retail demand and how to future proof your business visit Dematic.com
*Partner content. To work with Retail Insider, email craig@retail-insider.com
Paris-based fashion and music brand Maison Kitsuné will open its first Canadian location in Vancouver’s historic Gastown area this fall. The storefront will also house the company’s new café concept. The Vancouver store signals a milestone for the Gastown area and also shows confidence in brick-and-mortar retail in this country as international retailers continue to target Canada for first-to-market storefronts.
The Vancouver Maison Kitsuné store will open in the 155 Water Street building that has seen a significant renovation. Maison Kitsuné will occupy two combined retail spaces at 157-159 Water Street spanning a total of about 2,400 square feet with about 30 feet of street frontage. The store will include a retail component housing the brand’s unique and edgy fashions as well as a food and beverage concept called Café Kitsuné.
The 155 Water Street building is owned by Low Tide Properties, a real estate holdings company owned by Lululemon founder Chip Wilson. Wilson, who is said to be a fan of the Maison Kitsuné store in Paris, personally approved the tenant for his new development and the deal was concluded during the pandemic. The building also houses a 5,000 square foot retail space that was recently leased by a Canadian fashion retailer.
155 Water Street with the future Maison Kitsuné highlighted in red. Image: Low Tide Properties
Lease plan for 155 Water Street via Low Tide Properties
Toronto and Montreal are expected to be the next target cities in Canada for Maison Kitsuné locations.
The Maison Kitsuné brand was founded in Paris in 2002 by Gildas Loaëc, Masaya Kuroki and the London-based design company Åbäke. Loaëc and Kuroki, who are both fans of fashion and music, founded the company which focuses in both areas during a trip to Japan. Before co-founding Maison Kitsuné, Loaëc was artistic director for musical group Daft Punk and also managed Thomas Bangalter’s record label Roulé.
Founders Masaya Kuroki (left) and Gildas Loaëc (right), image via Maison Kitsuné
The name Maison Kitsuné is also a hybrid French-Japanese name with “Maison” being the French word for “house”, and “Kitsuné” being the Japanese word for “fox”. The fox has been Maison Kitsuné’s signature logo with a blue-white-red colourway.
In 2019 Maison Kitsuné launched its first restaurant concept in Paris called Café Kitsuné, which has expanded to several locations globally.
Maison Kitsuné’s fashions include ready-to-wear, bags, shoes and accessories for men and women. The brand is known to collaborate with other big brands which has led to increased brand awareness and heightened popularity. Prices are in the contemporary range.
Vancouver is only the third market in North America to get a Maison Kitsuné store. New York City until recently was the only place on the continent with Maison Kitsuné locations, with three stores currently operating. In February of this year, a 700 square foot Los Angeles storefront was Maison Kitsuné’s first for the West Coast.
In Europe, Maison Kitsuné’s focus is on Paris with five storefronts and three cafés. In Asia, Maison Kitsuné has stores in South Korea, China, Japan, Thailand and Indonesia.
The opening of Maison Kitsuné in Vancouver signals confidence in the city’s historic Gastown area which has been struggling over the course of the COVID-19 pandemic. The area is highly reliant on foot traffic from tourists including many arriving on cruise ships which have not docked at the port for two years. Gastown is home to various trendy and upscale retailers that have opened over the past several years including Aesop, Bailey Nelson, COS, Herschel and Native Shoes among others.
Calgary-based Arlington Group is bullish on the city’s 17th Avenue S.W. high street area and its latest project there is The Fifth – destined to be a residential and retail destination just off the downtown core.
Frank L Lonardelli. Photo: LinkedIn
Frank Lonardelli, Founder/CEO of Arlington, said the project was started four months after the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020.
The building has 12,500 square feet of main floor retail space and 52 rental apartments above in the five-storey building.
“What’s noteworthy, given all the negativity around retail, what happened was when people saw the sign go up they kind of sat back and said ‘well I’m not sure these guys are going to build the building’. So we didn’t get a whole heck of a lot of traction,” said Lonardelli. “And the second we came out of the ground and we completed the main floor podium at 16 feet with concrete, people just started calling saying ‘holy cow you guys are actually doing this thing’.
“Of the almost 13,000 square feet of retail, we got 46,000 square feet of applicants. We just told everybody we were going to take all the applications in and the closer we get to summer and the completion of the actual structure we’re going to start making decisions of who we’re going to work with.
Rendering of the Scotia Block at 1429 17 Avenue SW, via Arlington GroupThe Fifth, Rendering via Arlington GroupRoyal Park, located across from Mount Royal Village on 17 Avenue. Rendering: Arlington Group
“It is exactly what we wanted which was individual curated retail. Ideally super local but we were okay with strong regional. No national. We’re super happy with what we received and we’re super happy with what we’ve landed on. I think it’s the perfect mix for this area. There’s a lot of vibrancy towards it. People are really excited.”
The businesses include Bro’s To Go, Nue Cocktail Bar, Cinnaholic, The Mash, Burnin Bird and Amato Gelato with a flagship store.
Lonardelli said Amato Gelato is going to have the largest patio on 17th Avenue with about 50 seats.
Timeline for opening is expected to be around September 1.
“They’re all very much complimentary to what’s happening on the street and we’re super happy about that. This will be the first mixed-use development that has been built in the last 20 years on 17th Avenue,” said Lonardelli.
High Street on 17th, rendering via Arlington GroupThe Windsor, rendering via Arlington Group
“If you look at pedestrian traffic in any centre or any section within the centre of Calgary – Beltline or Downtown – there’s more people walking through or driving past this intersection in the urban marketplace than anywhere else in Canada. We were looking for unique curated opportunities but we were also looking for people who wanted to expand their business.
“It also flows into their urban vibe for these businesses. They’re not interested in doing power centres in the suburban market because they’ve already got their concepts in those areas. So as they think about growing their businesses, their businesses are going to be urban centric. It just so happens, we think and they think, the best urban location they’ve got.”
Despite all the negativity surrounding retail throughout COVID, Lonardelli said Arlington has 100 per cent occupancy on all of its retail space along 17th Avenue.
“17th Avenue has always been a place to do curated retail for strong local or regional players,” he said. “A lot of the negativity around 17th had a lot to do with tenants going into leases they never should have gone into and landlords charging prices they should never have gone into and that’s a fatal combination.”
High Street. Photo: Arlington Group Calgary
Lonardelli said Arlington’s 17th Avenue project has 42 separate buildings that it owns with eight different development sites. The first three developments have been started or completed. The National building was the first. Then came The Fifth. The third is the Fishman’s development site. Another site is further west on 17th where the Buon Giorno restaurant is located. The entire 17th Avenue project will be completed with a site on the corner at 14th Street. All the mixed-use developments will include retail as the anchor.
“I think anything in the urban market in a high profile location requires the main floor to be retail anchored for two reasons. Number one it’s the live, work, play concept of rolling in these developments and getting closer to the urbanized landscapes of Toronto, Vancouver, Ottawa and Montreal,” said Lonardelli. “We’re just so far behind everybody.
“Number two is there’s two amenities when you live here. The first amenity is when you go down the elevator shaft and go to the main floor podium you can get your coffee, you can get your ice cream, you can get your cocktail. It’s right there. The second thing is when you walk out your front door you can go four blocks any way and have a hundred different service and retail options. That is what this urban program is all about.
“We’ve always said we’re not building buildings here. We’re building a corridor which it already is but really is the epicentre to all the live, work, play opportunities in the urban market.”
Craig and John G. Crombie, Executive Managing Director of Retail Services Canada at Cushman & Wakefield, discuss a shift in retail over the course of the pandemic as we look to the future after a significant digital transformation.
The Interview Series podcast by Retail Insider Canada is available on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, TuneIn, Google Play, or through our dedicated RSS feed for Overcast and other podcast players. Also check out our The Weekly podcast where Craig and Lee discuss popular content published on Retail Insider which is part of the The Retail Insider Podcast Network.
Interviewed this episode:
John G. Crombie, Executive Managing Director, Retail Services, Canada | ICD.D at Cushman & Wakefield
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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/
There is no mystery that retail and entertainment industries are in dire need for creative and high quality content to either push retail sales, or create visual assets. Given the importance of Canadian presence in film, music, and retail industries, some companies are continuously developing new propositions and services that would allow Canadian brands to further strengthen their positioning by offering quality visuals and content in this highly competitive landscape.
One of such companies is OriginalLuxury Inc, an official distributor of high-end European fashion apparel and accessories that began it’s operations in 2018. It was able to transform during the COVID-19 drama into a robust e-commerce retailer in unison with its content creation powerhouse subsidiary company Stylephotos Canada. Working with the largest Canadian retailers, Stylephotos Canada has been able to grow its client portfolio and expertise in e-commerce content creation, allowing national brands and even small retailers to save time and money when dealing with creating consistent content for their respective websites. A logical continuation of this success is a direct transition to offering more services, especially in the movie and commercial production direction, both of which are experiencing a significant and consistent increase in demand. The future of content creation is dependant on new technological advancements that will make this process more efficient, consistent, and most importantly attainable for clients.
In our recent conversations with the leadership of OriginalLuxury, we discovered that the company has not stopped revolutionizing the content creation aspect of their business, but rather made a decision to take a bold step forward with creating a one-of-a-kind content creation powerhouse here in Toronto. OriginalLuxury Inc. has made an agreement with a strategic investor for its content creation arm – Stylephotos Canada, to create one of the largest LED Studios in North America in the next six-to-eight months. Located in Toronto, this studio will be equipped with the latest technological advancements in terms of software and hardware from one of the leading integrators based out of Europe. At 160 by 5 metres in size, the high-end professionally equipped studio will cater to online retailers as well as those looking to rent the space for movie production, talk-shows, music videos and other activities. Currently, OriginalLuxury is finalizing the real estate selection and final equipment specifications with the manufacturers.
It is truly a great opportunity for the province and our country to stay focused on leading the content creation revolution that is apparent virtually in all industries. With recent changes introduced by Youtube in how commercials will be played, it only makes sense that the demand for high quality, creative content will only exceed the supply that is currently available on the market. We are proud of our fellow Canadian partners at OriginalLuxury Inc. for taking the risk in pushing the boundaries of content creation while bringing the latest technological innovations to our country.
*Partner content. To work with Retail Insider, contact craig@retail-insider.com
