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Explosion in E-Commerce Results in Concerning Shortage of Supply of Vital Industrial Space: Experts

By
Mario Toneguzzi
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The burgeoning e-commerce retail sector has sparked an insatiable demand for industrial real estate across Canada with companies constantly in search of warehouse, distribution and fulfillment space.

In many of the major Canadian markets, such as Vancouver and Toronto, available space is at a premium and hard to come by with developers launching new construction to try and keep up with the demand.

Marshall Toner, Managing Director/National Lead, Industrial for JLL Canada, said the rhythm of consumer purchasing has changed – their behaviours and expectations. 

“Their expectations are speed delivery, competitive prices and in some regards free shipping. That has made companies shift from traditional bricks and mortar to more warehousing type solutions. So the retail footprint has gone down and the industrial footprint went up to satisfy the consumer expectations,” said Toner.

“Some would argue that e-commerce requires three times more logistics space than when you have a traditional retail model. So as we gravitate to more and more and more e-commerce, all that product that was in the whatever brand store you want that footprint shrinks and the industrial footprint goes up.”

Warehouse Robotics

Toner said e-commerce has also created a different type of distribution centre because companies need high power for all the robotics in some cases and they like higher ceiling heights.

“In some of these fulfillment centres, we never used to see giant parking lots on the side of a distribution centre because the amount of staff inside was fairly minimal, but now if you look at an Amazon or someone like that, similar to that, they have a high degree of personnel working there so they need more parking and you never used to see that,” he said.

“Another significant change is reverse logistics. What do we do with all of the returns? So now we have companies that are in the reverse logistics business, that are independent of whoever the retailer is, opening up warehouses where they have all the returned goods for sale in there at a discount – or handling the returns for the retailers in some shape or form which takes space.”

Toner’s career in the real estate industry is about 30 years and the veteran said he has never seen the demand and low availability of space like it is now.

“It’s across North America. Industrial vacancy in Vancouver is sub one per cent. Calgary it’s now sub three per cent. Toronto is between one and two per cent. Montreal just over one per cent,” said Toner. “E-commerce is driving a lot of this. It really is. E-commerce has a bunch of ancillary businesses that come with it.”

In its Q4 2021 industrial real estate market report, JLL said vacancy in Vancouver dropped another 30 basis points in the last quarter of 2021, recording a historic low of 0.7 per cent  – the first-time vacancy has recorded below the one per cent mark. 

“The lack of supply in Metro Vancouver has also resulted in users being redirected to other markets, mainly Calgary, to fulfill their demands. Due to historic pent-up demand, Greater Vancouver has seen a 22 per cent increase in under construction space since the last quarter totaling just over eight million square feet,” said the report.

“With a year of quarter-over-quarter historic lows, vacancy is expected to continue decreasing through 2022 despite a strong development pipeline. The projected deliveries of strata and mixed-use industrial space in the coming year will continue to play a role in accelerating rental rates and will further diversify the tenant mix of industrial space.”

JLL’s Q4 2021 industrial real estate market report for Toronto indicated that vacancy there dropped 20 basis points from the previous quarter to reach a new historic low of 0.8 per cent.    

There is also just over 11.2 million square feet under construction.

“Vacancy is expected to remain at or near historic lows throughout the year. The relatively strong construction pipeline will likely do little to alleviate current market conditions. Furthermore, continued supply chain issues and rising costs for building materials will likely continue for much of 2022 and intensify both construction delays and rising occupancy costs,” said JLL.

Toner said at some point some sort of critical mass will be reached.

“For retailers, in satisfying consumer demand, at some point they’re going to get to some sort of concentration where it isn’t necessary for them to continue to acquire or lease the premises that they have been at the same velocity. I think the velocity will slow down in time. I just don’t know what that time period is,” he said.

Several International Brands Open 1st Canadian Stores in January 2022 with Predictions of a Banner Year

By
Craig Patterson
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Maison Kitsuné’s Vancouver
Maison Kitsuné’s Vancouver. (Image: Kitsuné)

This year is already starting off strong with five international brands opening first-to-Canada stores in January of 2022, and more on the way. Brokers are saying that this could be a banner year as retail becomes more global and Canadian cities are a target. 

It’s encouraging news and shows confidence in the market as brands look to major cities to enter the Canadian market. We recently tallied a total of 21 international brands that entered Canada in 2021 by opening stores, including a breakdown of launch cities where Toronto was the primary focal point last year. 

In January of this year, several international brands have opened first-to-Canada stores. Swedish designer/manufacturer of roof racks/carriers Thule opened its first Canadian storefront at Park Royal in West Vancouver. We reported that Vancouver-based retailer Rack Attack was opening the store in a retail space with an expected December opening date extended into January. 

In Vancouver as well, Paris-based fashion and music brand Maison Kitsuné opened a combined retail space and café in the city’s Gastown area, marking the first location for the popular brand in Canada. More locations are expected to open with the Toronto market expected to be a focus. 

With two international brands already opening first-to-Canada stores in the Vancouver area this month, the city only needs one more opening to match the three openings seen in 2021. We reported earlier this month that the greater Toronto area was home to 13 of the 21 international brands that entered Canada last year by opening stores. 

In Ontario, three international retailers opened first-to-Canada stores over the course of January 2022. That includes US-based Carlo’s Bake Shop which opened its first Canadian location in the Port Credit area of Mississauga with more locations to come. At Toronto’s Yorkdale Shopping Centre, New York City-based Marc Jacobs opened its first Canadian storefront in the mall and more are said to be on the way — the new store concept features a price point on bags similar to what one might find at Hudson’s Bay. And in St. Catharines Ontario, a first Canadian location for Nigeria-based grocery chain Prince Ebeano opened in the city this month as well. 

Brokers are telling Retail Insider that several more international brands are already confirmed to be entering the Canadian market by opening storefronts. We’ll reveal these throughout the year as we continue to report on the industry. It’s an encouraging sign for the retail industry which was clobbered by the pandemic. Consumer confidence is coming back and some retailers, including luxury brands, are in some cases seeing higher sales now than in 2019.  

Already, we know that retailers such as Lafayette 148, Anne Fontaine and Paris Baguette will all be opening first-to-Canada locations on Bloor Street West in Toronto. We’ll be discussing other brands such as Acne Studios and Diptique which among others will open first stores this year as well. 

Retail Insider will be tallying international retailers entering the Canadian market in the coming months as well as other retailers opening and expanding in this country. We will be showcasing this in a new portal that will be part of the must-read Retail Insider the magazine which is launching this spring, with more details to follow. 

Salesforce Releases 2021 Holiday Shopping Report Including Interesting Key Canadian Data

By
Mario Toneguzzi
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The Bay at Stackt Market (Image: Dustin Fuhs)

The 2021 Holiday Shopping Report, by Salesforce, a global leader in CRM, indicates consumers spent $1.14 trillion online globally and $257 billion in the U.S., compared to $1.1 trillion and $236 billion in 2020. 

Rob Garf

While Cyber Week saw muted digital growth in 2021, early November and late December surges helped retailers break new sales records. 

“Despite the lingering pandemic and countless obstacles such as supply chain logistics, low inventory, and fewer discounts, consumers flocked online to close out this holiday shopping season with a bang,” said Rob Garf, VP and GM of Retail, Salesforce.

 “As we move into a new year, retailers must push their brands to platforms such as social, gaming, messaging, and the metaverse to engage shoppers where they are discovering and buying products. They must also double down on efforts to reimagine physical stores to support continually changing digital experiences.”

Key Canadian insights from the report include:

  • Canadians shopped early this holiday season: In an effort to beat the retail rush and avoid late shipping, Canadians began holiday shopping earlier. This season, 19 per cent of Canadians began their online shopping during the first week of November, a six per cent increase year over year;
  • Cyber Week looked different in 2021: Online orders in Canada decreased by 14 per cent year over year during Cyber Week. Pre-Cyber Week online shopping also decreased by 22 per cent, and post-Cyber Week online shopping decreased by 18 per cent;
  • Shopping Carts were affected by inflation and supply constraints: Merchandise prices in Canada grew by six per cent year over year in December 2021, causing basket sizes to drop by approximately 10 per cent; and 
  • Canadians financed the holidays: From credit cards, to gift cards, to PayPal, Canadians predominantly financed their transactions over the holiday season. In fact, there was a 92 per cent increase in buy finance transactions year over year. Apple Pay followed, with a 39 per cent increase in transactions year over year.
Garage Pop-up on Queen Street West (Image: Dustin Fuhs)

Garf said it was a really interesting holiday shopping period. 

“There was a new holiday calendar that emerged. In the past, decades upon decades, holiday was really focused around some tent pole moments most of which by the way were manufactured like Cyber Week in the States that was coined by the National Retail Federation as a way to really signify people going back to the office, getting high speed connectivity and because of that demand was being created,” said Garf.

“So consumers, given that, were really conditioned to wait for these big holiday peaks to get the best and biggest discounts. What we saw this holiday season is more a smoothing out of demand which started earlier in the holiday.

“Last holiday season, the headline was all about the last mile. How are you to get products to the doorsteps? This year was as much about the first mile. How are you getting products in through the ports to the inbound supply chain through the retailers’ distribution network and ultimately to the customer? And because of that, retailers started to promote, as they always have, and they stuck to their promotional calendar, and consumers really engaged and they took the bait. They saw headline after headline of increases of pricing, decreases of inventory, and they purchased earlier.

“In Canada, while it was a somewhat muted holiday season. For the first week of November we saw a 19 per cent year over year increase in digital sales and it was because consumers really started their shopping journey and clicked the buy button earlier than ever.”

Chapters Online Order Sign (Image: Dustin Fuhs)

Because of supply chain issues and uncertainty around inventory and pricing, Garf said consumers were paying a six per cent higher retail price compared to the year before as well as fewer discounts.

“Retailers didn’t feel compelled that they had to promote early and often and throughout the holiday. They were really sticking to their initial promotional calendar and it worked,” said Garf.

The Salesforce global report found stores played a critical role this holiday: While consumers continued to embrace digital this holiday, physical stores proved to be key throughout the shopping season. In fact, 60 per cent of global digital sales were influenced by brick-and-mortar – from generating to fulfilling demand. The evolving role of the store – and associates – helped to break down friction across digital and physical touchpoints, it said.

“While we’ve seen a surge in the last two years in digital, largely because we’ve lived our lives in digital whether it’s shopping or entertainment, dining, meetings, education, the store doesn’t go away,” said Garf. “In fact, the store becomes more important, and the store associates who are the biggest brand ambassadors.

“Sixty per cent of digital orders over the holidays were influenced by the store – whether demand was being generated from the store because associates were on social media, or associates were fielding emails, texts or calls either at home or in the store, rather than just a service agent, or demand was being fulfilled from the store, whether that’s buying online, picking it up at store.

“The store is now the critical component of your digital business. We talk about obviously the surge in digital and we have a lot of data at Salesforce . . .  but the store becomes even more important than ever.”

barBurrito Reveals Plans for Massive Store Expansion Throughout Canada: Interview

By
Mario Toneguzzi
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Sherwood Park barBurrito (Image: barBurrito)

Food service establishment barBurrito, which began with its first location in 2006 in Toronto, has grown to 158 restaurants today with plans for massive expansion across the country.

Shawn Saraga

Shawn Saraga, VP of Global Development for barBurrito Restaurants Inc., said another 15 locations are currently under construction and 80 more on the way that are already signed with paper ready to go in the Canadian market.

President and Founder Alex Shtein started to franchise the business in 2009 and it has taken off since then. 

The brand has also opened one location in the US and another four are currently under construction. It is in the process of developing opportunities in New Jersey, New York, Florida, California and Delaware. The first location in the US was in Howell, Michigan, in August 2020.

Saraga said the company expects to open 51 new locations in Canada this year and another six in the US.

He said the Canadian market could eventually grow to 400 to 500 locations. The US market could be more.

Image: barBurrito

“It’s based on finding the right locations. For us what matters more than the speed of opening is finding the best locations. So if it isn’t the best location we’d rather not do it,” explained Saraga.

“We’re looking for 1,000 to 1,300 square feet of space in grocery-anchored shopping centres, Walmart and Costco style power centres. We like lots of parking, lots of visibility and lots of frontage. With us what matters is we’re looking for a population base of anywhere from 15,000 to 30,000 people (in the trading area). I will say the small towns have done incredibly well for us. We’re doing great numbers in small towns because of the lack of competition that exists there and our ability to get a first to market position.

“If there’s any market we’re targeting this year it would definitely be Montreal for growth. We’re very interested in the Montreal marketplace right now and the Greater Montreal Area. That is an untapped region for us and we’ve already confirmed our first location to be opening up in the Montreal area in Mont Royal and we’re about to secure our second location and are very actively looking for people that want to help us expand in the Greater Montreal Area.”

Saraga said the company’s target for growth is also the Vancouver market with about 16 new stores opening this year in the Greater Vancouver Area.

Image: barBurrito

Before the pandemic hit, the lowest sales in the chain were about $400,000 a year with the highest $1.6 million. When the pandemic hit, Shtein, the founder, took immediate action to help support the franchisees.

The first thing he did was waive 100 per cent of royalties to all stores. For traditional stores they were waived for nine weeks and for non-traditional food court locations it was 22 weeks, giving up about $1 million in revenue to help the stores succeed.

Shtein also set aside about $250,000 of his own cash as a relief fund to help support the most vulnerable stores. 

“After that we got on the phone with landlords across the country and personally re-negotiated the rents and got the CECRA (Canadian Emergency Commercial Rent Assistance) in place for all of our locations and we were successful in 99 per cent of the cases,” said Saraga.

Image: barBurrito
Image: barBurrito

The brand also connected with corporations to sponsor burritos and bowls that were sent out to frontline health care workers during the height of the pandemic. More than $70,000 worth of food was sent out.

The company also renegotiated rates with Uber Eats, Skip The Dishes and Door Dash, reducing rates and boosting marketing.

“As a result, through April, May and June of 2020, our sales were flat. We saw no decrease at all,” explained Saraga. “In fact, for the rest of 2020 all through 2021 and now coming into 2022 our sales have been up 15 to 20 per cent. So now our highest sales in the chain are $2.2 million. Our lowest are still at $400,000 because those are the food courts that are struggling during COVID. And our average store sales are between $600,000 to $650,000 a year.”

Saraga said the quality of the product is excellent, adding that barBurrito has the highest Yelp reviews in the industry. 

“We offer more proteins and more healthy food options than any of our competitors. We’re perfectly priced in the $10 meal category with the average guest’s check coming in at $16.55. We offer phenomenal support to our franchisees. We’ve ensured that they weathered the storm of COVID extremely well to the point now that 40 per cent of our franchisees own more than one unit. And we’re continuously growing and innovating and improving the brand,” he said.

Canadian Retail News From Around The Web For January 31st, 2022

By
Retail Insider
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Canadian Retail News From Around The Web

News at a Glance

Retail Insider is streamlining its Canadian retail news from around the web to include a handful of top news stories that can be viewed quickly during the day. Here are the top stories from the past three days.

Canadian Retail News From Around The Web For January 28th, 2022

By
Retail Insider
-
Canadian Retail News From Around The Web

News at a Glance

Retail Insider is streamlining its Canadian retail news from around the web to include a handful of top news stories that can be viewed quickly during the day. Here are the top stories from the past 24 hours.

Consumer Preferences Shift Significantly in Canada Amid Pandemic: Study

By
Mario Toneguzzi
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Image: Farfetch

A new report from Capgemini, a global leader in consulting, technology and outsourcing services, reveals that consumers have missed the in-store experience, and have learned to move seamlessly between the online and physical stores. 

Consumers have also increasingly shifted to buying directly from brands, which encompass everything from local businesses to larger brands owned by mega-corporations, forgoing big-box retailers. The data accentuates the desire for consumers to build better connections with brands and indicates that brick-and-mortar stores can bring value to the shopper experience.

Key highlights from the What Matters to Today’s Consumer report include:

  • 72 per cent expect to have significant interactions with physical stores in the longer term after the pandemic subsides;
  • 40 per cent have ordered products directly from brands instead of retailers in the past six months; and 
  • Consumers have pointed to brand loyalty programs (64 per cent), alignment with brand values (64 per cent) and better buying experiences (61 per cent) as incentives for direct brand orders.

“The behaviours of today’s consumers have shifted dramatically over the past 18 months and their expectations have evolved in parallel. As our research suggests, many of these changes will prove permanent,” said the report. “The consumer of today is shopping across multiple channels; she has returned to in-store shopping but also plans to continue shopping online, a channel she has grown accustomed to during the pandemic. She has also come to expect fast, easy delivery and fulfillment, whether she is shopping on- or offline.

“She continues to be very concerned with the ethical status of the products she buys – as well as the companies from which she buys them — and wants to be assured that these products are both healthy to consume and sustainable to produce. She also does not expect sustainable products to necessarily come at a premium. She is open to ordering directly from the brands she favors and sharing her data with them, especially if this will result in her receiving a better buying experience.”

Supporting Local Businesses in the Beaches BIA – Photo by Dustin Fuhs

The report said these trends and behaviors are more pronounced for certain consumer segments. For example, research reveals that Generation Z (18–24 years of age) shoppers are more willing to pay a premium for products espousing clean, natural, and sustainable attributes. Shoppers with children in their households value fast delivery more than do shoppers without children. A greater share of Boomers (57–75) have already returned to in-store shopping today than have Millennials (25–40) and Gen Z. 

“For brands and retailers, the implications of these evolving consumer trends infiltrate all aspects of their businesses, from strategy to product development, digital, analytics, operations, and marketing. To capitalize on the opportunities offered by these evolving trends, we highlight four key focus areas for brands and retailers.

“An omnichannel strategy that incorporates the physical store, ecommerce, direct-to-consumer, and online marketplaces (such as Amazon, Alibaba) is essential to meet today’s consumer in all the venues at which she shops. Being ready and able to collect the data that today’s shopper is willing to share and extracting value from that data to allow better directed marketing and more carefully designed and tailored products and services is paramount. Given the importance of delivery and fulfillment to today’s consumer, re-positioning these aspects within the business model, and transforming them from a cost center to a growth driver, is critical to future business success. Going forward, there will be a growing mainstream demand for sustainable products. While a certain demographic of shopper may accept a higher price for the time being, it will be imperative that these products can be sold at a more attractive price point in the future.”

The full report can be found here:

Image: Tender Capital
Vinayak Ballachanda Madappa

Vinayak Madappa, Strategic Advisory Partner, Consumer Products, Retail and Distribution at Capgemini, said that pre-pandemic there was an uptick in online shopping but the pandemic changed that, accelerating growth in online behaviour.

“As we started to understand the pandemic and COVID a lot better, people have started to assess their risk a bit differently and as a result they want to go back to store for a couple of aspects,” he said. “One aspect is going to the store, the experience that retailers provide in let’s say apparel, in fashion, in beauty, are quite critical. The ability to look, feel and smell and experience the products in certain categories is critical. And that’s driving a big change.

“The other aspect we’re seeing is people want to continue to have that social engagement and interaction and with remote work and being at home all the day, the store is becoming an experience. Those are a couple of the key things we’ve seen that people are expecting, driving the in-store resurgence.”

Madappa said consumers have started associating their personal values with brands that are aligned to those values. Trends here can be seen in the health and wellness category as well as environment and sustainability. Consumers are willing to pay a bit of a premium for products if they are aligned with their values. 

Honey’s Premium Plant Ice Cream at GoodGood (Photo: Dustin Fuhs)

“Retailers need to pivot. They need to start to make more data driven decisions, understanding consumer behaviours. All retailers have a wealth of data of transactional data that they’ve acquired and they need to enable a business-led data driven strategy so that they can start to understand behaviours and inform their end to end decisions from their merchandising strategy all the way to supply chain fulfillment and logistics,” he said.

“And I think that’s going to be pivotal to see how the co-existence of the retailers with the CPG companies (consumer packaged goods) in managing what products they have on the shelf, what products they want to place in-store versus (online).”

He added that consumers today are willing to share a lot more data about themselves. They want transparency from retailers on how that data is consumed, managed, secured and utilized. They believe the data strategy should be a two-way street. 

“One way is benefits back to consumers around pricing, promotions, benefit loyalty programs and experiences as well as information regarding products and the way companies, organizations, operate,” said Madappa.

Michaels Partners with Instacart to Offer Same-Day Delivery from Canadian Stores: Interview

By
Mario Toneguzzi
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Image: Michaels Canada

Retail giant Michaels, the largest arts and craft retailer in North America, is partnering with Instacart, the leading online grocery platform in North America, to offer its customers same-day delivery from about 100 stores across Canada.

Heather Bennett

Heather Bennett, Executive Vice President of Marketing and Ecommerce at Michaels, said Michaels is the first specialty arts and crafts retailer on the Instacart platform.

“One of the things we’ve focused on and what has led to our partnership with Instacart is even with everything that’s going on our motto is really to be here for the maker,” said Bennett. “And really part of that is just making sure that we’re elevating our omnichannel customer experience. We’ve done things that have really impacted the past two years like BOPIS, which is our buy online, pick up in store, and curbside pickup.

“Both of those options were really launched for our customers as it relates specifically to what happened over the past two years. It allowed us to serve people when we had to close down stores for example and still get them the crafting supplies and everything they needed to kind of continue their creativity at home.”

Michaels / Instacart (Image: Instacart)

The Instacart initiative furthers Michaels’ strategy of elevating its omnichannel customer experience. The company also has a partnership with a firm that does buy now, pay later options – a way for customers to short-term finance some of their purchases. 

“(Some) people don’t want to venture to the store and they want to have their goods delivered to them. (Instacart) is a fabulous option. We actually already offer same-day delivery out of our stores but we know that there are Instacart loyalists and people who absolutely love shopping that platform specifically. So we wanted to be a part of it as their first and only arts and crafts retailer on the platform,” said Bennett.

Currently, there are 130 Michaels locations across Canada in every province. She said Instacart is available through 100 of its Canadian stores. It has not yet launched in Quebec but it will soon.

“Consumer preferences have definitely shifted over time  . . . Part of the reason why we’re focused so heavily on omnichannel and omnichannel experience in the different ways to get customers what they want that’s just the trend of what’s happening with the customer today,” said Bennett. “It’s almost an expectation that you will have many ways for me to shop with you not just that I go into the store but I can also shop online, I can also pick up in store, and somebody else shops for me. And I can also have somebody drop it into the boot of my car if I need to. I can also get it delivered to my doorstep.

Michaels Canada on John Street (Image: Dustin Fuhs)

“So that convenience has become an absolute foundational stone in the customers’ experience which is why Michaels has focused so heavily on making sure that we are available in all the channels that they want to shop us and that experience is something they find easy and enjoy doing so they will come back to us again and again.

“We know that through Instacart’s platform we’ll also reach incremental customers that we have not otherwise had access to and it’s a great awareness building play for us and it really kind of puts us in the forefront of the digital revolution.”

Customers can now shop from Michaels’ assortment of more than 22,000 items across categories like fine arts, yarn, paper crafts, baking, jewelry-making, and more, delivered in as fast as an hour from over 1,200 locations across North America. 

Chris Rogers

As part of Michaels’ strategy to transform its omnichannel approach, Instacart and Michaels’ national partnership in Canada comes on the heels of a recently expanded nationwide partnership in the U.S. Since the initial U.S. pilot launched in March 2021, Michaels reports that it has seen a significant number of incremental customers shop via Instacart. 

“For nearly 50 years, Michaels has inspired consumers across North America to pursue their creative goals with its broad selection of arts and crafts supplies,” said Chris Rogers, Vice President of Retail at Instacart. “We’re proud to expand our footprint with Michaels across North America today, making it possible for families in Canada to get the materials they need — whether looking for an art canvas, scrapbook accessory or kids activity — delivered directly to their door in as fast as an hour.”

Instacart today partners with more than 700 national, regional and local retailers, including unique brand names, to deliver from nearly 65,000 stores across more than 5,500 cities in the U.S. – including all 50 states – and Canada. Instacart delivery is available today to more than 90 per cent of Canadian households. 

Podcast [Interview] Halifax ReTales Turns 10

By
Retail Insider
-
Podcast [Interview] Halifax ReTales Turns 10

Craig interviews the founder of Halifax ReTales Arthur Gaudreau who is marking 10 years of founding his informative social media/newsletter/blog focused on retail and foodservice happenings in the Halifax area. Gaudreau talks about how he started his publication after a mental health crisis and how it grew to have thousands of followers with its local spin on reporting.

Congratulations Halifax ReTales!

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.

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Drop us a line at Craig@Retail-Insider.com. You can also rate us in Apple Podcasts or recommend us in Overcast to help more people discover the show!

Background Music Credit: Hard Boiled Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com). Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

Premium Swiss Chocolatier Läderach Continues North American Expansion with 3rd Storefront in Toronto

By
Dustin Fuhs
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Läderach Yorkdale Store (Image: Läderach)

Swiss chocolate brand Läderach has opened a new storefront at the Yorkdale Shopping Centre in Toronto.

The 773 square-foot location was the former home of Godiva Chocolate which closed all 128 of its North American locations as part of a January 2021 strategic decision as a result of buying habits of consumers during the pandemic. Läderach secured the leases of more than 30 Godiva locations as part of an asset purchase agreement, which included the four new stores.

Läderach has two other locations in the Canadian market, with a flagship at CF Toronto Eaton Centre and a store at York Mills in North York. In addition to the new Toronto store, the brand announced that it will be opening three stores in the United States over the next two weeks, bringing the total North American stores to 37.

Läderach Yorkdale Store (Image: Läderach)
Läderach Yorkdale Store
Läderach Yorkdale Store (Image: Läderach)
Yorkdale Shopping Centre Map
Nathanael Hausmann

“This Valentine’s Day, and throughout the year, chocolate lovers deserve the best,” said Nathanael Hausmann, president, Läderach North America.

“That’s why we’re excited to continue to open new shops across the US and Canada to provide the ultimate fresh chocolate experience. At Läderach, it’s what drives us every day to ensure the highest quality of freshness and craftsmanship in our chocolates, from bean-to-bar-to-the-store.”

Läderach retail stores feature the iconic FrischSchoggi™ (fresh chocolate) counter, which showcases large slabs of chocolate bark. Elias Läderach, the reigning World Chocolate Master, leads production and innovation for Läderach’s chocolates. The brand creates all the products in a “bean-to-bar” in-house production facility in Switzerland before shipping to the 100+ stores worldwide.

The Yorkdale location is in the Northeast corner of the shopping centre, which includes anchors Hudson’s Bay and Harry Rosen. The area recently added a new Athleta location, as the former Nike location was available after the brand moved to the former Home Outfitters two-story storefront.

Mary Mowbray of Colliers represents Läderach in Canadian lease negotiations.

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