Retail Insider continues its Photo Tour series of Canadian malls which began as a result of COVID-19 closures. We have been providing insights into shopping centres coast-to-coast which may otherwise be overlooked. This edition takes us to Yorkdale Shopping Centre in Toronto. The shopping centre houses about 270 stores and features the largest collection of first-to-market retailers and luxury brands in the country. Yorkdale is owned/managed by Oxford Properties.

With $2 billion in annual sales prior to the pandemic, Yorkdale ranked among the most productive shopping centres in the world with sales per square foot exceeding $2,000.

Yorkdale Shopping Centre is an indoor shopping mall with 270+ stores and approximately 2.0 million square feet of retail floor space. The shopping centre boasts six large format anchors which includes:

• Hudson’s Bay: The Canadian department store completed a ‘new look’ renovation in November 2011 spanning about 300,000 square feet. The store was built for Robert Simpson stores and was one of the two original anchors along with Eaton’s.
• Nordstrom: Opened at Yorkdale in October 2016 spanning three levels and 199,000 square feet.
• Holt Renfrew – Long-term tenant who expanded in July 2012 from 65,047 square feet westward creating 84,000 square foot space and then a second level creating 120,000+ square feet store with a central, two-level atrium. The store now spans about 130,000 square feet after an addition in 2019.
• Uniqlo: Japanese fashion retailer opened its second Canadian location at Yorkdale Shopping Centre in October 2016 spanning about 30,000 square feet.
• RH, aka Restoration Hardware: Opened its massive four-level mansion in November 2017 spanning 70,000 square feet of interior and exterior space.
• Sporting Life: Toronto-based sport and fashion retailer unveiled its Yorkdale location in fall of 2017.

History of Yorkdale Shopping Centre

Iconic Canadian department store chain Eaton’s purchased the land where Yorkdale is located in the 1950s with the intention of opening a shopping centre. Shortly thereafter, Eaton’s sold an 11 acre site to department store retailer Simpsons which built a 300,000 square foot store at Yorkdale. The shopping centre opened in February 1964.

Yorkdale Shopping Centre has had numerous renovations and expansions since 1964. The notable changes to include a complete overhaul in 1999, an expansion in 2005 increased the size to 1,404,646 square feet, an expansion in 2012 adding 145,000 square feet (where the Apple store is now located), the 298,000 square feet expansion for the Nordstrom wing in 2016, and the Restoration Hardware and wing addition in 2017.

Breaking up Yorkdale Shopping Centre

In order to make this photo tour manageable, the shopping centre has been divided into seven tour zones which generally corresponds to the expansions that occurred within.

The seven zones for this retail tour include:

• Luxury Loop
• 2012 Expansion Wing (Apple/Holt Renfrew Expansion)
• 2017 Expansion Wing (Restoration Hardware/Sporting Life)
• Centre Run
• Core/Middle Area
• 2016 Expansion Wing (Nordstrom)
• North Run

Zone 1 – Luxury Loop

Yorkdale’s luxury brand expansion began in 2009 when Tiffany & Co. opened a store near the mall’s Holt Renfrew anchor store. The rest of the stores in that area (Eddie Bauer, etc) would relocate or exit Yorkdale upon their lease renewal or expiry, which allowed for luxury brands to move in.

Retail Insider covered many of the openings during this expansion, including:

• Jimmy Choo: British high fashion house opened its first free-standing Canadian store in August 2014. Interesting fact, a Tod’s store almost moved into the space.
• Moncler: Italian luxury brand opened its first free-standing Canadian store in the summer of 2014 spanning 2,525 square feet.
• Salvatore Ferragamo: Italian luxury brand opened the brand’s second Canadian freestanding store in summer 2013 spanning 3,830 square feet.
• Kate Spade: Popular American fashion brand opened its first Canadian location in October of 2012.
• Versace: Luxury Italian fashion retailer opened its first Canadian location in December 2014 spanning 1,815 square feet.
• IWC Schaffhausen: International Watch Company (IWC) is a luxury Swiss watch brand headquartered in Schaffhausen, Switzerland opened at Yorkdale in 2017.
• Vacheron Constantin: Swiss luxury watch and clock manufacturer headquartered in Geneva opened at Yorkdale in 2017.
• Piaget: Luxury Italian watch brand headquartered in Florence opened at Yorkdale in 2017.
• Michael Kors: American designer relocated to its new 5,700 square feet location in September 2014. 
• Montblanc: Yorkdale’s location opened in August 2015 spanning 1,220 square feet.

• Saint Laurent: French fashion brand (formerly ‘Yves Saint Laurent’) opened its second freestanding Canadian store in November 2016 spanning 3,000 square feet on one level.
• ba&sh: French women’s fashion brand opened its third standalone Canadian store in March 2021 in the 785-square-foot spot formerly occupied by Mr. & Mrs. Italy.
• Chloé: Paris-based women’s luxury brand opened its first Canadian standalone store in June 2018.
• David Yurman: NYC-based designer of fine jewellery and luxury timepieces opened its first Canadian store in December 2013 spanning 1,837 square feet. The store is about to see a renovation.
• Hublot: LVMH-owned Swiss luxury watchmaker and accessory brand opened its first standalone Toronto storefront in September 2019. It is the first corporately owned Hublot in Canada with a licensed Vancouver store being the first location for the brand in Canada.
• Van Cleef & Arpels: Paris-based luxury jeweller opened its first freestanding Toronto store in June 2017 spanning 1,560 square feet on one level.
• Bottega Veneta: Luxury fashion brand, known particularly for its woven leather goods, opened in November 2018 spanning 4,700 square feet.
• Bulgari: Luxury Italian jeweller opened its Yorkdale location in December 2014 spanning about 2,500 square feet.
• Longchamp: French luxury brand opened its first free-standing Canadian location in June 2015 spanning over 1,600 square feet.

• Golden Goose: Upscale Italian fashion brand, known particularly for its pricey sneakers, opened its first standalone Canadian store in 2021 spanning 1,600 square feet.
• COS: H&M‘s upscale fashion brand COS (stands for ‘Collection of Style’) opened its third freestanding Canadian store in October 2016 spanning 5,188 square feet.
• Peloton: New York City-based fitness company, known particularly for its luxury stationary bicycles that live-stream spin classes, opened in Yorkdale in October 2018.
• Ladurée: French luxury bakery and sweets maker opened its first Toronto location in December 2017.
• Zara: Spanish-owned retailer opened its first North American “Zara Home” location at Toronto’s Yorkdale Shopping Centre in March 2013. The store shut last year and the space will be integrated into a new Nike flagship opening this month.
• Sephora: Paris based beauty retailer (operating under the LVMH corporate umbrella) opened Canada’s first ‘Beauty TIP Workshop store’ in August 2015.
• Louis Vuitton: LVMH-owned French luxury brand opened a flagship store in October 2020 spanning nearly 10,000 square feet features a first-in-Canada LED façade.
• Nespresso: Nestlé-owned Swiss coffee brand opened its Yorkdale store in September 2015.
• Aesop: Upscale Australian skin care brand opened its Yorkdale location in 2021 spanning about 780 square feet.
• Oliver Peoples: Los Angeles-based luxury eyewear retailer opened its Yorkdale Shopping Centre in October 2018 spanning 742 square feet.
• Jaeger-LeCoultre: Swiss luxury timepiece brand opened its Yorkdale location in March 2016 operated by Raffi Jewellers spanning 1,600 square foot space. The store recently moved up the hall and is now corporately-owned.
• Furla: Italian luxury brand officially opened its first Canadian storefront in October 2019 spanning nearly 1,500 square feet. 
• Valentino: Italian luxury brand opened its first standalone Canadian flagship in March 2019 at Yorkdale Shopping Centre spanning 4,600 square feet. 
• Tumi: Luggage and accessory brand relocated its Yorkdale location in May 2019 to a new 1,235 square foot space

Additional retailers in this area of Yorkdale include Cartier, Tiffany & Co., Tory Burch, Sunglass Hut, The Disney Store, and Bitter Sweet. UK Fragrance Brand, Jo Malone recently open in Yorkdale as part of the company’s global retail expansion. The Disney store is about to close along with all locations in Canada that haven’t already.

Zone 2 – 2012 Expansion Wing (Apple)

The 2012 expansion for Yorkdale introduced the iconic large Apple store which is a key tenant for shopping centre visitors. A number of luxury retailers have spilt over from the luxury run making the 2012 wing another high-glamour stretch of Yorkdale. Towards the bottom left corner are two car dealerships (Tesla and Nissan) as well as L’Occitane’s first-in-the-world concept store. Retail Insider covered many of the openings during this expansion, including:

• Balenciaga: Kering-owned French luxury brand opened its first standalone Canadian storefront at Yorkdale in December 2019 including 3,326 square feet of retail in a leased space spanning about 4,700 square feet.
• Ted Baker: Popular British fashion brand opened its first Canadian location, measuring 3,230 square feet, in October of 2012. It recently relocated to a much larger space.
• Tesla Motors: California-based electric car dealership opened its first Canadian retail location at Yorkdale in November 2012 spanning about 2,500 square feet. It’s unclear if it will remain there as Tesla will shut most mall-based stores.
• John Varvatos: The first Canadian store opened at Yorkdale Shopping Centre in November 2013 spanning 3,600 square feet.
• Hugo Boss: Upscale German fashion brand relocated its Canadian flagship from Toronto’s ‘Mink Mile’ to Yorkdale in September 2019. 
• L’Occitane en Provence: Upscale French beauty company opened its first-ever immersive digital experience multi-sensory store spanning 1,605 square feet retail space at Yorkdale in December 2017. 

Additional retailers in this area of Yorkdale include Wilfred, Apple, Club Monaco, Stuart Weitzman, Lush Cosmetics, Champs Sports, and the Nissan Studio.

Zone 3 – 2017 Expansion Wing (Restoration Hardware)

Yorkdale’s most recent expansion was this wing in 2017. It is home to a mansion-like Restoration Hardware, plenty of food and beverage options, Sporting Life and a number of other retail openings during this expansion, including:

• RH, aka Restoration Hardware: Opened its massive four-level mansion in November 2017 spanning nearly 70,000 square feet of interior and exterior space.
• MUJOSH: Hong Kong-based eyewear retailer opened at Yorkdale in June 2019.
• KitKat Chocolatory: Nestlé-owned chocolate brand opened the first permanent location of its kind in November 2011 being a highly experiential retail concept.
• Miele: High-end appliance brand unveiled its first-in-the-world interactive ‘Miele Experience Centre’ flagship in July 2018 at Yorkdale spanning 2,200 square feet of retail space
• Sporting Life: Toronto-based sport and fashion retailer unveiled its Yorkdale location in fall of 2017.

Additional retailers in this area of Yorkdale include Danish Pastry House and Uncle Tetsu.Vegan restaurant concept by CHLOE. recently shuttered and the company will come back to Canada with a new name.

Zone 4 – Centre Run

The centre run of Yorkdale runs from end-to-end, so we split it into two areas. This portion borders Harry Rosen and stretches halfway across the mall. It includes a Marvel Avengers “S.T.A.T.I.O.N.” entertainment centre as well as a number of other retailers reported on in Retail Insider:

• Breitling: Swiss watch manufacturer and chronograph specialist opened its first Canadian boutique in Yorkdale in August 2017 in a space leased by jeweller European Boutique.
• TUDOR: Swiss Luxury watch brand opened its first storefront in North America at Yorkdale in March 2021 spanning 450 square feet connected to Raffi Jewellers which is currently under renovation.
• ECCO: Danish footwear and accessory brand opened its first ‘Prime’ concept store in North America in June 2017.

Additional retailers in this area of Yorkdale include Raffi Jewellers, European Boutique, Lindt Chocolate Shop, Call It Spring, Garage, Aldo, Bikini Village, Levi’s, MICHAEL’s Bakery, Johnston & Murphy, Browns Shoes, B2, Plus, SoftMoc, Footaction, The LEGO Store, Melanie Lyne, and honey.

Zone 5 – Core/Middle Area

Retail Insider covered the announcement from Nike, which will see the brand relocate from the current location beside American Eagle Outfitters and Aerie to the new flagship location opening later this month. This space was occupied by Zara Home and Le Chateau on the first floor and Home Outfitters on the second level. Retail Insider covered a number of retail openings in this section of Yorkdale, including:

• Babaton: Vancouver-based Aritzia opened Babaton at Yorkdale in July 2017 being the second Canadian storefront after opening its first Babaton location opened at CF Toronto Eaton Centre in December 2016.
• Lacoste: French clothing known for its green crocodile logo opened its new global store concept at Yorkdale in June 2018.
• Coach: Upscale American fashion brand unveiled its ‘Next Generation’ renovated store in July 2015.

Additional retailers in this area of Yorkdale include Club Monaco Men, Kiehl’s, MAC Cosmetics, People’s Jewellers, Pottery Barn, Marciano, Massimo Dutti and Old Navy.

Zone 6 – 2016 Expansion Wing (Nordstrom)

The 2016 expansion for Yorkdale brought a number of key retailers to the shopping centre, including Toronto’s second Nordstrom store and a number of retail openings which Retail Insider reported on, including:

• Uniqlo: Japanese fashion retailer opened its second Canadian location at Yorkdale Shopping Centre in October 2016 spanning about 30,000 square feet.
• MUJI: Minimalist Japanese retailer opened in Yorkdale in October 2016 spanning 6,375 square feet.
• OVO: Musical performer Drake opened his 1,600 square foot flagship at Yorkdale in August 2017. The store is said to be relocating near Louis Vuitton next year.
• Reformation: Innovative eco-friendly US-based women’s fashion brand opened its first Canadian location at Yorkdale in July 2019.
• AllSaints: British designer and retailer opened its 10,000 square foot flagship at Yorkdale in April 2013 and relocated to a smaller space in the 2016 wing last year.
• Zadig & Voltaire: Paris-based fashion brand opened its 2,000 square foot location at Yorkdale in 2017.
• Away: New York City-based travel and lifestyle brand — known particularly for its innovative luggage — opened its first standalone store in Canada at Yorkdale in September 2020. It replaced a Woolrich store that shuttered last year.

• Mackage: Montreal-based fashion brand opened its Yorkdale location in October 2016.
• Warby Parker: New York City-based eyewear retailer opened its second Canadian store at Yorkdale in December 2016.
• Maison Birks: Iconic Montreal-based jeweller launched a new store targeting younger customers at Yorkdale in October 2016.
• Sandro: French fashion brand opened its first freestanding Canadian location at Yorkdale in October 2016.
• Canada Goose: Canadian cold weather outerwear brand opened its first permanent freestanding store in October 2016.
• Arc’teryx: North Vancouver-based outdoor clothing and sporting goods company opened in Yorkdale in October 2016 spanning about 2,800 square feet.
• Moose Knuckles: Popular Canadian sportswear brand opened its first permanent standalone store in fall 2017.
• Samsung: Canada’s second Samsung store opened in August 2013 spanning 2,160 square feet.
• Roots: Iconic Canadian retailer has unveiled an innovative ‘enhanced experience’ flagship at Yorkdale in August 2017.

Additional retailers in this area of Yorkdale include Saje Natural Wellness, Laline, Oak + Fort, Williams-Sonoma, Nature Collection, Lululemon, The Source and Nutrition House.

Zone 7 – North Run

The final section of Yorkdale has less luxury retail and a wide mix of retailers. The area was also home to the former Forever 21 and Victoria’s Secret, but the current retailers which Retail Insider reported on include:

• Sport Chek: FGL Sports-owned sport retailer opened at Yorkdale in November 2015 spanning 45,000 square feet.
• Indigo: Toronto-based book and gift retailer overhauled the Yorkdale location in May 2015 and opened an American Girl shop-in-store. 
• Aritzia: Vancouver-based women’s fashion retailer opened a 10,400 square foot location in August 2016.
• RW&CO: Canadian fashion brand relaunched its Yorkdale location in July 2017 spanning 3,650 square feet with a new concept.
• Nike: Footwear retailer was to open a massive Niketown flagship store at Yorkdale in November 2020 and now we’re told that it’s opening later this month.
• Indochino: Vancouver-based made-to-measure menswear company opened its Yorkdale location in July 2016.
• Hudson’s Bay: The Canadian department store completed a ‘new look’ renovation in November 2011.

Additional retailers in this area of Yorkdale include Harry Rosen, H&M, Lids, Guess, Banana Republic, Crate & Barrel, UGG Australia, Tristan, Bath & Body Works, The Body Shop, Michael Hill, Urban Behavior, Aldo, Rudsak, Skechers, Steve Madden, Kids Foot Locker, Gap Kids, La Senza, Dynamite, Jack & Jones, Aerie, Journeys, Just Cozy, American Eagle Outfitters, and Geox.

We had a very interesting photo walk around Yorkdale Shopping Centre in Toronto and we hope you enjoyed coming along with us. 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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Photo Walk at Yorkdale on July 31st, 2021

Images by Dustin Fuhs