WYRTH at Yorkdale Shopping Centre - Photo by Dustin Fuhs
Canadian home goods store WYRTH has opened a 3,000 square foot pop-up location at Yorkdale Shopping Centre in Toronto.
The store compliments a flagship concept which opened in 2019 in a 5,000 square foot stand-alone storefront on Orfus Road in Toronto.
“We couldn’t be more excited about our new location at Yorkdale Mall,” said Founder & CEO Rachel Benitah. We believe our curated collection of aesthetically pleasing, quality home goods bodes well with the Yorkdale clientele, including our amazing loyal clients as well as new customers that we look forward to getting to know.
WYRTH at Yorkdale Shopping Centre (Photo: WYRTH)
The Yorkdale location will carry an assortment of products, including home decor and tabletop, bath and baby products.
“We believe that there is a need for more accessible, yet trendy home decor in the market, and we intend to deliver on that need. We hope that this new exposure in Yorkdale Shopping Centre opens further opportunity for our brand.”
In addition to the pop-up at Yorkdale, WYRTH was able to share additional news that it had secured a pop-up location at Sherway Gardens that will open in November.
“We want to personally thank our broker, Jay Freedman from Oberfeld Snowcap as well as Oxford Properties for believing in us and making this store a reality,” Benitah shared. “We are grateful for these amazing partners in bringing this opportunity to fruition.”
WYRTH at Yorkdale Shopping Centre (Photo: WYRTH) WYRTH at Yorkdale Shopping Centre (Photo: WYRTH) WYRTH at Yorkdale Shopping Centre – Photo by Dustin FuhsWYRTH at Yorkdale Shopping Centre – Photo by Dustin FuhsWYRTH at Yorkdale Shopping Centre – Photo by Dustin FuhsWYRTH at Yorkdale Shopping Centre – Photo by Dustin FuhsWYRTH at Yorkdale Shopping Centre – Photo by Dustin FuhsWYRTH at Yorkdale Shopping Centre – Photo by Dustin FuhsWYRTH at Yorkdale Shopping Centre (Photo: WYRTH)
An Edmonton Toyota dealership has moved into the West Edmonton Mall saying it could be the largest full-service dealership inside of a shopping centre anywhere on the planet.
Mayfield Toyota had operated since 1998 under that name and for many years prior under previous ownership.
David Friesen, General Manager & Managing Partner of the dealership, said the business moved from about 56,000 square feet at its old location to about 125,000 square feet in the northeast corner, Phase One, of WEM.
Image: West Edmonton Mall Toyota
“At the end of the day we were really looking for a way to make using our facility convenient for everyone. Every ounce of marketing we’ll ever do is all about convenience for all,” said Friesen. “Our slogan is West Edmonton Mall Toyota, all makes, all models, all day, every day. It’s a gorgeous Toyota store. The showroom is unbelievable. It will blow your mind. Cars everywhere.
David Friesen
“It’s the servicing aspect of it that really is just remarkable. We built it service forward meaning that three quarters of the space is really designated to service and parts departments. Our drive-thru at Mayfield if you were coming for an appointment held six cars. Then once the six cars were full you were waiting in line outside in your car to come in the drive-thru. This particular one will fit up to 33 cars. It’s a massive drive thru.”
Friesen said the new showroom has 38 vehicles. There’s a covered carport outside that shows display units, holding up to 65 vehicles. It also has a section of the parkade that will hold up to another 600 vehicles. The previous company showroom had a capacity of about 15 vehicles.
West Edmonton Mall Toyota brings a variety of services for all makes and models, including: full detailing packages, quick and convenient express oil changes, complete mechanical services, over-the-counter parts purchases, tire sales/swaps and storage, windshields and – most importantly – all of their services will now be open seven days per week from early until late.
Image: West Edmonton Mall Toyota
In their all new state-of-the-art, indoor, fully interactive showroom, shoppers will have the ability to shop inside; no more trekking through the snow or through a heat wave.
They will offer shoppers even more convenience by constructing a massive valet centre at Entrance 50, that can be used by all WEM shoppers and employees as an easy way to drop off their vehicle for parking, full detailing packages or even express services.
West Edmonton Mall Toyota will also be offering an exclusive loyalty program through their newly created West Edmonton Mall Toyota App. The app will give their customers access to many exclusive offers and programs throughout West Edmonton Mall.
“To our knowledge we have yet to find anything like this anywhere on the planet,” said Friesen.
Image: West Edmonton Mall Toyota
“We’re 100 per cent certain we’re the largest dealership in the largest mall in the planet. There’s no question there. We think we may be the only one.”
David Ghermezian, President, West Edmonton Mall Property Inc., said “West Edmonton Mall is excited to partner with Mayfield Toyota in the development of a unique customer-focused Dealer Experience at a scale which has never been seen in a shopping centre before.”
“We’ve seen firsthand how our customers have embraced Mayfield Toyota at WEM through the last five years with many successful sale events at the Mayfield Toyota Ice Palace. This innovative partnership supports our customer’s lifestyles by providing a level of service and convenience that is unparalleled in the industry.
“We’re excited to be at the forefront of this groundbreaking automotive experience.”
Image: West Edmonton Mall Toyota
Image: West Edmonton Mall Toyota
Image: West Edmonton Mall Toyota
Cyril Dimitris
Cyril Dimitris, Vice President, Sales and Marketing at Toyota Canada Inc., said the company is excited about this unique opportunity to serve its customers in West Edmonton.
“We look forward to supporting Mayfield Toyota as they work with West Edmonton Mall to make this move a success.”
Friesen said other dealerships may look at the possibility of setting up shop in a mall especially as more big box stores close and malls need something to fill large space. Plus, a dealership would not be competing with any other retailer in a mall.
“It’s a good addition we bring in. Good customers who have some time to spend and what do they do? They can shop if they want. It’s a good marriage between the two but there’s got to be a lot of things that line up right. You’ve got to have the right space. You’ve got to have the right access. Putting a 130,000-square-foot dealership into the mall is not for every manufacturer. You have to be able to service the volume of people that come through here,” he said.
West Edmonton Mall Toyota (Image: Best Edmonton Mall)
Michael Kehoe
Michael Kehoe, an Alberta-based retail specialist, said the collaboration between West Edmonton Mall and Mayfield Toyota is part of a growing trend across North America where automotive dealerships are absorbing significant tracts of former department store spaces at major shopping centres.
“Toyota will have a major footprint at West Edmonton Mall in the former Sears store plus some space formerly occupied by retail stores,” said Kehoe, broker/owner of Fairfield Commercial Real Estate in Calgary.
“The dealership will enjoy a prominent retail location and the Mall will benefit from a significant number of dealership customers bringing their vehicles in for service where the average visit will be a minimum of three hours. It seems like a win / win to me as major malls transition large portions of their space to non and quasi-retail tenancies.”
Bruce Winder, author of RETAIL Before, During & After COVID-19 and President of Bruce Winder Retail, said Toyota’s move to the West Edmonton Mall appears to make sense. With the amount of traffic that the mall generates the dealership is bound to pick up some business.
Bruce Winder
“Tesla pioneered this approach by locating showrooms in premium malls near Apple stores. Unlike Tesla, Toyota will have a complete offering of amenities including detailing, service bays, inventory storage and showrooms. Other vehicle brands have used malls to sell including Porsche,” said Winder. “I think this represents the changing tenant mix of malls that now includes select digitally native brands, cannabis stores, health care providers, educational service providers and many other unique sellers that may have used standalone units in the past. As malls polarize into distinct lifestyle solution providers, Toyota will fit in well with their quality focused offering.
“The brand will need to ensure it is integrating e-commerce into the facility as the way consumers shop for vehicles has changed. The internet plays a much greater role in terms of information search, comparison shopping, vehicle customization, purchase, and post-purchase behaviour than previously used – and shoppers demand it. Toyota has an opportunity to leapfrog Tesla in terms of experiential retailing and take it to the next level if they wish to.
“Obviously, one would need to know what they are paying in terms of rent and how much they spent on renovations to determine the financial viability of such a move but judgmentally it feels positive.”
When it comes to ensuring the economic and social wellbeing of communities in every province and territory across the country, the health and success of small businesses is crucial. In fact, the prosperity of small businesses isn’t just a critical element lending to the vitality and verve of neighbourhoods, they are the lifeblood of the areas they serve. It goes without saying that impacts of the COVID-19 global pandemic have been devastating on their operations, limiting their ability to open their storefronts to customers and their capacity to progress and grow. As a result, it’s been recognized by many that small businesses currently require help and support in order to get through this extremely difficult period in retail history. Fortunately for some Canadian communities, there are Business Improvement Areas (BIA) that are doing everything they can to provide that much-needed help and support. However, according to Annie MacInnis, Executive Director of the Kensington Business Revitalization Zone (BRZ) in Calgary, the need for all BIAs to do so going forward is paramount.
“The role of BIAs is more critical now than ever before,” she asserts. “They were created to help communities and neighbourhoods deal with crisis. In fact, the first BIA in the world in Toronto’s Bloor West was created in order to deal with all of the issues that came with the introduction of the subway through the area. And there are so many more similar examples that can be pointed out around the world where organizations were formed in order to assist struggling businesses, protect merchants and business owners from violence and crime or to help revitalize a downtrodden community. They are the organizations that are best equipped to help businesses in communities adapt and persevere through adversity by working as a collective to address their issues and overcome their challenges. And, in light of the impact that the COVID-19 pandemic has had on small businesses in communities across the country, their efforts are going to be so important in ensuring the survival of Main Streets everywhere.”
Built for crisis
MacInnis goes on to explain that the Kensington BRZ that she manages was also formed in the wake of disruption to the area. Nestled between Sunnyside and Hillhurst in the heart of Calgary, the BRZ was organized in 1985 as a means to help support local merchants navigate the turbulence and interruptions to business that resulted from the construction of the Calgary Light-Rail Transit line through the area. By way of initiatives and advocacy on behalf of merchants, the BRZ enabled local business owners to maintain strength and continuity and continued foot traffic to the neighbourhood amid the adversity. The role that the BRZ served during its inception was pivotal in safeguarding the financial health of the area’s businesses. And it’s a purpose that it continues to fulfill today, benefitting everyone in the district.
“A healthy city is a city that evolves and grows,” says MacInnis. “And the communities and neighbourhoods within those cities are also going to go through evolution and change. It’s up to the BIAs in these communities to help them manage that growth and change, representing the collective business voice of the area. It requires strong collaboration with community associations and with the municipality to understand potential benefits of the many changes that might occur and inform business owners of them. As communities grow, so do the opportunities available to them. It can help increase the numbers of local shoppers who can be encouraged to spend their money in the community at the cool local shops, restaurants and bars. Having a lot of people who live and shop locally is the difference between a business district thriving and a business district barely surviving.”
Image: Kensington Calgary
Dedication and hard work
Today, the Kensington BRZ serves more than 270 member businesses. And, with the recent addition of new retail and office space as well as mixed-use developments, membership continues to grow. MacInnis’ work in leading the BRZ for the better part of the past 20 years has been instrumental in the success of its members. She’s also the Chair of the umbrella organization of Calgary BRZs and one of the founding members of the country’s first national organization – the Canadian chapter of the International Downtown Association. It allows her to be involved in advocacy at the municipal, provincial and federal levels. In fact, MacInnis is so active and passionate about the health and wellbeing of Canadian small businesses that when the City of Calgary developed the Business Sector Support Task Force at the onset of the pandemic, she was appointed as one of the representatives. As a result of regular meetings with the City, the Calgary Council made the decision to pay the BIA levy for more than 6,000 small businesses within 15 BIAs throughout the city. It’s an initiative that received international recognition, and one that MacInnis says is reflective of the dedication and hard work put in by everyone involved on the Task Force.
“This resulted in money in the pockets of business owners,” she exclaims. “And it was made possible because of our creativity, engagement and commitment to helping as many businesses as possible. Calgary was four years into a severe economic downturn when the COVID-19 crisis began and businesses in every district throughout the city were struggling. As a result, in order to deal with the downturn, a council had already been set up to focus on ways to help local businesses. So, when the pandemic hit, we were able to hit the ground running. But it seems that in response to its impact, everyone involved in efforts to help support merchants doubled down, going above and beyond to ensure the health and survival of their local business communities.”
Ensuring strong engagement
Beyond the advocacy efforts with government on behalf of small business owners, MacInnis stresses that one of the most important things that a BIA can do for its members during a time as difficult as the past 18 months is to maintain strong engagement with them. To do this for her own members, she made sure to speak personally with every one of Kensington’s business owners to understand their individual needs. In addition, she increased the number of newsletters that she distributes in a year from 10 to 45, advising members of provincial regulations, financial aid information and mental health resources, among other useful content. However, it was the budgetary decision that she made when the pandemic’s impacts began that has yielded perhaps the biggest reward for members.
“When we were determining our budget in Fall 2020, although a lot of BIAs were making the decision to lower fees to their members out of respect for their businesses, we were a bit of an outlier and decided not to lower our fees,” she explains. “When you lower your fees, you have to lower your budget. We figured that a crisis like COVID is what our organization was built for, and we can do so much more with that money. It allowed us to put on a campaign earlier this year with the goal of putting money back into our small businesses and to encourage people that our business district was a safe place to come back to. In order to do that, we set up live entertainment in our public plaza every Saturday for six months where visitors could come and socially distance and enjoy live entertainment. The events helped support local artists. And, as part of the event series, we also supported a different local charity organization each month, helping to raise awareness of their services. It was a great success and helped to promote Kensington as a safe, fun and vibrant place to enjoy a Saturday afternoon.”
Image: Kensington Calgary
Love conquers all
As part of the six-week entertainment series, MacInnis also initiated a contest that visitors to the area can enter every week for six months. To do so, people are encouraged to write a ‘love letter’ to Kensington, explaining their admiration for the community, and submit it in person into a mailbox located in the plaza. Each week, the mailbox is emptied and a letter is chosen as the winner, whose writer receives $1,000 in gift cards to local shops in town. To fund the project, the Kensington BRZ used $40,000 of its budget, purchasing $300 in gift cards from every business in the community. And, because many of the gift cards are $25 denominations, each winner’s prize consists of 30 to 35 gift cards to individual merchants, ensuring traffic, repeat visits, new customers and hopefully more spend above the value of the gift cards.
In addition, as part of the campaign that MacInnis calls Kensington’s ‘Love’ campaign, the BRZ and its local business members also hosted three massive community fire pits with community seating in the deep cold of February. It lit up the community with bright colourful lights. And it introduced a big heart bench in the centre of the district, reflective of the campaign and Kensington as a safe and welcoming community. Each of these initiatives on their own reaped benefits for local business owners and the Kensington community. However, as part of a collective, the success that’s been generated to date has been incredible, evidenced by the health of the Kensington business district.
“When the pandemic hit, I set a goal to save more businesses than I’d lose during this time,” she admits. “In the four years of economic downturn, prior to the pandemic, I had lost 16 businesses. At the start of COVID, when there were a number of problems between landlords and their tenants, I lost another 14 businesses. Since then, 17 businesses have opened in Kensington, 2 took the time to rebrand, 6 have expanded or moved to a larger location in the area and 6 are opening soon. In the end, the health of small businesses is critical to the health of the municipal economy, provincial economy and federal economy. I understood how important it was to protect Canada’s entrepreneurs from the devastating impacts of the pandemic and thereby protect the economic wellbeing of the country.”
Preparing for a ‘new normal’
Response to MacInnis’ initiatives has been tremendous to date. And, looking ahead, she has a number of plans to further improve Kensington, making it more welcoming than it already is, including the enhancement of the community’s plaza with better lighting, the inclusion of power sources and access to water. She’s also in the process of working with local businesses to realize new opportunities that might arise from a ‘new normal’, including the chance to reimagine their stores and the way they do things and to consider creative partnerships with other businesses that might involve a type of lease-sharing agreement. All of her efforts are aimed at helping to create more useful spaces within the district and to help support merchants in understanding the changed landscape and to embrace a new way of thinking. In doing so, she believes that there are bright days ahead.
“Things have undoubtedly changed over the course of the past 18 months. And it’s up to small business owners, with the help and support of their local BIAs, to think creatively and connect with their customers on another level. People are really starting to embrace the shop local mentality and are understanding more clearly how important small businesses are to the health of their communities. They’re seeing now more than ever that their local small business owner is also their neighbour and their friend. We’ve experienced quite a bit of support for our merchants throughout the pandemic. And, it’s support that I only anticipate strengthening as we continue moving forward.”
Goodfood Market Corp., a leading online grocery company in Canada, recently launched a fully electric refrigerated vehicle fleet which it says is a first for any private entity in Canada.
The launch is initially in Vancouver with 10 vehicles.
Jonathan Ferrari
“Innovation in technology is a core pillar for us at Goodfood. As we continue to set the bar for a sustainable future, like our fully recyclable Goodfood meal kit boxes and our plant-based ready-to-eat salad packaging, we want to go beyond our products and bring sustainability in grocery through delivery,” said Jonathan Ferrari, Goodfood’s Chief Executive Officer.
“The idea behind the initiative was over the past few years it’s become evident to us that all of our stakeholders are incredibly focused on sustainability and the whole ESG movement and so one of our key initiatives on the environmental side was we gave our team the challenge of figuring out how to create a fully electric refrigerated vehicle fleet. We thought of Vancouver as our first market because we did get some government support . . . So our fleet in Vancouver is now fully electric including the refrigeration unit in the trucks and the operation of the electric vehicles.
“What’s pretty incredible is that we’re the first private entity to participate in this program and to build a fully electric and refrigerated fleet in Vancouver. It’s still early days but the customer feedback has been excellent.”
Image: Goodfood
Goodfood is collaborating with Lightning eMotors, Volta Air and Frigid Rentals on the initiative and the company says it is the first private entity to receive a pre-approved grant from Plug-In BC for electric charging infrastructure. The vehicles themselves have an estimated range of 200 kilometres on a full charge of its 86-kWh battery pack, regenerative braking, and can comfortably hit 120km/hour – silently.
Goodfood was launched in 2014 based out of Montreal. Today, it services all the major cities across Canada with offices and fulfillment centres in Montreal, Toronto, Calgary and Vancouver.
“When we first started the business, our intent was to completely revolutionize the way that Canadians did their weekly meal planning as well as their grocery shopping,” said Ferrari. “So the first five years of the business we really focused on creating the meal kit category in Canada. Every week our customers get a box of delicious ingredients. Everything they need to prepare their weeknight meals.
“By 4 p.m. every single day 80 per cent of Canadians don’t know what they’re having for dinner. So to be able to offer them fresh ingredients, flavours and to be able to get out of that weeknight recipe rut, the meal kits are a perfect solution. So that was kind of the first five years of our business. We expanded nationally. We created fulfillment centres. We built a brand. We have over 3,000 employees across the country.
Goodfood Rendering in Toronto. (Image: LIDD Toronto Brokerage)
“And we’ve since turned our attention to being able to service more of our customers’ weekly needs. So we now offer a selection of prepared meals as well. The meals are fully cooked and ready to heat and serve as well as a growing selection of grocery products. Our intent as we look forward over the coming years is to be able to become a one-stop shop for grocery shopping needs, prepared meals and meal kits.”
Goodfood currently has about 300,000 households that are subscribers across the country and it delivers millions of meals every single month.
Ferrari said neighbourhoods across the country will be getting the electric refrigerated vehicles soon as well.
“This first fleet was intended to prove out two things. The first piece was really these trucks are fully custom. We actually customize the electric vehicle, the refrigeration. Everything. This is not like an off-the-shelf vehicle,” he said.
“The first step was to understand how would they perform in a real life setting, real life environment. And then the second piece was to be able to understand how we could set up the process to recharge the vehicles, what the performance would look like throughout the winter months for example when the battery lifes become shorter. That’s what we will be testing out over the coming months and once we get that feedback from our drivers and customers who understand the performance of the trucks and the economics of the vehicles, at that point we’ll be able to scale nationally with our electric vehicles.”
Inger Miller
Plug-In BC Program Lead, Charging Infrastructure, Inger Miller, said Goodfood is continuing its commitment to pushing boundaries of what food and grocery look like across the country.
“Going electric allows fleets to save on operational costs and reduce emissions for a sustainable future and we continue to do this through great partnerships with Canadian owned companies like Goodfood,” said Miller.
Today, about 80 per cent of the company’s deliveries are in Eastern Canada – Ontario and Quebec. If you think about the Vancouver market being 10 vehicles, the company could multiply that number by five times to meet current needs there and continue growing over time.
Richmond at Spadina in Toronto - Photo by Dustin Fuhs
The Toronto retail leasing market will see improved activity in 2021 but should remain below 2019 levels despite its recent rebound. A series of lockdowns has impaired the ability of many retailers to make plans, so leasing is still catching up, says a new report by commercial real estate company JLL.
Despite a severe third wave, overall retail leasing activity rose by 21 per cent in the first half of 2021 compared with 2020, but remained 28 per cent down compared with 2019, according to the Retail Outlook for the Fall 2021 report.
“Retailers have certainly looked at foot traffic to lease spaces. The focus remains outside the CBDs, as many office workers have stayed beyond the downtown areas and worked from home. Scarborough has seen strong space absorption during the pandemic,” it said.
“Available space decreased in 2021 as developers readjusted to lower demand and significantly reduced new supply. The trend to move in remained stronger than the trend to move out, although not at the strength of previous years. In this context, neighbourhood centres, anchored by essential shops a few steps from shoppers’ homes, have seen increased interest across the GTA.
Signage in The PATH – Photo by Dustin Fuhs
“In fact, neighbourhood centres, power centres, and general retail were the biggest contributors to the decrease in availability. In contrast, only malls experienced a significant increase in availability, offsetting some of the overall decrease.”
Tim Sanderson
Tim Sanderson, Executive Vice President, National Retail Lead for JLL, said the Toronto market is starting to come back.
“If we haven’t hit the bottom of the market yet, it’s imminent and things are beginning to pick up. There is some more vibrancy to the marketplace on the both the landlord and the tenant side. People need to remember that Toronto was the most locked down city in North America in terms of days of closures,” said Sanderson. “We were in a very dark spot. Vancouver wasn’t locked down to the degree Toronto was. Calgary wasn’t. Montreal wasn’t.
“So the dip, the bottom of the trough, was much deeper here. But we’re definitely seeing signs of vibrancy in the marketplace. We’re seeing retailers starting to talk about looking at space. And that’s good. That’s very good for the marketplace.”
Sanderson said a little bit more certainty is turning things around in the retail real estate market.
CF Toronto Eaton Centre – Photo by Dustin Fuhs
The JLL report said that while net effective rents for occupied space decreased by 14 per cent in 2020, they have moderately rebounded in 2021, demonstrating that the trend for base-rent concessions and adoption of percent sales agreements has receded and rent collections have improved. Retail sales in 2021 are down five per cent compared with 2019, although they increased by eight per cent compared with 2020.
“The ramp-up to the recovery of food services will be also slow as Ontario’s 2021 sales are down 32 per cent from pre- pandemic levels. After reporting full patios and reaching maximum capacity during the summer, full-service restaurants should see a weakening in business as the fourth wave moves through and the weather cools. QSRs will continue to perform better, although sales in the province haven’t recovered completely,” it said.
Business owners in downtown Toronto continue to deal with reduced foot traffic in areas, like the PATH, that were once bustling with office workers. More than half-a-million workers used to visit the downtown area every day, added JLL.
Former Lotto Centre at Sheraton Centre in Downtown Toronto – Photo by Dustin Fuhs
“The financial cores of the major cities in Canada have been hard hit. Keep in mind that the amount of office space in downtown Toronto compared to Calgary or Vancouver is gargantuan and it fuels a whole lot of other activity in the marketplace, restaurants, retail, etc., “ said Sanderson.
“What I do find interesting is the areas, the neighbourhoods, around the core if you look at downtown Toronto – King West, King East, the Distillery, Yorkville – these are vibrant. Things are going on.
“One thing worth noting. Many of the trends that take place in the United States often end up coming to Canada. I was on a call with my colleagues in New York (recently) and they’ve definitely seen an uptick since Labour Day of people going into Manhattan. Traffic is up. Subway traffic is up. Train traffic is up. So people are starting to come back to the offices in Manhattan. If you argue that Toronto is the New York of Canada, does that mean we’re going to see a similar trend here? And if so when? I think one of the biggest challenges in this market, in Toronto in particular, is still what seems to be people’s reluctance to get on the Go Train and the Subway – whether you’re worried about the person next to you coughing on you or whether you’re getting two hours back in your day when you’re not on sitting on the Go Train by working at home.”
The retail industry is, at the best of times, an unpredictable one which results in a number of different uncertainties that merchants must contend with every day. There’s no denying that events and circumstances over the course of the past year-and-a-half have ratcheted this notion up significantly, forcing much of the industry to shift and pivot in order to remain successful and continue servicing customers. However, with a gradual reopening of communities and economies across the country and a return of foot traffic to physical brick-and-mortar retail locations, the outlook on a near-term recovery for the industry seems optimistic, albeit cautiously so. Despite the lingering headwinds, there will be opportunities for growth, says, Roelof van Dijk, Senior Director, National Research & Analytics, Canada at Colliers, adding that the critical element likely required to attract customers back to the physical store will be centred around the experience.
“It’s been an incredibly uncertain time over the past 18 months,” he says. “And, although there are still a number of regions and provinces with capacity restrictions still in place, as well as some areas that are experiencing a resurgence of the virus’ spread, much of the country continues to reopen. Consumers are returning to physical stores as well. And so, there’s quite a bit of optimism around a brick-and-mortar retail recovery over the months ahead and opportunities for those retailers to offer the experience that today’s consumer is looking for. People are very much social beings. And there are many Canadians across the country who have saved money during the pandemic, unable to spend on things like travel, entertainment and eating out. They’re craving experiences. And the developers and landlords that can create the right mix of experiential components within their properties, making them destinations, will be the ones who enjoy the most success going forward.”
Unequal recovery
van Dijk goes on to explain that although retail was one of the hardest hit commercial real estate sectors throughout the pandemic, total retail sales continue to be strong. In fact, according to Colliers’ recent Mid-Year 2021 Canada Retail Update, the retail recovery is well and truly underway as total retail sales have already surpassed pre-pandemic levels. However, the report also points out some nuances in the recovery, citing an unequal rebound as a result of massive gains in ecommerce in addition to a disparity of gains among different retail sectors. As a result, says van Dijk, the road to recovery is set to be just as disproportionate for the industry.
“There are some sectors, which have not been able to open up and serve customers, that have been suffering a lot more than others during the pandemic,” he says. “Restaurants, malls and downtown commuter-based retailers are all starting to see a return of foot traffic. But what we’re seeing looking ahead is a potential slowdown in overall retail sales, a shift that will impact the sectors that have been doing extremely well through the past year-and-a-half, like home improvement and renovations, furniture, appliances and other similar types of retail. So, the trajectory of recovery and a rebound in sales may be extremely unequal through the next year-plus.”
Headwinds to growth
He recognizes the fourth wave of the COVID-19 virus as the obvious headwind to growth and impediment to an increase in physical retail sales over the short-term. Any further lockdowns and tightening of social restrictions and protocols could be devastating for some. However, there are a number of other factors, he says, that retailers and other businesses will need to contend with going forward as they continue to navigate through to a post-pandemic environment and a return to something as close to normal as possible.
“The potential for retailers to truly make some sort of recovery through the fourth quarter of the year and into 2022 is directly linked to their ability to ramp up their operations,” he asserts. “Currently, a big piece of that equation is being impacted significantly by a labour shortage. There are certain areas through the country where restaurants, venues and other establishments can’t hire enough staff to fully reopen, turning customers away and closing early because they don’t have enough staff. On top of that, there are still increased costs associated with PPE and cleaning and sanitization. So, operating hours are being impacted for some, reducing their revenue while their costs continue to increase. And, of course, there continue to be major concerns and disruptions related to the global supply chain. All of this creates a major issue for some. If you don’t have staff to service customers or product to sell them, it’s hard to generate revenue.”
Ecommerce impact
As mentioned, the Colliers report also cites the dramatic increased adoption of online channels for purchases as the most significant impact of the pandemic on retail. Ecommerce as a percentage of total retail sales (excluding automobiles and gasoline) reached a peak of 14.5 percent in April of 2020, doubling the pre-pandemic peak of 7.2 percent in December of 2019. On a dollar basis, e-commerce sales peaked at $4.8 billion in December of 2020, surpassing the pre-pandemic peak of under $2.8 billion in December of 2019. And, although online purchases have slowed of late, they still sit around an estimated 12 percent and will, according to van Dijk, continue to impact total retail sales going forward.
“We know that ecommerce is still growing at a much faster rate than that of total retail sales,” he says. “And it will likely continue to grow at a faster rate. During the pandemic there were many individuals who were perhaps a bit reluctant to purchase orders online prior to the pandemic who became quite comfortable doing so over the past 18 months. There’s an obvious ease and convenience to the experience that a lot of consumers appreciate. And, given the high ceiling of ecommerce penetration in the country, we’re expecting the trend toward online to continue for some time.”
The cost of returns
The increased adoption of ecommerce is not the only challenge that the digitization of today’s consumer presents retailers. With the shift in shopping behaviour comes additional costs associated with returns logistics. The report points out the fact that the handling of product returns at physical retail locations is far less problematic than through ecommerce platforms. In addition, as a result of the inability for the consumer to touch and feel the product in a physical setting, product returns have increased significantly through the pandemic, from anywhere between the pre-pandemic average of 5 to 10 percent to 20 percent and, in some cases, as high as 40 percent today. And, as the total general costs of returns are still estimated at nearly 10 percent of the product sale price, it’s proving to be an extremely costly challenge for many. Indeed, retail returns are ugly. However, there are some things that van Dijk suggests might help alleviate the challenge and the costs associated, particularly for those operating within malls.
“An omnichannel shopping environment is where we’ve been heading for some time and where we’ll continue to move toward,” he says. “What landlords do to help tenants deal with ecommerce returns is going to be really important going forward. We’ve seen many institutional retail landlords across the country working on solutions at scale to help make the process swift and cost-effective for all parties involved.”
In fact, the report points to Cadillac Fairview as one example in which the landlord has partnered with ReturnBear in order to provide an improved return experience for customers of its shopping destinations. The service offers the ability for customers to return items from a number of retailers at once, either at a single drop-off location at a CF shopping centre or shipped back together in a single box to a ReturnBear processing centre. It’s an inventive and holistic way in which shopping centre landlords can work with their tenants, becoming part of the solution.
Commercial real estate stabilization
Van Dijk goes further to suggest that anything landlords and developers can do to strengthen their relationships and develop collaborations with their retail tenants will be critical to ensure the success of their properties going forward. And with the right collaborations and a return of footfall to retail stores over the coming months, he says that it could mean very good things for the commercial retail real estate market.
“When it comes down to the performance of retail assets, we anticipate some improvements. As soon as capacity limitations are lifted, social restrictions are removed, foot traffic really starts to return and commuter traffic is restored, there’s a lot of upward potential for retail properties over the next 6 to 12 months. And if retailers continue to drive traffic to their stores and mall landlords can keep tenants in their buildings, creating opportunities to continue driving engagement, vacancy rates will continue to decrease, which will in turn help drive rental growth. And, as we continue to move forward into the fourth quarter of the year and into 2022, we expect to see a return to downtown activity across the country and a bit of a stabilization of the commercial real estate market.”
Richmond Hill-based Staples Canada has opened its newest ‘Working and Learning Company’ concept store at 517 Richmond Street East in downtown Toronto’s Corktown District.
The relocation of the downtown Toronto store was precipitated by the announcement of the rapid transit ‘Ontario Line‘ which is bringing 15.6 kilometers of mass transit from Exhibition Place to the Science Centre. Plans for the transit project will take track along Queen Street to Moss Park and then continue south to the First Parliament site and former Front Street Staples location.
“Community is more important now than ever before, and we value the role we play in the communities we serve through our network of 300+ stores across Canada,” said Staples Canada CEO David Boone. “While our new store is exciting, we’re equally excited to give back to the community that we’ve been a part of since our Front Street store opened in 1993.”
Corktown Ontario Line Station – Image: MetrolynxFormer Staples store on Front Street – Photo by Dustin FuhsCorktown Ontario Line Station plans – Image: Metrolynx
David Boone
The brand was looking towards keeping the existing network of stores intact while building for the future concepts and technologies.
“We’re able to secure another location downtown with parking, easy accessibility, which was important for our customers. This gave us the opportunity to create the best representation of Staples as The Working and Learning Company.”
“Two big things about this store: Community based (co-working, services and a cafe as part of the design) and bringing together solutions with new brands, new innovative products, services and content which will allow people to be more successful in their learning lives.”
New Staples Canada Corktown – Photo by Dustin Fuhs
The store is housed in a former industrial manufacturing facility for the DECIEM brand, which operated there from 2015 to 2019 before exiting. Plans for this location were in process before the COVID-19 pandemic hit.
“This is a continuation of the strategy that we started three years ago as a company. What the pandemic has done has convinced us that we were on the right track. The notion of opening more co-working, we’re starting to see the co-working spaces that we have fill up with people who are in this hybrid model.”
“The sets of products and services that people need to work from home – we’ve just accelerated and made sure that we have the assortment in our stores so that our customers can be successful. It is not a change from our strategy – its just getting better and more relevant, and more exciting, and more inspirational for Canadians.”
Corktown has a number of features built in, including technology for stock availability and information. It also connects customers to a broader set of products in the system that may not be on site.
Staples Canada Corktown Front Registers- Photo by Dustin Fuhs
Staples Canada Corktown – Photo by Dustin Fuhs
Staples Canada Corktown – Photo by Dustin Fuhs
“One of our strengths as a company is we have an unmatched last-mile distribution network”, shared the Staples Canada CEO. “We deliver next day across Canada. We own our own fleet of vehicles. I’m incredibly proud of how our team delivered through the pandemic. We did not lose a beat and we did not have issues.”
Mos Mos has continued its in-store cafe partnership with Staples Canada after a successful launch at the University Avenue location.
“Wherever we have created one of these store concepts, we have wanted to introduce a cafe. Our customers love it. We’ve been looking for local business partners because that is the lifeblood of the Canadian economy and its who most of our customers are.”
“Mos Mos was in our University Avenue location. Very successful and our customers love it. When this opportunity came up, we had a conversation and they were keen to be part of it. They love the location and wanted to be in this part of town.”
Staples Canada Corktown Mos Mos Corktown Cookie – Photo by Dustin Fuhs
Staples Canada Corktown Mos Mos – Photo by Dustin Fuhs
“This is a great marriage between a set of local entrepreneurs who care deeply about product and about the experience. In fact, you have to check out the cookie. Created specific for this location and inspired by the food that was consumed locally. We just love them.”
The Corktown location is the sixth Staples Studio location and the first with a second-floor patio with a stage for future Spotlight talks and community events.
Other highlights at Staples Corktown include:
Solutionshop: Assisting locals with enhanced services that include tech services, graphic design, marketing solutions, shipping, print services and much more.
Murals by Local Artists: The Corktown Store is flanked with murals from Pascal Paquette and Zuna Amir, bringing joy and wonder to the in-store experience, making a creative mark on the Corktown community and supporting local artists.
Technology throughout: The store will feature an interactive workspace experience, including a six-foot touchscreen that can help customers build an effective work from anywhere space in their homes.
Staples Canada Corktown – Photo by Dustin Fuhs
We asked Boone about the next steps and what Retail Insider readers would be hearing from the company in the future.
“You’re going to see us continue to update our retail network. You’re going to continue to see us bring more solutions to market to help people with hybrid work, cleanliness, safety and wellness. We have lots of opportunity in gaming and learning and creativity. You’re going to see a lot more of that from Staples.”
“We have a major push to serve Canadian businesses a better way. So we have a membership program – we brought together our B2B business with our retail business and we are doing everything that we can to make sure that Canadian businesses are successful for the next few years. You’re going to hear a lot more about B2B business from us.”
Photos from the Media Preview with Senior Leadership
Staples Canada Corktown Media Preview – Photo by Dustin FuhsStaples Canada Corktown Media Preview with CEO David Boone – Photo by Dustin FuhsStaples Canada Corktown Media Preview with Rachel Huckle, Chief Retail Officer at Staples Canada – Photo by Dustin FuhsStaples Canada Corktown Media Preview – Photo by Dustin FuhsStaples Canada Corktown Media Preview with John DeFranco, Chief Commercial Officer at STAPLES Canada – Photo by Dustin Fuhs
Photos from the Staples Canada Corktown Store
Staples Canada Corktown – Photo by Dustin FuhsStaples Canada Corktown – Photo by Dustin FuhsStaples Canada Corktown Technology – Photo by Dustin FuhsStaples Canada Corktown Front Registers- Photo by Dustin FuhsStaples Canada Corktown – Photo by Dustin FuhsStaples Canada Corktown – Photo by Dustin FuhsStaples Canada Corktown – Photo by Dustin FuhsStaples Canada Corktown – Photo by Dustin FuhsStaples Canada Corktown – Photo by Dustin FuhsStaples Canada Corktown – Photo by Dustin FuhsStaples Canada Corktown – Photo by Dustin FuhsStaples Canada Corktown – Photo by Dustin FuhsStaples Canada Corktown – Photo by Dustin FuhsStaples Canada Corktown Game Zone – Photo by Dustin FuhsStaples Canada Corktown – Photo by Dustin FuhsStaples Canada Corktown – Photo by Dustin FuhsStaples Canada Corktown – Photo by Dustin FuhsStaples Canada Corktown – Photo by Dustin FuhsStaples Canada Corktown – Photo by Dustin FuhsStaples Canada Corktown Podcast Studio – Photo by Dustin FuhsStaples Canada Corktown Rooftop Mural- Photo by Dustin FuhsStaples Canada Corktown – Photo by Dustin FuhsStaples Canada Corktown – Photo by Dustin FuhsStaples Canada Corktown – Photo by Dustin FuhsStaples Canada Corktown – Photo by Dustin FuhsStaples Corktown – Photo by Dustin FuhsStaples Corktown – Photo by Dustin Fuhs
Specsavers, the world’s largest optometrist owned and led business, has entered the Canadian market with the acquisition of B.C.-based Image Optometry.
Image: Bill Moir
Specsavers was founded nearly 40 years ago in the U.K. by optometrist husband and wife team, Doug and Mary Perkins, who set out to provide best-value, quality eyecare to everybody. There are now more than 2,300 Specsavers locations serving 41 million patients and customers in the U.K., the Republic of Ireland, the Netherlands, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Finland, Spain, Australia, and New Zealand – and now Canada.
Bill Moir, General Manager of Specsavers Canada who is based in Vancouver, said Image Optometry has 16 locations all in British Columbia.
“We’ve never been in Canada before. Image Optometry is our first venture into the Canadian market,” said Moir.
“We’ve been in conversations with Image for quite a period of time. We thought they were the ideal foundation for us to build on. As a brand, they’ve been focusing on value and on people, which are endemic to the Specsavers value system, that has quality, affordability, and accessibility at its core. So that’s why we’re keen and we thought it would be an ideal launch platform for us into Canada.
Image: Specsavers Canada
“The idea is we will then convert them to Specsavers branded stores before we concentrate on new store growth.”
The conversion will start in November and roll out until March of next year.
Moir said the company has always been interested in the Canadian market. Its goal is making eyecare really accessible for people. Therefore, it focuses on bringing value-driven prescription eyewear and really inclusive clinical care and advanced clinical equipment to people.
“All the research shows us that Canadians will really appreciate the value of our tried and true business model . . . it’s also about providing business ownership opportunities for independent optometrists in Canada. Specsavers is a partnership-led business and we believe that the Specsavers model will be very successful in Canada, because we can give partners global support combined with local ownership.”
Moir said after the re-branding of the Image Optometry locations Specsavers will move to rapid growth.
Image: Specsavers Canada
“We aim to be market leaders in optometry by the end of 2024. We plan to open another 200 stores across Canada over the next few years,” said Moir. Trevor Thomas and David Bishop of JLL are working with Specsavers on the rollout.
“I think before the market was relatively static. I think there’s an opportunity, and that’s what we’re interested in, in really driving change in the market. I see a real opportunity for us to give better value for Canadian customers, to improve levels of eye health that people are being given nationally as well – an opportunity for some change to give Canadians a better value of eyecare and eyewear.”
George Minakakis
George Minakakis, a global retail executive with over 25 years of experience and CEO of the Inception Retail Group, said Specsavers operates a powerful brand with a proven consumer and business model backed by very aggressive expansion plans.
“The Canadian marketplace has been consolidating for a few years. I should know, I ran Luxottica Retail in Canada for about 20 years, including the expansion of LensCrafters in China. However, over the last few years, I have been engaged with Private Equity firms that either want to acquire a retail chain or conduct a rollup of independents. Plus some significant opportunities that I pursued,” he said.
“But Canada is now saturated with many chain operators. What’s left are independent practices that are owned and operated by Opticians or Optometrists. Canada is attractive because it is what’s referred to as a ‘free to choose market’. In other words, we are not directed where to buy our eyewear from or have our eye exams, like they do in the U.S.
“Simply consumers are driven by quality eyewear, eye-exams, brands, and some by pricing. E-commerce alone has been growing, but it isn’t more than 10-12 per cent of the market. In most of Canada, especially Ontario and Quebec, you only get prescriptions from a Doctor. As a result, optometry has been an attractive target for me as a consolidation opportunity. If I were in the eyewear category today, I would be concerned about the expansion of Specsavers.”
Minakakis said every market that Specsavers has entered, like Australia, has seen the retailer take a dominant share in a very short period of time.
“My advice to anyone operating chains in the category, they need to look very hard at the strength of their management teams. Competition is about to become very aggressive and price-driven,” he said.
The competitive Canadian eyewear market has also seen recent interest from Bailey Nelson (Australia), Warby Parker (US) and Mujosh (Hong Kong).
Minakakis said the industry is divided in this manner:
Optometry professionals that conduct eye-exams, prescribe Rx’s and sell eyewear;
Opticians shops, are usually independent operators who only sell eye-wear, many have some sporadic coverage of Optometry coverage but many also refer to Optometrist and hope that the customer returns;
Ophthalmologists are medical doctors that specialize in eyes, they do comprehensive tests, surgery and some do sell eye-wear as well;
Chains and e-commerce: There are a number of chains across all provinces.
The largest players in Canada, he said include: Luxottica – LensCrafters, Pearle Vision and Sunglass Hut; New Look (Vogue Optical, New Look, Iris, Greiche and Scaff), FYI – Doctors, Hakim Optical and BonLook.
Minakakis said Specsavers has been looking at Canada for years and their recent acquisition of Image Optometry in BC comes as no surprise because the BC market is the least regulated market in Canada.
“According to their press release their acquisition seems to be exploratory. However, if they are able to define their business and consumer model in Canada. It will be a significant challenge for all operators in the industry, because their value proposition is very compelling which successfully couples together eye-care and affordable eyewear, mostly a two for one model. Their aggressive marketing will be overwhelming for most operators to contend with and independents will likely sell or become partners in locations with them,” he said.
“My view of the marketplace is that independent Opticians and Optometrists are already being challenged by the larger chains and e-commerce. Their best move would be to consolidate under one banner. However that doesn’t mean they would be shielded from the marketing power and appeal of Specsavers. Larger chains need to do their homework and establish a stronger executive team in Canada, because the biggest mistake is underestimating this optical retailer’s power. In addition, I should add that they are also involved in hearing clinics and some locations can offer both so it isn’t just one segment of commercial health care that gets impacted.
“Of course Specsavers will need to make major acquisitions especially in Ontario and Quebec for a large enough footprint. My estimate is that they would need about 300-350 locations nationally. Optical practices and chains should worry about this retailer because they have a proven physical and online platform.”
Swedish home furnishings retailer IKEA is opening three more of its IKEA Design Studios in southern Ontario this fall as the retailer expands the concept. All three Studios are in leading shopping centre properties, marking a new chapter for IKEA which has traditionally located in large big-box storefronts.
This fall, Ikea is introducing three more of its IKEA Design Studios to southern Ontario. Already, a location in Brampton at the Bramalea City Centre last week and soon, locations will also open at The Pen Centre in St. Catharines, as well as at CF Masonville Place in London ON late October or early November.
IKEA Design Studio in Oshawa Centre (Image: IKEA)
IKEA Design Studio
IKEA Design Studio
The Design Studio is a new concept for the Canadian market that allows customers to design and order complex home furnishing systems for the kitchen, bath, bedroom and living room by scheduling one-on-one planning sessions with a trained IKEA design expert or via a self-service planning station in a dedicated studio space.
“Our ambition is to become more accessible to Ontario residents by bringing IKEA closer to them and offering new, convenient services that meet the evolving demands of our lives at home,” said Toronto Area Manager Niclas Karlsson-Järnkrok. “The IKEA Design Studio is one of the many ways we’re delivering local, relevant home furnishing solutions to meet these evolving needs in a meaningful way.”
The IKEA Design Studio concept is significantly smaller than a traditional Ikea store and will showcase the brand’s full range through digital solutions along with a small, curated selection of product samples on display. Ikea products or food are not available for immediate takeaway. The design studios are something of a pop-up concept that will be open for 12-18 months.
