Swatch Construction at CF Toronto Eaton Centre - Photo by Dustin Fuhs
The Swiss-based watch brand Swatch has installed construction hoarding for a permanent storefront on the 2nd floor Queen Street entrance at CF Toronto Eaton Centre, which is scheduled to open in December 2021.
Taking over the former Godiva Chocolate location at the Queen Street entrance to the shopping centre, Swatch will be gaining a high-profile spot after being in the mall for years in a kiosk on the 3rd floor.
Swatch currently operates full-standing corporate locations, kiosks and store-in-store offerings at Hudson’s Bay across Canada.
The “second watch” or ‘Swatch’ was born in March 1983, and has since sold hundreds of millions of units to the global market.
Swatch Kiosk at CF Toronto Eaton Centre – Photo by Dustin Fuhs
The Ritz Carlton Hotel in downtown Toronto recently unveiled its new EPOCH Bar & Kitchen Terrace. The reimagined British Gastrobar offers mix of casual and imaginative food and cocktails in an elegant setting that resulted in several months of planning and renovations.
The restaurant space features 61 seats in the dining room and an additional 88 sets on a south-facing terrace overlooking Simcoe Park. The terrace includes a centrepiece bar with a wood-fired stone even.
Global interior design firm DesignAgency says that it drew on the romance of travel and the area’s glamorous role as host of the annual Toronto International Film Festival to create the restaurant’s interiors and lush outdoor terrace, including an open-air kitchen and bar that faces Simcoe Park. “Epoch is a venue for the ages,” says Allen Chan, founding partner of Design Agency. “The Ritz-Carlton is the gold standard for luxury and service around the world, and Epoch brings those values to an engaging social space that’s intimate, elegant and relaxed.”
Bar area, photo: DesignAgencyOutdoor terrace, photo: DesignAgency
The landscaped outdoor terrace brings together woven patio seating with sleek fireplaces. Mossy green banquettes and low-slung lounge chairs arranged in cozy clusters invite conversations around bronze-trimmed tables. A panelled screen printed with a panoramic landscape is set-off with subtle lighting throughout.
A wrap-around bar offers a focal point with pale stone countertops with bullnose edges echo other curved and arched details throughout the space. “We designed every element for an overall exceptional experience,” said Chan. And for private gatherings, The Green Room – a name that winks at Toronto’s reputation as Hollywood North – can be separated from the main lounge by sliding wood and fluted glass pocket doors. A billiard table, bookshelves panelled with dark stone, and a fireplace surrounded by caramel leather wing chairs have the feel of a cinema lover’s well-appointed library.
The design firm also reimagined guest rooms and Club Level suites in the hotel, and also conceptualized updates to the Club Lounge and Spa My Blend by Clarins on-site as well.
Chef Jeff Crump is leading the new restaurant — Crump is considered to be a pioneer in the slow-food movement and it founder of Earth to Table: Organic Farm, and Earth to Table: Bread Bar.
Crump has authored two books on the ‘eat local’ concept and his newest venture at the Ritz Carlton Hotel in Toronto is a reflection of that. The EPOCH Bar & Kitchen Terrace menu is described as being “a culinary homage to Chef’s earth-to-table philosophy and his roots in the UK gastrobar scene at The Fat Duck and The Hind’s Head.” Thoughtfully-sourced ingredients and an emphasis on seasonality is said to be of paramount importance to his menu concepts which are described as approachable and seasonally inspired.
Cocktails on the menu are already popular. Bar Manager Jason William Griffin is an award-winning bartender and hospitality professional based in Toronto with nearly two decades of experience in the industry. Jason brings his signature flair and prolific knowledge to EPOCH Bar & Kitchen Terrace’s cocktail program.
“Retailers need to adopt four pillars to future-proof their business for the long-term amid the challenges they are going to face in the coming years,” says retail expert George Minakakis in his new book.
George Minakakis
The book, The New Bricks & Mortar, Future Proofing Retail, outlines those pillars as starting with getting back to grassroots retailing which he calls “Street Smart” followed by brand development that is “Technology-Driven,” building a robust “Customer Obsessed” culture, and investing in “Bold Innovation.”
“52 per cent of business executives worry about the pandemic continuing, couple that with current supply chain issues, persistent inflation and there are even signals of a consumer slow down, that would push us near a level 3 risk management. Which to me as a trained board director means potentially threatening and damaging outcomes to businesses. Retailers must ask themselves and their teams one question. What else can we do?” said Minakakis, who leads advisory firm Inception Retail Group.
“The harder they push that question the more it strengthens their strategic and tactical thinking. It matters because retailing is a measure of economic health. Retailers must rebuild their volumes to pre-pandemic levels, or the risks spread to others, such as commercial property owners, financial institutions, and workers.”
Minakakis said he wrote the book to help businesses better understand how they’re going to have to change, modify their thinking, modify their organizations and their cultures, to be better at responding to change.
“Look, I’m an operator. I’ve run large businesses. And I can tell you that what we thought a year ago is clearly irrelevant today. And now things are moving so quickly what you thought a month ago is irrelevant. I’ve led businesses during 9/11, SARS and the Financial Crash successfully, this is very different, you need to be rethinking 2022 and 2023 in a dynamic way” he said.
“The book was written based on that premise and to help businesses start thinking differently in their approaches to competing and remaining relevant. Retailing is an imperfect industry it’s not a cookie cutter business it needs a strong culture, talent, vision, strategic planning, and flawless operational execution. Continue to get better at that and hit repeat.”
“These are the four pillars for how I view what’s important for businesses and their journey for the balance of this decade.”
Street Smart
In looking at the first pillar, being ‘Street Smart’, Minakakis said, “this is about knowing your markets and how to compete in each of them. Businesses now must have a level of street fighting that allows them to use all their assets, engage customers locally and globally. Afterall there really are no selling barriers today. I still believe that ‘boots on the ground’ operational skills and behaviors are very important. There is still a lot of traffic walking into stores, and it can’t be ignored just because your efforts are focused on e-commerce or social selling.”
Technology-Driven
“There’s no way in the world that you can move through retailing today without having some good, honest level of investment in technology that actually is helping you run your business day to day. Whether that’s the collection of data, how you interact with your customers, in person, your website or through social channels. You cannot succeed without a sound investment in technology that works for you,” said Minakakis.
While writing the book he coined a phrase ‘data and supply chains are kingmakers of retail.’ And they are. “However, technology is going to play a much bigger role in retailing than it even does today. I believe that too many retailers remain very conservative in their approach and those that believe they are doing well are only dabbling. For example, based on today’s issues with supply chains, you are going to need a far more robust and integrated systems with real time data on suppliers, manufacturing sources and shipping overseas and locally. Not to forget customer data and their purchasing patterns and monitoring market trends. It’s a mistake not to be planning with more diligence and technological intelligence.”
“Customer Obsessed” culture
Minakakis said productivity gains over the years have always been driven by technology which has led to reducing hours on the front lines. “When you reduce productivity hours at the store level, you also diminish your ability to deliver great customer service and revenue.”
“I am an advocate that you need a very powerful motivation within an organization whether that’s one store or one thousand. A customer obsessed culture is far more powerful than being customer centric. There is more emotion and purpose with an obsession to satisfy customers. Being centric as a company is fine but it isn’t passionate enough. Service in retailing is about passion and you can extend that in all service attributes related to a brand. An obsession with service draws in everyone. Being centric only surrounds the concept as a focal point. The goal is to deliver a great customer experience, you need to start with understanding what those expectations are. You can’t do that without a customer obsessed culture.”
Bold Innovation
Minakakis said bold innovation involves creating the advantage that differentiates a retailer from competitors. “By being bold, it also means breaking away from your comfort level on products and service and continuously innovating. Most organizations stop with that just one great idea and it withers away. Retailers need to continue to build on that foundation at an unprecedented level. As executives we never worried about competitors and what their position was. We were focused on competing in the marketplace with our own assets and created advantages internally to ensure our continued growth.”
Bold innovation can come in the area of products sold, service, the store environment itself.
“We did a poll about what drives consumers. Convenience is number one, fast service and price,” he said. “But the fourth one that got least support from consumers was about getting a luxury experience. That they wanted a high end experience. A small percentage wanted that. So there’s a big shift that’s happened and that shift is impacting everything on these four pillars.
‘What these four organizational initiatives do is allow a business and its leadership to continually challenge and renew long before change is needed. Far too many wait past the expiry date of their last great ideas and market wins.’
‘Research we did for the book shows that convenience, speed of service and price are now provoking change in retail. Responding to these changes you must be street smart to learn and adapt, tech-driven to have real time information to respond with, couple that with a customer obsession and continuous bold innovation and you have the potential for business longevity and the ability to build market dominance.’
Minakakis was a former Luxottica executive having led four retail chains as a Country General Manager in Canada and as CEO for China, responsible for the international expansion of over 200 locations. This is his third book. He is frequently interviewed by the media and is a podcast co-host for The Business of Retail.
The New Bricks & Mortar, Future Proofing Retail book is available at Amazon and other participating booksellers. The book is offered as an e-book, paperback, and hardcover.
The National Basketball Association (NBA) has a long-standing connection to Canada and this year to celebrate the 75th year of that relationship the league has launched a special retail experience for fans in the country.
“NBA 75th Shop,” is a new digital retail experience for fans in Canada that pays tribute to the iconic players and moments that have shaped the growth of basketball and the NBA across the country in celebration of the league’s 75th Anniversary Season.
Fans have been invited to sign up to get notified of ‘drops’ of products throughout the season. There will be 12 of them of 75 units or less of various products that commemorate a specific moment in NBA history.
For example, the first drop was November 1 and included a three-pack of NBA mini courts. Each mini court is printed on official hardwood from the 2011 NBA All-Star Game that was played at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. The original design was painted on the product from the first court in 1946 which was the NBA’s inaugural season with the first game held in Toronto at Maple Leaf Gardens on Nov. 1, 1946, when the Toronto Huskies played the New York Knickerbockers.
Image: NBA 75th Shop Mini Courts
The product design also included the first court that the Toronto Raptors used in 1995 and the first court the Vancouver Grizzlies used in 1995.
Leah MacNab
“The NBA 75th Shop is an ecommerce experience for fans in Canada and it’s really designed to both celebrate iconic people and moments in Canadian history during the NBA’s 75 years,” said Leah MacNab, Managing Director for the NBA in Canada.
“We managed to sell out that first 75-unit run in less than a minute.”
MacNab said the initiative will run for the entire NBA season with drops until June. She said a total of 13 products will be delivered over the 12 moments.
“We’re really excited. We’re celebrating everything from that first game at Maple Leaf Gardens to Dr. James Naismith who was a Canadian and invented the game all the way to big moments in Raptors’ history in addition to other Canadian players that have made big names for themselves throughout our 75-year history,” she said.
Through the NBA 75th Shop, the league will unveil 13 new, custom-designed products that will initially be released in limited quantities of 75 units or less, at key moments throughout the 2021-22 season. Five products will be sold for $75 or less. Fans can visit 75thShop.ca to register their interest and stay up to date on new product releases and on-sale dates.
Products in the NBA 75th Shop will celebrate these iconic players and moments:
Canadian Dr. James Naismith, who invented the game of basketball in 1891;
The inaugural seasons of the Toronto Raptors, Vancouver Grizzlies and the Basketball Association of America (BAA), the precursor to the NBA;
Wilson, the official NBA game ball for the league’s first 37 seasons, including the NBA’s first-ever game, held in Toronto in 1946. Wilson has returned as the new game ball partner, beginning with the 2021-22 season;
The NBA Drafts in Toronto (1995) and Vancouver (1998), the first NBA Drafts to be held outside the U.S.;
The long-standing tradition of NBA games on Christmas Day;
Two-time NBA MVP, Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Famer and Canadian Steve Nash, the current head coach of the Brooklyn Nets. Nash is a member of the NBA’s 75th Anniversary Team;
Eight-time NBA All-Star and former Toronto Raptor Vince Carter;
Former NBA player Damon Stoudamire, the Raptors’ first-ever draft pick in 1995;
Current players Aaron Gordon (Denver Nuggets) and Zach LaVine (Chicago Bulls), the two finalists from the 2016 NBA All-Star Slam Dunk Contest in Toronto, the first NBA All-Star to be held outside the U.S.;
The game-winning buzzer-beater in Game 7 of the 2019 Eastern Conference Semifinals that sent the Raptors to the franchise’s first NBA Finals; and
The Raptors’ first NBA Championship in 2019, which marked the first NBA Championship for a team based in Canada.
“Reflecting on my time playing in Canada, I was fortunate to witness the passion that Canadians fans have for basketball and the NBA,” said former Raptors guard and current Boston Celtics assistant coach Damon Stoudamire. “It’s an honour to be recognized among this group of iconic players and Canadian basketball moments, and I hope fans across the country share my excitement around this ‘mighty’ piece of history.”
The NBA has established a major international presence with games and programming available in 215 countries and territories in more than 50 languages, and merchandise for sale in more than 100,000 stores in 100 countries on six continents.
“This retail experience is unique in that we created it essentially as a digital pop-up. So in the same way you might imagine a shoe drop in basketball culture, we’re doing an NBA history drop with the physical product, 12 times in our season this year,” said MacNab.
“Essentially at the end of the season this experience will go away. So it is a digital pop-up for lack of a better term.”
The NBA has several licence partners across Canada including retail giants such as SportChek and Canadian Tire to specialty, niche retailers.
Image: NBA 75th Shop
“Our retail revenues have risen about 17 per cent on average over the last five years. We have about 50 plus active licensees in Canada so that would be everything from jerseys to hats to pen sets and stationery for back to school,” she said. “Net total we don’t really share the absolute numbers but . . . anecdotally probably NBA products have been outperforming other licensed leagues in the last year and a half and that’s something that we’re hoping to capitalize on and grow even more in the upcoming years.”
In 2019, the Toronto Raptors won their first NBA championship.
MacNab said the championship run that year was a “massive” moment. It became a pop culture moment across Canada.
“We have grown our fan base to about 17 million fans in Canada and what I loved about the run was not just that everyone that could get their hands on Raptors’ products were selling it but we saw fans from right across the country support the Toronto Raptors and do it in a very public way,” she said.
“So to go back to that moment in 2019 we saw upwards of 40 cities across the country do their own versions of Jurassic Park, which was something that for me really had symbolized the inclusiveness of basketball and the fact that there really is a place for every Canadian in the game of basketball. So whether you’re bouncing a ball yourself or you’re a spectator at home or in one of our stadiums we are really a game that can embrace every single Canadian.”
The NBA and Nike also recently unveiled all-new 2021-22 Nike NBA City Edition uniforms in honour of the NBA’s 75th Anniversary season on the anniversary of the first-ever NBA game played between the New York Knicks and the Toronto Huskies (November 1, 1946). The 2021-22 Nike NBA City Edition uniforms will be available for sale on Monday, November 15 at NBAStore.com, Nike.com and select retailers globally.
Much around us, in just about any direction we look, has been impacted by the COVID-19 global pandemic, altered and changed to at least a marginal degree. It’s accelerated a digitization of the world around us and the operations of those providing products and services. But, perhaps the most significant change that’s occurred during the pandemic period when it comes to retailers and the success of the industry is the shifts in consumer sentiment with respect to the products they buy, the ways they are choosing to buy them and the brands they buy them from. Many consumers in Canada and around the world have taken the opportunity over the course of the past year-and-a-half to reassess their values and beliefs and arrive at a clearer understanding of the things that matter most to them. And, according to the recent EY Future Consumer Index, a vast majority of global consumers’ attitudes toward consumption and their own sustainable practices are intensifying, and they are increasingly looking toward retailers and other businesses to take the lead on environmental issues.
“Whether recycling or reducing plastic waste, composting products, buying organically or bringing reusable shopping bags to stores, the majority of Canadians are pivoting to a more sustainable way of living,” says Lokesh Chaudhry, Consumer Co-Leader, EY Canada. “More than half of Canadians plan to pay more attention to the environmental impact of what they consume but continue to rely on companies to act as leaders in driving positive social and environmental outcomes.”
Conflicting mindsets
Of those surveyed for the Index, most consumers around the world (64%) plan to pay more attention to the environmental impact of their actions and the products they consume. It’s all part of the reassessment of values and beliefs that consumers have been steadily undergoing since the onset of the pandemic. They’re looking for brands and their manufacturer partners to be doing more with respect to sustainability and environmental issues. However, they’re also exhibiting financial caution, reserving their spending as tightly as possible, as a result of the uncertainty and economic fragility caused by the pandemic. It’s yielded a curious mindset, defined by a confluence of heightened awareness of both the need for greater sustainable practices on the part of retailers and other businesses and a hesitance to pay for those improved practices.
In fact, according to the Index, 31 percent of respondents are now willing to spend more on products that are sustainable and better for the environment, with an additional 64 percent prepared to adjust their behaviour and practices if it results in societal improvements. However, 39 percent of global consumers believe that health issues and concerns associated with the pandemic will continue to impact their lives for at least another 12 months, with 78 percent expressing concerned about the impact of the pandemic on their finances, and a further 53 percent believing that price is a more important purchase consideration than it was prior to the pandemic. Underscoring the mindset confluence even more significantly is the fact that more than half of respondents (56%) have stated to intend on adopting sustainable behaviours, but only if it saves them money, including conserving energy use (85%), recycling or reusing packaging after use (83%) and bringing reusable shopping bags to the store (83%). They are somewhat contradictory sentiments that are recognized by Chaudhry who believes that retailers and their partners have got to do more in order to fulfill the growing desire within consumers for greater sustainability.
“Although sustainability is quickly climbing to the top of consumers’ priorities, economic uncertainty is driving consumers to focus on affordability as well,” he asserts. “More consumers want to buy sustainably, but they need companies to make that possible for them, especially at a time when price remains the number one purchase criteria. Meanwhile, stockpiling, store closures, and border issues have wreaked havoc with the consumer goods supply chain over the last while, and consumers who are willing to make a more sustainable choice don’t always have access to products that reflect their changing values.”
Charged to lead
As a result of the lack of commitment on the part of the consumer to pay more for improved sustainable and environmental practices and initiatives, an overwhelming majority of them (68%) are looking to retailers and other businesses to drive the agenda and commit financially to ensuring positive outcomes. Of those surveyed, 28 percent believe that large multinational corporations should reduce waste generated during production, while 25 percent believe companies should reduce greenhouse gas emissions. However, high prices remain one of the top deterrents when it comes to paying for sustainable products, with 66 percent avoiding doing so as a result. Concerns around poor quality (67%) and a lack of trust borne from past “greenwashing” and alleged deceptive marketing (60%) are also consumer influences when shopping for and purchasing sustainable products.
Findings within the Index also notes an education gap that exists among consumers concerning the products they’re purchasing and the associated impact on the environment, with 61 percent admitting to requiring more information from retailers and their manufacturing partners in order to make more informed purchasing decisions. Chaudhry says that it’s a sentiment that reflects a need in the consumer to know more about the products they’re buying and the brands they’re buying from, as well as a need for retailers and other businesses to provide greater transparency into their operations and value chain. He says that it represents one of the biggest opportunities for the industry going forward to give their customers what they want, helping to guide their decisions around sustainability.
“To give consumers the sustainable products they increasingly want, at a price they are willing to pay, retailers need to create products that reflect the nuanced concerns of target consumers, and they need to make sure the business operations behind the brand meets those expectations, too. An increasing number of consumers believe brands must be transparent about their environmental impacts in the production of their goods and services, which is why transparency from retailers will be critical to encouraging sustainable choices. By leveraging data and technology, consumer products companies will be able to provide the transparency and traceability consumers increasingly demand.”
The bubble tea concept has seen increasing popularity in Canada in recent years and Chatime is poised to take advantage of that burgeoning interest with a plan to double its footprint across the country in the coming years.
Thomas Wong
Thomas Wong, Co-Founder and Chief Development Officer for Chatime Canada, said the company’s mission is to bring the bubble tea experience to a broader Canadian audience.
In Canada, the first location opened 10 years ago in 2011 in downtown Toronto and from there the company started franchising in Ontario. Today, it has more than 70 stores in the market across Ontario and British Columbia.
“Chatime is an international brand but we found a massive stronghold and a big opportunity in Canada, especially in those markets but really around the country,” he said.
“We see Chatime as the leader in the bubble tea market. The bubble tea market has been historically an ethnic concept that has originated from Asia historically but it’s now becoming a worldwide phenomenon. What we’re finding is that in markets around the world there’s an amazing receptivity to the concept. The best way I can describe it for Canadians who haven’t had bubble tea before, but probably have heard of it, is when you think about the kind of culture associated with coffee that we’ve historically had in North America and Europe, it sort of transcends just the beverage . . . It’s really associated with strong positive emotions.
Image: Chatime Ajax
“In the coffee case, it’s very much a comfort and a routine and a stability. For millions of people around the world Chatime represents that injection of happiness in their day. It’s really bringing that joy of the beverage and that experience. A lot of people come to Chatime certainly because they’re craving something but they’re really looking for also all the positive emotions that are associated with grabbing a couple of bubble teas during the day with friends and family. For a lot of people it becomes an incredible part of their lifestyle. It’s just something they look forward to every day. It’s bringing that joy of bubble tea to a really broad Canadian audience and that’s where we’re finding tons of opportunity.”
Wong said the company feels it’s just on the cusp of a really big opportunity to expand across the country. When it first opened in 2011 in Toronto, initially the customer base was certainly people who knew the product such as people born in Asia or international students. But within weeks the demographic started to shift as more people became familiar with bubble tea.
“Very early on, we saw that this was a product that was going to easily transcend that ethnic niche. So just like sushi, and shawarma and ramen and all of these kinds of food concepts that have really successfully become part of mainstream consciousness for Canadians, we’re seeing that for Chatime,” he said.
“So what’s happening is every time we open up Chatime in a new market that you might not have historically thought of as a place where bubble tea would be successful a lot of our most successful locations have been those kinds of markets that maybe haven’t heard of bubble tea but the moment we get in there people start trying Chatime for the first time and what we bring to the market is a very strong focus on quality and consistency so we’re able to bring that experience to many, many different markets.”
Wong said there is room to grow within the major urban markets such as Vancouver and Toronto but there is also massive opportunity in much smaller cities and towns.
Image: Chatime
“I think we’re easily going to double that at another 70 stores within the next, we’ll call it, five years conservatively. There’s just so many markets out there that are very thirsty for our products,” he said.
Chatime Canada is part of the Kevito Group Canada which also has brands Bake Code, Chatime Atealier, and Chatime Innovation Bar.
“We specialize in launching and growing just innovative food and beverage concepts from around the world,” said Wong. “We’ve been successful in bringing them to the Canadian market, really adapting them to the Canadian consumer tastes.
“There’s just so many amazing food and beverage concepts going on out there around the world that we think we can bring to the Canadian market and adapt to this market.”
The global Chatime brand is based in Taiwan. The brand exists in more than 30 countries with more than 1,000 locations.
“Canada has emerged as one of the top markets for Chatime internationally. It speaks to the openness of Canadians to embrace different food concepts. Canadians across the country seem really welcoming to this kind of product category,” added Wong.
Freda’s, a Toronto-based designer fashion boutique and womenswear manufacturer, has moved to a new location, celebrating its 50th anniversary while navigating the challenges presented by the ongoing pandemic.
The company’s namesake Freda Iordanous started the business in 1971 after immigrating to Canada from Cyprus.
The boutique and private label are now run with the help of Iordanous’ daughter, Paulina Georgiou, the company’s CEO.
“We are thrilled to continue Freda’s legacy and finally welcome clients to our new boutique at 45 Elm Street,” said Georgiou. “Freda’s has such a rich history in Toronto, and we’re excited to launch this new chapter for the business, and our family.”
Image: Freda’s
The transformation of Freda’s over the past 50 years has included the retailer becoming more focused on the retail side of its business over the corporate side which carried the company in its initial years. Also, the pandemic has sparked the retailer to embrace a more strategic use of the digital world and social media.
The store carries its own private label as well as a curated collection of designer labels from Europe, Canada and the United States including unique labels exclusive to Freda’s. Freda’s is a family-owned business known for carrying the season’s trendiest designs, specializing in statement evening wear.
Freda’s established a reputation in Toronto, designing and producing uniforms for iconic Canadian venues and businesses including the SkyDome, Maple Leaf Gardens and The Royal Bank of Canada. Many famous Canadians have also worn fashion from Freda’s, including Sophie Trudeau, Deborah Cox and local fashion icon Jeanne Beker.
The business originally started in Cabbagetown with small couture pieces for select clientele. Freda’s then moved to a building on Spadina where a retail store was opened on the main floor with the manufacturing on the second floor. From there, Freda ended up designing uniforms for many companies including Wardair Canada which was one of her first. The corporate side was the main focus of the business with uniforms but the retail end of it was her little passion that she always kept.
Image: Freda’s
Image: Freda’s
In the early 1980s, Freda’s moved to 86 Bathurst Street. At that location, the corporate division of making uniforms was kept on the upper level as well as the private label for the retail store.
In 1997, one of the corporate clients decided to discontinue as a customer for the uniforms. At the time, 80 per cent of the business was corporate with about 20 per cent retail.
“We had to figure out how we were going to sustain ourselves with that loss of income. So we ended up revamping our retail store, expanded it and did a huge media launch back in 1997 and started doing almost 50 per cent retail, 50 per cent corporate. We stayed in that location until this year. We just finally moved in June,” said Georgiou. “We officially opened our retail store in this location September 7 but this current building was purchased three years ago and we were intending April 2020 but then COVID hit.
“We had to reinvent the wheel here and figure out how we were going to sustain ourselves at our current location and then with delays of construction. That was interesting. But we were still manufacturing.”
Freda’s – Photo by Dustin Fuhs
The new location on Elm is right in the downtown core of Toronto, a couple of blocks from CF Toronto Eaton Centre. The new three-storey location is just over 10,000 square feet.
Today, Georgiou said about 70 per cent of Freda’s is retail and 30 per cent corporate.
“It’s been a huge switch for sure.”
She said one of the reasons for the store’s move was that taxes were getting too high in the former location. Freda’s sold that site to a real estate development company.
“We started looking everywhere in the city. We couldn’t find anything. It was very difficult to find a building because we wanted to purchase a building. We never wanted to rent. It was always my mom’s belief that you always own, which is very smart of her what she did,” said Georgiou. “It just happened that this location, the previous owner was a restaurant and the gentleman passed away. It was a family-run business and the wife asked the kids if they wanted to continue the restaurant. They decided no.
“She decided to sell and when she met our family she just thought it was the right connection, passing on another family business to another family business. She was very happy to do that.
Freda’s – Photo by Dustin Fuhs
“We’ve put a lot of hard work into this space. It’s been three years of blood, sweat and tears that’s for sure. It wasn’t a smooth transition. “
When COVID hit, the company was faced with the major issue of moving all the product because Georgiou had already purchased all the spring and summer merchandise. The store was full. The business had to figure out how it was going to sell all this product.
“I did call all my staff back to help. Nobody wanted to return except for one staff member who said I will stand by you and help you and we’ll do this. We started to really utilize Instagram. We revamped our ecommerce. We always had an ecommerce platform that we started ironically in January of 2020 which was great timing but we never really utilized it. It was just a shop site that we would showcase a little bit of our product that we sold but it would never be all the product in our store,” she said.
Freda’s – Photo by Dustin Fuhs
“I think the challenge was now taking every single item in the store and putting it on an ecommerce platform. That took us months putting all these SKUs and products into our ecommerce. And then we started really, really utilizing social media platforms. Doing Instagram. We managed with that.”
With lockdowns in place in Toronto, the company evolved to doing Instagram live fashion shows on Tuesdays and Fridays to showcase its product to consumers.
“That seems to really help to generate sales and also allows the consumer to see the product on,” said Georgiou.
“We tried different platforms. Instagram seems to be the best platform for us. Having said that, I know we might consider maybe TikTok in the future because everyone’s saying maybe TikTok would be a good one for us. We’re still looking at different areas of development. But now that we’ve been reopened it’s great because consumers are now coming back to the store and shopping.”
The ecommerce website has increased to 50 per cent of the business from 10 per cent.
“Interestingly, since we invested in our online business, we have grown the business nationally,” said Georgiou. “It just worked. The key is that we were styling the pieces, not just showing them. It’s important to see how a piece of clothing looks on a body, and as part of a complete outfit.”
The Calendar Club has evolved over the years to selling more than just calendars and now the retailer is embarking on ambitious plans to become more than just a pop-up business with its eyes set on launching permanent store locations.
The company was founded in 1993 with its first store in Lyden Park Mall in Brantford, Ontario and its head office in Paris, Ontario.
Calendar Club Canada, founded by the Edgar family, is the largest provider of calendars and puzzles but is also an industry leader in games and toys. The company has over 200 locations.
It is recognized as the largest seasonal retailer in Canada but the plan is to open up year-round stores next year in targeted markets across the country.
Image: Calendar Club
Dave Patterson, Chief Operating Officer at Calendar Club of Canada, said it’s been about 20 years that the company has been selling items beyond calendars and one of its initiatives has reached thousands, perhaps millions of people.
“We have stuffed animals. Our bear program has been one of those hidden secrets. We’ve helped communities across Canada donate millions of bears to charities. We do on average 100,000 plus bears a year. It’s pretty powerful.
“I’ve been with the company for three years and have travelled the country many times and have met many customers that have said ‘my son that was in sick kids’ hospital actually got a bear from you’. It’s a big thing that most people don’t realize. It’s basically a gift with purchase. The customer can choose to buy a bear and have us donate it to their cause or they can take it and donate it themselves. With the amount of years we’ve been doing it, there has been well over a million bears donated from this little company out of Paris, Ontario.”
Today, the company’s business is in the US, Australia, New Zealand, the UK, the Netherlands.
Calendar Club
“We don’t own the global business. We are a group. Calendar Club Canada opened with pop-up kiosks with only calendars. And they took off,” said Patterson.
“Our history started in malls, before heading to Sears and The Bay. We did licensee deals. But right now, the majority of our stores are mall-based. We’ve tested a couple of power centres in the past, but it’s typically malls where we are located.”
“The plans are really to look at having year-round partnered stores. We have an agreement with Hickory Farms and then do our pop-up stores. In the future we are going to do events with pop-ups. It’s quite a growth strategy actually.”
The company has been one channel since its inception – a pop-up seasonal retailer – and it has been very successful in that regard.
Image: Calendar Club
But Patterson said the company has never really focused on ‘proper’ retail, which is the whole retail experience.
“Proper retail has five channels – ecommerce, events, year-round stores, a partnered marketplace and pop-ups. Our company has only really focused on the one channel. Now with the introduction of digital and with the added COVID pandemic, we have that second channel. So we’re growing our digital channel, which is growing quite well,” he said.
“Our pop-up stores have done really well. But we’re looking at a year-round store program in the right markets. There is a want and a need. We just want to get out there and show our customers that Calendar Club Canada is more than just a seasonal pop-up.
“We’re going to start small, with just opening up in a dozen or so strategically placed markets across Canada. We are going to make sure we have a representation nationally. There’s very strategic, targeted growth initiatives over the next few years and we’re very excited about them.”
The pop-up Calendar Club stores typically open for the back to school shopping season through to the end of January.
