FYE will be joining a growing marketplace of entertainment retailers that has adapted their business model with the current fads. The store opened today with a large selection of Pop Vinyl, collectables, models and a full back section of vinyl records.
Click for Interactive Map
Founded in 1973 in the US, FYE (For Your Entertainment) operates more than 200 locations across 35+ states and back in December 2020 announced that it was coming to Canada.
The Canadian rights are held by Sunrise Records, which also operates T. Kettle. Sunrise Records has 83 locations across the country, in addition to 40 T. Kettle Canadian stores and 7 locations in the US.
We will follow up on this Bulletin with a future in-depth discussion, including expansion plans.
FYE at CF Toronto Eaton Centre – Photo by Dustin Fuhs
FYE at CF Toronto Eaton Centre
1 of 3
FYE at CF Toronto Eaton Centre - Photo by Dustin Fuhs
FYE at CF Toronto Eaton Centre
FYE at CF Toronto Eaton Centre - Photo by Dustin Fuhs
FYE at CF Toronto Eaton Centre
FYE at CF Toronto Eaton Centre - Photo by Dustin Fuhs
FYE at CF Toronto Eaton Centre
FYE at CF Toronto Eaton Centre (June 30th, 2021) – Photo by Dustin FuhsHaight and Ashbury at CF Toronto Eaton Centre (Closing) Photo by Dustin Fuhs
The next wave of openings will see Tokyo Smoke, owned by Canopy Growth, enter a number of Cadillac Fairview shopping centre locations. CF Toronto Eaton Centre will be seeing one of the first locations, as it will be taking over a vacated storefront of Toys Toys Toys.
Branded construction hoarding went up around the former toy store location on the first floor over the last week, and Dustin Fuhs from Retail Insider was able to capture images on the 23rd of a blank canvas. When the shopping centre opened today (June 30th) as part of the Phase Two re-opening plan in Ontario, the branding was present.
Pre-Branding construction hoarding at CF Toronto Eaton Centre (June 23rd, 2021) – Photo by Dustin Fuhs
Tokyo Smoke construction hoarding at CF Toronto Eaton Centre (June 30th, 2021) – Photo by Dustin Fuhs
Toys Toys Toys shuttered all of its retail locations in July 2020 as part of a bankruptcy and exit from the market. Playtime Toys has taken over at least one of the former leases in Brampton, according to Danbury Global Liquidation Sales.
Toys Toys Toys Closing at CF Toronto Eaton Centre (July 8, 2021) – Photo by Dustin Fuhs
Retail Insider is able to confirm that the Tokyo Smoke location at CF Toronto Eaton Centre is set to open October 1st, 2021.
Canadian retailer Showcase, known to be ‘Home of the Hottest Trends’ and the world’s largest retailer of its kind, has launched live shopping shows on its social media platforms hosted by well-known TV personality Danny Boome.
Samir Kulkarni, Showcase’s CEO, said that because Showcase has always been about entertainment and discovery of new and trending products, and the instant gratification of trying something you buy, obviously live stream shopping and everything it presents is very interesting to the retailer.
Samir Kulkarni
“It fits very well into our business model of entertaining and discovery of new products. So we launched our live shopping strategy at the start of May. What we do is broadcast a live show every 48 hours on social platforms and to our two million insiders and our website.
“These live broadcasts are very relevant, newsworthy trend stories about new product launches, about community events, about seasonally-relevant product categories and they’re combined with time sensitive promotions, flash discounts and so on that you can partake in store as well as online. The concept is that we’re bringing our trend store to life on your phone or on your computer – wherever you may be so that you can discover the latest, newest, hottest, greatest thing. You can see a demonstration, understand more about how it works. You can engage with our live chat team to ask questions and interact and then you have the instant gratification of purchasing that product either online, running into a store or even getting same day delivery.”
Kulkarni said the initiative is about digitizing the store concept and modernizing it for a digital world.
Showcase at Avalon Mall – January 2020 (Photo Crombie REIT)
Showcase, which was founded in 1994 in Edmonton, currently has 117 stores in North America and is expanding in the US. The retailer is in every province except for Quebec. Ten of the company’s stores are in the northeastern part of the US.
“We’re a small format, specialty retailer in malls and we sell emerging trends in health, beauty, home and toys in a fun and interactive ‘try it before you buy it’ environment,” said Kulkarni.
“We think that there’s a potential for 500 to 1,000 Showcase stores in North America. If you look at the population, if we have about 100 in Canada and the US is 10 times that then the market potential is definitely in the hundreds of stores.
“We’re exclusively in malls. Only in A and B centres. For example we’re opening (CF) Chinook Centre (in Calgary) in about a month.”
The shows are about 10 minutes long every 48 hours.
Image: Showcase
“The host is Danny Boome. He is a television personality. He’s been on the Food Network with his own show as well as on Dr. Oz and Steven and Chris. So he is very comfortable on air and he’s a very fun and interactive guy as well so the character and personality is great for our brand,” said Kulkarni.
“So really the theme of these shows is following Danny on his adventures through Showcase where Danny gets to unbox and open and try the latest, hottest trends. He gets to visit stores and interact with staff, interact with displays and demos in stores. And he gets to share the savings and the promotions and so on that are on at the time. He really becomes the face of Showcase to help entertain and help educate and give people that human interaction that has been missing for so many of us in the last year.”
As part of Showcase’s DNA, it’s always been driven by mass media, he added. In the old days it would have been driven by television infomercials. In the last 10 years it’s been driven more by social media. It prides itself on having the latest and hottest trends on social media.
“We have them first and fast and often exclusively,” he said. “The live shopping is the natural extension of that strategy. We are now taking the trending products, we are taking the two million insiders who are loyal customers who shop with us and want to discover, want to see what’s new and what’s hot and learn more about these products and we are providing that to them on demand on their phone, on their computer, and wherever they’d like to watch it. It’s newsworthy. It’s relevant. It’s topical and so it’s entertaining.
“We still encourage them to shop whether it’s online or in store and so the commerce side of it works as well.’
Kulkarni said the trends around live shopping have been rising upwards over the last few years. Traditionally, there were the legacy television shopping players but they catered to the television viewing audience which is a specific segment and probably an aging segment today.
Meanwhile in China new live stream shopping players have emerged and have built giant businesses by creating a mobile first and a social first, influencer led live shopping strategy which combines elements such as entertainment, discovery, education, commerce.
“The why for us is to be inspired by what the major Asian players have done in their markets and to Canadianize that experience so that it is for products that are relevant to Canadians and to the markets we serve in a very accessible way on your favourite social media platforms to be able to interact and engage with us,” said Kulkarni.
Showcase is broadcasting on Facebook Live – their main platform. That’s also because it is one of the biggest advertisers in Canada on Facebook. It also is heavily involved with TikTok, the emerging social platform.
Kulkarni said #showcasemademebuyit has recently hit 18 million views and that hashtag was only launched in conjunction with live shopping only a couple of months ago.
“To get 18 million views on that hashtag shows the consumer is reacting and they’re appreciating the content that they’re seeing,” he said. “That’s really exciting for us.”
Kulkarni said the retailer is experimenting with different formats and different lengths of shows for the live shopping initiative.
“We are marketing technology people so we are crunching a lot of data and analyzing view time, clicks, conversion and other metrics, in store visits as well, which is key to the strategy. On that basis we will then expand the amount of content dramatically,” he explained.
Upscale women’s fashion brand Anne Fontaine will open its first Canadian store location this year at 110 Bloor Street West in Toronto’s Bloor-Yorkville area. Known particularly for its white shirts, Anne Fontaine is the latest international brand to expand into the Canadian market with a brick-and-mortar storefront.
The 1,000 square foot store will carry Anne Fontaine’s assortment of women’s apparel as well as bags, footwear and accessories. Prices for Anne Fontaine’s fashions are in line with the demographic that shops in Bloor-Yorkville. The white shirts, which include some very artful and complicated designs, range in price from about USD $300 to over USD $1,000. Evening wear options include a dress priced at USD $1,995, a tuxedo jacket priced at USD $850 and a crystal-encrusted handbag that costs USD $2,950. Shoes are priced from about USD $350 to over USD $600.
The 110 Bloor commercial podium, located below a condominium tower, will be modified substantially for new tenants. Anne Fontaine is the first new tenant announcement after much of the podium was cleared out of retailers on the Bloor Street side. Legacy retailers facing Bloor Street at 110 include a Brooks Brothers store and Winners/HomeSense.
This spring we featured a retrospective on 110 Bloor that opened in 1980. Renderings we used at the time showing an artful gold facade have since been updated for individual facades for the street-front retail tenants that will move in.
110 Bloor Street West. Rendering via Cushman & Wakefield/CBRE
Anne Fontaine will be a welcome addition to the ‘luxury run’ of Bloor Street West in Toronto which extends from Avenue Road in the West to the Holt Renfrew flagship store to the East. Other luxury brands with stores near Anne Fontaine include Gucci, St. John Knits, Burberry, Tiffany & Co., Louis Vuitton, Moncler, Cartier, Dior, Dolce & Gabbana, MCM and others.
The opening of a physical Anne Fontaine store in Toronto signals confidence in brick-and-mortar retail in Canada and other high-end brands are also said to be looking at the Canadian market to open standalone stores. Several major brands have either already leased space on Bloor Street or are in negotiations, with more announcements to come.
It’s not yet known if Anne Fontaine will open any more stores in Canada. If it were, one might expect downtown Vancouver and possibly Montreal to be targets for Anne Fontaine storefronts. In Vancouver, the brand would be most likely to locate on or near the 1000 block of Alberni Street which has been deemed the city’s retail ‘luxury zone’ and in Montreal Anne Fontaine would most likely locate near Holt Renfrew Ogilvy on Ste-Catherine Street, with Anne Fontaine most likely looking at Rue de la Montagne.
Anne Fontaine, born in Brazil in 1971, began designing different styles of white shirts for women in 1993 and in 1994 she opened her first store in Paris’ St. Germain area on the Left Bank. The brand has since expanded to include stores globally. The company now has over 50 stores with 19 of those being in the United States, 22 in Europe (10 of those are in France), two stores in Australia, two in China, two in Israel (both in Tel Aviv) and one in Saudi Arabia.
In the United States, the 17 full-priced Anne Fontaine stores are located in a mix of street front and shopping centre locations. The brand tends to locate these stores in upscale locations to attract shoppers that can afford its price points. Anne Fontaine also operates two outlet stores in the United States.
The former Hermès and Wolford spaces will be combined for a new Cartier flagship store and construction is expected to begin soon. Banff-based gift and fur retailer Saitoh occupied the corner space prior to being occupied by Hermès and Wolford. Hermès opened the 2,500 square foot store at 755 Burrard Street in 2006. Prior to that, Hermès had a 1,000 square foot boutique space inside of Holt Renfrew.
New Wolford location on Burrard Street in former Papyrus location in Vancouver (June 2021). Photo: Lee Rivett
Former Wolford location on Burrard Street just off Alberni Street in Vancouver (June 2021). Photo: Lee Rivett
Vancouver is home to Wolford’s only Canadian corporate store. Retail Insider reported about Wolford’s Canadian expansion in April 2016, including Holt Renfrew-based shop-in-store locations as well as Ontario boutiques which are franchised. Wolford continues to operate franchised boutiques in Toronto in Old York Lane in Yorkville as well as at the Yorkdale Shopping Centre. A Wolford shop-in-store at Holt Renfrew Ogilvy in Montreal recently closed.
Wolford produces and sells tights and stockings for women and men, bodysuits and underwear for women, as well as women’s clothing (such as skirts, tops, shirts, and pullovers) and accessories. The company was founded in 1950 and is headquartered in Bregenz, Austria, and operates stores worldwide — some franchised and some corporately owned.
Former Hermès on Alberni Street at Burrard Street in Vancouver (June 2021). Photo: Lee Rivett
Looking past the former Wolford and Hermès location at corner of Burrard Street and Alberni Street in Vancouver (June 2021). Photo: Lee Rivett
The former TWG Tea Salon & Boutique location in Vancouver, BC, at 1070 W Georgia St, Vancouver, BC.
Photo: Stuart Isett
Singapore-based TWG Tea Salon & Boutique is relocating its first North American retail presence which opened in Vancouver in December 2016. The former 3,000 square foot hybrid retail space and tea salon was located in the city’s ‘luxury zone’ at 1070 West Georgia Street. TWG Tea will relocate to a smaller retail space at 929 Robson Street in Vancouver which was occupied by a Tesla showroom until March 2021.
Former TWG Tea Salon & Boutique location at 1070 W Georgia Street in Vancouver (June 2021). Photo: Lee Rivett.
Former TWG Tea Salon & Boutique location at 1070 W Georgia Street in Vancouver (June 2021). Photo: Lee Rivett.
TWG relocation from Georgia Street to Robson Street in Vancouver. Map by Google Maps with insert /inlay by Retail Insider.
TWG’s Canadian operations are franchised under VanSing Distribution Group, operated by CEO Tom James and president and COO Karinna James — also the founders of the former Urban Tea Merchant which operated in the same location prior to becoming TWG Tea Salon & Boutique.
TWG Tea was founded in Singapore in 2008, as a division of The Wellness Group (hence the ‘TWG’ name), and now operates locations globally, mostly in Asia. TWG offers more than 800 varieties of tea and single-origin harvests, at a variety of price points. While some varieties are affordably priced, some rare teas are priced into the thousands for as little as 50-100 grams.
TWG Notice to Patrons for Relocating. Photo: Lee Rivett.
The new location, noted in the relocation notice posted on the doors of the former location, will be 929 Robson Street in Vancouver in the former Tesla Motors retail space. Tesla Motors opened its second Canadian store location on Robson Street in spring 2014, replacing skincare retailer H2O Plus. The Tesla store on Robson Street closed its doors after seven years in March 2021.
Former Tesla Motors on Robson Street (June 2021). Photo: Lee Rivett.
Former H2O Plus (929 Robson Street) prior to becoming Tesla Motors in 2014. Photo: Colin Arber
The latest numbers from StatsCan indicate some crazy swings in Canadian retail sales. For the 3 months ending April 2021, total retail sales increased by a record breaking 28.3% year-over-year (orange line in the chart below). But there is good reason for it. In the same period last year, 2020, sales were significantly depressed as COVID began to really impact retail activity. But compared to the same months in 2019, Canadian retail sales gained 5.3% per annum over the two years, a much more normal result.
There will likely be more ups and downs in Canadian retail sales in the months ahead. COVID was and is a big shock and it will take some time for retail markets to settle down. Another factor is that the major retail sectors are all showing different instabilities, both positive and negative.
Food & Drug
The Food & Drug sector enjoyed record high retail sales increases in 2020, at the height of the COVID pandemic. Now however things are rapidly coming back down to earth. Retail sales were up only 1.6% year-over-year for the 3 months ending April 2021 (orange line in the above chart). The underlying 12 month growth trend (green line) is now past its peak and poised to decline further.
Supermarkets & other grocery stores make up just over half of the sector, but their retail sales were down 3.5% over the 3 months ending April, the first such decline in 5 years. High sales gains at supermarkets & other grocery stores were instrumental in keeping Canadian retail from being a total disaster in 2020, but the bloom is off that rose now.
On the other hand, retail sales at health & personal care stores gained 9.5% for the 3 months ending April. This allowed the Food & Drug sector to eke out a modest positive gain overall.
Store Merchandise
The Store Merchandise sector has taken off like a rocket. Retail sales gained a nosebleed 35.0% year-over-year for the 3 months ending April, an all time record. In part at least, this is because year ago sales were significantly down due to COVID and “non-essential” retail closures. Another factor is probably that both retailers and consumers are getting better at online shopping, curbside pickup, and home delivery.
Although COVID was still with us in April, many Store Merchandise retailers still managed huge gains. Sales levels at most store types were back up to about pre-pandemic levels or better. The major exception to this is clothing and clothing accessories stores. Despite an increase of 50.6% over 2020 for the 3 months ending April, their sales were still down 23.2% compared to the same period in 2019.
Automotive & Related
Automotive & Related has come roaring back after a most dismal year in 2020. Over the 3 months ending April 2021, sector retail sales were up 53.7% year-over-year. This large gain is mostly a result of comparing this year to very depressed sales from a year ago.
New car dealers’ retail sales gains were particularly robust, up 67.9% year-over-year for the 3 months ending April. Retail sales at used car and other motor vehicle dealers were also up by large amounts.
Thanks to gas price increases, gasoline stations also had a significant gain in retail sales, up 20.8% in the period. This was their largest such gain in 4 years.
By The Numbers
Note that the data and analysis in this report are always based on not seasonally adjusted (or unadjusted) retail sales statistics.
The above chart implies that e-commerce retail sales in Canada are cooling off, but this is a misleading impression. Total e-commerce sales were up 44.9% year-over-year for the 3 months ending April, but unlike other retail sectors, it’s not because last year’s results were poor. In 2020, sales gained 71.3% during the period, so the 2021 result is on top of that.
Overall, e-commerce represented about 6.6% of Canadian retail sales over the past 12 months, including both pure plays as well as bricks & clicks stores. Note that Canadian consumers may also buy online from foreign websites which is not captured in these numbers.
Location based retail is the same as that in the preceding “By The Numbers” table. It’s what’s normally reported as Canadian retail sales. Except that it isn’t. Location based retail excludes another section called Non-Store Retailers (NAICS code 454), which includes electronic shopping and mail-order houses, which in turn is where (mostly) pure play e-commerce businesses are. Over the 12 months ending April 2021, electronic shopping and mail-order houses had an estimated $26.6 billion in e-commerce sales.
But that’s not the only source of e-commerce, as (mostly) bricks & mortar location-based retailers also sell online. For the 12 months ending April 2021, this group had an estimated $17.2 billion in e-commerce sales. With electronic shopping and mail-order houses, there’s a grand total of $43.7 billion in e-commerce sales by Canadian operators. Note that this does not include foreign e-commerce purchases made by Canadian consumers, but it does include e-commerce purchases made by foreigners at Canadian operations.
For electronic shopping and mail-order houses, an estimated 96.0% of their sales are currently allocated to e-commerce. For (mostly) bricks & mortar retailers, it can be estimated that 2.7% of their total sales are attributable to e-commerce.
In the final section of the above table, (mostly) pure play operators (namely, under electronic shopping and mail-order houses) generated an estimated 60.8% of all e-commerce sales in Canada, while (mostly) bricks & mortar location-based retailers’ share of e-commerce was 39.2%.
This analysis is updated monthly as new numbers are published by Statistics Canada. If you would like notification from Linkedin of when an update becomes available (and you’ve read this far), please connect with Ed Strapagiel on LinkedIn.
Read More Canadian Retail Analyses From Retail Insider:
Seattle-based online retail behemoth Amazon announced Monday that it will open a robotics warehouse near Edmonton in Parkland County. It will be the third robotics warehouse for Amazon in Canada, joining others in Brampton and Ottawa.
Despite being a robotic warehouse, Amazon announced that more than 1,000 jobs would also be created for the new fulfillment centre located west of Edmonton.
The 600,000 square-foot fulfillment centre will open in 2022 and will be used to pick, pack and ship small items to customers. It will serve northern Alberta as well as parts of British Columbia.
“We’re excited to expand our operations and create great, safe careers of the future for talented Albertans starting on day one,” said Vibhore Arora, a regional director at Amazon Canada, in a statement.
Amazon employs more than 23,000 people (both full and part-time) at its fulfilment centres, corporate offices and other facilities in BC, Alberta, Manitoba, Ontario and Quebec.
