Today we spoke with a real estate broker who gave us the lowdown on what retailers are looking to expand stores across Canada, and what retailers top malls want. Top malls continue to develop and evolve under such landlords as Cadillac Fairview, Oxford and Ivanhoe Cambridge.
Some retailers looking for Canada-wide expansion include (in no particular order):
- -Kate Spade
- -Burberry
- -Tiffany & Co.
- Scotch & Soda
- -Thomas Sabo
- -Free People
- -7 For All Mankind
- -Ann Taylor
- -Ted Baker
- -Microsoft
- -Apple
- -Armani Exchange
- –Superdry
- -Scotch & Soda
- -Kiehl’s
- -Little Burgundy
- -J. Crew
- -Wilfred (by Aritzia)
- -Tory Burch
- -Tumi
- -Massimo Dutti
- -Henri Bendel
- And others… this list was getting a bit long.
These retailers only want space in the ‘best’ malls. Best malls include such centres as Chinook Centre in Calgary, Vancouver’s Pacific Centre and (after renovations) Oakridge Centre, Toronto’s Eaton Centre, Yorkdale and Sherway Gardens, Winnipeg’s Polo Park, and a few others. Expect massive mall renovations/expansions with plenty of new tenants at these and other A-level malls.
Which leads us to another question: What will happen to the ‘lesser’ Canadian malls with a future of online shopping and increased international travel? Retail Darwinism might mean that only a few ‘supermalls’ survive.
Next week we will go more in-depth, exploring Canada’s top malls and why only the ‘fittest’ will survive while others may fail and ultimately be re-developed.
