Holt Renfrew‘s “new generation” stores will be in excess of 120,000 square feet, making them similar in size to or even larger than recently opened Neiman Marcus stores. We are providing a comparison of store sizes. Where applicable, we are linking the Holt Renfrew stores to previous Retail Insider articles describing their sizes and other store details.
Holt Renfrew stores and Neiman Marcus stores are quite similar. Both carry many of the same upscale designers and designer shops-in-store. Both have more recently included simple, bright interiors with plenty of open space.
Here is an update on the latest new and proposed Holt Renfrew store sizes (9 stores in total):
Holt Renfrew’s proposed store and store expansion:
- Mississauga Ontario (Square One Shopping Centre): ~120,000 square feet, opening spring 2016,
- Toronto (Yorkdale Shopping Centre): 121,000 square feet +, expansion finished summer/fall 2013.
Current “large” Holt Renfrew Stores:
- Calgary (The Core): ~120,000 square feet plus a currently unused 25,500 square-foot fourth floor,
- Vancouver (Pacific Centre): 137,200 square feet, opened spring 2007, with an expansion proposal on the table,
- Toronto (Bloor Street flagship): About 185,000 square feet with a significant expansion proposal in the works.
Older “smaller” Holt Renfrew stores:
- Montreal: 83,000 square feet with about 64,000 square feet of retail space – with the possibility of a replacement store in the works (expect an article with more on this in the near future),
- Ottawa (240 Sparks Street): About 36,600 square feet over 2 floors,
- Quebec City (Place Ste-Foy): 32,943 square feet,
- Edmonton (Manulife Place): About 47,000 square feet,
- An existing 33,670 square foot Holt Renfrew store at Toronto’s Sherway Gardens will close in the spring of 2016. It will be replaced by the Mississauga location mentioned above.
As can be seen, there is a significant difference in store sizes between the older, smaller Holt Renfrew stores and the newer locations (and the older Toronto Bloor Street flagship store) that are all in excess of 120,000 square feet.
This list includes the sizes of all Neiman Marcus stores opened since 2005:
- 2012: Walnut Creek, California (Broadway Plaza): 88,000 square feet
- 2010: Bellevue Washington (The Bravern): 125,000 square feet
- 2009: Canoga Park, California (Westfield Topanga): 120,000 square feet
- 2008: Natick, Massachusetts (Natick Collection): 102,000 square feet
- 2007: Austin, Texas (The Domain): 80,000 square feet
- 2007: Charlotte, North Carolina (Southpark Mall): 80,000 square feet
- 2006: Boca Raton, Florida (Town Centre at Boca Raton): 136,000 square feet
- 2006: San Antonio, Texas (La Cantera): 120,000 square feet
It would appear that Holt Renfrew is opening similarly-sized stores as Neiman Marcus. Interestingly, Neiman Marcus stores tend to carry more home furnishings, children’s items (clothing and toys), restaurants and jewelry than Holt Renfrew stores. This lends the notion that some Holt Renfrew stores now offer a larger square footage to fashion brands than many newer Neiman Marcus stores.
It should be noted, however, that there are several relatively large Neiman Marcus stores that are older and have received more recent square footage additions. Neiman Marcus’ largest locations include:
- San Francisco, California: 251,000 square feet
- Houston, Texas (Houston Galleria): 224,000 square feet
- Dallas, Texas (Northpark Shopping Centre): 218,000 square feet
- Atlanta, Georgia (Lenox Square): 206,000 square feet
- Chicago, Illinois (Michigan Avenue): 188,000 square feet
- Beverly Hills, California: 185,000 square feet
Holt Renfrew’s recent tendency towards opening larger stores lends itself to being a world-class retailer. And with revenues close to $1000 per square foot, Holt Renfrew stores enjoy a level of productivity greater than almost all North American department stores.
We’ll be following up this article with various articles on Holt Renfrew, including its previous stores and sizes, sales revenues, expansion plans, and a comparison between it and other similar retailers around the world. We’ll also be doing analysis pieces where we see improvements that can be made to Holt Renfrew’s business model. We can say that, so far, the company appears to be on the right track to become a $1 billion per year retailer within a couple of years.
Holt Renfrew website: www.HoltRenfrew.com
Neiman Marcus website: www.NeimanMarcus.com
