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Upscale sporting goods retailer Sporting Life plans to open stores across Canada. Its goal is to open two stores a year, with locations sought in Vancouver, Edmonton, Calgary, and Montreal. Its stores will be large, measuring in the 30,000-50,000 square foot range. Its expansion goals are lofty, especially considering that Sporting Life hasn’t opened a new store in 14 years.
Founded in 1979, Sporting Life sells apparel and footwear, as well as equipment geared towards runners, cyclists, skiers, snowboarders and hikers. Some items can cost into the thousands. It has a large selection of outerwear, fleece and coats from popular brands Moncler, Canada Goose, and The North Face, among others. It also carries a mix of high-end and casual clothing brands including Barbour, Bogner, Hugo Boss, Grenoble, Mackage, John Varvatos and others.
Given the size of its current and recently announced locations, we expect Sporting Life’s new stores to span 30,000 to 50,000 square feet. Its current and proposed store locations and sizes are as follows:
Current Stores:
- Toronto: flagship at 2665 Yonge Street: about 36,000 square feet,
- Toronto: bike and snowboard shop, at 2545 Yonge Street: about 10,000 square feet,
- Toronto: Sherway Gardens: currently 42,000 square feet, to be replaced with a 40,000 location in 2015, and
- Collingwood, Ontario: 10,000 square feet.
Announced new store locations:
- Markham, Ontario: Markville Shopping Centre: 32,000 square feet, opening late September, 2014,
- Ottawa: Landsdowne Park: 43,000 square feet, opening in October, 2014,
- Richmond Hill, Ontario: Hillcrest Mall: 44,000 square feet, opening in 2016.
President and CEO David Russell told the Toronto Star that Sporting Life sells about $100 million annually. Its current expansion plans were made possible after Fairfax Financial Holdings Ltd. bought 75% of Sporting Life in December of 2011.
When Sporting Life expands into Western Canada, its merchandising will be modified. Mr. Russel said:
“When we open a store in the lower mainland of British Columbia, for example, the clothing will be perhaps a little different; more layers as opposed to big heavy down parkas. And when we go to western Canada the skis are wider and there might be more emphasis on mountain biking as opposed to road biking.”
CANADIAN RETAIL NEWS: Wednesday, June 18, 2014 (Updated Continuously)
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Hmmm to me Hillcrest in Richmond Hill is an unexpected location… Since the mall’s ownership transitioned from CF (I think) to Oxford a couple years ago I’ve been waiting for them to do something to that mall. It has potential and there are a couple of nicer stores (eg. BCBCMAXAZRIA, Marciano)
Hmmm to me Hillcrest in Richmond Hill is an unexpected location… Since the mall’s ownership transitioned from CF to Oxford a couple years ago I’ve been waiting for them to do something to that mall. The mall itself has potential and there are a couple of nicer stores (eg. BCBCMAXAZRIA, Marciano) but otherwise the store selection is very basic. Except for the newer stores, many of the stores exteriors looked to be outdated, as did the floors and fixtures throughout the mall. It could use some major updates but because its obviously not one of Oxford’s biggest or high-performing malls, I doubt it’ll happen anytime soon.
However, having a higher-end anchor such as Sporting Life could draw in a lot more traffic to the mall. I regularly shop at Upper Canada in Newmarket and occasionally make trips to other malls in and around York Region and I’ll definitely check out Sporting Life – and if I like it, I’ll probably shop at Hillcrest more than once or twice a year, which is currently how often I go there. I’m interested in where in the mall the Sporting Life will be located. I know that one of Hudson’s Bay’s locations is expanding, so perhaps the Bay will vacate one of their units when the expansion is completed and Sporting Life will move in.