Popular American womenswear brand Eileen Fisher reportedly plans to focus its store expansion on Canada, where it has seen exceptional growth and been highly profitable. Its Canadian wholesale division also sees exceptional sales, with Nordstrom‘s Calgary store being one of Eileen Fisher’s top 10 selling locations.
Eileen Fisher currently operates two stores in Canada. Its first location opened in the summer of 2011 in Vancouver’s tony South Granville shopping district, and its second location opened in July of 2013 at Calgary’s Chinook Centre. It also wholesales at upscale retailers such as Blu’s in Calgary and Edmonton and at Andrews in Toronto, as well as at Holt Renfrew locations across Canada and at Hudson’s Bay‘s Vancouver and Toronto flagships.
Karen Gray, Vice President of retail and global development for Eileen Fisher, tells Women’s Wear Daily that the company’s Canadian business is “extremely successful and highly profitable”. As a result, “Canada is going to become the focus of our retail expansion”. Ms. Gray says that Eileen Fisher will look to open in Toronto in 2015 or 2016, and that it is also looking at Ottawa and Montreal for store locations. A second Vancouver store could also be in the works according to Ms. Gray, following exceptional sales at its South Granville unit.
Ms. Gray says that Eileen Fisher will also be carried at Nordstrom stores across Canada, and the brand is doing exceptionally high sales at Nordstrom’s Calgary store, which opened at Chinook Centre in September. Eileen Fisher’s sales at Calgary’s Nordstrom are among its “top 10 doors” according to Anthony LoRusso, Eileen Fisher’s Director of Sales.
Founded in New York in 1984, Eileen Fisher is a privately-owned eco-friendly, experimentation-minded, socially aware company with 67 company-operated stores worldwide. Of these, 62 stores are in the United States, two are in Canada, and three are in the United Kingdom. Annual revenues are estimated at US $430 million.
Interestingly, the brand operates two second-hand locations called ‘Green Eileen’, selling gently worn Eileen Fisher apparel collected from customers and dry-cleaned. Profits from sales go to organizations supported by Ms. Fisher, including causes devoted to environmental consciousness and human rights. Green Eileen shops operate in Yonkers, N.Y. and in Seattle.
