BRIEF: Jeweller Opens 1st Permanent Store, Pink Tartan Shuts Toronto Flagship

Danish jewellery brand Pilgrim has opened its first permanent storefront in Canada in downtown Montreal. It follows last year’s openings of two Pilgrim pop-up stores in the Montreal area that proved successful.

The new Montreal Pilgrim boutique is located at Place Montreal Trust located on Ste-Caterine Street. The boutique is 504 square feet in a prime corner retail space next to a Swarovski jewellery store. Place Montreal Trust is part of what would normally be a high-traffic area amongst office buildings, hotels, and department stores. An initial five-year lease was signed as part of the lease deal for the Pilgrim space, spelling confidence in the longer-term outlook for the brand in the Quebec market.

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Annemette Markvad and Thomas Adamsen founded Pilgrim in 1983. The product was initially sold at music festivals and music is still an inspiration with many designs. The “Scandi-cool approach to design” is found in a range of jewellery, watches, and sunglasses. Prices are very reasonable with many items priced under $100.

Last year Pilgrim opened two pop-up stores in the Montreal area. One was at Place Montreal Trust in a different space near the current store. The other opened at the Quartier DIX30 commercial centre in Brossard with a one year lease.

Toronto-based fashion brand Pink Tartan is clearing out its Toronto flagship store at 77 Yorkville Avenue. The store had operated in the converted heritage building since 2010 in a space formerly occupied by the Paisley Shop.

The 3,500-square-foot store contained a mix of Pink Tartan fashions and some vintage luxury designer products from brands such as Chanel. The Yorkville Avenue building includes a heritage home built in 1867 as well as a contemporary addition facing onto Bellair Street. We’ll soon announce the replacement tenant for the retail property which was put on the market earlier this year.

Pink Tartan was founded by Kimberley Newport-Mimran and her husband Joe Mimran in 2002. The upscale women’s ready-to-wear collection has been carried in stores such as Hudson’s Bay. Pink Tartan also had a store at Bayview Village which closed several months ago.

The remaining brick-and-mortar Pink Tartan location is an outlet store at the Outlet Collection at Niagara near Niagara Falls. Pink Tartan also has an e-commerce site.

Japanese fashion retailer Uniqlo announced on Wednesday that it will open its second Montreal-area store at CF Carrefour Laval. It is expected to open in a retail space vacated by Renaud Bray books which is about 20,000 square feet.

It follows the opening of Canada’s largest Uniqlo store in downtown Montreal this fall. The two-level flagship at Montreal Eaton Centre spans more than 40,000 square feet.

The CF Carrefour Laval Uniqlo store will be the 15th location in Canada. Uniqlo opened its first store in Canada at CF Toronto Eaton Centre in Toronto, followed by Yorkdale. Uniqlo now operates eight stores in the Greater Toronto area, four in the Vancouver area, one at West Edmonton Mall that opened last year as well as the downtown Montreal flagship.

Jeff Berkowitz of Aurora Realty Consultants represents Uniqlo as broker in Canada and he negotiated all of Uniqlo’s store leases in Canada.

QuadReal is redeveloping the former Canada Post hub in downtown Vancouver. Called ‘The Post’, the massive development will include 185,000 square feet of retail space which will include a 45,000-square-foot Loblaws City Market store and a 25,000-square-foot food hall, among other tenants. QuadReal has announced that two new coffee shops will open at The Post when it is finished in summer/fall 2023.

Calgary-based Deville Coffee will occupy 1,100 square feet located in The Post’s Atrium. Deville is a popular coffee chain with eight locations in Calgary. The Post location marks the first for the B.C. market. Jason Cunningham, Cofounder of Deville Coffee said, “We are extremely excited to be part of The Post, and we felt it was the perfect showcase to introduce Deville Coffee to Vancouver. It is the first lease we have signed in the province, and it represents a great first step for us, positioning our brand in the market”. Besides beverages such as coffee, the café will feature pastries delivered fresh daily from Vancouver’s finest bakeries, and a menu of sandwiches and other goods.

Vancouver-based Buro The Espresso Bar will also open at The Post in the Atrium, leading into the food hall. It was founded in Vancouver’s  Gastown area and has been featured in historic buildings that revived and energized their neighboruhoods. For The Post, Buro will design  finishes engineered and tailored to match The Post architectural features and feature exclusive sustainably grown coffees.

The Post’s largest tenant will be Amazon, which will employ several thousand people in over 1.1 million square feet of space.

Montreal-based vegan outerwear brand Noize has opened two pop-up stores near Montreal. One is at Centre Rockland in Montreal spanning 1,427 square feet and the other is at Quartier DIX30 in Brossard spanning 1,752 square feet. Both will remain open until March 2021 and the leases could be extended into next summer.

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The pop-ups are being used to test the market and showcase the brand’s FW 2021 collections, and the Toronto area is next in line for Noize pop-up stores. The company said that a tangible experience is important while also offering a robust online offering.

Noiz uses PETA approved vegan furs, vegan wool and leather alternatives while using recycled fill and recycled plastic in designs. Jackets are water and wind resistant. Prices are very reasonable compared to competitors. Most jacket styles on Noize’s website are under $300, and many are currently on sale.

Brokerage Oberfeld Snowcap represented Noize in the lease deals.

Competition is fierce in the outerwear space in Canada. Wuxly Movement and Norden Project both make vegan outerwear at a higher price point when compared to Noize. Canada Goose, Moose Knuckles, Mackage, True Outliers, and others, with jackets more in the $1,000 range, use real fur and down.

With craft fairs across the British Columbia being cancelled or going virtual, including the popular Circle Craft Christmas Market, Granville Island’s own Circle Craft is supporting struggling local artists who have lost income due to the lack of in-person markets with their new #ShopYourCircle campaign. Challenging holiday shoppers to do all their gifting from local artists and businesses within 50km of their homes, the campaign features local artists, including:

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1. Yookyoung Yong: A Korean ceramics artist based in Vancouver, Yookyoung creates handcrafted clay pieces set to inspire. Several of her cups and bowls are currently used in local Marriott restaurants.
2. Chi Cheng Lee: Working with sterling silver, gold, and semi-precious stone, Chi designs and crafts her unique jewellery pieces in her West Vancouver studio while combining traditional Eastern themes with Western modernism.
3. Minori Takagi: Born in Shizuoka, Japan, glass artist Minori Takagi uses Tombodama (glass beads created through ancient lampworking techniques) to create one-of-a-kind pieces, including her fan-favourite lilly earrings and necklace set.
4. Mary Fox: As a world-renowned self-taught potter, Ladysmith’s Mary Fox creates both functional and purely decorative works that focus on expressing the beauty and strength of pure form. She has recently released a new book entitled “My Life As a Potter” and is currently working on a legacy project for young ceramics artists.

Supporting local has never been so important. By shopping handcrafted and one-of-a-kind gifts made from local artisans, you can feel good knowing you are directly supporting people in your own community during this difficult time. Find a wide variety of gifts ranging from $20 and up in the Circle Craft Gallery, including handcrafted jewellery, homegoods, ceramics, and much more.

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