Upscale Los Angeles-based fashion brand James Perse is opening two home furnishings stores in Canada in Former WANT Apothecary locations. The expansion is being spearheaded by Montreal-based Mark Edwards Group which has the rights to James Perse in Canada.
Both of the new James Perse home stores will replace WANT Apothecary locations that recently shut down over the course of the pandemic. In Toronto, the new James Perse home store will be located at 1070 Yonge Street in the city’s affluent Rosedale area. In Montreal, James Perse’s home store will replace WANT’s storefront at 4960 Sherbrooke Street West in affluent Westmount. The Westmount location is expected to open in August and the Toronto store will open likely this fall.
James Perse’s home collection includes a range of bedding, blankets, pillow shams, bath and beach towels, games, baskets, rugs, books and other items. Prices are steep — the James Perse website includes a jute basket costing $428, hand towels priced at $80, duvets priced at $725, bed sheets costing $435, and beach towels priced at $363. Jute runners (rugs) are priced between $2,030 and $3,190 and some blankets cost as much as $3,615.
James Perse also operates four fashion stores in Canada in the Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver markets. In Toronto, James Perse has a storefront at 18 Hazelton Avenue in a heritage building adjacent to the Yorkville Village shopping complex. In Oakville, near Toronto, James Perse has a store at 179 Lakeshore Road East in the city’s downtown core. In Montreal, James Perse’s fashion store is at 4869 Sherbrooke Street West on a lovely stretch of commercial buildings in Westmount. In Vancouver, James Perse has a store at 2723 Granville Street in the upscale South Granville area, south of wealthy Shaughnessy.
An employee of James Perse said that the brand is not yet planning on opening a home store in the Vancouver market, which could change depending on the performance of the new Toronto and Westmount home stores. The James Perse store in Vancouver has a small selection of home goods.
The physical retail spaces for Montreal-based WANT Apothecary shut down a couple of months ago as the brand pivots to an ecommerce business while refocusing on its core brand. The tasteful, highly-curated retail concept launched 10 years ago and at one time had five stores in major cities in Canada and the United States. We reported this month that Quartz Co. had purchased the WANT Les Essentials brand from Mark Edwards Group with plans to grow the WANT business.
Montreal-based Mark Edwards Group includes an apparel division that makes private and in-house brands as well as having the rights to distribute the James Perse brand in Canada.Â
