Richemont-owned luxury French jewellery brand Cartier is upgrading its Canadian operations with store renovations, expansions and a relocation. The move signals confidence in the Canadian market following challenges relating to pandemic lockdowns.
The 4,300 square foot downtown Toronto Cartier store in The Colonnade at 131 Bloor Street West saw a full renovation several months ago, bringing it in line with other global stores as part of Cartier’s new design aesthetic. Cartier for decades has had a presence on Bloor Street beginning with the Manulife Centre in the 1980s.
In Vancouver, Cartier recently relocated its storefront to the city’s Luxury Zone within the 755 Burrard Street building. Included is a new facade where a Hermes store operated for years — in 2019 Hermes relocated nearby. Prior to opening on Burrard, Cartier operated a licensed location at 456 Howe Street between Hastings and Pender Streets.
Next up is a renovation and expansion to the Yorkdale Cartier storefront in Toronto. The 3,500 square foot location will expand by annexing part of an adjacent space formerly occupied by Mulberry which exited Canada during the pandemic. Bulgari will occupy the remainder of the former Mulberry space and Bulgari is also seeing a full renovation at Yorkdale as well.
Cartier also has distribution in upscale multi-brand retailers in Canada including Birks, where the brand has several shop-in-stores.
In Canada, Cartier has had stores for decades in major markets. Montreal was once home to a Les Must de Cartier boutique at 1498 Sherbrooke Street West which shut years ago. Bloor Street in Toronto has been home to several Cartier storefronts over the years until it moved into its current location in 2012.
Cartier had a small Les Must boutique on the 700 block of Robson Street in the early 1980s which relocated inside of the Pacific Centre mall in 1985 — in 1994 it moved to a small corner location at Hastings and Howe Streets prior to relocating to 456 Howe Street in the early 2000s. From the late 1990s into the mid 2000s there was a push to put luxury brands on West Hastings Street between Hornby Street and Granville Street and over the years, almost all have vacated.
We’ll follow up on this article when Cartier completes the renovation and expansion to its Yorkdale store in Toronto. It’s not known if Cartier will open more standalone stores in Canada in the future, though new suburban luxury nodes in Vancouver (Oakridge Centre or The Amazing Brentwood) and Montreal (Royalmount) have potential.
Richemont has been investing heavily in the Canadian market over the past decade. That includes opening standalone storefronts for its jewellery brands including Piaget, IWC, Panerai, Vacheron Constantin, Montblanc and Jaeger LeCoultre. These brand stores are all located in the Toronto and Vancouver markets though Piaget has yet to open a store in Vancouver. Chloé, known for its women’s ready-to-wear and bags, operates a flagship at Toronto’s Yorkdale Shopping Centre. Richemont also owns pricey Belgian luxury brand Delvaux which currently has concession boutique spaces at Nordstrom in downtown Vancouver and at Nordstrom’s Yorkdale Shopping Centre store in Toronto.