Aritzia Debuts Expanded Yorkdale Store in Toronto, Including Adding Licensed Restaurant [Photos]

Vancouver-based women’s fashion retailer Aritzia has debuted its renovated and expanded storefront at Toronto’s Yorkdale Shopping Centre. The impressive retail space is now about double the size of what was there prior.

Aritzia has been a tenant in the shopping centre since 1999 — its original 5,000 square foot store relocated to a 10,000 square foot space on the North Wing of the centre several years ago. Now the store totals nearly 20,000 square feet, making it one of Aritzia’s largest.

The latest expansion comes at a time when a number of retailers at Yorkdale are renovating or relocating. GUESS, which was formerly located beside Aritzia, will be opening a new storefront in part of the former Victoria’s Secret location in the mall. Mango will also be opening in the Victoria’s Secret space, which was vacated last year.

Retail Insider reported on Aritzia’s expansion goals in September 2022, at which time Karen Janes, Executive Vice President, Real Estate boutique Development for Aritzia, shared some of the plans.

“With every expansion and opening, our goal is to provide our clients with an aspirational environment. Many of the elements and design ideas will be integrated in future boutiques in an organic way,” said Janes in the article.

“When we think about expanding our footprint, we look at premier locations that provide us the runway to connect with both new and existing clients through engaging service, beautiful product and aspirational environments. As we look ahead, we are well-positioned and excited for continued growth through the expansion of our boutiques across both Canada and the US.”

Aritzia Yorkdale features collections from most of the brand’s extensive portfolio of sub-brands, including Wilfred, Babaton, Tna, The Super Puff™ and Sunday Best.

“Aritzia is a vertically integrated design house that delivers Everyday Luxury through engaging service, beautiful product, aspirational environments, and captivating communications. This season, Aritzia is excited to expand its Yorkdale boutique, complete with an A-OK Cafe, the brand’s signature in-house coffee shop,” said the brand.

“Yorkdale clients will also be able to enjoy the newly expanded menu which offers a selection of alcohol including wine, beer and cocktails, and small plates featuring paté, burrata and olives. A-OK Cafe further proves Aritzia’s commitment to an elevated shopping experience and Everyday Luxury.”

The expanded Yorkdale Aritzia store is one of many recent changes to Yorkdale as brands continue to open in the mall. Yorkdale is finding its place as a world-class retail destination now housing many of the world’s biggest brands, with even more said to be on the way.

Yorkdale launches more first-to-Canada international retailers than any single location, with recent additions including Diptique, Acne Studios, Ganni and the fist standalone Fendi. Luxury brands are an important part of the mix with Bulgari and Cartier having both recently expanded storefronts. Anchor Holt Renfrew, which spans about 130,000 square feet, is said to have sales in the hundreds of millions of dollars annually.