The luxury brand concessions at Nordstrom have shuttered ahead of the retailer’s exit from Canada. Downtown Vancouver’s flagship Nordstrom store was home to the most leased concessions of any Nordstrom store in Canada, while two Toronto stores had several as well.
In Vancouver, one reader sent photos of shuttered main floor boutique spaces for brands including Christian Louboutin, Saint Laurent, Celine, Burberry and others, leaving a sad state in the store with empty shelves and spaces covered in black tarp.
One of the notable brands that shut is Belgian luxury bag brand Delvaux, which also had a boutique space at Nordstrom in Toronto’s Yorkdale Shopping Centre. Delvaux’s only two boutiques in North America were at Nordstrom in Canada until several years ago when a standalone store opened in New York City. Bags are priced well into the thousands of dollars and it remains to be seen if Holt Renfrew picks up the brand, or if Delvaux will look to open any standalone stores in Canada.
In downtown Toronto, a Gucci bag and accessory concession shut at Nordstrom’s CF Toronto Eaton Centre location, marking the end of Gucci having a facade on Yonge Street which will likely never occur again in our lifetimes. The Toronto Nordstrom store had far fewer concessions than the Vancouver Nordstrom store, although the Toronto location had several boutique spaces that shut over the course of the pandemic. That included bag/accessory shops on the main floor for Loewe, Stella McCartney and Miu Miu and most recently, Burberry exited its boutique space after the brand made the decision to operate its shop-in-stores in Canada as concessions.
Oddly as well, only three days before Nordstrom announced it was shutting in Canada, the former Burberry boutique space at Nordstrom’s downtown Toronto store became home to French bag brand Longchamp, with a purpose-made sign for the shop. The shop was no longer there as of Sunday.
Dutch suit brand Suitsupply shut its concessions at Nordstorm in Toronto and Vancouver as well — the partnership was established shortly before the pandemic.
During the pandemic, non-concession boutique spaces for women’s luxury brands at the CF Toronto Eaton Centre and Yorkdale stores shut almost entirely, leaving a Max Mara boutique at the downtown store and Dries Van Noten at Yorkdale. The exit of these brands were among the signs that we were watching prior to knowing that Nordstrom would be exiting the Canadian market.
The foodservice businesses at Nordstrom in Canada shut last week, including full-service restaurants, bars and in-store eBar coffee shops. Milk Bar, a popular foodservice concept, opened in November at the downtown Vancouver Nordstrom store and operated for less than four months.
Clearance sales at Nordstrom stores in Canada begin this week as part of the winding down of Nordstrom Canada under CCAA proceedings. Nordstrom has six full-sized stores in Canada including three in Toronto (CF Toronto Eaton Centre, Yorkdale and CF Sherway Gardens) as well as in Ottawa at CF Rideau Centre, Calgary at CF Chinook Centre, and at CF Pacific Centre in Vancouver. Nordstrom also operates seven Nordstrom Rack stores in Canada in the metropolitan Vancouver, Edmonton, Calgary, Toronto and Ottawa markets.
We’ll report on anything newsworthy as Nordstrom begins its exit from Canada. Stores are expected to shut forever by June of this year. As of Friday of last week, Nordstrom is no longer accepting returns or exchanges in its Canadian stores.
