After closing its location in Ottawa’s CF Rideau Centre, Nespresso is opening a new location at the mixed-used Lansdowne Live development with a streetfront store in the busy neighbourhood in the nation’s capital.
Anne-Valerie Guidollet, Vice President of B2C Sales and Omni-Channel at Nespresso Canada, said the Lansdowne location in Ottawa’s inner city will house the brand’s innovative new concept neighbourhood store.
“It’s a destination area. It really came across as a new type of location which would also be very close to our Nespresso club members,” she said.
“We decided to test this type of area, location, as something new and different in terms of bonding with our club members and being part of a community neighbourhood.”
The brand’s presence in the Ottawa area includes a new boutique store in Gatineau and a store in the Bayshore Shopping Centre in Ottawa.
“What’s different for us (with the Lansdowne store) and something that we haven’t tested in a while is the fact that it’s actually going to be a street location,” said Guidollet. “The previous openings that we made were more in a mall context. This is why it’s really interesting to see what type of traffic we’re going to get in that area, what type of relationships we’re going to have with the club members because we believe it will be a different experience than shopping at a mall.”
“We have 35 boutiques in Canada, which include two street boutiques. Crescent Street in Montreal and Cumberland Street in Toronto. This will be another street boutique. It’s very interesting for us to see, and test and to innovate in this way.”
Guidollet said every year the company re-assesses its network to see what’s working well, what’s not working as well, what are the opportunities.
“We do have projects in the future in some of the biggest areas. I cannot share too much, but what I can say is we’re going to reinforce our experience and then we’re always interested in also testing new locations. We opened a pop-up in Kelowna for instance. We also opened a popup in Sherbrooke,” she said.
“We’re also looking into beyond going into the downtown areas and looking at other locations where we could have appeal to our club members and attract our club members. We look at both the traditional big city areas but also other new areas where we see a fit with our brands and potential club members.”
Guidollet said Nespresso has a strong omni-channel presence, but it’s grounded also in the retail experience.
“In terms of retail, what’s different with Nespresso is the level of experience that we want to give and the level of personalization that is very, very important to us. Tasting is really our key point of difference. We have a strategy to offer coffee tasting to whoever comes into the boutique and it’s a way for people to discover our brand. That’s something that we can only do in boutique and linked to that there’s also the story behind the brand. All our sustainability programs, our sourcing. These are also key elements for us that we really showcase throughout the touchpoints and in boutique we spend more time to explain and to educate our club members on.”
Nespresso liked the Lansdowne Live area because it’s an up-and-coming neighbourhood in Ottawa along the busy Bank Street with lots of foot traffic.
There’s a lot of activity in the area with restaurants, a farmer’s market, a football stadium, and a hockey arena.
The Nespresso location there will have direct access from the street level, and it will be just over 2,000 square feet.
David Scorniaenchi, Vice President of Leasing for real estate company Trinity, which is the landlord for Lansdowne Live, said the area is a one-of-a-kind unique development.
“I don’t think there’s too many of them in Canada really that has this combination of sports, retail and entertainment,” he said. “It’s really a home for everything in Ottawa.”
“We’re thrilled to be welcoming Nespresso. When we had the opportunity to work with them and bring them to Lansdowne it’s the exact type of global destination name, banner, brand that we look for Lansdowne and I think it fits perfectly for the neighbourhood. There’s tons of traffic here. There’s lots of events, it’s a high energy site especially when there’s sporting events going on but throughout the summer there’s lots of programming. So it’s exactly the type of tenant we like to target.”
Attracting more than four million visitors annually, Lansdowne Live is a premium, one of a kind, mixed-use sports and entertainment centre in the Glebe District, one of Ottawa’s most revered neighbourhoods. Blending historical beauty with modern retail, office and residential, Lansdowne boasts year-round entertainment including a farmer’s market, and over 300 events held across the Aberdeen Pavilion, Horticulture Building, and TD Place. TD Place is home to the Ottawa Redblacks (CFL), 67’s (OHL), Blackjacks (CEBL) and Atlético Ottawa (CPL).
Lansdowne Live includes a real estate mix with 340,000 square feet of retail, 280 residential units, 116,000 square feet of office, and 1,430 parking stalls. The retail is anchored by Cineplex VIP, GoodLife Fitness, Whole Foods, Sporting Life, Winners, LCBO, Joey, Craft Beer Market, Milestones and Local.
“We are looking to do Lansdowne 2.0 which involves a redevelopment of the north end of the football stands that will add potentially three more residential towers and 1,200 residential units and additional 80,000 square feet of retail and more entertainment as well,” said Scorniaenchi.
Nespresso is working with brokerage Oakmont Real Estate Services for its Canadian expansion.
