US-based fashion brand Brooks Brothers has relocated its Bloor-Yorkville storefront to the iconic Lillian Massey building at the southeast corner of Bloor Street and Avenue Road. The Bloor Street-facing retail space was occupied by Club Monaco from March of 1996 until its closure in March of 2021.
The new Brooks Brothers store features men’s and women’s collections, housed in rooms within the historic building. When one enters the store from the street, a marble cash desk greets visitors. To the right is menswear, including a range of casual styles and formalwear. To the left of the cash desk is womenswear — the lower level of the former Club Monaco is currently not in use.
Brooks Brothers is hoping to potentially extend its 1 + year lease at the Lillian Massey building. Brooks Brothers opened last week and the store has been busy with customers.
Oberfeld Snowcap represented Brooks Brothers in the lease deal. CBRE’s Toronto Urban Retail Team listed the space under the direction of Arlin Markowitz.
Brooks Brothers relocated from a storefront nearby at 83 Bloor Street West, which opened in the summer of 2022. It closed at the end of January so that the retail building could be converted to a sales centre for a new 70+ condominium tower that will eventually be built on the site.
The first location for Brooks Brothers in the Bloor-Yorkville area opened in the spring of 2014 at 110 Bloor Street West. It shut in the summer of 2022 for the construction of a Saint Laurent flagship store, which is still under scaffolding and construction hoarding.
Located at 157 Bloor Street West, the Lillian Massey Building’s Neoclassical architecture includes a prominent facade of Indiana limestone with columns topped with Ionic capitals and was designed by architect George Martell Miller. Construction on the building was completed in 1912 for the University of Toronto’s Household Science program that was created by Lillian Massey Treble, the daughter of wealthy businessman Hart Massey.
The building is owned by the Victoria University in the University of Toronto and it also houses the University’s Department of Classics and Centre for Medieval Studies, as well as the offices of the University of Toronto’s Division of University Advancement.
In years past, renovations to the building saw Club Monaco’s CMX brand move downstairs into a room that once housed a swimming pool. The pool was covered over and merchandise was displayed in the space. Most recently, menswear was housed in the space prior to Club Monaco’s closure about two years ago.
Brooks Brothers’ Canadian footprint has been downsized as of late. The brand recently closed its store on Alberni Street in downtown Vancouver where it had operated for about 15 years. Brooks Brothers currently operates full-priced stores in Toronto including the new Bloor Street location, a 22,000 square foot store at Royal Bank Plaza in the Financial District (the largest Brooks Brothers store in the world), and a location at the CF Shops at Don Mills. A location in downtown Calgary at The CORE is the only other full-priced store in Canada, besides a small location inside of Vancouver International Airport.
Brooks Brothers also operates a network of six outlet stores including at Toronto Premium Outlets in Halton Hills, Outlet Collection at Niagara in Niagara-on-the-Lake, CrossIron Mills near Calgary, South Edmonton Common in Edmonton, and Tsawwassen Mills in South Delta, near Vancouver.
Related Retail Insider Articles
- ALDO Signs Exclusive Licensing Deals with Ted Baker and Brooks Brothers, Positions Itself for Growth: Interview with David Bensadoun
- In Photos: The Last Days of Club Monaco on the Mink Mile in Toronto
Additional Photos of Brooks Brothers at 157 Bloor Street West
