Canadian shopping centres and retailers across the country have been going all out recently celebrating the Year of the Dragon as part of the Chinese Lunar New Year experience.
It’s a way to recognize this important event, to reflect the community and also to appeal to a key consumer demographic.
“The Chinese consumer has a fairly large impact on retail in Canada – particularly in the Greater Vancouver and Greater Toronto markets. You could break the segment into Canadian Chinese shoppers and Chinese tourists visiting Canada. Both are important segments. According to Periphery, the Chinese population in Canada will be 2.7 million people by 2031,” said Bruce Winder, author of RETAIL Before, During & After COVID-19 and President of Bruce Winder Retail, adding the Chinese tourism business in Canada is also a big booster of sales in the retail sector.
“This segment over indexes on luxury goods and experiences. When you think about Lunar New Year merchandise and services, this group offers a great sales opportunity at a time when retail overall is a little quiet and sales are slow. Retailers that do a good job on Lunar New Year build relevance to these important customers which may bring loyalty at other times of year.
“There have been some interesting collaborations recently with brands celebrating Lunar New Year with select merchandise from Lululemon, Dr. Martens, Aritzia and many more. The Year of the Dragon looks like a great sales opportunity for retailers of all kinds.”
Oxford Properties is bringing the Lunar New Year experience to a number of its shopping centre properties including Yorkdale, Scarborough Town Centre, Square One, Hillcrest and Upper Canada Mall.
Lucia Connor, Vice-President of Marketing, Oxford Properties, said the real estate company recognizes various periods throughout the year, but in particular for Lunar New Year, as its shopping centres are located in diverse communities.
“Our teams, we create, we launch, a wide range of different experiences, entertainment, performances, events. And we even include markets to really commemorate the Year of the Dragon for Lunar New Year,” said Connor.
“We do this at Oxford specifically because in order to connect with the communities, we need to reflect the communities. So that’s an important priority for us.
“Secondly, Lunar New Year is a significant gifting occasion. Many retailers in our shopping centre also celebrate the season with in-store events, many of whom have window displays. And what’s really interesting is that some of the brands will also create and carry unique Lunar New Year products. So this year, Year of the Dragon products. And so our shopping centres will also amplify that on our channels to drive awareness, traffic and sales to those retailers.”
For example, at Yorkdale, until Sunday, February 25, visitors can visit East Court near Canada Goose to make themselves a part of an elevated Lunar New Year experience like no other. Toronto’s largest indoor dragon will take over a major court and feature a massive 40-foot installation of a golden dragon.
Also, Yorkdale Shopping Centre is welcoming the return of an expansive gold immersive experience located near Holt Renfrew. Until Friday, February 23, guests can walk through a passageway featuring golden archways and a stunning runway floor decal adorned with florals and dragons that beautifully intertwine tradition and modern artistry.
“Lunar New Year is one of the most significant gift giving events in many Asian cultures. We know from experience that our guests and store employees expect engaging experiences in addition to our unrivaled array of global brands that often release exclusive, limited edition Lunar New Year collections,” said Vianna Ko, Marketing Manager, Yorkdale Shopping Centre. “Launching two expansive and immersive themed experiences means that everyone can embrace the Year of the Dragon at Yorkdale.”
Jingjing Zheng, Founder + CEO of BEYOO, the first and only platform, where brands can build relationships with best-in-class Asian influencers and creators, both at home and globally, said Lunar New Year events and celebrations not only draw Chinese customers but also create interests for other Asian consumers and non-Asian consumers.
“It creates a great opportunity for decors and merchandising themes in red, gold and festive colours and styles. Many retailers and brands also select and even design specific products for the Lunar New Year. For example, this year, the dragon is a great theme. Brands like Loro Piana, Ralph Lauren, Tods and Acne created their special dragon collections,” she said.
“In 2019, Chinese tourists spent $255 billion (€235 billion) while overseas, according to business consultancy McKinsey & Company. The figure is almost twice as much as Americans, three times more than Germans and almost four times the spending of British tourists. At $2.1 billion, China was Canada’s top tourist spending nationality in 2019. In terms of long-haul arrivals, it was second only to the UK.
For Canada China has yet to lift its ban on group travel to Canada. In August, the Chinese government lifted it for the U.S., UK , and multiple other countries.
She said China is expected to fully recover its spending in Canada at $2.1 billion in 2026. Japan and South Korea are expected to come back sooner than China in 2025.
“In the first half of 2023, the number of outbound tourists from mainland China reached 40.3 million, according to official statistics. That figure is expected to have grown further in the latter half of the year.
But it’s still a far cry from 155 million outbound trips taken by mainland Chinese tourists in 2019 before the pandemic struck. And some anecdotal data, most of my wealthy Chinese friends are traveling domestically during the weeklong Chinese New Year break. There has been a lot of campaigns between northern China and southern China provinces to encourage each other to visit and see different parts of China.
“More can be done by our tourism organizations to encourage individual travel to Canada while group travel is not happening.”
Shopping centre owner Cadillac Fairview also has a strong Lunar New Year presence at its properties in Canada.
For example, the landlord is celebrating the event with a return of dazzling decorations, engaging in-person programming and exclusive promotions at three of its shopping centres in the Greater Toronto Area – CF Markville, CF Fairview Mall, and CF Toronto Eaton Centre.
All three locations across the Greater Toronto Area will come alive with the return of CF’s “supertrees,” an immersive and vibrant décor display, inspired by Singapore Marina Bay’s Supertrees. The shopping centres will also be decorated with refreshed floor decals of this year’s Chinese zodiac sign, the Dragon. Cultural performances including martial arts, Chinese dances, traditional eye dotting ceremonies, dragon and lion parades and more are all part of the experience.
“Cadillac Fairview is so excited to celebrate the Lunar New Year with refreshed decorations and vibrant programming,” said Louise Della Fortuna, Director, Regional Marketing, Cadillac Fairview. “During this special time of year, our guests can come together and enjoy the festivities with new parades, martial arts performances and lion and dragon dances at several of our properties. We want to wish all our visitors happiness and good fortune for the year ahead as we welcome the Year of the Dragon.”
In Vancouver, similar celebrations are part of the Lunar New Year experience at CF Pacific Centre and CF Richmond Centre.
