LVMH-owned luxury jewellery brand Bulgari will be opening its Canadian flagship store this year at The Colonnade at 131 Bloor Street West in Toronto. Bulgari is the latest global luxury brand to find a home on the former ‘Mink Mile’ stretch of Bloor Street between Avenue Road and Bellair Street.
Bulgari’s boutique location at The Colonnade will span 2,969 square feet on one level. The store is expected to feature lavish marble and stone interiors, as does the brand’s locations around the world. The Bloor Street Bulgari will be the second standalone location for the brand in Canada — Bulgari opened at Toronto’s Yorkdale Shopping Centre in 2014 in a retail space that expanded to about 2,900 square feet in 2022 along with a beautiful full renovation.
The Bloor Street retail space was formerly occupied by pop-up retail, including upscale German ski wear brand Bogner which operated out of the premises during the pandemic. The Colonnade is an historic building built in 1963 that is heritage designated, considered to be Canada’s first mixed-use building with retail, office and residential components. The complex features flagship locations for other major luxury brands including Dior, Ferragamo, Prada, Cartier, and Moncler.
A Sephora store operated out of the retail space to be occupied by Bulgari, as well as where neighbouring Moncler operates a store, until Sephora relocated nearby to 77 Bloor Street West in the summer of 2016. Italian luxury brand Moncler opened its 3,000 square foot store at The Colonnade in the fall of 2017.
Jane Baldwin of Lennard Commercial Realty represented Bulgari in the lease deal. Morguard is the landlord of The Colonnade.
Bulgari currently operates a concession nearby at Holt Renfrew at 50 Bloor Street West. Bulgari opened on the renovated main floor of Holt Renfrew in Fall 2019 in a small but lavish space, in an area of the store that is said to struggle with traffic. Bulgari also operates a concession at Holt Renfrew in Vancouver at CF Pacific Centre which opened in 2018.
Travel retailer Dufry operates Bulgari boutiques in Vancouver International Airport as well as in Toronto’s Pearson Airport in Terminals 1 and 3. Multi-brand retailer Château d’Ivoire in Montreal also carries Bulgari.
Bloor Street has transformed over the course of the past several years to include a stretch of major global retailers, operating flagship stores. Major brands operating at press time on Bloor between St. Thomas and Avenue Road include Rolex, Loro Piana (under construction at 111 Bloor W.), Dior, Ferragamo, Prada, Cartier, Moncler, Max Mara, Bonpoint, Montblanc, Brooks Brothers, Roger Dubuis, IWC, Panerai, Louis Vuitton, Tiffany & Co., Burberry, Gucci (which will be expanding into the adjacent St. John space), Lafayette 148, Alexander Wang, Anne Fontaine (assumed to be under construction), Saint Laurent, Van Cleef & Arpels, and Hermes.
Retail Insider attended the grand re-opening of the expanded and renovated Yorkdale store in October of 2022. The renovation of the Yorkdale store took about five months, expanding the retail space from about 1,500 square feet to approximately 3,000 square feet. Architect Peter Marino conceptualized the space which now has two private salons.
The main entrance to the Roman-inspired store is made of Black Grand Antique marble, and the interior includes white Tarvertino Navona marble walls that are finished in white and gold hand-applied Scagliola plaster. The middle of the store features the recognizable Bulgari Condotti eight-point star in red porphyry, which dates back to the first Bulgari shop opened by Sotirio Bulgari in Rome in 1884. Condotti windows within the store reference the original windows still present in Bulgari’s historic flagship on Via Condotti in Rome, and there are two Murano crystal chandeliers made by Italian artisan Vistosi that illuminate the interior.
Three Andy Warhol silk-screen prints in the store were issued specifically for Bulgari by the Warhol Foundation. Andy Warhol was known for being a longstanding fan of Bulgari, so much so that he had called the New York boutique “the most important museum of contemporary art.”
The expanded Bulgari flagship carries an expansive range of high jewelry and fine jewelry as well as watches, and handbags.
LVMH acquired Bulgari in 2011 as part of a strategic alliance. Bulgari operates a network of standalone stores, concessions, and wholesale accounts in major markets globally. Marriott operates Bulgari Hotels and Resorts which has nine locations globally with more to come, and there are Bulgari-branded restaurants in Tokyo and Osaka.
