The iconic luxury menswear retailer Harry Rosen was founded by Harry Rosen in 1954 as a 500-square-foot store in Toronto’s Cabbagetown neighbourhood.
Today the brand is a retail powerhouse with 19 stores nationwide and a robust e-commerce website.
“We know that adapting and evolving based on our clients’ needs is essential to the continued success of this incredible organization,” said Ian Rosen, the brand’s President and COO—Harry’s grandson.
“Our customers and clients are family, and taking care of them through quality, attention to detail, and impeccable service is the foundation on which my grandfather grew his namesake brand into a Canadian household name. With this in mind, our 70th anniversary is not just a celebration of the past, but a gateway to our exciting future.”
Rosen said there isn’t one recipe for the success of any business for that period of time. He said only 12 per cent of family-owned businesses reach a third generation and his goal is to reach the fourth generation.
“The common denominator is you have to evolve as a business. You have to be changing. The business that you’re looking back on can have components and philosophies and values that you’re building on but it can’t be the same fundamental and foundational business,” added Rosen. “That’s something that over the past 70 years we had so many chapters in what we’re selling, where we’re selling, how we’re selling and each one of those evolved on a pretty regular basis, especially over the last five to seven years it has been the most profound change in our business probably in that 70 years.”
In celebration of Harry Rosen’s 70th anniversary year, the brand has rolled out a series of innovative strategies and features, including a nationwide $50 millioin retail overhaul based on modern customer needs, the announcement of a new Toronto flagship store, the evolution of its style and brand portfolio, and more, all while staying true to its legacy of quality and service.
In celebration of the 70th anniversary, some of Harry Rosen’s most long standing brand partners—including Emporio Armani, Patrick Assaraf, Eton, HAROLD, Polo Ralph Lauren, Santoni, Tateossian, and Varsity Headwear—have also designed limited-edition product capsules and exclusives, incorporating elements of Harry Rosen’s iconic style. These items are now available in store and online.
During the 70th anniversary celebration, Harry Rosen will be offering exclusive, exciting perks to CLUB HARRY members both in-store and online. This commitment to a customer-first approach is an integral part of the brand’s ethos.
Over those 70 years, Harry Rosen has navigated some challenging waters in the retail industry with periods of recession and the recent pandemic. Ian Rosen said having long-time team members on the same page has been important.
“We’ve seen radical shifts in our business in the 70 years and we’ll get through it. Let’s not lose sight of the core business we’re trying to operate and let’s keep eyes on the longer term vision,” he said.
Harry Rosen has also announced a new brand statement: “For a Life Well Dressed”, which inspires men to live their most confident and fulfilling lives by dressing well for any occasion.
“We have this steadfast belief that an outfit that fills you with confidence can allow you to be more present in a world full of distractions,” said Rosen. “This applies to all of life’s moments, whether it’s standing tall as your partner walks down the aisle to you, showing up big for that important presentation at work, or simply wearing a smile for a stroll down the block to the coffee shop.”
The new brand statement will be rolled out in September with a cross-channel marketing campaign and national consumer activations, which will pop up in Vancouver, Edmonton, Calgary, Toronto, Ottawa, and Montreal this fall. A keystone event and exclusive fashion presentation will also be hosted on October 9 at the Bloor flagship store and streamed on digital channels.
Rosen said the customer has evolved in two profound ways over the years.
“The expectations of service have changed. It’s not only about knowing their preferences and getting their fit right at the store and delivering a great product and being very service-oriented in our stores. Service is also making sure that the customer knows what’s in the store by looking at the website before they visit. Being able to digitally communicate with their style advisor. It’s being inspired by what they purchased in the past with what’s come in and it’s also being able to shop at Bloor Street on Saturday but then at First Canadian Place on Wednesday and have that same expectation of each person they interact with,” he said.
“And service has also become, can you ship this to me in two days in major markets? That’s a service level that we’ve been investing to be able to uphold because that’s what the customer defines as good service and Harry Rosen wants to stand for service. We have to invest in these modern ways of doing things.
“And from a customer preference standpoint, they’re more educated than ever. They do a ton of research before purchasing and if we’re going to be the product experts we have to train our team that much more so when a customer comes in yes they might know about this brand and where it comes from but how is the product constructed, what’s special about this unique colour that’s come in. We make sure our team is one step ahead and that’s really key. In this day and age when the customer is fighting things like inflation and mounting costs elsewhere they really do see investing in clothing as the conversation not purchasing clothing.”
Harry Rosen, who passed away in December 2023 at age 92, established the brand with a simple vision in mind: what if you combined insatiable passion for quality men’s fashion with an uncompromising focus on personalized service? Over seven decades, this vision has underscored every aspect of the business, from the fashionability, craftsmanship, and attention to detail of Harry Rosen garments, to the elevated in-store shopping experience.
The future of retail is not just about shopping; it’s about creating unique and memorable experiences. That’s why Harry Rosen has announced a $50 million investment over the next five years to re-imagine its store concepts across Canada. This program will include the relocation of Harry Rosen’s flagship store to a 38,000-square-foot footprint to create an extraordinary new luxury customer experience in the heart of Yorkville, as well as a transformation of its existing retail concepts. The new store design, which was recently unveiled in the West Edmonton Mall, reflects a commitment to modernizing while preserving its trusted heritage, and includes significant investments in Store Technology to help clients shop seamlessly online.
Harry Rosen also recently unveiled CLUB HARRY, a sophisticated new loyalty program designed to enhance the customer experience and provide a multitude of benefits for its loyal patrons.
“We’re celebrating all Fall,” explained Ian Rosen. “We’re really taking this 70th anniversary as an opportunity, especially in the wake of Harry’s passing, to look back, to really understand how that’s shaping where we’re going. The other thing that we’re doing is relaunching our brand platform, making sure that people know that Harry Rosen stands for what we call living a life well-dressed because that’s what you come to Harry Rosen for. It’s about presenting yourself in the most competent way, going out and conquering what’s in front of you and feeling really confident. We like to say a life well lived is a life well-dressed and it’s not really a campaign we’re launching. It’s more of a statement we’re going to orient the brand around for seasons and seasons to come.
“We just opened our new concept store in West Edmonton Mall which is showing incredible benefits to the customer experience. And we open in Oakridge Park next hopefully August or September and then we have our flagship reinvention on Cumberland Street happening which will open May 2026 and there might be a few other projects that be a few other projects that we sneak in at that time frame. Nothing formal to announce. But we’re definitely still committed to investing in each one of our stores over the next five years.”
Over the past year, Harry Rosen has added new designer brands, including Kenzo, Balmain, Jil Sander, Marni, MM6, Maison Margiela, and Rhude, alongside new contemporary designers like CP Company, APC, and Represent to its collection.
