Global carry essentials brand LOJEL has opened its second location in Canada at Montreal’s Royalmount shopping centre.
Last fall, the brand launched its first North American store in the Kitsilano neighbourhood of Vancouver.
“Montreal’s renown as a leader in sustainable and mindful urban living fully aligns with LOJEL’s progressive vision of design in support of conscious movement and lifestyles,” said Kenzo Yoneno, Chief Product Officer at LOJEL. “We’re forward-looking in our approach to products, studying emerging lifestyles to find problems that require new, responsible solutions.”
“With over 30 stores globally, the opening of LOJEL’s Montreal store marks a key milestone in our strategic Canadian expansion,” added Rachel Draper, General Manager, North America at LOJEL. “As one of Canada’s most popular travel hubs, with a renowned art and culture scene and support for a sustainable lifestyle, Montreal is the ideal location for LOJEL’s second Canadian store.
“Following the success of our Vancouver flagship, which also serves as our North America head office, we are thrilled to grow in a dynamic urban centre like Montreal that embraces our vision for a more sustainable future.”
Founded in 1989, LOJEL says its mission is to empower journeys through thoughtfully designed products that promote mindful movement and sustainability. Guided by three key principles—”Less, but better,” ensuring high-quality design; “Simply User-Centric,” prioritizing your needs; and “Modern Movement,” offering adaptable solutions—LOJEL delivers innovative carry essentials for all aspects of mobility, from international travel to everyday commutes, it says.
LOJEL is headquartered in Hong Kong with offices in Tokyo, Montreal, Vancouver, and Singapore, and sales locations across Australia, Cambodia, Canada, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, and the UAE, with online sales in Asia and North America.
The retail said the new store’s design echoes LOJEL’s commitment to designing and producing high-quality products that simplify movement. Focusing on enabling human connection, the store resonates strongly with Royalmount’s commitment to creating a vibrant urban oasis where community, creativity, and connection thrive, it says.
Recently, LOJEL has achieved The Climate Label Certification, verifying the brand’s investments in solutions aimed at reducing emissions and accelerating the global climate transition to net zero. This certification reassures consumers that they are choosing a brand that aligns with their values and is working to make a positive impact, it explained.
“LOJEL’s innovative products include the bestselling Cubo Collection, which offers six sizes that each feature an innovative flat-top, trunk-style opening, to allow for easy and convenient access in tight spaces. Expandable design and five internal pockets enable travelers to tailor its capacity for any last-minute packing additions. LOJEL is launching its first limited Cubo Collection colour drop, Sangria, which will be available at the Montreal store and online as of May 15. LOJEL lifestyle products have always empowered meaningful engagement in all forms of travel and movement,” it added.
Draper said the privately-owned, family-owned business “makes very thoughtfully designed products for everyday movement around carry essentials.
“We evolved from a traditional luggage brand to a brand that offers luggage, bags and accessories today, and you see us all over the globe now,” said Draper.
The company’s North American regional office is in Vancouver.
The first store in Canada opened last September in Vancouver.
“Following our successful opening in Vancouver, we were looking to open a second location. We were intentionally looking to expand our retail footprint in Canada. We chose Montreal because the city and the consumers there really aligned with our brand’s values, specifically around creativity, being very design forward and thoughtful, sustainability driven in their every day,” explained Draper.
“And then on top of that, Royalmount, being really focused on sustainability and creating mindful customer experiences, just resonated very well with what we were looking to do as a next step.
“We’re currently very focused on where we are now, with our existing channels on ecommerce and our two stores now in Canada in Vancouver and Montreal. We are looking at expanding in the future in similar urban hubs where we can reach our customers with shared values, but right now we’re focused on our current locations.”
Draper said the brand’s target customer is really a customer that’s looking to elevate their every day.
“Whether it’s going to the office or going on a big trip, they’re looking for products that are designed very well. We have a design for repair philosophy. Both from the long term durability standpoint, but the full circularity of the product.
“For example, with our top seller, our Cubo luggage line, if the wheels break on your luggage, those wheels can be replaced, rather than throwing out the entire luggage. And that’s something that really matters to our customers. You also just see the beautiful design, both in our products and our stores. Customers that embody and care about thoughtful design and creativity tend to be attracted to our stores, and then they tend to really align with the values around sustainability and that and the full circularity of our products.”
Draper described Montreal as a “really cool city with one of the most dynamic travel hubs that we see in Canada, full of culture, one of the best train systems for every day travel and commuting, the sustainability leadership that you see in that city.”
“It was just a natural next step for us. We’re really excited to reach customers. We actually have our customer launch event on May 24 coming up, where we’ll use our lab that typically is for product repairs and personalization, we’ll use that lab where we have a local person that will actually be able to sew on our LOJEL patches on customers products.”
The Montreal store is 1,200 square feet while the Vancouver flagship store is about 1,800 square feet.
Related Retail Insider stories:
- LOJEL opens flagship store in Vancouver, embarking on North American expansion (Photos)
- Asian Brand LOJEL Entering Canadian Market with 1st Store Opening in Vancouver This Summer [Interview]
