Staples Canada is marking a new chapter in its long-running reinvention with the opening of a prototype concept store in Burlington, Ontario, that brings together refreshed design, expanded categories and a reimagined services hub under one roof. The newly redesigned location at 1035 Plains Road East, which celebrated its grand opening on November 29, is intended to act as a brand-defining model for how the retailer plans to serve Canadians who are working and learning in new ways.
“This new store was designed with our customers at the heart of every decision,” said Brian McDougall, Interim CEO and Chief Retail Officer, Staples Canada. “We have created a shopping experience that is more intuitive, more engaging and more aligned with how Canadians actually work and learn today. After more than thirty years serving this community, we are proud to deliver a store that meets the needs of our customer base in Burlington and sets the standard for what is next in retail.”
The Burlington opening is the latest expression of a strategy that began in 2018, when Staples Canada repositioned itself as The Working and Learning Company and began rolling out concept stores, coworking spaces and an expanded suite of services. The new format is the clearest signal yet that the company has no intention of standing still in a competitive and cost-conscious retail landscape.
An Immediate Visual Statement At The Front Door
One of the most striking aspects of the Burlington location is the way it unfolds visually as customers walk in. Instead of high gondolas and obstructed sightlines, the store uses lower profile fixtures and open lines of sight that reveal the full breadth of the offering from the entrance.
“As soon as you walk in, the entire ecosystem of Staples Canada manifests itself before your eyes,” said McDougall. “You can stand at the front door and see the store, understand where to go and start to connect with the brand very quickly. That was intentional.”
Office supplies, which have historically anchored the centre of many Staples locations, have been shifted to the right side of the store. The change has freed up space for a more dynamic front-of-house experience that includes a new seasonal department and expanded discovery zones. The Staples Canada new concept store is designed to encourage exploration without sacrificing clarity, something that becomes more important as more customers arrive with specific missions such as shipping or returns.
“We have put a lot of attention on navigation,” McDougall said. “Customers want to find what they came for quickly, but they are also open to discovering new ideas if the space makes that easy.”
Seasonal, Travel And Learning Zones Reflect How Canadians Live Today
Perhaps the most notable merchandising change is the introduction of a dedicated seasonal department, a first for Staples Canada. The section will evolve through the year with curated assortments tied to key moments such as the holidays, back to school and other seasonal occasions. The opening set includes décor, candles, gifts, throws and ornaments, supported by small inspirational displays that are designed to draw customers into the space.
“We know our trip frequency has gone up significantly, particularly with Amazon returns and shipping,” McDougall said. “Having a seasonal area at the front of the store gives customers another reason to purchase while they are in the building. They want rotation and variety, and we are leaning into that.”
Nearby, an expanded travel department acknowledges the strength of domestic travel and the need for practical solutions as Canadians move around the country more often. Staples has seen increasing demand for travel-related products, and the Burlington store brings those items together in a focused way at the front of the store.
Further into the space, Staples Kids Learn and Play delivers a curated take on children’s products that is rooted in education rather than traditional toy merchandising. The assortment is organized around developmental pillars such as fine motor skills and sensory learning, with a view to supporting teachers, parents and caregivers.
“We are not in the toy store business,” McDougall said. “We are in the learning and playing business. We are The Working and Learning Company, so everything in that area is selected to support educators, children and families in a purposeful way.”
The greeting card department has also been reshaped, supported by a refreshed Carlton program. With fewer specialty greeting card retailers in the market, Staples sees an opportunity to capture gifting-related purchases by positioning the card offering adjacent to seasonal and gifting categories.
Workspaces And Endless Aisle Support Hybrid Work And Study
The workspace section of the Burlington store reflects how home offices, flexible work and hybrid study patterns have changed the way Canadians shop for furniture and accessories. Rather than rows of desks and chairs, the store showcases carefully composed vignettes that show complete workspaces, with supporting products placed nearby to encourage solution-based shopping.
“We have taken a less-is-more approach in the workspace area,” McDougall said. “We want to inspire customers with real examples of how a home office or work area can look, then make it easy to build that solution with everything around it.”
At the centre of the space, an endless aisle kiosk connects directly to staples.ca. If a particular item or configuration is not available in the store, associates can order from the full online assortment with next-day delivery available to the vast majority of Canadian households.
“The experience with our associates has been enhanced because they can focus on understanding what customers need and then use the endless aisle to complete the solution,” McDougall said. “It means the customer does not have to compromise.”
A Reimagined Services Hub At The Back Of The Store
One of the most important shifts in the Staples Canada new concept store is the redesign of the services hub at the back of the building. Staples has long offered extensive print, copy and shipping services, and demand has grown as shoppers rely more heavily on retailers for package drop-off and returns. In the Burlington store, the company has used those learnings to produce a cleaner, more intuitive customer journey.
“In a typical store, ninety-five percent of the questions at the entrance are about shipping,” McDougall said. “Customers want to know where to go, and often they would end up at the wrong counter because print and shipping shared that space. We knew we had to make it easier.”
In Burlington, clearly defined queue lines and strong visual cues separate print services from shipping, with curated adjacencies around both areas. The print production zone has been moved away from the customer-facing counters, allowing associates focused on production to work without frequent interruptions, while customer-facing associates manage transactions, consultations and selling opportunities in the front.
“This is a better customer experience and a better associate experience,” McDougall said. “Associates are not pulled in many directions, so they can give each customer the time and attention they deserve.”
Staples continues to deepen its position as Canada’s shipping destination, with shipping partners that include FedEx, Purolator, DHL and UPS alongside returns programs with Amazon and Pudo. McDougall noted that the company is in discussions with one more carrier that would complete the national offer.
The rise of Amazon returns and increased parcel traffic has had a visible impact on store visits. While labour disruptions at Canada Post can temporarily double those trips, McDougall said everyday footfall from shipping alone now runs about fifteen percent higher than in the early days of the service.
“Retailers live and die by trips,” he said. “We will take those trips all day, but the real unlock is how you use them. The design, the navigation and the merchandising all work together to convert that mission-based customer into a shopper who discovers more.”
Built From Pilots Rather Than Consultants
The Burlington format is the culmination of several years of experimentation across the Staples Canada network. Pilots in Scarborough and other markets tested shipping concepts, Kids assortments, merchandising vignettes and different layout approaches. Rather than rely on external consulting firms to draw up a new concept in isolation, Staples built its next-generation format from the ground up based on field experience and data.
“We have worked with consultants over the years and they can be very helpful, especially when you need a fresh perspective or a catalyst for change,” McDougall said. “In this case, we had already done a lot of work shaking the box internally. Our pilots gave us confidence that we could deliver a format that would hurdle our capital cases and deliver the returns we needed.”
Weekly project meetings, frequent store visits and rigorous analytics work have shaped the Burlington store. Associates and customers were part of the process, with feedback loops feeding into the final solution.
“In any solution design, if you are not working end to end, you are not serving yourself well,” McDougall said. “We have a lot of confidence because this format is built on what we have already seen working in the real world.”
Own Brands, Value And The Next Phase Of Change
While Burlington introduces significant changes, it is also a stepping stone toward further evolution. McDougall said 2026 will mark a major expansion of Staples Canada’s own brand platform, with a new curated zone planned for future iterations of the concept store.
“There is a whole new look and feel coming for own brands,” he said. “We see that as a key way to offer comparable quality at a better price. You cannot race to the bottom on pricing forever, so own brands, when done right, help us tell a value story that still feels authentic.”
The value message is critical as Canadians navigate a challenging macroeconomic environment. McDougall said that while customers remain cautious, they are still willing to spend when they see clear value, particularly on products that support their work, education and home lives.
“I have been in retail a long time,” he said. “There are years when money feels like it is falling from the sky and years when you really have to work to earn each dollar. The art is in how you present your value proposition, how you merchandise and how you communicate with customers. That is where we are putting our energy.”
Burlington As A Blueprint For The Network
The Burlington store will not remain a one-off. McDougall said the company expects the format to inform remodels and new locations across the network, with adjustments as needed for market size and store footprint.
“We see a path forward with this design,” he said. “The softer look and feel, the different zones, the focus on services at the back and the way everything connects to The Working and Learning Company, this is the footprint for what we roll out next.”
The concept builds on earlier flagship investments such as the University Avenue store in downtown Toronto, which introduced Staples Studio coworking, café partnerships and a more experiential layout. While coworking will remain concentrated in major urban markets where density can support it, elements of that thinking, such as community spaces and solution-based merchandising, can be seen in the Burlington format.
For the Burlington community, which first welcomed Staples in 1993, the new store represents both continuity and renewal. To mark the opening, Staples Canada donated twenty-five thousand dollars to MAP through its Even The Odds partnership, which supports research aimed at closing health equity gaps across Canada.
The Staples Canada new concept store in Burlington brings together the company’s retail learnings of the past several years into a single place where design, services and product mix are working toward the same purpose. It is a physical expression of a brand that is moving beyond its roots as an office supply big box and into a broader role as a partner in how Canadians work and learn.
As McDougall put it, the opening weekend underscored why the in-store experience still matters. “This is a fun day for us at Staples,” he said. “The energy, the excitement from our teams, the buzz from customers in the store, you cannot get that online. It reminds us why investing in stores still makes so much sense.”
