JD Sports has opened its new flagship store at 777 Sainte-Catherine Street West in downtown Montreal, bringing the international sports-fashion retailer to one of the city’s most prominent retail corners as it continues an aggressive expansion across Canada.
Located at Sainte-Catherine Street West and McGill College Avenue, the store occupies the main retail level and a second level that previously functioned as a mezzanine. The space was formerly home to a large Banana Republic flagship, which closed in 2021 after operating for years within the distinctive former banking premises.
JD Sports has substantially transformed the interior for its arrival, introducing the contemporary store design found across the retailer’s growing Canadian network. The redevelopment has also attracted attention from heritage advocates over the removal of the property’s historic interior.
Major Downtown Location for JD Sports
The new flagship sits adjacent to the Montreal Eaton Centre and near McGill University, the McGill Metro station, office towers and other major retailers along Sainte-Catherine Street.
The entire premises at 777 Sainte-Catherine had previously been marketed as approximately 26,463 square feet across five levels. The ground floor accounts for approximately 5,453 square feet, while the roughly 3,946-square-foot mezzanine overlooks the main level. JD Sports occupies the main floor and former mezzanine, while the larger premises also include additional upper and lower-level space.
The location stands out for its substantial ceiling height and extensive exposure at one of downtown Montreal’s busiest intersections. The property has approximately 54 feet of frontage along Sainte-Catherine Street and about 120 feet along McGill College Avenue, creating considerable visibility along both streets.
Inside, JD Sports has introduced the black-and-yellow visual identity used throughout its newer stores, with extensive footwear displays, apparel and digital elements. The retailer’s assortment centres on major sports and lifestyle brands including Nike, Jordan, adidas and New Balance, alongside a wider selection of footwear, apparel and accessories.
Jean-François Parent of JD Sports Canada previously described the Sainte-Catherine flagship as the company’s largest store to date in the region and a significant milestone for the brand in Canada.
Historic Interior Transformed
JD Sports’ arrival represents another chapter for a property with a long commercial history. The former banking premises date to the early 20th century, and significant elements of the interior survived through later adaptations of the space for retail use. Banana Republic incorporated the former banking hall and mezzanine into its store, retaining many of the architectural details that distinguished the location from a conventional retail unit.
That interior has been extensively changed for JD Sports. Before-and-after images of the property show the scale of the transformation, with much of the historic detailing removed as the space was rebuilt around the retailer’s contemporary store design.
The changes prompted concern from Héritage Montréal, which said it began investigating after receiving alerts about work at the property in early 2026. In a June update, the organization said the interior of the former Banque d’épargne de la cité et du district de Montréal, dating from the 1920s, had been completely demolished during the redevelopment.
Héritage Montréal said assurances provided by the City of Montreal in the 1990s had indicated that preservation of the interior was among the conditions associated with the development agreement that permitted construction of the office tower partly above the former bank. The organization said the interior was subsequently restored and adapted over the years for changing commercial uses.
According to Héritage Montréal, representatives of the Ville-Marie borough said the JD Sports project was authorized under regulations in effect and that municipal officials were unable to locate documentation confirming the earlier conservation commitments. The organization also met with representatives of JD Sports Canada, which it said had not been informed by the real estate brokers or architects involved with the project that there were heritage concerns surrounding the interior.
Héritage Montréal has since called on the City to have the Conseil du patrimoine de Montréal examine the case and recommend measures that could provide greater protection for significant heritage interiors. The case has also raised broader questions around how historically significant commercial interiors are documented and considered when buildings are adapted for new uses.
High-Profile Sainte-Catherine Lease
JD Sports’ opening fills a prominent space that had represented a substantial vacancy along Sainte-Catherine Street following Banana Republic’s departure.
Jordan Karp, EVP and Head of Retail Services in Canada at Savills Canada, represented JD Sports in the lease transaction. Karp and Manon Parisien of Aurora Retail Group co-listed the property on behalf of landlord Pontegadea, the private investment group of Amancio Ortega, founder and largest shareholder of Inditex (owner of Zara).
The combination of the property’s scale, ceiling height, extensive frontage and location made 777 Sainte-Catherine an unusual flagship opportunity in the downtown leasing market. Its position also puts JD Sports within a concentration of major international sports, apparel and footwear retailers operating along the Sainte-Catherine corridor.
JD Sports Accelerates Canadian Expansion
The Montreal flagship arrives amid a rapid expansion of JD Sports’ Canadian store network, with the retailer adding locations across several provinces while investing in larger stores in some of Canada’s biggest urban markets.
Quebec has been particularly active. JD Sports opened at CF Fairview Pointe-Claire on March 7, 2026, followed by a new location at Place Rosemère on July 16. Those stores joined an existing Quebec network that includes locations such as CF Promenades St-Bruno and CF Carrefour Laval, while the new Sainte-Catherine flagship gives JD a prominent presence in the heart of downtown Montreal.
Expansion has continued elsewhere in the country. JD opened a flagship at CF Toronto Eaton Centre on March 16 and entered New Brunswick with a store at Champlain Place in Dieppe on April 18. Another location recently opened at Intercity Shopping Centre in Thunder Bay, while a store at Mic Mac Mall in Dartmouth is expected to open in September, marking JD Sports’ entry into Nova Scotia.
The pace follows a particularly active 2025, when JD Sports Canada said it opened 12 stores across the country. Its Canadian network has been developing through a combination of shopping-centre locations and larger urban stores, including the Robson Street flagship in Vancouver that opened in 2025.
With downtown flagships now operating in Vancouver, Toronto and Montreal, JD Sports has established high-profile locations in Canada’s three largest urban retail markets while continuing to expand its suburban shopping-centre network. In the Montreal region, locations in Laval, Saint-Bruno, Pointe-Claire and Rosemère give the retailer broader regional coverage alongside its new downtown presence.
