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Tewder
Senior Member
Is Vancouver now the retail entry point into Canada? It seems they are getting new retailers before Toronto.
bAuHaUs
Active Member
Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver have always shared this responsibility. Sometimes a local business partner will drive the agenda and the host market gets the nod.
vatche
Senior Member
As act7 says , toronto lackss the space on bloor. Now that william Sonoma is vacating, Dior moved in attracting with it other retailers. Let's hope that more space will be available for new retailers.
pw20
Active Member
I don't think so. I think for mass market retailers (J Crews, Crate and Barrels) that are eventually opening up 10+ stores in Canada, Southern Ontario is often a natural jumping off point. You can open multiple stores in the GTA, SW Ontario while still buidling out your logistics infrastructure.
For luxury (i.e. will probably only open 1-4 stores in Canada) Vancouver seems like it is often a choice, especially for brands that significant foreign sales in China or Japan. But that being said brands like D+G, Moncler, Versace, Longchamp have chosen Toronto before Vancouver.
The only brands I can think of that have chosen Vancouver are Ferragamo, and a couple of very high-end watch companies (Omega, Jaeger...).
For those interested 100BloorWestretail.com has been updated with new floorplans. I suspect that thelandlord is going with the 4 store layout so Dior will be store 3 or 4... but I don't know. The 4 store open, which creates 4 stores of 6,000-16,000 square feet seems like it should attract significant brands to Bloor by offering decent frontage, high ceilings and decent size footprints.
ACT7
Active Member
It does seem that way sometimes, but people are forgetting (not everyone, because it's already been pointed out) that Yorkdale alone accounted for almost 1/3 of all new entrants into Canada in the past year or so, many of them luxury. Moncler, Longchamp, Versace, Bvlgari, Mulberry, and Jimmy Choo, to name but a few, have all entered the Canadian market via Toronto. Not to mention Kiton in Yorkville as well. Small correction too, Jaeger Le Coultre is technically opening a Toronto store ahead of Vancouver.
Montreal is rarely the entry point for luxury into Canada, though there are some smaller luxury brands with a heavy French focus that often choose Montreal to enter the Canadian market.
It's not that Vancouver is necessarily chosen first per se, it's often that Toronto doesn't have adequate space, and rather than delay a launch strategy, if Vancouver is already in the plans, and space exists, a store is opened. Cucinelli is a good example - they have been looking for adequate space in Toronto for a few years now and haven't been able to find what they want. Maybe 100 Bloor presents a new opportunity, but as Retail-Insider pointed out, they turned down the old Benetton spot because of a lack of street front presence. Commercial real estate is also cheaper in Vancouver, so it's possible that it's perceived as slightly lower risk than Toronto.
Just my two cents...
bAuHaUs
Active Member
Breitling shop coming to 250 Bloor St E....hoarding is now up.
vatche
Senior Member
Isn't that way off the shopping area??
ACT7
Active Member
Wow! Are you sure that's a store that's opening though? The building permit app shows the project type as an office:
http://app.toronto.ca/ApplicationStatus/details.do?folderRsn=3723325
I hope I'm wrong because that would be awesome news! The location is strange, though, to say the least - unless this is the beginning of Bloor East going luxe...
Can someone get a picture of the hoarding to post on here? I would but I'm not in town for the next week.
This is an office building, mostly leased by Manulife, set back from the street with no street retail.
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bAuHaUs
Active Member
I suspect that it's strictly an office play, but given that the hoarding is right in front of the main entrance, won't know for sure what they plan on doing, maybe an office/showroom use. I didn't get a good chance to read all of the messaging on the hoarding, but it seems a bit overkill for just on office use. If someone can post a pic of the hoarding, then that would be great.
bAuHaUs
Active Member
Woah! Looks like there will be a retail component. I am surprised!
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Benito
Senior Member
I'm surprised that the Breathing store is going in that location, that's great.
Filip
Senior Member
What an odd place to stick a retailer... They'll have to have big signage to be visible from Bloor.