Speaking to someone who works with Holt Renfrew in Toronto, I was told that there is a possibility (???) that some of the retail in the Cumberland Terrace re-build will be taken for a Holt Renfrew store expansion. Has anyone else heard anything about this? Not to start rumors or anything ;)

If I recall, old plans for a Cumberland Terrace rebuild included the elimination of the laneway behind Holt Renfrew. I am not sure if the new proposal would also remove this service way.
 
adma said:
Then again, something about Holt's and Vancouver doesn't quite jibe...
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I know what you mean... Vancouver isn't the most fashionable city. But the Holt Renfrew here is PACKED sometimes... I'm not sure where all the customers are from. It's almost 138,000 square feet and maintain some pretty major designers... women's Armani Black Label, Akris, Oscar de la Renta, Nina Ricci, Lanvin, Monique Luhillier, Yves Saint Laurent and the like. The men's department is the ONLY Holt's in Canada to carry the following men's collections: Brioni, Burburry Prorsum, Comme des Garcon Shirt, Miu Miu, Marni, and Bottega Veneta shoes. Vancouver also has the only free-standing Dunhill, Versace (Leone), St. John Knits, Zegna, and Salvator Ferragamo stores in Canada. Being a former Torontonian, I'm FLOORED at the upscale shopping in Vancouver, given the shabby appearance and lack of fashion sense of many of its residents!!!

I was told the former Vancouver Holt's location, at about 68,000 square feet, did almost $90 million in sales in 2006. But strolling the streets of Vancouver I would have been surprised if it did $90,000 ;)
 
^But apparently the high Canadian $ (meaning fewer American shoppers) combined with a tanking housing market in BC has caused Holt's Vancouver to lay off many staff members/sales associates etc. It is very slow.... It can appear packed, but many are mere phonies, tire kickers.... The branch might be losing money now.
 
The Toronto luxury market is taking off, with many international labels and fashion houses looking at Yorkville to kick off their Canada expansion. Vancouver and Toronto go hand in hand in this, one starts in either city and spreads to the other within a year at most.

Check my post in the Yorkville retail thread.. Interesting article.

I'm willing to bet, like most Vancouver-branches of luxurious retailers, the new Burberry will only sell accessories and shoes. Toronto always gets the flagships, meaning stores that sell everything from pret a porter to litterature on the label. For example Louis Vuitton in Vancouver is an outlet in a hotel, while in Toronto it is a free standing 2 storey boutique selling almost anything. Same goes for most boutiques in Vancouver.. Gucci, Prada, etc. Very small and obviously catered to the tiny Vancouver market.
 
With high real estate prices in Vancouver and it not being a big business centre, there's not a lot of disposable income around. In Vancouver, the high end is mostly for tourists, esp. cruise ship passengers, so a number of high end shops are relatively close to Canada Place.

It will be interesting to see what happens with Holt's new Vancouver store - the old location mid-mall caught walk-by traffic (i.e. on the way to the food fair). Now it's at the end of the mall (across the street connected by a bridge and tunnel, like The Bay (Simpsons) at Eaton Centre in TO) and unless you're actually going there as a destination, you don't even think about it. The food fair is now mid-mall, so many business people from the Pacific Centre office towers don't even venture to that end of the mall at all. On top of that, the store is harder to negotiate because it is organized by designer, so if you're looking for a casual shirt, for example, you have to check 6 or 7 different locations in the store, whereas with the smaller store, everything was compact.
 
And somehow to me, compared to Toronto, Vancouver seems more of a place where the core "Holts demo" isn't really all that downtownish, i.e. if there were some equivalent to the Yorkdale and Sherway locations, those'd fare better...
 
adma said:
And somehow to me, compared to Toronto, Vancouver seems more of a place where the core "Holts demo" isn't really all that downtownish, i.e. if there were some equivalent to the Yorkdale and Sherway locations, those'd fare better...
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Have you ever been to Vancouver? Almost every upscale store is downtown, except for a few at Oakridge Centre. The rest of Vancouver's suburban malls are terrible... I don't understand what you meant with your last post, to be honest.
 
Adma probably thinks that because West Vancouverites are the wealthiest, that is where the H.R. belongs. I'd argue: Never! W.Van is far too small.

Oakridge/South Vancouver may have wealth, but it's very suburban--think Bayview Village on a much smaller scale.

Once again, H.R. in Vancouver is properly located downtown. The majority of shoppers there are Asian and American tourists--both no longer coming to Vancouver in as large numbers thanks to the $/gas/economy/Asian economic boom, thus H.R expansion is suffering.
 
Seeing this sign made it feel real. Woo-hoo!

PICT1784.jpg
 
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