Even for a seasoned retailer, Canada’s busiest mall can be a bit overwhelming. Navigating a high-traffic corridor at CF Toronto Eaton Centre often feels like a plunge “in the middle of a salmon river,” La Maison Simons chief executive officer Bernard Leblanc said. Mr.
Leblanc is happy to swim against the current, opening new large-format stores at a time when other retailers are in Canada, or to . The Quebec City-based chain announced on Thursday that it is spending $75-million to open new stores in two of Canada’s highest-profile malls. The two new stores will fill part of the space formerly occupied by U.
S. department store chain Nordstrom Inc. – which last year – in Toronto’s Yorkdale Shopping Centre and Eaton Centre.
The locations, scheduled to open in the fall or winter of 2025 will significantly expand the 184-year-old retailer’s presence in the Greater Toronto Area, and represent a significant bet on brick-and-mortar retail. “We’ve seen double-digit increases to pre-COVID levels in our stores,” Mr. Leblanc said, standing near the Eaton Centre construction site where the new Simons store will be built, as hammering emanated from behind a temporary hoarding wall.
Simons had record sales of more than $650-million last year, he added. Roughly two-thirds of that comes from physical stores, and the company expects the two new locations to boost total sales by roughly 15 per cent. “It’s going to be great for brand visibility.
Proximity to our client .
