Johnny Au
Senior Member
It would be unfortunate to add a basement to it, just like the Fifth Avenue Apple Store in New York:
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pw20
Active Member
15,000 square feet is pretty sizeable for an Apple Store. London's is HUGE at 30,000; however, Grand Central is 20,000. The Sydney Flagship is 14,000 square feet. The average Apple Store is 8,400 square feet so this would be 40% larger. It would also be larger then the Yorkdale store which is almost 10,000 square feet. The Montreal St. Catharines store is also almost 10,000 square feet.
taal
Senior Member
Ah okay, then this actually makes some sense ! Retail-insider doesn't really kid around.
They also tweated 38K of square feet coming to Bloor ? More leases expiring - I think we all saw that earlier post about the stores just to the west of Roots being potentially for lease ?
They also tweated 38K of square feet coming to Bloor ? More leases expiring - I think we all saw that earlier post about the stores just to the west of Roots being potentially for lease ?
Johnny Au
Senior Member
If the Yorkville Apple Store rumours were true, then there should be more Apple Store employees. Right now, one would have to be lucky to be able to book a Genius Bar appointment at the Eaton Centre location that is within four days (and often end up booking an appointment at the Yorkdale location instead, which often has the first 48 hours booked solid)!
Walk-in appointments are very much impossible in the Greater Toronto Area.
Walk-in appointments are very much impossible in the Greater Toronto Area.
pw20
Active Member
I think the entire complex has the following square footage:
Roots+ Body Shop = 15K
Pottery Barn =15K
Williams Sonoma =22K
My speculation - would be that Pottery Barn is leaving (Along with Roots and Body Shop), however, Williams/Sonoma is staying (Pottery Barn does better in more suburban malls - ie they closed their Eaton Centre store). This would results in "37,000 of retail space coming to Bloor" that Retail Insider is alluding too. There are mock-ups here done by the leasing agent for Apple. however, who knows if they are actually looking at the property or the landlord was just targeting them. Check out: 100bloor.com
taal
Senior Member
I think the Pottery Barn is 22K ... I kind of like that store and hope it stays, it has an interesting facade I find.
Tiffany store still for lease as well, so no more excuses re: lack of space ..
Tiffany store still for lease as well, so no more excuses re: lack of space ..
Johnny Au
Senior Member
Here has more Mac Rumours with regards to the Yorkville location than on the MacRumors website (which I find United States-centric, especially given the spelling).
Montreal already has a flagship store. It would be great if Yorkville gets Toronto's flagship store. Right now, all the existing Apple Stores in the Greater Toronto Area are too crowded, especially given Toronto's mushrooming downtown population.
Having the Yorkville Apple Store would allow for walk-in appointments, as the Yorkville location would alleviate much of the backlog in the Eaton Centre location's Genius Bar appointments (as well as some in the Yorkdale location as well).
Montreal already has a flagship store. It would be great if Yorkville gets Toronto's flagship store. Right now, all the existing Apple Stores in the Greater Toronto Area are too crowded, especially given Toronto's mushrooming downtown population.
Having the Yorkville Apple Store would allow for walk-in appointments, as the Yorkville location would alleviate much of the backlog in the Eaton Centre location's Genius Bar appointments (as well as some in the Yorkdale location as well).
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ACT7
Active Member
Agreed - although I suspect that several of these locations will remain vacant for at least 6 months to a year given their size. I would imagine it takes quite a bit of time to lease spaces that large, even though there may be several interested retailers. That and Yorkdale has no doubt sucked some of the life out of Yorkville.
onetimetoomany
New Member
The Apple store in Montreal isn't a flagship store.
I can't imagine these spaces would sit vacant for too long. I bet it's just a matter of the leases running up. Look at how the Nike space transitioned into construction for J.Crew and Company.
I can't imagine these spaces would sit vacant for too long. I bet it's just a matter of the leases running up. Look at how the Nike space transitioned into construction for J.Crew and Company.
Johnny Au
Senior Member
See here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apple_Store
It lists Montreal as having a flagship Apple Store, but not Toronto.
ACT7
Active Member
Sorry, I should have been more specific - unless they go to mid-market retailers like J Crew, etc, it could be a while before they get leased. I personally hope Bloor doesn't become an outdoor mall with too many J crew-like brands.
vatche
Senior Member
I think apple should go on yonge and bloor and leave the bloor vacant spaces for high end brands which were interested in going in there.
MetroMan
Senior Member
Roots 15,000 sq/ft but this render shows them using the second floor to create ceiling height not retail floor. At best, this store would be only 7,500 sq/ft. No glass stair, no daring architecture. It'll be a good presence in the Yorkville area but if this is what they're building, the flagship might still end up happening at Eaton Centre once SEARS is gone and Cadillac Fairview opens up new individual multi story storefronts along Yonge facing Dundas Sq.
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pw20
Active Member
That rendering was done by the landlord on spec to show Apple what the space would look like. Similar spec renderings where done for where Hermes and Intermix are now. Check out this link http://100bloor.com/image-gallery/ Conceivable Apple if they were interested in the space could do something cool overlooking the park etc... and make it into a really unique space. There is enough room to do something cool there.
There is not a lot of space on Bloor Street. The only notable space is the old Tiffany location. The old french connection location has a demolition clause, which means that any brand that wants a significant presence would be reluctant to lease the premises and spend heavily on renovations only to be kicked out. I wonder if 80 Bloor has a similar demo clause due to redevelopment there.
My apologies above - i mixed up W-S with Pottery Barn square footage... but again I suspect that W-S is staying and or renegotiating their lease and pottery barn will leave. Since both opened rents have climbed significantly on Bloor Street and I don't think the P-B is very busy.
I don't think Retail Insider will have any concrete information with the exception of confirming that Roots is leaving (which we know) and what is happening to the P-B and Williams Sonoma Space.
Johnny Au
Senior Member
It would be interesting if the Apple Store takes over where the Pottery Barn is, as it has an interesting façade, as well as it having the most space. If Apple ends up where Roots is, then Apple should design it to resemble the Fifth Avenue (NYC) location, with a glass cube on top and the actual store being in the basement and sub-basement.