Bloor-Yorkville Scene

[vatche]

Well hopefully with the exhibit and the museum house being built, some space will be available. However I'm not sure if upscale retailers would want to got there. It's a little out of the way. That middle section on bloor seems to be where everybody wants to go.

 

[Tee]

Yorkville.....not Yorkdale....just sayin'.

 

[vatche]

Hey guys, the thread seems to have been quiet lately...are there no new exciting news about new stores opening up? Is the new LV opening up this summer?

 

[prosperegal]

Intermix should be coming back soon.

 

[ACT7]

Intermix should be coming back soon.

Intermix was open on Saturday.
On a side note, hoarding is up at Swarovski on Bloor. I can only assume they're renovating into their new concept look. No signage is up from what I saw so if any one has any other info, please share.

 

[prosperegal]

Intermix was open on Saturday.
On a side note, hoarding is up at Swarovski on Bloor. I can only assume they're renovating into their new concept look. No signage is up from what I saw so if any one has any other info, please share.

There's signage inside. Should reopen in a few months.

Yes, Intermix reopened on Friday.

 

[vatche]

Nothing about new stores????

 

[ACT7]

Nothing about new stores????

Interestingly, the Brooks Brother Flatiron store that will be opening is only the second store outside of their NYC store. Also, just came across this article about Agent Provocateur. Seems like they should set up sometime this year or early next year.

http://www.wwd.com/markets-news/intimates-activewear/paz-de-la-huerta-gets-provocative-5097287

Exerpt: Agent Provocateur plans to open stores in Amsterdam — with a concession in department store de Bijenkorf — as well as Madrid and Miami over the next few months, and over the next year will open boutiques in Belgium. The label is also planning units in Japan, Singapore, Toronto and Montreal, with up to 12 stores due to open over the next year.

One thing is for sure - as much as is planned to open up in the next few years, it's always disappointing to see countries that are deep in recession all over Europe and even the U.S. get high-end luxury boutiques ahead of Canada, Toronto specifically. I know it's been talked about to death on these posts as to why but it never ceases to amaze me.

 

[pw20]

Shockingly... in the 5 days since you last asked that question where it was explained that a lack of functionable retail has limited new store openings there has not been any news, no.

 

[vatche]

I hear ya ACT7.....it baffles me too!!!!!

 

[ILuvTO]

Interestingly, the Brooks Brother Flatiron store that will be opening is only the second store outside of their NYC store. Also, just came across this article about Agent Provocateur. Seems like they should set up sometime this year or early next year.

http://www.wwd.com/markets-news/intimates-activewear/paz-de-la-huerta-gets-provocative-5097287



One thing is for sure - as much as is planned to open up in the next few years, it's always disappointing to see countries that are deep in recession all over Europe and even the U.S. get high-end luxury boutiques ahead of Canada, Toronto specifically. I know it's been talked about to death on these posts as to why but it never ceases to amaze me.

I had to stop and think about it as that store name sounded very familiar. Then it hit me, it's a lingerie store I've walked by in Caesars palace. Makes Victorias Secret look tame.

RE: Lack of Bloor street retail space. I wonder if we'll see the day come (soon) where the strip gets extended past avenue road. You think eventually retailers will get frustrated with waiting and start grabbing some retail space west of avenue road. That would be really cool.

 

[vatche]

I think it's a little more than just lack of retail space....

 

[pw20]

I don't mean to be a jerk - but we've all said repeatedly that there is barely ANY retail space for lease between Yonge and Avenue Road so you asking for continued updates every 5 days is really a waste.

If you have opinions re. why its more than a lack of retail space - please go ahead - talk about them - this is a forum, we'd love to hear them. Asking for repeated updates and disagreeing with people isn't contributing.

The discussion about lack of high end retail in Toronto is very but I think its has a lot to do with cost of setting up 1 store in Toronto, as well as (generally) lower disposable income vis-a-vis American and now Chinese urban areas.

 

[vatche]

Ok!

 

[ACT7]

The discussion about lack of high end retail in Toronto is very but I think its has a lot to do with cost of setting up 1 store in Toronto, as well as (generally) lower disposable income vis-a-vis American and now Chinese urban areas.

The discussion about lack of high end retail in Toronto is very but I think its has a lot to do with cost of setting up 1 store in Toronto, as well as (generally) lower disposable income vis-a-vis American and now Chinese urban areas.

The thing with high end retail though is that it's not catering to the average person anyway, so I would argue that Toronto's wealthy are on par with its American counterparts. And no, I'm not saying that Toronto necessarily has more millionaires and billionaires than NYC or L.A. But high-end luxury boutiques are such a niche anyway that the proportion of shoppers in any location is fairly small. And it's not just China that I was comparing to...even if 1% of Chinese were wealthy, that's still 12 million people! Most of Europe is deep in recession, taxes are much higher than Canada in a lot of places and disposable income lower, yet some shit-ass European cities have more luxury boutiques than Toronto. I genuinely feel that in general Canada is overlooked and, yes, a BIG part of that is available retail space in high-end shopping districts. Toronto has all the brands out there but lacks the free-standing stores for a city of its size, wealth, and importance. There is a tonne of wealth in this city and often times one reads that a certain brand's Toronto store is in their top 5 in profitability/sales, etc.

I do think that, eventually, the Bloor luxury strip will extend west of Avenue all the way to St. George (Brooks Brothers being the pioneer in that regard), and east all the way to Church.