Bloor-Yorkville Scene

[ACT7]

Also Toronto likely gets very little in the way of high end tourism.

That's changing rapidly though. The type of tourist that is coming to Toronto now is no longer the Buffalo, Rochester, upstate Pensylvania tourist but rather more urbanites from NYC, Chicago, China, Brazil, India, Russia...people with money who desire a certain level of sophistication.

 

[gabe]

Well let's face it...these are unknown brands to north Americans. We need more mainstream high end stores. I had never heard of both sermonetta nor fogal and I'm a pretty fashionable guy.

Bloor needs fashion boutiques that are unique to the area, not some mainstream store you can find at a high-end suburban shopping mall.

 

[ACT7]

Bloor needs fashion boutiques that are unique to the area, not some mainstream store you can find at a high-end suburban shopping mall.

I agree with you, but will add that several cities have high street shops that repeat in high end malls. So the fact that Yorkdale seems to replicate Bloor to some extent isn't necssarily a bad thing. But lately it does seem to be getting brands that should open on Bloor/Yorkville first. Tory Burch, Kate Spade, Ted Baker, etc.

 

[greenleaf]

Bloor needs fashion boutiques that are unique to the area, not some mainstream store you can find at a high-end suburban shopping mall.

When I saw Vuitton store front displays exactly the same in several cities in Europe as on Bloor Street, it made me wonder why travellers from other major cities would come here to shop on Bloor when they can get exactly the same thing at home.

Any way, I agree that a couple of local fashion boutiques would balance the larger international retailers creating a more dynamic mix of shopping. Queen Street West offers this already, in a way.

 

[pw20]

Here are some reasons (in my opinion) why the following stores have closed
Piquedaro: Bad location (like really really bad)
Ilori: paying rent for three floors, only utilizing one...
Furla: Franchised store, harder to profit off of - perhaps the franchise was revoked... who knows.

While all of them were high end none of them were widely known brand names.

The barometer of health for Bloor/Yorkville will be the type of stores that open at the base of 1 Yonge, Four Seasons, Cumberland, the old Four Seasons etc... That's about 200k of high quality retail space.

As has been stated before there is actually a lack of larger format stores on Bloor Street (5000-10,000 square foot) range. Even a lot of retail on other streets doesn't meet the needs of high end flagship stores (ceilings are too low). One of the problems with the old Mac spot is its too small for a retailer. (I think its 2500 square feet).

The fact that Louis Vuitton, Harry's, Holt's and Tiffany's are investing in the street points to overall health... not the closing of a barely known Italian leather store with the absolute worst location.

 

[taal]

Too be honest I could be completely off base I know little on the subject, I love walking in the area, specifcally yorkdale proper, but other then some of the restaurants I never shop in any of the stores ... wait, expect Rolo, in Yorkville, its an interesting gift store.

Anyway my observation comes from the fact I hardly see Bloor that busy, and some of the stores even more so. But again, as others have noted, this seems to be the case on many high end streets in North America.

I do agree the fact many large international high end chains are investing seems promising. But as some have pointed out high end chains doing well does not always always equate to lesser known boutique brands doing well. But I wonder, most of the shops in Yorkville proper seem to do okay (yea there are some for rent) but most of those shops are simple boutiques, many Canadian only no ?

 

[vatche]

Is Holt's expanding??

 

[bAuHaUs]

Is Holt's expanding??

There's a redevelopment proposal out for the entire Holt Renfrew Centre....72 storey condo on a massive 8 storey retail podium. Holts will be part of the redevelopment.

 

[vatche]

Louis Vuitton or Tiffany's r not the same as the ones on bloor. It doesn't mean that they're all going to yorkdale, bypassing bloor. I remember going to school in Chicago and oak rook mall at the time had Tiffany's. So I think it's a common practice in a city the size of Toronto.

 

[ACT7]

Anyway my observation comes from the fact I hardly see Bloor that busy, and some of the stores even more so. But again, as others have noted, this seems to be the case on many high end streets in North America.

I find Bloor to be quite busy most of the time. In fact, it's a lot busier than several other high streets I've walked. There are times, especially on weekends, when zig-zagging is your only way to move on the sidewalks. That being said, busy sidewalks doesn't necessarily translate into sales. As has been noted on this thread before, it's not the pee-ons that stroll Bloor who keep it viable. It's the people who walk in once a month and drop $50K on merchandise that Bloor/Yorkville is catering to.

 

[taal]

I find Bloor to be quite busy most of the time. In fact, it's a lot busier than several other high streets I've walked. There are times, especially on weekends, when zig-zagging is your only way to move on the sidewalks. That being said, busy sidewalks doesn't necessarily translate into sales. As has been noted on this thread before, it's not the pee-ons that stroll Bloor who keep it viable. It's the people who walk in once a month and drop $50K on merchandise that Bloor/Yorkville is catering to.

Ah sorry, I really meant that I never find the stores are very busy inside, the sidewalk is a different matter yea.

Whereas in Yorkdale, the shops (even the high end ones) are fairly busy most of the time. Now clearly there are way less high end shops once you consider yorkville proper it self.

 

[ardwold1]

The Brooks Brothers Flatiron Shop on Bloor has opened, it's pretty cool. Also, Strellson has posted 'Coming Soon' advertisements at the corner space in the Park Hyatt. And Eres has opened on Cumberland.

 

[Filip]

Ah sorry, I really meant that I never find the stores are very busy inside, the sidewalk is a different matter yea.

Whereas in Yorkdale, the shops (even the high end ones) are fairly busy most of the time. Now clearly there are way less high end shops once you consider yorkville proper it self.

Oh how wrong you are.. It is known that the boutiques on Bloor have some of the highest sales psf in the country. There were slews of articles on this matter in the past few years. Louis Vuitton, Chanel, and a few others mentioned how their Toronto shop is one of the world's highest grossing. Keep in mind, the casual shopper does not make sales in these stores. It's the trophy wives who walk in once in a blue moon and buy close to a hundred thousand dollars worth of trinkets who are the bread and butter.

Trust me, Bloor is FAR from reeling, recession or no recession. Retailers are now finalizing what size works best for them and implementing a new approach. Escada was too big and the parent company is hurting; therefore downsizing. Louis Vuitton, on the other hand, is doing extraordinarily well so they're expanding to over 20k sqf and adding the maison flagship concept. There are many luxury retailers currently fighting to get onto Bloor. Lack of space is the problem, not lack of sales.

 

[vatche]

But Filip, we have a few relatively big spaces now that Tiffany's, LV and escada r moving. Y rn't they getting snatched up fast? They're big enough spaces don't u think??

 

[ardwold1]

They haven't even vacated yet...