vatche
Senior Member
Is it me or does it Look like there's finally some activity on bloor?? With these 2 announcements. Dolce and Stuart.
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ardwold1
Active Member
Puma no longer exists I thought? It's now North Face. I really hope Stuart Weitzman replacing North Face (it hasn't been on the street for long, though), it would be such a shame to lose Montblanc or Ports. Fantastic confirmation of Dolce and Gabbana
vatche
Senior Member
I heard a couple of years ago the head of toronto montblanc operations say that this store is one of the top performing monblancs in N.A.. I just can't see them closing down. In fact he said we want a bigger space but we can't find it on bloor.
ACT7
Active Member
It's definitely North Face. I've been living under a rock apparently since I didn't even know they were closed/closing.
What's more interesting is this article posted by Retail-Insider...
http://www.retail-insider.com/2012/12/dolce-gabbana-opening-free-standing.html
So I stand corrected, Toronto will be D&G's 6th freestanding store not 5th. I miscounted. More importantly, the Italian footwear designer can really only be Ferragamo and the French fashion house with a new head designer can only be Dior. Someone jump in if you think I'm way off base here.
What's more interesting is this article posted by Retail-Insider...
http://www.retail-insider.com/2012/12/dolce-gabbana-opening-free-standing.html
So I stand corrected, Toronto will be D&G's 6th freestanding store not 5th. I miscounted. More importantly, the Italian footwear designer can really only be Ferragamo and the French fashion house with a new head designer can only be Dior. Someone jump in if you think I'm way off base here.
pw20
Active Member
You're right... I forgot that Puma was replaced by North Face (i go into neither)... which I guess is a comment about how sporty I am?
And ACT - I agree - Ferragamo and Dior are the obvious new stores that Retail Insider hints at.
ardwold1
Active Member
I feel like when it comes to Bloor-Yorkville information, Retail-Insider tends to regurgitate information found in this thread?
The North Face store hasn't been on Bloor for long, which worries me that perhaps it isn't the store being replaced
The North Face store hasn't been on Bloor for long, which worries me that perhaps it isn't the store being replaced
ACT7
Active Member
Well Montblanc is too small a space for Stuart Weitzman to be taking anyway so I'm not too worried about that.
What I'm curious about is how The North Face didn't last. I didn't think Bloor was the right spot for it, but it did always seem pretty busy. To me, they're more a Yonge & Dundas or Queen West store.
What I'm curious about is how The North Face didn't last. I didn't think Bloor was the right spot for it, but it did always seem pretty busy. To me, they're more a Yonge & Dundas or Queen West store.
Filip
Senior Member
Exactly. Good store but poor location. Seems like the mid-market is slowly being pushed out of Bloor.
Filip
Senior Member
YSL also got a new head designer this year...
vatche
Senior Member
If bloor street was long then I wouldn't have minded having a mix of high end with low end. However, Given that they're all vying for a spot, then that little section should be only allocated to high end stores. Michigan ave has everything on it, but then again it goes on and on and inspite of having every store on it, it still has a few for lease signs. Over there, oak street is also becoming a high end shopping destination. With Marc Jacobs, Bruno cuccinelli, Barney's, jimmy choo. So would be cool if the high end started to move into the side streets of yorkville a little.
prosperegal
Senior Member
Happy to hear that Stuart Weitzman is moving into Bloor. The TEC store is okay, but this one will have more selection (and hopefully more size 4 1/2 and 5 shoes for yours truly). Anyone know who's moving into the old Betsey Johnson spot? It's been leased.
ardwold1
Active Member
Balenciaga also recently got a new designer (Alexander Wang)...I imagine that would be asking for too much though 
Dan416
Senior Member
Why don't stores locate slightly further along Bloor St though? I really don't get it. Do they not think people will walk there?
marsh
Active Member
Hopefully there will be expansion. I would thought if things had been planned right, westward expansion across from the ROM to Prince Arthur could have made alot of sense but the with the current development there doesn't seem to have the space attractive to highend retail. Maybe once 1 Bloor is built and their retail is open -it will free up some more space. I hope the retail space at 1 Bloor is well designed - because I could see a lot mid - upper range shops setting up there - but I worry after reading the comments about Aura's retail space. I haven't been there but the commments are overwhelmingly negative. In any great news about Bloor Street.
devjohnson
Active Member
I've never really been down Bloor St during the weekdays (yes I'm still quite new), and I was surprised how busy it was. It really did remind me of walking down the Mag Mile, but it's only missing some mid-range stores. Adding stores like The North Face and Artzia really bring more people to Bloor. Of course it's great to have the upper-end stores, but only so many can actually afford to shop there. If we got a flagship Apple Store (I'm still SO surprised we don't have one), Express, Levis, maybe a massive Forever 21, etc, we'd be up there with Chicago when it comes to the prime retail shopping strip. We just need some more flagship stores from mid-brands to come on Bloor, which isn't a bad thing at all. We're almost there, I just think that retail can definitely expand past the ROM, and more likely past Yonge, especially when One Bloor is complete.