deerparker
Active Member
^agreed - the CM slim fits are great. Top Man also has slim shirts as small as XXS.
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Skeezix
Senior Member
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- East of this, west of that
The Bay Announces Two New High-Profile TOPSHOP TOPMAN Locations for Vancouver and Toronto; Capsule to Open in Montreal
Canada NewsWire
TORONTO, May 11, 2012
TORONTO, May 11, 2012 /CNW/ - The Bay is proud to announce the continuation of the Canadian TOPSHOP TOPMAN expansion with two new store-within-a-store locations scheduled to open in Vancouver and Toronto this coming October. The Vancouver store is set to wow west coast consumers with the largest International TOPSHOP TOPMAN store at more than 33,000 square feet. Located at 674 Granville Street, the Vancouver store builds on the highly successful Granville capsule launched in August 2011. Toronto's second TOPSHOP TOPMAN location comes with no surprise - opening in The Bay's downtown Flagship store on Queen Street and measures in at more than 19,000 square feet.
"After a wildly successful launch at our Yorkdale Mall location in Toronto, we can't wait to open TOPSHOP TOPMAN in Vancouver and downtown Toronto," says Bonnie Brooks, President, The Hudson's Bay Company. "The TOPSHOP TOPMAN expansion is another step in our continued commitment to making The Bay a world-class department store that delivers the ultimate in fashion and accessories."
Both locations will carry complete TOPSHOP TOPMAN collections, in addition to premium collections including Boutique Unique and TM Ltd., and exclusive designer collections.
The Vancouver store will feature an escalator entrance directly from historic Granville Street, taking shoppers into the largest International venue in the TOPSHOP TOPMAN portfolio. The newest TOPSHOP and TOPMAN Toronto stores will be located at 176 Yonge St. at the corner of Queen and Yonge streets on the 2nd and 3rd levels of The Bay with stairway access between shops.
The Bay is also pleased to announce that TOPSHOP and TOPMAN capsule shops totalling 6,000 square feet will open this fall in Montreal. Located in the downtown Ste. Catherine Street store, the capsules will offer shoppers a curated selection of TOPSHOP and TOPMAN fashions to prime Montrealers for the full store-within-a-store scheduled to open in 2013.
"We are absolutely thrilled to open TOPSHOP in three new fantastic locations," says Mary Homer, Managing Director for TOPSHOP. "Our first space in Yorkdale Mall has been a great success, with Canadians embracing our brave and irreverent approach to fashion. We are very excited to expand our brand to a wider audience with new locations in Vancouver, Toronto and Montreal."
"We are very happy to be part of this partnership with The Bay and to open three more flagship stores in key locations throughout Canada," says David Shepherd, TOPMAN Managing Director. "We will continue to offer all the latest TOPMAN trends and up to the minute fashion to delight our Canadian customers."
Canada NewsWire
TORONTO, May 11, 2012
TORONTO, May 11, 2012 /CNW/ - The Bay is proud to announce the continuation of the Canadian TOPSHOP TOPMAN expansion with two new store-within-a-store locations scheduled to open in Vancouver and Toronto this coming October. The Vancouver store is set to wow west coast consumers with the largest International TOPSHOP TOPMAN store at more than 33,000 square feet. Located at 674 Granville Street, the Vancouver store builds on the highly successful Granville capsule launched in August 2011. Toronto's second TOPSHOP TOPMAN location comes with no surprise - opening in The Bay's downtown Flagship store on Queen Street and measures in at more than 19,000 square feet.
"After a wildly successful launch at our Yorkdale Mall location in Toronto, we can't wait to open TOPSHOP TOPMAN in Vancouver and downtown Toronto," says Bonnie Brooks, President, The Hudson's Bay Company. "The TOPSHOP TOPMAN expansion is another step in our continued commitment to making The Bay a world-class department store that delivers the ultimate in fashion and accessories."
Both locations will carry complete TOPSHOP TOPMAN collections, in addition to premium collections including Boutique Unique and TM Ltd., and exclusive designer collections.
The Vancouver store will feature an escalator entrance directly from historic Granville Street, taking shoppers into the largest International venue in the TOPSHOP TOPMAN portfolio. The newest TOPSHOP and TOPMAN Toronto stores will be located at 176 Yonge St. at the corner of Queen and Yonge streets on the 2nd and 3rd levels of The Bay with stairway access between shops.
The Bay is also pleased to announce that TOPSHOP and TOPMAN capsule shops totalling 6,000 square feet will open this fall in Montreal. Located in the downtown Ste. Catherine Street store, the capsules will offer shoppers a curated selection of TOPSHOP and TOPMAN fashions to prime Montrealers for the full store-within-a-store scheduled to open in 2013.
"We are absolutely thrilled to open TOPSHOP in three new fantastic locations," says Mary Homer, Managing Director for TOPSHOP. "Our first space in Yorkdale Mall has been a great success, with Canadians embracing our brave and irreverent approach to fashion. We are very excited to expand our brand to a wider audience with new locations in Vancouver, Toronto and Montreal."
"We are very happy to be part of this partnership with The Bay and to open three more flagship stores in key locations throughout Canada," says David Shepherd, TOPMAN Managing Director. "We will continue to offer all the latest TOPMAN trends and up to the minute fashion to delight our Canadian customers."
Skeezix
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- Apr 25, 2007
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How to swankify a store, by HBC president Bonnie Brooks
Toronto Star
Francine Kopun
Business Reporter
June 5, 2012
These days, The Bay on Queen Street West looks a lot more like a Holt Renfrew or a Bloomingdales than the tired old retailer it used to be.
When Bonnie Brooks got her hands on it after becoming president in 2008, she dropped 900 brands in the first six months and added 450 new ones.
Since then, she’s added stores-within-stores including Burberry and Coach. A new Top Shop is on the way.
She invited celebrity guests to launch their books and their looks, including Madonna, Gordon Ramsay, Kim Kardashian, Sarah Jessica Parker, Jessica Simpson and designers Jason Lu, Oscar de la Renta and the design duo behind Proenza Schouler.
While the changes at the Queen Street West location may be the most familiar to Toronto shoppers, 80 Bay stores have been extensively renovated, Brooks told attendees at the Retail Council of Canada conference on Tuesday.
“We’ve been working really hard to make them the talk of the town,” Brooks said.
She said the Bay has signed up to manufacture Canadian Olympic gear for the next eight years.
The annual conference, held at the Toronto Congress Centre, drew CEOs from some of Canada’s biggest retailers.
Brooks was one of the main speakers on Tuesday, along with Walmart CEO Shelley Broader.
Brooks said she began the big change at the Bay by canvassing 7,000 shoppers in the late fall of 2008.
They learned the Bay was perceived as having no visible staff, even though the payroll was plenty heavy – they were busy working on tasks behind the scenes instead of on the floor.
Brooks changed hiring criteria and went after fashionistas to staff the stores and made sure they were able to spend more time on the floor with customers than behind the scenes dealing with inventory.
And she didn’t just add expensive designer brands to the mix, she added lines in lower-price tiers.
“We think high-low is really how North American men and women want to shop today,” she said.
She knew she was onto something when she got 7,000 emails and letters in 12 months.
“People are absolutely shocked at the changes,” she said.
Brooks, who is also president of Lord & Taylor in the U.S., said the management teams of the two retailing icons have recently been integrated.
She also criticized high Canadian import duties, which push up the price of clothing in Canada, leading customers to complain that they are being overcharged relative to consumers in the U.S.
Toronto Star
Francine Kopun
Business Reporter
June 5, 2012
These days, The Bay on Queen Street West looks a lot more like a Holt Renfrew or a Bloomingdales than the tired old retailer it used to be.
When Bonnie Brooks got her hands on it after becoming president in 2008, she dropped 900 brands in the first six months and added 450 new ones.
Since then, she’s added stores-within-stores including Burberry and Coach. A new Top Shop is on the way.
She invited celebrity guests to launch their books and their looks, including Madonna, Gordon Ramsay, Kim Kardashian, Sarah Jessica Parker, Jessica Simpson and designers Jason Lu, Oscar de la Renta and the design duo behind Proenza Schouler.
While the changes at the Queen Street West location may be the most familiar to Toronto shoppers, 80 Bay stores have been extensively renovated, Brooks told attendees at the Retail Council of Canada conference on Tuesday.
“We’ve been working really hard to make them the talk of the town,” Brooks said.
She said the Bay has signed up to manufacture Canadian Olympic gear for the next eight years.
The annual conference, held at the Toronto Congress Centre, drew CEOs from some of Canada’s biggest retailers.
Brooks was one of the main speakers on Tuesday, along with Walmart CEO Shelley Broader.
Brooks said she began the big change at the Bay by canvassing 7,000 shoppers in the late fall of 2008.
They learned the Bay was perceived as having no visible staff, even though the payroll was plenty heavy – they were busy working on tasks behind the scenes instead of on the floor.
Brooks changed hiring criteria and went after fashionistas to staff the stores and made sure they were able to spend more time on the floor with customers than behind the scenes dealing with inventory.
And she didn’t just add expensive designer brands to the mix, she added lines in lower-price tiers.
“We think high-low is really how North American men and women want to shop today,” she said.
She knew she was onto something when she got 7,000 emails and letters in 12 months.
“People are absolutely shocked at the changes,” she said.
Brooks, who is also president of Lord & Taylor in the U.S., said the management teams of the two retailing icons have recently been integrated.
She also criticized high Canadian import duties, which push up the price of clothing in Canada, leading customers to complain that they are being overcharged relative to consumers in the U.S.
Skeezix
Senior Member
Member Bio
- Joined
- Apr 25, 2007
- Messages
- 4,343
- Reaction score
- 2,688
- Location
- East of this, west of that
Getting hip translates into sales: Brooks
Financial Post
Hollie Shaw
June 6, 2012
Luring talented people into retail is essential for success as the Canadian market becomes ever more competitive, retailing maven Bonnie Brooks told an industry conference Tuesday.
Speaking at the Retail Council of Canada’s Store 2012 conference, Ms. Brooks, president of Hudson’s Bay Co. and Lord & Taylor, recalled research with 7,000 consumers just after she began running the Bay in the fall 2008.
“The Bay was perceived as having no staff visible on the selling floor,†she said. “Yet we were spending 12% to 13% of our sales on store payroll.â€
While the company worked to improve its technology and shift people from back-of house retail work to its sales floor, a cultural shift was also required. To achieve that “cool quotient,†the Bay shed more than 900 stale brands and added 450 new ones and hip restaurants, and increased the number of in-store celebrity appearances. But it needed to inspire its staff to embrace the fashion makeover.
“We realized that the front of house needed an entirely new set of behaviours in our company,†and needed to apply “specialty store behaviours†to a classic department store model. The Bay changed hiring criteria and launched a recruiting program, Wanted: Fashionistas. “We had to change our approach to what [sales staff] could wear…. Tattoos would be allowed, all kinds of things that were previously unheard of in a department store.â€
It paid off in higher sales and a broad shift in customer perception, and the company further engaged its employees by printing a book consisting of 7,000 glowing customer letters and emails the Bay received post-makeover.
Shelley Broader, chief executive of Wal-Mart Stores Inc., which is expanding to 380 stores this year from a current 333, said the “war for talent†is fierce in retail and will get far more competitive.
Youth looking for jobs spend a lot of time on social media, so reaching them there makes sense, Ms. Broader said. “You have got to figure out how to go for talent in all kinds of ifferent ways,†she said.
Financial Post
Hollie Shaw
June 6, 2012
Luring talented people into retail is essential for success as the Canadian market becomes ever more competitive, retailing maven Bonnie Brooks told an industry conference Tuesday.
Speaking at the Retail Council of Canada’s Store 2012 conference, Ms. Brooks, president of Hudson’s Bay Co. and Lord & Taylor, recalled research with 7,000 consumers just after she began running the Bay in the fall 2008.
“The Bay was perceived as having no staff visible on the selling floor,†she said. “Yet we were spending 12% to 13% of our sales on store payroll.â€
While the company worked to improve its technology and shift people from back-of house retail work to its sales floor, a cultural shift was also required. To achieve that “cool quotient,†the Bay shed more than 900 stale brands and added 450 new ones and hip restaurants, and increased the number of in-store celebrity appearances. But it needed to inspire its staff to embrace the fashion makeover.
“We realized that the front of house needed an entirely new set of behaviours in our company,†and needed to apply “specialty store behaviours†to a classic department store model. The Bay changed hiring criteria and launched a recruiting program, Wanted: Fashionistas. “We had to change our approach to what [sales staff] could wear…. Tattoos would be allowed, all kinds of things that were previously unheard of in a department store.â€
It paid off in higher sales and a broad shift in customer perception, and the company further engaged its employees by printing a book consisting of 7,000 glowing customer letters and emails the Bay received post-makeover.
Shelley Broader, chief executive of Wal-Mart Stores Inc., which is expanding to 380 stores this year from a current 333, said the “war for talent†is fierce in retail and will get far more competitive.
Youth looking for jobs spend a lot of time on social media, so reaching them there makes sense, Ms. Broader said. “You have got to figure out how to go for talent in all kinds of ifferent ways,†she said.
bleeepbluuup
Active Member
No staff on the selling floor is right -- you could never find someone to man the cash or unlock a dressing room when needed. What's even more annoying is when you approach a point of sale only to be told that they're an "in-store boutique" and can't take your money because that thing you want to buy is not their product. I mean, really. You'd think they'd want to make it EASY for you to give them money.
G
gabe
Guest
When it comes to service in department stores the states has Canada beat!! I do most of my shopping in the states now for that reason, although Harry Rosen still has remarkable service for chain store. I gave up shopping at The Bay for the reasons you just mentioned, not enough sales staff, very few cash registers open, even during Christmas! At Nordstrom's when you pay by credit card you don't even need to wait in line, the sales clerk's carry a little electronic device about the size of an iphone, they can do the transaction anywhere in the store, and they just email you your receipts. Last time i was in Holt's the sales guy who stood around ignoring me missed out on commission on a $500 sport coat i bought, it wasn't until i was walking to the cash he decided to help me, i just brushed him off saying i don't want his help, he looked liked he was about to kill me when i said that
AnnetteMeetsJane
Active Member
Ugh! The Bay at Sherway Gardens is just the pits!!!!!!! It's like shopping in a Warehouse Outlet Store in the States, but worse - poor lighting, filthy, filthy carpet and walls, and terrible signage, and then it takes 27 hours to stand in line, get to the till where there are three staff lounging about doing nothing, and one operating the till and she is totally incapable of ringing up a sale correctly.
I can't wait for Nordstroms and Target to come and show them how it's done...
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DTowner
Active Member
Is this a joke?
"These days, The Bay on Queen Street West looks a lot more like a Holt Renfrew or a Bloomingdales than the tired old retailer it used to be."
Hardly! It's still the same stuff. And so far any real renos have been focussed on the women's section.
Plus, Holt Renfrew ain't all that when it comes to hight-end dept stores. Shelfridges (which, ironically Holts owns) is much better.
Tewder
Senior Member
The Bay is terrible, and most Canadian retailers are quite frankly. If you're brave enough to venture into a dressing room be prepared to walk on a carpet of pins and through mounds of clothing. Terrrrible!
pw20
Active Member
Selfridges...........
They've done some renovations on the second floor mens department and the service where they sell more current mens fashions (Steve Allan, J Brand jeans) is actually not bad, plus with the number of promotions that the Bay runs you can really get some great clothes on the cheap.
bleeepbluuup
Active Member
Yeah, I find it particularly galling that they're now selling this shwanky image of themselves, but then you walk into your local The Bay and it's the same old disaster as usual. At least wait till the renovations are done everywhere before you start broadcasting pretensions of fanciness.
toforumer
Active Member
I'm not 100% sure what the other stores look like but The Bay Yorkdale looks superb after its renovations, well the completed sections. The main floor is currently under renovations but the 2nd and 3rd floors are completely renovated and look fantastic and layout is great. The product offerings have vastly improved throughout the years. They're going in the right direction.
officedweller
Senior Member
The Bay in Vancouver is putting the non-TopShop/TopMan sections of the two basement levels up for lease to other retailers
- is anything similar being done in Toronto?
Apparently men's wear is moving to the 6th floor in the Vancouver store - don't know how successful it will be all the way up there!
Retail leasing plans for Vancouver's Bay posted by s211 on SSP:
http://www.pbsrealestate.com/ftp/hbcretail.pdf
Note the new canopy and the coats-of-arms on the canopies.
NOTE: This also means that any Bloomingdales store-within-a-store concept is either dead or will not use the Vancouver basement levels.
- is anything similar being done in Toronto?
Apparently men's wear is moving to the 6th floor in the Vancouver store - don't know how successful it will be all the way up there!
Retail leasing plans for Vancouver's Bay posted by s211 on SSP:
http://www.pbsrealestate.com/ftp/hbcretail.pdf
Note the new canopy and the coats-of-arms on the canopies.
NOTE: This also means that any Bloomingdales store-within-a-store concept is either dead or will not use the Vancouver basement levels.
Last edited:
Tewder
Senior Member
I'm not sure that the Bay Yorkdale is indicative of the chain. Nice to hear they've pulled up their socks a little bit here at least.
Thanos
Active Member
You've obviously never been there since the renovation. The second floor men's stuff is far superior to what it used to be and can go head to head with any US department store.
It seems a lot of people have memory issues. I just did a 2 week east coast trip in the US and the department stores there were full of crappy carpets and walls and poor lighting.
But this is just typical Canadian mentality. We can't admit when we're doing something good and always look down.