Saks Fifth Avenue Flagship (Queen & Yonge)

[Northern Light]

A look inside the Luna bar in Saks 5th avenue.

View attachment 83414

Another shot

View attachment 83415

Could be quite nice..................

I'm really waiting on the 'Food Hall' concept in the basement. I haven't had a chance to check out the one in Sherway. I've seen the pictures
on Retail-Insider.....but it's all about the product choices for me.

I'm hopeful of somewhere new and interesting offering the same.

 

[mustangjay]

Does anybody happen to know the exact configuration of the Queen Street store (e.g how many floors and between what sections of the larger Bay store)?

 

[Skeezix]

Does anybody happen to know the exact configuration of the Queen Street store (e.g how many floors and between what sections of the larger Bay store)?

Sure. Saks took floors 1 to 3, from Yonge to roughly the skywalk, with Hudson's Bay keeping the rest of those floors from the skywalk to Bay Street. Floors 4, 5 and 6 are entirely Hudson's Bay, cantilevering (so to speak) over Saks, while the 7th floor on the west end is also all Hudson's Bay. On the concourse level, the Pusateri food hall will open sometime this fall, apparently, roughly from the point where the PATH connects to Bay Adelaide all the way to east end of the basement - Hudson's Bay has the rest of the concourse.

 

[interchange42]

Could be quite nice..................

I'm really waiting on the 'Food Hall' concept in the basement. I haven't had a chance to check out the one in Sherway. I've seen the pictures
on Retail-Insider.....but it's all about the product choices for me.

I'm hopeful of somewhere new and interesting offering the same.

The pictures on Retail Insider?! Well, if you like 'em small, sure, why not?

• • • •

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[interchange42]

Leña is open now…

Pusateri's, not so much:

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[Northern Light]

Leña is open now…

View attachment 84414 View attachment 84415 View attachment 84416

Pusateri's, not so much:

View attachment 84417 View attachment 84418

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The resto is lookin nice............

As for the Food Hall...............wow, did they hire the people doing the GO Stn in Burlington? Behind schedule does not cover that....

I was hoping they'd at least be into the final stages of fit-out by now.

To me, that looks like late October at the earliest.

 

[Skeezix]

yeah, the "Spring 2016" signs got replaced at some point with "Fall 2016" signs.

 

[interchange42]

With Pusateri's having opened Oakville since Sherway, and now pushing to reopen the original Avenue Road store… maybe a number of the same builders/suppliers have been involved, and it has tied up the hands of the people who would have been working on this location?

That flood in the basement seems to have not just pushed things back a little, but to have shifted their scheduled builds around entirely.

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[Northern Light]

Sak's to open in Montreal, inside the Hudson's Bay flagship.

https://www.thestar.com/business/2016/09/22/saks-fifth-avenue-to-open-in-montreal-in-2018.html

Worth noting here is that this has been spurred on by the Queen st. location 'exceeding expectations'; and by being 'the most successful opening in the history of the company'

 

[Skeezix]

It will be interesting to see what they do to the Boulevard de Maisonneuve frontage for Saks, which the article says will be a "a new white façade" (replacing the 1970s blank concrete). Might inspire HBC for its Yonge/Bloor store.

ETA: Oh look, Retail Insider has a good rendering here of the new facade.

 

[prosperegal]

Sak's to open in Montreal, inside the Hudson's Bay flagship.

https://www.thestar.com/business/2016/09/22/saks-fifth-avenue-to-open-in-montreal-in-2018.html

Worth noting here is that this has been spurred on by the Queen st. location 'exceeding expectations'; and by being 'the most successful opening in the history of the company'

A bit jealous that the Montreal store will be bigger!

It will be interesting to see what they do to the Boulevard de Maisonneuve frontage for Saks, which the article says will be a "a new white façade" (replacing the 1970s blank concrete). Might inspire HBC for its Yonge/Bloor store.

ETA: Oh look, Retail Insider has a good rendering here of the new facade.

I really doubt they'll open a store at Yonge/Bloor - too close to TEC.

 

[officedweller]

ETA: Oh look, Retail Insider has a good rendering here of the new facade.

Would have been interesting if they had done something similar to the west (Simpson's Tower) side of the Queen St. building if Saks had located there.

 

[interchange42]

A bit jealous that the Montreal store will be bigger!

If Saks sales numbers demand it and Hudson Bay sales numbers allow it, then Saks could easily expand upwards to the fourth floor at Queen Street. Then ours would be bigger.

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[Skeezix]

A bit jealous that the Montreal store will be bigger!

I really doubt they'll open a store at Yonge/Bloor - too close to TEC.

Meh. It's a 30,000 sq. ft. difference - if one takes away the food halls, it appears from the RI report that the Toronto store is actually 25,000 sq. ft. larger. Not sure most shoppers would even notice the difference, though.

What I am jealous of is the 80,000 sq. ft. food hall focused on local products. I'd hate to see the Saks expand to the 4th floor of the old Simpsons store, but I wouldn't mind the food hall down there, if it ever opens, expanding to take up more of the concourse level. I wouldn't shed any tears if the Compass-run food spaces (is it still Compass?) disappeared - the food market at the west end of the concourse isn't bad, but Foodwares near the subway in particular would make for an easy expansion of the food hall if they killed it.

I wasn't actually talking about a Saks store at Yonge and Bloor. Sorry, I was unclear. Mostly just gripping about the lousy facade there. Hoping that the transformation of a concrete bunker in Montreal would inspire HBC to do the same to its concrete bunker here.

 

[Northern Light]

Meh. It's a 30,000 sq. ft. difference - if one takes away the food halls, it appears from the RI report that the Toronto store is actually 25,000 sq. ft. larger. Not sure most shoppers would even notice the difference, though.

What I am jealous of is the 80,000 sq. ft. food hall focused on local products.

Interesting to note that they will have a local partner to operate the Montreal food hall, a partner they either have yet to choose or whose name they are not yet prepared to release.

I'd hate to see the Saks expand to the 4th floor of the old Simpsons store, but I wouldn't mind the food hall down there, if it ever opens, expanding to take up more of the concourse level. I wouldn't shed any tears if the Compass-run food spaces (is it still Compass?) disappeared - the food market at the west end of the concourse isn't bad, but Foodwares near the subway in particular would make for an easy expansion of the food hall if they killed it. "

Agreed that an expansion of Toronto Food Hall into the Compass space would not be unwelcome, in theory, subject to seeing how well they execute the space here......and assuming they ever finish it.

I wasn't actually talking about a Saks store at Yonge and Bloor. Sorry, I was unclear. Mostly just gripping about the lousy facade there.

I would be surprised to see the HBC centre remain as is, over time, given the height precedents in the area, and how out-of-time the architecture is, and the complexity of expanding Bloor-Yonge station, the arguments for redevelopment are strong.

That said, in the shorter term, HBC either has to fix the Bloor facade or vacate and give over the store to someone who will.

Right now, I think the only logical new player might be Simons who are clearly looking for downtown space.

But 250,000 sq ft is likely far more than they would need.[/QUOTE]