Toronto Eaton Centre

[nightstreak]

I feel like 2 Queen West isn't tacky enough for Cheesecake Factory. They prefer their locations to look like a dictators palace, not a nice heritage restoration building. But maybe they could have finally learned to have some taste.

There’s a Cheesecake Factory at the base of the Hancock Tower in Chicago. It’s quite nice.

 

[Johnny Au]

February 13, 2026:

 

[onthestreet]

Couple of notes:
- Victoria Secret has closed for renovations and has opened a temp store in the former Club Monaco.
- Skechers has installed signage for a new location in the former aaniin pop-up / Free People location on level 2 - uncertain if the existing 1st floor location (beside Levi's and across from B2) will be renovated or if this is a permanent move.
- Rudsak, directly across from the new Skechers, has closed permanently.
- Dolce Vita has opened in the former PLUS / Vessi (pop-up) location.
- Ever New is getting refurbished.

 

[nightstreak]

RW&Co flagship going into its former spot in a consolidated larger space near the Queen St entrance and the new hallway to Yonge.

 

[shortbranch]

JD Sports opened Monday

 

[nightstreak]

View attachment 723157

JD Sports opened Monday

I know Eaton Centre isn't Yorkdale but this seems a bit too gaudy, certainly too bright for the typical storefronts at TEC. Hopefully they can turn it down a notch. Maybe it's competing with Levis next door.

 

[onthestreet]

Couple of news items:
Lovisa is opening in the former Sunglass Hut (next to Showcase on L1)
Bailey Nelson is moving from next to Apple to the former Thomas Sabo
Ever New reopened after a short renovation on L2
Urban Customz relocated to the former TimShop pop-up.

And yesterday - this was announced online. Not sure the exact location, but it wouldn't shock me if it was either in the 2 Queen (recently McCain Olympic pop-up) or where EB Games did their pop-up at the L1 Queen St Entrance.

https://6ixretail.com/2026/03/sad-nuggie-adoption-centre-is-coming-to-cf-toronto-eaton-centre/

Still a few vacancies with no announced tenants:
- Former Urban Customz (next to Canadian Naturalist)
- Former Bagle Stop at L1 Dundas entrance
- Former Rudsak on L2

And question marks for currently existing or temp spaces:
- Skechers (as they are moving to former aaniin / Free People on L2)
- Aritzia temp space (former Disney Store) on L2
- Victoria Secret temp space (former Club Monaco on L3)
- RW&CO temp space (former Banana Republic Mens on L2)

And...HBC?

 

[nightstreak]

Aritizia's huge store finally has an opening date: April 27

 

[AlbertC]

Aaniin have posted about a closing sale on their IG. No firm closing date set yet

View this content on Instagram

View this content on Instagram

 

[Towered]

Aaniin have posted about a closing sale on their IG. No firm closing date set yet

View this content on Instagram

View this content on Instagram

Ah, too bad. Bought a t-shirt from them once for an ex of mine who loved to drone on about her indigenous background, despite it being absolutely minimal

 

[Richard White]

Apparently Aaniin racked up $400,000 in invoice debt since January 1st and are still owing $150,000

This could explain why their popup closed so unexpectedly.

View this content on Instagram

View this content on Instagram

 

[Towered]

Apparently Aaniin racked up $400,000 in invoice debt since January 1st and are still owing $150,000

This could explain why their popup closed so unexpectedly.

View this content on Instagram

View this content on Instagram

I mean, that's a very niche market they were pandering to, so it doesn't make sense to me to have a store in the freakin' EC.

 

[Richard White]

I mean, that's a very niche market they were pandering to, so it doesn't make sense to me to have a store in the freakin' EC.

She went on to say that her business failed partly due to a negative perception of her business.

Basically she claimed people were against her because it was an indigenous business.

The stress got too much and she had to liquidate.

 

[nightstreak]

She went on to say that her business failed partly due to a negative perception of her business.

Basically she claimed people were against her because it was an indigenous business.

The stress got too much and she had to liquidate.

Pause my political correctness module for a second:

There's an institutional victim mentality in the indigenous community. Fully justified and understood but not always the reason often attributed to failures. I would argue that people are drawn to her business specially because it's indigenous. I would also argue that it's a sufficiently large demographic to support a business like hers. What failed then?

it doesn't make sense to me to have a store in the freakin' EC.

There's a reason there's a high turnover at TEC. And there's a reason why the vast majority of stores at Eaton Centre are large name brands. Many of them lose money at these locations and that is an acceptable part of their business model. A storefront at a high profile location is a necessary marketing vehicle to scale and maintain a brand. It's not a good business model to require generating a profit at a space that demands $1,500 – $2,500 in annual sales per square foot to break even.

 

[TossYourJacket]

I feel like there are locations in the city where they could have opened up on a trendy main street and it would have worked because it had a distinctive niche, and it would have been a good fit for the neighbourhood, but the Eaton Centre is basically about as mainstream of a mall as you can get. Plus obviously the rents are brutally high given it's the most trafficked mall in North America. I respect taking the risk, but I don't think it was the right choice for long-term success.