The recognition that there is a wealthy resident customer base in Canada, alongside a growing international visitor appeal, is intensifying occupational demand beyond the core downtown luxury pitches.
From high streets to the suburbs, Canada continues to see an unprecedented expansion of international luxury brands. Demand continues to outpace supply, both from brands with an established presence and those that are new to market. Driving the demand is the return of international tourism and equally if not more important, the recognition of a local and national wealthy consumer base with the ability and willingness to spend.
On the street, the “turf war environment” between the luxury powerhouses of LVMH, Kering and Richemont in Toronto and Vancouver, drove the rents up and fuelled an expansion of the luxury zones from their traditional boundaries. New flagship openings in 2023 on the prime block of Bloor Street included Ferragamo, Rolex, Van Cleef & Arpels, and Alexander Wang. This has continued into 2024 with the recent opening of Saint Laurent’s 10,000 sq ft store, soon to be followed by Loro Piana’s first Canadian store. Most notably, Tiffany’s signed a lease to relocate their Canadian flagship to arguably the most important retail corner in Canada: Bloor Street and Bay Street. Construction is slated to commence in May 2024, with a scheduled opening in winter 2025.
In Canada, unlike south of the border, luxury retailers have been razor-focused on core downtown luxury pitches with suburban, more ‘local’ destinations having little appeal. However, there are exceptions to this. Yorkdale Shopping Centre in Toronto, Canada’s most productive mall, which boasts retail sales well over $2,400 per sq ft, is in the process of adding over 100,000 sq ft of luxury retail floor space. Once complete in early 2025, luxury retailers will account for almost 20% of the CRU, up from 13% a few years ago, and will include the first Loewe flagship in Canada.
Other notable ‘local’ focused schemes include Oakridge Park in Vancouver, slated to open in Q1 2025 and recently announced their first list of luxury curated apparel brands that include the finest, including Chanel, Louis Vuitton, Prada, Ferragamo, Brunello Cucinelli, Max Mara, Miu Miu, Moncler, Christian Louboutin, and Maison Margiela to name a few. For many of these brands, these new flagships in this tiny suburb will be in addition to their existing downtown flagship stores and/or concessions in Holt Renfrew.
The expansion into the suburbs is not confined to Toronto and Vancouver. Royalmount in Montreal, slated to open in Q2 2025, will have a luxury wing that will be the future home to Louis Vuitton and Tiffany’s. Finally, there is an acceleration in terms of deal makings, store openings and the growing emergence of a luxury presence at West Edmonton Mall and CF Chinook (Calgary).
The expansion of luxury brands in Canada sees no signs of slowing; in fact, it is the opposite as the growing return of international tourism and the appetite for luxury goods from the national consumer continues to be unprecedented.