The seven-store Vancouver clothing chain Kit and Ace plans to open dozens of new stores this year and, on March 19, named 10 confirmed locations across North America, including a second Vancouver location.
The second Vancouver store will open July 1 at 2235 West 4th Avenue in a neighbourhood that is appropriate for the company given that the “Kit” part of its name is short for Kitsilano.
The Wilson family, which owns Kit and Ace, also has a fondness for Kitsilano given that family patriarch Chip Wilson founded Lululemon Athletica Inc. with a first store about six blocks east of where the future Kit and Ace location on West Fourth Avenue.
“Vancouver is our hometown and has been incredibly supportive from the beginning,” said Wilson’s son and principal JJ Wilson, whose focus is on branding and e-commerce.
“We’re bringing a beautiful space in which customers can access our clothing but also come away with a deeper sense of our brand.”
Seven U.S. cities will get their first Kit and Ace store by October 15: St. Louis, Minneapolis, Denver, Cincinnati, Columbus, Washington and San Jose.
Kit and Ace opened stores in Toronto and San Francisco last year and has announced second-locations for each of those cities.
The chain launched its first store in Gastown location last summer.
Stores in Edmonton, Calgary, Saskatoon and Toronto opened simultaneously in early November. One in New York opened later that month while one in San Francisco also opened in time for the holiday shopping season.
“The world is moving insanely fast and I think that in order for us to become a retail force in the global market, we know we need to move quickly,” Wilson told Business in Vancouver.
The company’s clothing is made from proprietary fabric, Qemir, which includes cashmere yet can be washed in a machine instead of having to be dry cleaned.
Principal Shannon Wilson developed the fabric, which interlaces viscose, cashmere and elastine for women and cotton, elastine and cashmere for men.
She first offered it to Lululemon but executives said they were not interested.
The company’s stores have distinctive elements such as a 2.4-metre square table and a wall featuring art from a local artist on a rotating basis.
Interiors are airy and walls tend to be white.
JJ Wilson was recently the subject of a Business in Vancouver profile .
