Vancouver’s retail landscape will change substantially in 2015.
The city’s top retail real estate broker says that a number of luxury brands will open in Vancouver, and two new upscale department stores will enter the market.
A new luxury outlet mall will open beside Vancouver International Airport, and several malls will see substantial renovations.
Here’s what’s in store for Vancouver in 2015.
Luxury retail
A number of luxury brands will open free-standing stores in 2015, primarily in what retail whiz CBRE executive vice-president Mario Negris calls a “luxury zone” immediately west of the Fairmont Hotel Vancouver.
He expects several luxury brands to open in the area in 2015, including The Carlyle complex in the 1000-block of Alberni Street and the neighbouring 745 Thurlow Street tower’s retail component.
Negris said that in the 22 years that he’s been in the business, he’s never seen such a high level of interest from international luxury brands looking to open in Vancouver.
As a result, several of them will open in Vancouver’s “luxury zone” in 2015, though Negris declined to reveal the names of these brands for confidentiality reasons.
French luxury brand Christian Dior is building a two-level, 7,000-square-foot flagship store, slated to open in the spring, at the Hotel Vancouver. The store will feature the brand’s women’s and men’s collections, as well as accessories, footwear and luxury private shopping suites.
Dior will join neighbouring luxury retailers such as Louis Vuitton, Gucci, Omega, St. John Knits, Hermès, Montblanc and Tiffany & Co.
The increase in luxury retail is partly due to an increase in Chinese tourism.
The number of Chinese visitors to Canada is increasing at a 24.2% year-over-year rate, according to the Canadian Tourism Commission, and many of them seek to buy luxury goods.
Department stores
Vancouver’s highest-profile department store set to open in 2015 is Nordstrom at Pacific Centre in September. The 230,000-square-foot flagship will occupy three levels of what was previously Sears.
The next month, Quebec City-based fashion retailer La Maison Simons plans to open a 100,000-square-foot store at West Vancouver’s Park Royal South.
Simons is unique in how it merges value-priced, private-label fashion with an offering of pricey luxury labels.
The two-level store will feature aboriginal-influenced artwork, including an installation by novelist and artist Douglas Coupland.
Holt Renfrew will renovate and expand its 140,000-square-foot Pacific Centre flagship store in 2015.
The overhaul is a response to rising competition, as Nordstrom brings more luxury brands to Vancouver and Saks Fifth Avenue makes plans to enter the Vancouver market within the next couple of years.
Finally, menswear retailer Harry Rosen will overhaul its 25,000-square-foot Pacific Centre location in 2015, bringing updated interiors and a wider assortment of luxury menswear labels.
Outlet malls
In 2015, Vancouver will get North America’s first McArthurGlen Designer Outlet. Located at Templeton SkyTrain station next to Vancouver International Airport, the mall’s first phase is scheduled to open in the spring.
Spanning over 240,000 square feet, the outlet mall will feature more than 80 retailers – some of them top luxury brands. McArthurGlen Group representatives declined to reveal retailer names, though a representative said they’ll disclose them closer to the mall’s launch.
A second phase is expected to eventually create a 400,000-square-foot property with about 150 stores.
