Saks Fifth Avenue announced December 3 that its outlet brand Saks OFF 5th will locate in the Tsawwassen Mills shopping centre that is slated to open in late 2016.
The 32,687-square-foot store will be one of the anchors in the 1.2-million-square-foot complex that will be next door to a separate, 550,000-square-foot, under-construction mall that will be known as Tsawwassen Commons.
While Tsawwassen Mills is expected to have about half of its tenants being outlet stores, Tsawwassen Commons will not have any outlet stores.
The announcement is not unexpected, given widespread rumours.
Bass Pro Shops is the only other anchor tenant announced to be at Tsawwassen Mills. The fishing, hunting and outdoor equipment seller will operate a full-priced store in 145,000 square feet of space. Other retailers that intend to open in the mall include Vancouver-based Saje Wellness .
“Tsawwassen Mills will be the first new enclosed regional shopping centre built in the Lower Mainland in over a decade, and, at 1.2 million square feet, it will immediately become the fourth-largest shopping centre in B.C.,” Tsawwassen Mills’ director of development, Jeff Brown, told Business in Vancouver in September.
He declined at the time to say whether his mall was negotiating with either Saks or Nordstrom for outlet stores. The mall’s composition, however, is expected to be similar to that of Ivanhoé Cambridge properties such as CrossIron Mills and Ontario’s Vaughan Mills, both of which will also have Saks Off 5th outlet stores.
Mid-market brands such as Banana Republic, Hugo Boss and Ecco Shoes operate outlet stores in each of those hybrid outlet malls.
In addition to the Metro Vancouver store confirmation, Saks also announced that it would have stores at the Outlet Collection Winnipeg, Place Ste-Foy and Montreal Eaton Centre.
“We are excited that we are able to bring Saks OFF 5TH to these dynamic Ivanhoé Cambridge properties,” said Jonathan Greller, who is president of outlets for Saks’ owner, the Hudson’s Bay Co. (TSX:HBC).
“We have now announced openings in five provinces across the country, and we look forward to bringing our OFF 5TH experience to the Canadian consumer.”
