DSW Designer Shoe Warehouse Reveals 4 New Canadian Locations

Photo: Wikipedia

Photo: Wikipedia

*Update: The Whitby, ON location opened March 19, 2015, the Calgary Crossiron Mills location opened March 25, and the West Edmonton Mall location opens on April 10, 2015*

Popular value-priced American footwear retailer DSW Designer Shoe Warehouse has revealed four new locations, including its first for Western Canada. We interviewed Town Shoes/DSW Canada CEO Bruce Dinan to learn more. 

The four new stores will open in spring of 2015 (April, tentatively), all measuring between 20,000 and 22,000 square feet. Three will be in Alberta, and one in suburban Toronto. The locations include: 

Edmonton: West Edmonton Mall: DSW will open on the second level of the mall's 'Phase One', in the wing anchored by Sears. Located in North America's largest shopping centre, DSW joins anchors such as Hudsons' Bay, Target, La Maison Simons and Sport Check, not to mention hundreds of retailers and a variety of world-class attractions. 

Calgary: CrossIron Mills: Located just north of Calgary, DSW will open in the enclosed 1.2 million square foot mega mall, also anchored by Albert'a only Bass Pro Shops location.  

Calgary: Sunridge Mall: A second Calgary DSW store will also be located on the city's north side. The enclosed 830,000 square foot shopping centre is anchored by Hudson's Bay, Target, Sport Chek and Old Navy

Whitby, Ontario: Located in the RioCan Thickson Ridge Power Centre, DSW will join a number of other large retailers including Sears Whole Home, Bed Bath & Beyond, Home Outfitters, and Winners, with its largest anchor being a 130,000 square foot Home Depot

Town Shoes President and CEO Bruce Dinan runs DSW's Canadian operations. Mr. Dinan says that DSW's sales at its first two locations have been exceptional, warranting further Canadian stores. On August 7th of this year, DSW opened at Heartland Town Centre in Mississauga, and at Woodland Hills Shopping Centre in Newmarket. The Whitby store will be the third for the Greater Toronto Area. 

Photo: DSW

Photo: DSW

DSW also sells online, and it's Canadian e-commerce site launched a couple of months ago. DSW's Canadian stores also operate as fulfillment centres, shipping ordered product either to customer's homes or to local Town Shoes-owned locations for pickup. DSW's Western Canadian stores can therefore also act as new e-commerce fulfillment centres. 

Mr. Dinan says that more Canadian DSW locations are on the way and that in the New Year, he'll reveal a number of new stores which will open in the fall of 2015. 

DSW's Canadian stores are about the same size as its U.S. locations. Mr. Dinan tells us that DSW is ideally seeking Canadian retail space in the 18,000 to 24,000 square foot range. Each Canadian DSW store will have over 22,000 pairs of shoes, as well as an extensive selection of handbags and accessories. About 80% of the brands in DSW's American stores are carried in Canada, and Canada's DSW stores also carry brands exclusive to Town Shoes. 

DSW is hugely popular in the United States with over 430 locations in that country. Its name indicates its business model - it sells designer shoes at discounted prices. The company has hundreds of millions in cash and no debt. 

 

Today's Retail News From Around The Web: December 18, 2014