Vancouver-based Saje Natural Wellness has announced its final round of Canadian store openings, bringing its count to 50 stores in just the past few years. The company has now set its sights on the United States for a similarly ambitious expansion, and the company is looking to eventually expand into markets overseas.

We first reported on Saje’s plans for expansion in September of 2014, when the company had only 14 locations. Today, Saje operates 45 Canadian stores and boasts annual revenue in excess of $50 million. Profit Guide recently ranked Saje Natural Wellness as #74 in its rankings of Canada’s 500 fastest growing companies.

According to Saje Vice President Kiara Leblanc (daughter of co-founders Jean-Pierre LeBlanc and Kate Ross-LeBlanc), the retailer will open five more Canadian stores in 2017, bringing the company to its goal of 50 stores. These new locations will include:

Toronto: Scarborough Town Centre,
Toronto: Yorkville area,
Regina: Cornwall Centre,
Moncton, NB: CF Champlain, and
Edmonton: West Edmonton Mall.

The new 900 square foot West Edmonton Mall store will be a second in the mall, with the existing 500 square foot store to be converted to Saje’s ‘At Home’ concept. The Yorkville lease deal has yet to be executed, so Saje has held off disclosing its address for this article. The Cornwall Centre store will be Saje’s first in Regina and second in Saskatchewan, and the Moncton store will be Saje’s first location in New Brunswick.

This fall, Saje Natural Wellness will also open at Oakville Place in Oakville, Ontario, and will relocate its existing space at Coquitlam Centre, east of Vancouver. The retailer also recently opened two Toronto stores — one in the city’s busy financial district underground PATH (Exchange Tower) as well as an impressive unit at Yorkdale Shopping Centre, featuring a soaring facade as seen in the photo at the top of this article.

Ms. LeBlanc revealed that moving forward, Saje Natural Wellness will next focus on opening stores in the United States, with about 30 locations planned for 2017. The company’s first two stores will be located in southern California — one in Malibu, the other in Valencia. Saje’s goal is to eventually operate between 150 and 200 US stores -- the New York City area will be a focus along with California, prior to entering markets such as Chicago, Seattle and Texas, said Ms. LeBlanc.

Longer-term, Ms. Leblanc said that Saje is looking at opening stores in the UK, Australia and Hong Kong, as it looks to an eventual global expansion. As well, some existing Saje stores, particularly those large enough, could eventually house the brand’s ‘Saje At Home’ concept shop-in-stores. The company’s ‘At Home’ line includes natural home care and cleaning products, which are becoming increasingly popular as studies have shown that some cleaning products can have adverse health effects, including increasing rates of cancer, she noted.

Canadian Retail News From Around The Web: November 2, 2016