Rendering: LemayMichaud — *Rendering: LemayMichaud*

Quebec City-based large format retailer La Maison Simons will open an innovative new store, costing about $50 million, at Quebec City's Galeries de la Capitale. The store will replace the mall's Target location which closed last year, and will replace an existing Simons store about half the size in the same mall.

"This is the very first store where the concept of ecology will be ubiquitous", said company president Peter Simons. The store will occupy about 80,000 square feet and will feature solar panels and recharging stations for electric cars, among other innovations. "The goal is to achieve a zero net footprint", according to Mr. Simons.

The store will also be a prototype, providing "a unique and improved customer experience through new digital and interactive technologies" that will initially be tested in the new store before being introduced to other Simons locations, according to Mr. Simons. Quebec City-based architectural firm LemayMichaud is designing the store.

*Click map for interactive version, via Google*

*Click image above for mall plan/full store listing*

Construction on the new $50 million store begins in the second half of 2016, with the store anticipated to open in the spring of 2018. Galeries de la Capitale's landlord, Oxford Properties, will add a 10,000 square foot concourse to connect the mall's central courtyard to the future Simons store, creating 23,000 square feet of prime retail space in the process.

Simons' next location will open on March 17 at Mississauga's Square One. The company plans to eventually operate as many as 30 Canadian stores coast-to-coast, according to Mr. Simons.