*1100 Saint Catherine Street West. Photo by Maxime Frechette.*

*Update* A source at the store says that the three level downtown store will also grow by annexing a fourth floor for retail, adding a children's fashion department as part of the expansion. The fourth floor houses a regional H&M office that will relocate to St. Laurent Street.

H&M will overhaul its three-level Montreal flagship as the retailer upgrades and expands its Canadian operations. Sources at the store say that its renovated interior will be similar to that of the CF Toronto Eaton Centre flagship which re-opened in February of this year. Sources at H&M also confirm that Canada's third H&M Home will open at CF Carrefour Laval, north of Montreal, in November of this year.

H&M's 15,670 square foot downtown Montreal flagship, located at 1100 Saint Catherine Street West (corner of Peel Street), opened in August of 2008. A smaller teen-focused location opened shortly thereafter at 450 Saint Catherine Street West (corner of Rue Saint Alexandre, near Hudson's Bay), and that location also continues to operate today.

The 1100 Saint Catherine Street West flagship closes today (Monday, April 4) temporarily for the renovations. In the meantime, a temporary flagship will operate at the corner of Saint Catherine Street West and Rue Crescent, about a half block from H&M's sister brand COS, which opened its second Canadian location in Montreal in the fall of 2015.

Manon Parisien of Auora Realty Consultants represented H&M to coordinate the deal for the temporary store, as well as the new offices.

The temporary location on Saint Catherine at Crescent. Photo: Maxime Frechette — *The temporary location on Saint Catherine at Crescent. Photo: Maxime Frechette*

Sources at H&M also confirm that in November, Canada's third H&M Home store will open at CF Carrefour Laval. The current H&M location within the mall measures 6,210 square feet. H&M's first Home store opened within H&M's West Edmonton Mall location in the summer of 2014, and in February of this year H&M opened a 3,200 square foot home department within its CF Toronto Eaton Centre flagship, which grew to an impressive 52,500 square feet as part of the store's overhaul.

Thank you to Retail Insider Montreal correspondent Maxime Frechette for providing intel, a map and photos for this article.

Canadian Retail News From Around The Web: Aprli 4, 2016