Vancouver-based INDOCHINO, the world's largest made-to-measure menswear company, has announced that it will open three locations in Western Canada this spring, as well as five in the United States later this year. The company is seeing tremendous sales growth and as a result, is expanding its brick-and-mortar operations rapidly.

INDOCHINO currently operates five Canadian locations — two of those are in Toronto (King Street east and Yorkdale Shopping Centre), and one each in Mississauga (Square One), Ottawa (CF Rideau Centre), and in Vancouver’s Yaletown. The Vancouver store was the company's first permanent space when it opened in the fall of 2014. INDOCHINO launched its shopping mall location initiative last summer with the opening of its Mississauga store, noting that such stores see considerably more walk-by traffic than on urban street-fronts. INDOCHINO also has stores in New York City, Boston, Philadelphia, San Francisco and Beverly Hills CA.

INDOCHINO announced a major international expansion last year, with the goal to open about 150 retail stores globally while selling a million suits annually by the year 2020. The company was founded in Vancouver in 2007 as an online custom suit retailer and in late 2015, co-founder Kyle Vucko was replaced as CEO by Shop.ca founder Drew Green.

The three newly announced Canadian stores will be in Edmonton, Calgary and suburban Vancouver. The Edmonton store, opening on March 30 of this year, will be at West Edmonton Mall. The Calgary store, opening on April 6, will be at CF Chinook Centre. A third location, at Metropolis at Metrotown in Burnaby, will open some time this spring, according to INDOCHINO.

All three malls ranked highly in last month's Retail Council of Canada's Shopping Centre study, in both annual sales per square foot productivity as well as over all pedestrian footfall. CF Chinook Centre is ranked Canada's 7th most productive mall with sales per square foot at $1,057, while Metropolis at Metrotown is in 8th place at $1,035. Both West Edmonton Mall and Metropolis at Metrotown see in excess of 28 million visitors annually.

Five American cities will also see new INDOCHINO stores, opening later in 2017. According to a press release, the retailer "is actively investigating new markets in major cities such as Washington, D.C., and Chicago, where the company has a thriving online customer base. The brand is also looking to open secondary locations in large markets such as New York."

"This year, we're almost doubling our showroom network as we focus on significantly expanding our experiential retail model," said Mr. Green. "As we continue to bring our unique showrooms to more cities and introduce custom clothing as an attractive and affordable alternative to ready-to-wear, we're beginning to change the way a generation of men suit up, and that's incredibly exciting to see."

The stores, or showrooms as INDOCHINO calls them, are an extension of the company's online made-to-measure experience. INDOCHINO customers are paired with a Style Guide in-store, who helps them design one-of-a-kind suits or shirts. Style Guides take measurements, assist with fabric selection, and walk shoppers through custom options including buttons, vents, pockets, lapels and monograms. Each garment is made to order and delivered within four weeks, when customers can return for a second fitting to ensure a perfect fit. The showroom works in tandem with INDOCHINO’s e-commerce website, so men can access their profiles and reorder at their convenience. The showrooms are designed to be modern and bright, boasting comfortable reception areas and lounges dedicated to serving groom parties and other groups.

Last year was record setting for INDOCHINO, with three new showrooms, year-over-year omnichannel sales growth of 54% and year-over-year sales in comparable showrooms ending the year at 32%. In February 2016, the company announced a US $30 million strategic investment by Dayang Group, the world's largest suit manufacturer, which has helped accelerate the company's expansion plans, significantly enhanced the product offering to its customers, and generated additional operating efficiencies.

In 2017 the company's growth trajectory has continued, with January's year-over-year omnichannel sales growth over 50%, according to INDOCHINO.

Oberfeld Snowcap represents INDOCHINO as brokerage in Canada. According to Oberfeld's website, INDOCHINO is seeking retail spaces both on street-fronts and in enclosed shopping centres, generally in the 1,500 to 2,000 square foot range.

*Photos are of the company's Yorkdale store, and were supplied.

Canadian Retail News From Around The Web: February 3, 2017