Samsung has announced that it will open a 21,000 square foot flagship at CF Toronto Eaton Centre this summer, in a retail space that has been the subject of considerable speculation for the past two years. The store will be Samsung’s sixth in Canada, and will be considerably larger than its other stores.

The flagship will be unlike any in Canada, with unique features such as:

A Canadian-first -- a fully functioning Samsung demo kitchen, allowing visitors to watch cooking demonstrations, get involved in their passion for cooking and delight their senses and taste-buds with on-site culinary creations,
Interactive Samsung Gear VR and Gear360 zones to 'transport' visitors across Canada, over rollercoasters and beyond,
The full Samsung lineup of smartphones and tablets, with an expansive assortment of mobile accessories to personalize guests' favourite Samsung device,
A luxe TV experience zone ready to showcase amazing Samsung picture, sound and design innovations, and allow guests to indulge themselves in their passion for entertainment, and
Onsite Samsung Smart Service and trained Galaxy Consultants will guide guests through the experience, answer questions and provide technical support and repairs for mobile products. In addition, Samsung mobile device owners will also be able to coordinate 1:1, in-person sessions with Galaxy Consultants at CF Toronto Eaton Centre.

Canadian design firm Quadrangle is designing the store, which will have two entrances — a street level access point facing onto Yonge Street, as well as a separate entrance from within the mall, shared by Nordstrom, Uniqlo and H&M.

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South Korean conglomerate Samsung launched its first Canadian location in 2012 with a 1,500 square foot location at Metropolis at Metrotown in Burnaby. A second store followed in February of 2014, when Samsung opened a 1,900 square foot unit at CF Richmond Centre, also in suburban Vancouver. A 2,200 square foot West Edmonton Mall store followed in November of 2014, and a 2,535 square foot CF Sherway Gardens store in Toronto followed in November of 2015. Most recently, in October of 2016, Samsung unveiled a 3,395 square foot store in the Nordstrom-anchored expansion wing at Toronto’s Yorkdale Shopping Centre.

Samsung will be one of several retailers to open this year in the Yonge-Dundas Square area, considered by many to be Canada's answer to New York City's Times Square. A block north, construction continues on a Michael Jordan-branded store at 306 Yonge Street, which opened temporarily in February of 2016. The current Hard Rock Cafe at 276 Yonge Street will be replaced with a Shoppers Drug Mart (possibly as large as 22,000 square feet), and more retail/development announcements will be made in the area, including between Yonge Street's Saks Fifth Avenue and Nordstrom stores, both of which opened last year.

Canadian Retail News From Around The Web: April 4, 2017