*GOOP MRKT TORONTO at the hazelton hotel PHOTO: GOOP*

By Craig Patterson

Gwyneth Paltrow’s lifestyle brand goop has opened its first standalone storefront in Canada in a retail space at the base of the Hazelton Hotel in Toronto. The 1,300 square foot boutique, which opened on Friday, will remain open until September 22.

Called goop MRKT, the shop carries a range of “goop approved favourites” that include a range of clean beauty, wellness, upscale fashions, and curated home essentials. As with other goop MRKT locations, the Toronto storefront will host a series of events throughout the summer to keep customers coming back, and the company has partnered with Canadian company Flow Alkaline Spring Water for the events.

The goop brand was founded by Ms. Paltrow in the fall of 2008 as a weekly newsletter with an aim to provide “unbiased” travel recommendations, health-centric recipes, and shopping discoveries. It grew into a lifestyle brand with six key pillars: wellness, travel, food, beauty, style, and work. A range of curated and edited “goop-approved products” were launched as well as a developed in-house line of beauty, fashion, and wellness-focused items that are available in the new Toronto storefront.

Gwyneth Paltrow. Photo: Layne Murdoch Jr./Goop/Getty

“We’ve always been in awe of our neighbors to the north, which is why we picked Canada as the first place to launch e-commerce internationally in 2017. Since then, we’ve created moments in Montreal and Vancouver, so it felt like the natural next step to activate in Toronto with our first goop MRKT pop-up shop. We hope locals and travelers alike will enjoy what we have to offer at goop MRKT Toronto,” said goop’s vice president of retail, Melanie Ramer.

The Toronto goop MRKT was designed by Toronto-based design firm Yabu Pushelberg, which has been responsible for creating some of the world’s most dramatic retail environments. “Creating the right tone for the pop-up has been an interesting process, a coming together of the psyche of what Toronto is all about with the strong personality of the goop brand,” said George Yabu and Glenn Pushelberg of Yabu Pushelberg. “If the goop customer lived in Toronto, she would feel differently and live differently than the one in New York or Los Angeles. Each city and each context is unique, and that is the challenge, and the fun.”

Contained in goop’s Toronto retail space are a range of products for the body and the home. Included is a “Canada-specific” edit of ready-to-wear, swim, and activewear from brands including La DoubleJ, ATM, Bassike, Rhode, Natalie Martin, and goop’s own lines of G.Label apparel and G. Sport activewear. Items from Canadian contemporary brand Smythe are also on hand.

Jewellery on display includes pieces from designers such as La Californienne and Foundrae — we spied a vintage Rolex from La Californienne, which is also supplying similar Rolex watches to Holt Renfrew this season. There’s also an expansive assortment of home goods including Mosser Glass cake stands, plates, and glassware; Serax drinkware; The Beach People and Caravan linens; and goop x CB2 glassware, plates, flatware. A Kohler Purist Kitchen faucet was installed in the clean beauty apothecary area which showcases skin care, makeup, and body care from brands including Tata Harper, Kosas, May Lindstrom, Necessaire, and Vintner’s Daughter. As well, goop’s own collection of clean skin care is on hand as well as “skinboosting ingestibles” and artisanal fragrance, bath, and body items.

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GOOP MRKT TORONTO ALL PHOTOS: GOOP

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In 2017, goop expanded into Canada for the fist time with a partnership with Nordstrom that saw temporary goop shop-in-stores open at the Pop-In@Nordstrom at CF Toronto Eaton Centre in Toronto as well as at the CF Pacific Centre flagship. A total of eight Nordstrom stores housed the goop line temporarily and sales were said to have been 64% above initial projections.

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In the fall of 2018, goop hosted its first international wellness summit called ‘In goop Health’ in Vancouver. The two-day event included talks from wellness experts as well as beauty treatments, spiritual health workshops, and fitness sessions. Prior to that, goop hosted a dinner in Montreal.

Toronto’s goop MRKT adds a unique element of retail to Toronto’s rapidly transforming Yorkville Avenue. Landlord First Capital Realty, which now owns the commercial components to the Hazelton Hotel at 118 Yorkville Avenue, is redeveloping much of the street for luxury retailers. Chanel was the first luxury brand to open in First Capital Realty’s new Yorkville Avenue portfolio in the fall of 2017, and Brunello Cucinelli opened its largest North American storefront in the adjacent 102-108 Yorkville Avenue complex subsequently.

Italian luxury brand Versace is about to open its flagship next to Brunello Cucinelli this week, with Stone Island set to open next to it in the fall of this year. They join other luxury brands on the street that include names such as Christian Louboutin, Off-White, Kiton, Carrera Y Carrera, Richard Mille, Sheng Tang Peony and others. First Capital Realty will be adding more retailers into its commercial properties along the street in spaces currently occupied by retailers such as Diesel, with plans to demolish the 101 Yorkville Avenue complex for a new mixed-use development that the landlord says is being re-examined for maximum impact.

The Toronto goop MRKT operates until September 22 (which means those attending the Toronto International Film Festival that month will be able to check it out) with hours 10:00am-6:00pm Monday-Saturday, and Sundays 12:00pm-5:00pm.

Now located in Toronto, Craig is a retail analyst and consultant at the Retail Council of Canada. He's also the Director of Applied Research at the University of Alberta School of Retailing in Edmonton. He has studied the Canadian retail landscape for the past 25 years and he holds Bachelor of Commerce and Bachelor of Laws Degrees. He is also President & CEO of Vancouver-based Retail Insider Media Ltd. Email Craig: craig@retail-insider.com

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