*hoarding around new canada goose store in cf rideau centre. photo: reddit*

By Craig Patterson

Toronto-based fashion brand Canada Goose, known particularly for its warm outerwear, will open its ninth standalone Canadian store at Ottawa’s CF Rideau Centre in the coming month. Last week, a unit also opened at CF Toronto Eaton Centre in Toronto. The brand continues to expand its base of corporate stores while at the same time reducing its wholesale accounts to increase profitability.

CANADA GOOSE AT CF RIDEAU CENTRE WILL MARK THE BRAND’S NINTH STANDALONE CANADIAN STORE

The CF Rideau Centre store in Ottawa will span about 4,100 square feet, according to lease plans from landlord Cadillac Fairview. The store will feature the full line of outerwear and fashion for men, women, and children, and will also feature a ‘cold room’ where visitors can test out jackets in a sub-zero environment.

The store will be located on the mall’s third level amongst other upscale retailers such as Tiffany & Co., Harry Rosen, Kate Spade, Marc Cain, Stuart Weitzman, Tumi, Ted Baker, and others. CF Rideau Centre’s Nordstrom store also has an entrance on the same level.

*Click image for interactive CF Rideau Centre mall floor plan*

Canada Goose is rapidly growing its base of standalone stores in Canada. Last week the brand opened a 5,000-square-foot store at CF Toronto Eaton Centre, marking the third Canada Goose store in Toronto. Canada Goose opened its first Canadian store in the fall of 2016 at Toronto’s Yorkdale Shopping Centre. The CF Toronto Eaton Centre Canada Goose is located in a retail space formerly occupied by Apple, which relocated downstairs into a substantially larger space in December of 2019.

*exterior of canada goose store in cf toronto eaton centre*

*CLICK IMAGE FOR INTERACTIVE CF TORONTO EATON CENTRE MALL FLOOR PLAN*

THE NEW CF TORONTO EATON CENTRE CANADA GOOSE STORE IS HIGHLY IMMERSIVE

The CF Toronto Eaton Centre Canada Goose store features a cold room with real snow, a rock-face interior and shards that illuminate. Consumers will be able to test Canada Goose products in extreme temperatures as low as -25°C. It’s the second Toronto Canada Goose store to feature a cold room, following the opening of the CF Sherway Gardens unit last year.

To mark the opening of CF Toronto Eaton Centre store, Canada Goose partnered with Toronto-based illustrator and designer Alexis Eke as part of In Residence – Canada Goose’s global artist residency program – to create a window installation that captures the spirit of the city and embraces the brand’s Live in the Open ethos.

Other standalone Canada Goose stores in Canada are in Vancouver at CF Pacific Centre, Calgary at CF Chinook Centre, Banff at Cascade Plaza, West Edmonton Mall in Edmonton, and in Montreal on Ste-Catherine Street which is the company’s largest store in Canada. Last year as well, Canada Goose opened a concept store at Toronto’s CF Sherway Garden where one ‘experiences’ the brand with the opportunity to try on a jacket and have it shipped to one’s home.

The Yorkdale store has moved temporarily into the mall’s CONCEPT pop-up space. The 4,500-square-foot original Canada Goose space will expand by about 2,000 square feet by taking over a retail space formerly occupied by foodservice business Nadege.

Canada Goose has also expanded globally. Its first store outside of Canada opened in the fall of 2016 in New York City’s Soho area. The company has since opened stores in the United States in Boston, Chicago, Short Hills NJ, and in suburban Minneapolis. Other international cities where Canada Goose has opened stores include London UK, Paris, Milan, Tokyo, Hong Kong, Beijing, Shanghai, Shenyang, and Chengdu.

The Canadian market, with nine Canada Goose stores, may be sufficiently covered. At the same time, major markets such as Winnipeg and Quebec City, both with chilly winters, do not yet have standalone Canada Goose stores. A source said last year that Canada Goose had also been speaking with Cadillac Fairview to possibly open a store at CF Carrefour Laval in suburban Montreal — the same source was correct in informing us of other locations that proved to be accurate.

Since the brand began opening stores, Canada Goose has been reducing the number of multi-brand retailers that carry the line. We reported earlier this year that Canada Goose had pulled its line from La Maison Simons stores, and we subsequently learned that the line was also pulled from SAIL, Sports Experts and Atmosphere, among other retailers. It’s a trend among brands seeking to sell directly to consumers by operating their own stores and e-commerce sites. At the same time, Canada Goose has partnered with some multi-brand retailers such as Harry Rosen which unveiled a branded shop-in-store concept at its Bloor Street flagship in Toronto. A women’s Canada Goose boutique space will also soon be unveiled at Holt Renfrew Ogilvy in Montreal.

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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