HOLT RENFREW YORKDALE UPDATE

[Image Source]

Yorkdale Shopping Centre's Holt Renfrew store continues to undergo expansion and renovation. Some improvements, including a men's Dolce & Gabbana shop-in-store are complete, while others such as boutiques for Chanel and Paul Smith as well as a 10,000 square foot shoe department are under construction. The finished store will be a "show-stopper" according to a source at Holt Renfrew head office. 

With the help of our Toronto Retail Insider ACT7 of Urban Toronto, we've done some digging and today we'll discuss two new developments: A substantially expanded Louis Vuitton boutique, and a new Paul Smith boutique. We'll also reveal Holt's expanded store size and configuration. 

Rendering of the ground-floor expansion to Holt Renfrew's Yorkdale Store [Image Source]

Both the new Vuitton and Smith shops are mentioned on the City of Toronto Building Application website. The Louis Vuitton within Holts will expand and will include basement storage and a dumbwaiter to move merchandise from the basement to the Vuitton boutique. 

A Paul Smith boutique is also mentioned on the City of Toronto Application website. Paul Smith men's clothing is carried at Holt Renfrew stores across Canada. Holts Yorkdale will get a  full-on dedicated Paul Smith boutique insofar as it was mentioned specifically on the City of Toronto's Building Application website. 

Floorplan: Oxford Properties/Yorkdale Shopping Centre

Holt Renfrew's Yorkdale store will see a substantial expansion over three floors. Two floors will be for retail, while the basement will be storage and staff areas. The total store size will be in excess of 121,000 square feet, making it the third-largest Holt Renfrew store after Holt's Toronto Bloor Street (about 185,000 square feet) and Vancouver (about 137,200 square feet) stores (the Calgary store is 151,000 square feet, but only about 120,000 square feet are currently used). 

The expanded store's size breakdown is as follows. Currently, the store's ground floor is 51,913 square feet and its basement storage is 13,134 square feet. This adds up to the current total of 65,047 square feet. The store's expansion will include an 18,925 square foot ground floor extension, an added ~15,000 square feet storage/staff basement area, and a ~22,340 square foot second level formerly housing a food court. We've attached the store's lease plan above. 

Toronto's Yorkdale Shopping Centre has seen so much leasing activity lately that we'll be doing regular articles about what's happening. We've also got an updated mall lease plan so we'll continuously report on which tenants are going where and the size of these new tenants. Yorkdale Shopping Centre will likely remain Canada's premier shopping centre especially with its recently announced expansion including a 188,000 square foot Nordstrom store. 

Holt Renfrew website: www.HoltRenfrew.com

Yorkdale Shopping Centre website: http://www.yorkdale.com