TOP 10 STORES YOU WANT TO SEE IN CANADA

Bloomingdale's, Chestnut Hill MA. Photo: Callison

Last month we asked readers what stores they'd like to see in Canada, and responses flooded in. Here are your top 10 choices:

1) Uniqlo

2) DSW Designer Shoe Warehouse

3) Muji

4) Bloomingdale's

5) Trader Joe's

6) Kohl's

7) Macy's

8) Marks & Spencer

9) Madewell

 (by J. Crew)

10) Barney's New York

Many of these choices are of no surprise to us. Our articles about Uniqlo consistently have the highest readership on Retail Insider and given Uniqlo's popularity, it's very surprising it hasn't already opened in Canada. We've been told that Uniqlo could still be introduced to Canada through the Hudson's Bay Company, though we're not aware of the progress of any current negotiations.

DSW Designer Shoe Warehouse was also an expected choice. The company carries thousands of pairs of shoes. We've got good news: DSW is already looking to expand into Canada To make things even better, The Shoe Company is reportedly looking to open a chain of similar shoe stores Bloomingdale's could open in Canada and for a while it was in talks with The Hudson's Bay Company to open in-store concessions. The deal unfortunately fell through, though Hudson's Bay instead bought Saks Fifth Avenue, which it will bring to Canada within the next couple of years.

Specialty grocery store Trader Joe's is definitely a top pick of ours, and we think reasonably priced organic food would do well in Canada. We're not yet aware any intentions for the company to open in Canada. Interestingly, an attempt by a Vancouver-based entrepreneur to sell Trader Joe's products in Canada was met with litigation Kohl's is looking at the Canadian market, though it may be deterred by recent problems encountered by Target's Canadian expansion. We've been told that Kohl's could be a possible purchaser of Sears Canada, though we've also been informed that Sears Canada could be purchased by a large Canadian retailer (and we don't mean Hudson's Bay).

Macy's was a surprising choice in our opinion, given how similar it is to our own Hudson's Bay. Having visited both stores regularly, we're seeing Hudson's Bay actually surpassing Macy's as a retailer in many respects, and we'll do an article specifically discussing this.

We'll be contacting these retailers directly, letting them know that you want them in Canada. Are there any other stores you'd like to see open in Canada? We'll update this article in the New Year. Please leave your comments below or follow this link to our Facebook page. Also, you can leave comments via our Twitter

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