On the bloody retail battlefield, one of Canada's oldest family-owned businesses is fighting to be the last department store standing.
What happened: Québec City retailer Simons opened its first store in urban Toronto yesterday, located at Yorkdale mall. Simons is set to open another Toronto store next month, this one downtown at the Eaton Centre, completing a $75 million expansion plan in the city.
- These are the 18th and 19th Simons stores, and eighth and ninth outside Québec. Yorkdale is a promising spot, as the mall generates $2,300 of sales per square foot.
Why it matters: A successful expansion will show if Canadian consumers still have love in their hearts for the downtown department store — a retail type that is nearing extinction following this year’s demise of Hudson’s Bay, and earlier exits by Sears and Nordstrom.
- The one-stop shop wonderlands steadily lost market share to big-box stores like Walmart on one end and luxury boutiques on the other (plus online shopping).
Yes, but: If any store has the aura to defy retail trends, it’s Simons, thanks to its attractive product mix and in-store shopping experience. The company had a record $650 million in sales in 2023 — about two-thirds coming from physical stores — seeing double-digit spikes at some locations compared to pre-pandemic sales.
Plus: Simons is positioned to capitalize on the Buy Canada bump, with its vast catalogue of Canadian house brands making up 70% of its stores’ merchandise on average.—QH