Sherway Gardens Debuts New Expansion

Cadillac Fairview officially opened new Sherway Gardens North Expansion today.

Sherway Gardens North Expansion

Part of a multi-year overhaul of the shopping centre, the expansion adds an additional 210,000 square feet of retail space including a new 23,000 square foot Harry Rosen store.

Sherway Gardens North Expansion

Formerly housed in the mall's south wing (which is slated for redevleopment with a new Nordstrom location) the "Gourmet Fare" food court and Sporting Life have relocated to the North Expansion.

Sporting Life Sherway Gardens

The North Expansion introduces new stores Ted Baker, Saje, Steve Madden, Nespresso, and H&M. As well as new locations for Maison Birks, Roots, Geox, and Club Monaco. Soon to open are Links of London, Indigo, Samsung, and Reiss.

Holt Renfrew Sherway Gardens

Holt Renfrew is accessible via the North Expansion, however faces an uncertain future in the mall as it plans a new flagship at Square One in Mississauga slated to open in 2016.

New CF Sherway Gardens Branding

Today's launch also signaled the beginning of new branding for Cadillac Fairview malls across the country. The strategy will include a naming convention that will see the initials CF precede the mall name, such as CF Sherway Gardens, CF Toronto Eaton Centre, etc. The move echos Australian-based mall operator Westfield which prominantly brands its international properties with its name and logo.

Sherway Gardens North Expansion

"Cadillac Fairview's new visual identity highlights for shoppers that our properties provide a consistently welcoming and engaging retail destination," said Jason Anderson, Senior Vice President of Marketing at Cadillac Fairview in a press release.  "Putting a new logo on the door is the easy part. The real work is designing and implementing changes to the way consumers experience our shopping centres. We know technology and unique and engaging experiences will play a big role in changing the way people think of the shopping mall."

New signage with the CF branding is now visible throughout the mall on signs and directories. Next up in the Sherway Gardens redevelopment will be the opening of Saks Fifth Avenue and SportChek in the former Sears space at the east end of the mall in 2016. Nordstrom is planned to open in the south wing in 2017.

Holt Renfrew Announces Store Enhancements and Closures

Moves are part of a multi-year strategic refocusing on flagship doors.

Holt Renfrew Bloor Street

Holt Renfrew has confirmed details about plans to refine their operations.

"We are focused on Holt Renfrew's unique position as Canada's specialty luxury retailer," said Holt Renfrew President Mark Derbyshire. "As part of our dynamic growth strategy, we are announcing further updates in our plans to expand our flagship store network."

The Holt Renfrew Bloor Street flagship will be completely renovated and expanded and complemented with a new Holt Renfrew Men store at 100 Bloor Street. Modeled on Holt Renfrew Yorkdale's recently renovated menswear department, and set to open this fall, Holt Renfrew Men will be a standalone store with a focus on suiting.

Holt Renfrew Men 100 Bloor Street West

Last year Holt Renfrew announced the opening of a new 120,000 square foot store at Mississauga's Square One Shopping Centre. With the announcement came news that Holts was working to increase their total retail square footage by 40%, growing from 800,000 to over 1.2 million square feet. The move follows plans from Nordstrom and Saks Fifth Avenue to open stores in Canada.

The Bloor Street flagship (along with stores in Vancouver and Calgary) will have a new Apartment private shopping suite. This new concept was recently unveiled at the Yorkdale location.

Holt Renfrew Yorkdale's Apartment

Holt Renfrew also confirmed it was developing an omni-channel e-commerce platform that is set to be unveiled in 2015. Models for this platform could be the websites of sister brands Selfridges and Brown Thomas. Both retailers maintain comprehensive e-commerce websites and carry a range of luxury labels.

Websites of Selfridges and Brown Thomas

Included in today's announcement was the planned closure of two small Holt Renfrew locations in Ottawa and Quebec City. Both locations were approximately 35,000 square feet and are slated to close in early 2015. Two small format Holt Renfrew doors remain at Toronto's Sherway Gardens and in Edmonton. Despite the closures, the company expects overall employment levels to grow through 2017 due to its expansion plans.

[Images and press release via Holt Renfrew]

News: Is Holt Renfrew Staying at Sherway Gardens?

Original Sherway Gardens expansion rendering

When Sherway Gardens announced a massive renovation in 2012 it appeared that Holt Renfrew planned to remain at the mall. The Sherway expansion is adding 250,000 square feet of shops and services (including a Nordstom department store), a new food court, and a three level 1,200 spot parkade.

A rendering released with the renovation announcement showed the Holt Renfrew store incorporated and enveloped by the expansion at the mall's north end.

Subsequently Holt Renfrew announced the construction of a large new flagship at Mississauga's Square One. Reportedly the retailer wanted to expand their Sherway Gardens location but was not able to reach a deal with mall landlord Cadillac Fairview. It was assumed by many that the Sherway Gardens store would be slated to close but no announcement was made.

Revised Sherway Gardens expansion rendering

A revised rendering is now displayed on the mall's renovation website. The rendering shows the mall's northern expansion stopping at Holt Renfrew, with the retailer's exterior largely unchanged. It appears to confirm that for the moment Holt Renfrew is poised to keep their Sherway Gardens location.

[Renderings via Sherway Gardens]

Preview: Hudson's Bay Sherway Gardens Renovation

Major Renovation Nearing Completion

Mall entrance featuring new Hudson's Bay signage

The Hudson's Bay Sherway Gardens location has been undergoing significant renovations as part of a broader mall renovation and expansion. In the coming years Sherway Gardens will grow significantly, adding new retailers, restaurants, a parking garage, as well as a new Nordstrom store opening in 2016.

The new women's accessories department

Hudson's Bay is incorporating many of the design elements also being used at their Yorkdale and Queen Street locations which are also under renovation. Ceilings are being raised with bright new lights installed; floors are glossy and smooth; and the finishes are high end and modern.

Fragrance department

New cosmetics counters are currently being installed and the fragrance department has undergone a complete rethink. Locked glass showcases have been replaced with open sell units and freestanding display stands.

Topshop and Topman opening this fall

As part of a continued roll-out of the Topshop/Topman brands a dedicated shop-in-shop will open this fall with direct access via the mall.

Men's denim brands on the main level

Main level

Selected menswear is moving to the main level, joining women's shoes, accessories, and cosmetics. The second level now features women's fashions, but is still largely unrenovated.

New bed and bath shop on the lower level

All home accessories have been relocated to the lower level where you will also find men's suiting, accessories, and a newly expanded men's shoe department.

Gift Registry and china department

An official opening for the main level is scheduled for later this fall, and mall renovations will continue through to 2016.

In a related note, Sherway Gardens has officially announced an extension to store hours. Beginning September 28th, the mall will extend its Saturday closing to 9 p.m.

News: Nordstrom Sherway Gardens Update

Last year Sherway Gardens announced a massive renovation and expansion. Project highlights include increasing retail square footage by 250,000, creating a new food court, adding restaurants, and building a three level parking deck. But the showstopper of the project is the construction of a new Nordstrom store as part of the US retailer’s first wave of Canadian store openings.

Nordstrom’s Sherway Gardens location will be in the wing currently anchored by Sporting Life (that retailer will be moving into a new expansion at the mall’s north end). This wing was constructed originally in 1989 to house Bretton’s department store, a high-end fashion chain that closed in 1996. The corridor leading to the anchor store is currently lined with retailers such as Guess and Hollister, and an upper level contains the "Gourmet Fair" food court.

Perhaps the most striking feature of this part of the mall is a prominent Teflon-coated fabric canopy roof that was designed by Zeidler Roberts Partnership Architects. The 75 foot roof covers 44,000 square feet and glass panels along the side allow light to stream in during the day. The roof’s three peaks are an iconic part of Sherway Gardens.

Plans for the wing include relocating the food court to the new extension and creating second floor retail in its place. Lease plans released last year appear to show two-level retailers in this corridor but do not list store names. The food court staircase and the elevator also appear destined for removal.

The current Sporting Life store will be torn down and replaced with a brand new two story 138,000 square feet Nordstrom store. While this will be one of the smallest planned Nordstrom stores, it will be more than double the size of the current Sporting Life store and be adjacent to a new two store parking structure.

With Holt Renfrew opening a new flagship store at Mississauga’s Square One, and the speculated closing of its Sherway Gardens store, Nordstrom will be well positioned at Sherway Gardens with it’s assortment of brands and its reputed excellent customer service.

[Nordstrom renderings via Nordstrom Press Room]

[Other Sherway photos via Future Sherway]