Thursday, June 9, 2011

J.Crew Moves Into Canada {this year!}

"Thanks!" to Kathy who shared some very exciting news from the Globe and Mail (click here to read the article in its entirety) for J.Crew Aficionadas & Aficionados in Canada...
For Holt’s, luxury regains its proper place
By Marina Strauss
June 2, 2011

As other retailers struggle to make gains in the recovery, Mark Derbyshire is celebrating the swelling ranks of employees joining Holt Renfrew’s million-dollar sales club. ...

There’s an urgency to Mr. Derbyshire’s initiatives to pump up business: Sweeping changes are coming to the Canadian retail landscape as savvy foreign rivals prepare to invade. The posh U.S. department store chain Nordstrom is hunting for store sites in Canada; high-end U.S. clothier J.Crew, a favourite of Michelle Obama, is moving in this fall several doors away from Holt’s at one of this country’s top malls. ...

...Also on his drawing board is plans for a multimillion-dollar expansion (by 40 per cent) and facelift of one of the chain’s leading stores, at Yorkdale Shopping Centre in Toronto, which will be unveiled on Friday. It’s the mall that soon will welcome the first J.Crew to Canada. ...

Finally! We heard for years that J.Crew would open stores in Canada (which is a great market to expand to). I am happy to see that it is coming true this year.

What are your thoughts on J.Crew's move to Canada? Will you be visiting the new brick & mortar location at the Yorkdale Shopping Centre? :)

19 comments:

  1. FINALLY! It took long enough :P *plans roadtrip to Toronto*

    Tasia

    ReplyDelete
  2. I figured J. Crew would open in Yorkdale, after Yorkdale announced their reno/expansion plans earlier this year. That mall is a nightmare on weekends! I imagine when J. Crew finally opens, there's going to be a stampede!!

    But just as exciting (at least for me) is the thought of Nordstrom coming to Canada!! Hurray!!!!

    ReplyDelete
  3. I'm really happy for you Canadian J Crew fans! J Crew can probably tell by the mail orders that stores are badly needed. Hey, just in time for the great Fall 2011 clothes, too!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Hope downtown Toronto is next....stores in the Bloor-Yorkville area are playing musical chairs to make room for new places, so you never know!

    ReplyDelete
  5. It's about time, but hope they open a store in Vancouver.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Yay for Canada! I'll bet Toronto made alotta sense as it's near NY. I think they'll go to Vancouver, too :)

    ReplyDelete
  7. My PS mentioned this opening to me and asked if I would like to be notified of the grand opening. I had to tell her that it pretty much takes a full day to get to T.O. from here so I won't be going. Hope they open up in Calgary soon too.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Has Michelle Obama worn any J.Crew lately?

    ReplyDelete
  9. @CynthiaC: Bloor/Yorkville would be fantastic! Close to anthro...I'd be in heaven. But they announced awhile ago that the J Crew would be in Yorkdale. I'm just eager to get a concrete opening date.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Yay, can't wait to check it out! However, I'd be interested to know the pricing. Coach has been great in making their Canadian pricing the same as their US whereas Victorias Secret, Sephora, and a lot of other stores raise the prices significantly even though our dollars are pretty much on par these days and have been for a while now.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Well I too think it is about time. I am a little disappointed that the location is Yorkdale and not downtown. But then again it is easy to access Yorkdale form the highway so maybe it's better for me.
    It would be wonderful to be able to try stuff on instead of constantly mailing back my returns.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Hurrah! I suspected it would be Yorkdale...it's turned into a rather swishy mall in the last 5 years. Downtown TO (close to me) would be heaven...someday! I will be taking a day off and camping in the parking lot for opening day! :)

    ReplyDelete
  13. Congrats to all the patiently-waiting Canada JCAs, I'm really happy for you!

    ReplyDelete
  14. When I was in Vegas over Easter the ladies in the Town Square store told me the company is opening three stores in Canada, two out west. Vancouver and Edmonton?

    ReplyDelete
  15. I'm so excited about the Yorkdale location of J.Crew! Last January, a sales assistant in the Troy, MI location told me about a future store opening. I strongly suspected Yorkdale would be the first location. I also agree a Bloor/Yorkwille store is a must. I dream of one day being able to order "tall" clothing and have it shipped to my home without paying duty.

    ReplyDelete
  16. Will be waiting impatiently for JC to come to Vancouver! Many "named" stores are opening up on South Granville, most recently Anthro. JC will fit in perfectly with others!

    ReplyDelete
  17. sigh- and Quebec Crew fans wait...and wait...silly language laws mean that they can't open a store in Quebec without either offering their website in french as well, or blocking IP addresses to Quebec users (For instance, I can only see what's on the UO website if I use a proxy server, and then I couldn't place an order anyway- they won't ship to Quebec).
    So I guess it's for the best if they don't open a store here- at least I can still order online with the free shipping promos!

    ReplyDelete

Dear J.Crew Aficionadas & Aficionados: Please feel free (and encouraged) to share your thoughts and opinions. :) However, please note that this is still a personal blog. So comments that are considered inappropriate (e.g. obscene, racist, homophobic, personal attacks, rude, and just plain mean) will be removed.

And now back to J.Crew! :)