77 Bloor Street West on Wednesday, May 18 2016. Photo: Craig Patterson for Retail Insider.
LVMH-owned, Paris-based cosmetics retailer Sephora will relocate its Bloor Street West store in Toronto to a nearby retail space this summer. The new store is currently under construction.
The new one-level Sephora flagship will measure about 8,900 square feet, according to Jeff Berkowitz of Aurora Realty Consultants, who represents Sephora as broker in Canada. The store will be located at 77 Bloor Street West just off the corner of Bay Street, replacing former retail locations for Porsche Design and Marciano, both of which closed last year.
Sephora is currently making a major push into the Greater Toronto Area this year, including opening new stores as well as renovating and expanding existing locations. We’ll discuss this soon in a separate article.
Sephora’s current 6,100 square foot store at 131 Bloor Street West (The Colonnade) will close as a result of the new 77 Bloor opening, but the space won’t be vacant for long. Sources say that Sephora’s Colonnade location will be divided into two retail spaces, with one of them already leased to an Italian luxury brand.
Sephora at 131 Bloor Street West. Photo: Craig Patterson for Retail Insider
Sephora Americas’ President and CEO Calvin McDonald (formerly head of Sears Canada) will be speaking at this year’s Retail Council of Canada STORE Conference 2016, being held May 31 and June 1 of this year. Mr. McDonald’s presentation is titled ‘Winning in a Digital Landscape’ on May 31. For details, visit: www.storeconference.ca/agenda.
Canadian Retail News From Around The Web: May 19, 2016
What’s going in the former space at 131 Bloor?
What a BIG mistake. I loved the former Sephora location as it was smaller boutique style as Bloor Street shoppers desire. I went into the new location today and it was full of 20 year olds getting makeup done for a night out and music blasting! Could not find my usual products and left the circus. I’ve been a loyal Sephora customer spending a lot each month. I could not wait to get out of there … If I wanted to be surrounded by mall rats I would Go to Eaton Centre. Very disappointed by all the changes happening in Yorkville and seriously thinking about moving. Not the same neighborhood anymore.