Saks Fifth Avenue announces Bloor Street location: Details of the latest Canadian retail entry

Blame it on cross border Thanksgiving sluggishness, but two days have passed since a pretty major Canadian retail announcement and the buzz seems yet to hit. Saks Fifth Avenue is not only confirmed as coming to Canada, but its first location has been revealed as the current Hudson’s Bay megastore on Bloor Street in Toronto. Amidst an influx of US retail entry to Canada including Target and Nordstrom, Saks is just the latest giant to tango with the existing landscape, one that has recently seen Sears tumble and cause Holt Renfrew to ramp up store expansions by 40%. The news also comes as a natural follow to the Hudson’s Bay Co. purchase of Saks for $2.4 billion earlier this year.

According to a Globe and Mail profile published on Wednesday, the shakeup is due to Richard Baker, the 48-year old majority owner of HBC, whose private equity firm NRDC (National Realty & Development Corp) also owns US chain Lord & Taylor. The magnate was the brain behind the Zellers location selloff to Target in 2011, just one of the company’s brainiac moves which also include launching in-store partnerships with Topshop and Kleinfeld Bridal.

Saks Bloor Street will be the second largest in the world according to Baker. Make that second to Manhattan’s adored flagship with its own zip code for a shoe department. To boot, make that double the size of Holt Renfrew’s flagship just down the street.

While the likes of Sears struggle, everyone in the luxury game seems to be ramping up, including Stuart Weitzman and Hermès, who welcome the additions with a more is more attitude to brand recognition. “There is an opportunity to really expand the business. Consumers will change their shopping patterns,” says Theory CEO Andrew Rosen in the Globe profile.

Is there really that much dinero to be had? According to the Globe, the number of Canadian households taking in more than $200,000 rose four times as fast than those with average income since pre-recessionary 2007. However, North America’s piece of the $99.5-billion luxury market growth worldwide represents less than a third. Despite those metrics, Canada’s $2.15 sliver is bound to up up and away. With Saks now officially into the Can Con mix, things will get interesting to say the least.

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