Saks to Open Department Store in Vancouver
Photo credit: SterkeBak | Wikimedia Commons
High-end shoppers in Vancouver have reason to celebrate.
Luxury retailer Saks is planning to set up shop in Vancouver by the end of 2014, after a takeover by Canada’s own Hudson’s Bay Company. HBC acquired Saks for a cool $2.4 billion this week, according to an article in the Vancouver Sun.
Plans are in the works for five Saks Fifth Avenue stores in Canada, including one in Vancouver. For all the bargain hunters out there, Saks will also be opening one or more discount Saks Off Fifth stores in the city.
Earlier speculation is that Saks may occupy one or more floors of an existing Bay location in Vancouver, either downtown or at Oakridge. There’s no word yet on where the Saks Off Fifth outlets might be located.
The new stores promise to shake up a Vancouver retail landscape that’s already gearing for major changes. High-end department store Nordstrom is slated to open a three-story, 230,000-square-foot store downtown by spring 2015.
Crews are already hard at work transforming the former Sears building on Granville Street into Nordstrom’s new home. That space will also feature 48,000 square feet of new retail shops, part of planned renovations to Pacific Centre.
Saks, which has become synonymous with upmarket retail, was founded back in 1924 by Horace Saks and Bernard Gimbel. The flagship store, fittingly, is on Manhattan’s Fifth Avenue, in the midst of some of the world’s priciest retail real estate.
Saks Fifth Avenue competes with other upscale department stores, including Neiman Marcus and Lord Taylor. There are currently 43 locations around the world, including in the United Arab Emirates, Mexico City and even Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Meanwhile, there are 65 Saks Off Fifth outlets, which sell clearance merchandise from the main store. They’re especially popular among bargain shoppers looking for last season’s designer duds at a deep discount.
Do you think Saks will succeed in Vancouver? Will you be shopping there? Let us know below.
For updates on retail and more in Vancouver and beyond, follow me on Twitter @RemyScalza.
Article source: http://www.insidevancouver.ca/2013/08/04/saks-to-open-department-store-in-vancouver/
