The Bay’s Posts 12-Page Ad for September Issues

This weekend I picked up both September issues for Flare and Fashion Magazine, perhaps the two most prominent Canadian fashion magazines in, well, the country. It’s a rare thing that I actually outright buy fashion magazines, I tend to stay away from them since in the end I usually throw them out.

Anyway, the thing that stood out the most in both issues was The Bay’s fall 12-page spread, in which they must’ve paid a pretty penny to insert such a monstrous ad. Fashion’s version is full page (probably cheaper since their issues was about 30% smaller than Flare’s) while Flare’s version were 3/4 pages. The ad is so big it takes up nearly all the length of my bed! Bonnie Brooks sure knows how to take advantage of the recession.

The Bay has been in the works of revamping itself to appeal back to its shoppers by creating a new look, and in their fall ad, they promise to introduce new brands as well. The ad is indeed, a chic looking one, all in black with white fonts and graphically sound. Unfortunately, some brands are only sold exclusively at the Bloor and Yorkdale stores, like L.A.M.B. and Juicy Couture,  and a few others like Pink Tartan and Barbie by David Dixon are only available in “select stores.” I’m guessing that downtown Montreal’s location won’t be reaping much of the new crops for fall.

I think part of the problem lies in the shopping experience itself. The Montreal department store has an odd warehouse like feeling when shopping around, while men’s section is the opposite - buried in the metro level where the ceilings are much lower, giving an uncomfortable closed up feeling. They could benefit from revamping the space design and make it more attractive to shoppers, though that alone won’t be enough to bring them back. They need some heavy artillery marketing to lure people back to The Bay.