Canadian department stores The Bay and Holt Renfrew have been playing catch up with social media in creating online buzz through Twitter and bloggers. As Canadian fashion bloggers, editors and reporters are all writing about their fashion junkets online, it’s clear that Toronto has been host to some pretty impressive events.

Toronto has thoroughly adopted a more American approach to fashion, following in the footsteps of New York in throwing glamorous parties and inviting top end designers (local and international) to their expansive shops. It is afterall the country’s main financial hub. While Montreal’s fashion scene feels more like an exclusive club where the few talented designers toil in their boutique ateliers, dreaming up their next collection.

When speaking of the last standing department stores in Canada, Holt Renfrew and The Bay have demonstrated a strong fighting spirit for survival in the heated competition for consumer dollars. The Bay had particularly undergone substantial transformation under the direction of Bonnie Brooks, the woman who crafted luxury retailer Lane Crawford as Hong Kong’s top selling department store. In just two short years since her appointment as The Bay’s CEO, she had gotten rid of hundreds of brands and pulled in fresh ones into the store’s tired inventory. Flagship store layouts were reworked, a new website, and lo and behold, a Twitter account soon followed. In the process, Toronto’s flagship store on Queen Street received the biggest makeover of all. Turning the former St. Regis Room into what is now called “The Room”, a swanky white expanse of modern design, where it now carries over 70 high end designer brands. They’ve also managed to invite the likes of Jason Wu, a known favorite of First Lady Michelle Obama, and Roland Mouret, a french designer famous for his origami folded Galaxy dress.

The “God Save The Queen” event happening today in Toronto involves a designer-studded event where Londoners Giles Deacon, Erdem, Nicholas Kirkwood and Jonathan Saunders will be making an appearance.

Likewise, luxury retailer Holt Renfrew’s flagship in Toronto on Bloor Street have been throwing their own glamorous events leaning towards the social media scene, hosting events celebrating fashion bloggers (such as The Sartorialist’s Scott Schuman, Anita from I Want I Got, Danielle Meder from Final Fashion), photographer Tommy Ton, and veteran designers such as Oscar de la Renta and John Varvatos.

Toronto has been aptly raising its profile as a major Canadian fashion hub destination over the last few years. This is very encouraging for Canadians in fashion, there’s obviously a lot of talent bubbling in all corners of the country.

That being said, I feel a little left out by The Bay and Holt Renfrew. When I heard news that The Room was constructed for The Bay, I got really excited thinking that Montreal’s flagship would get the same treatment. Not quite so. We received The White Space which carries lines from Rachel Roy and Adam Lippes, but still lacks Jason Wu and Roland Mouret (carried exclusively by Ursula B. at this point). Granted, the new digs at the Montreal Bay store are great improvements, but the ambiance is still lacking. The energy of the store still feels a bit mémère, it doesn’t quite excite the shopping pheromones per se. Holt Renfrew in Montreal is really a sad place for a shopper to be. The staff is rude, the space is simply insufficient with the amount of inventory they have, and the experience feels  superficial. Is it any wonder why this store holds so little events concerning fashion bloggers and designers?

Montreal’s vibe seems to be leaning more towards a meld of art and fashion more so than commercial and fashion. It’s still a mood I haven’t quite understood myself, but the strong indie influence over the Montreal fashion scene has been forming a sharper image as the seasons go by. Avant garde, conceptual work that perhaps may make the city into a London-like hub of fashion.

This quote from Jean Drapeau sums up my feelings perfectly:

“Let Toronto become Milan, Montreal will always be Rome.”

Image credit: Vincent Brunelle

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.

Last week, Sears Canada released their 2008 annual report, in which, despite overall revenues falling to $5.733 billion from $5.845 billion in 2007, the company saw an 18% jump in online sales from sears.ca. This is actually quite surprising as I wasn’t aware that they actually had an online shopping site. It turns out they were one of the first department stores to fully launch online in 1998. Since then, they’ve had repeated reports of positive growth over the years. They also clearly have a very good grasp of the e-retailing, so much so that their email subscribers count over 600,000. Also, this interview with the Canadian Marketing Association drives the point home that Sears Canada’s National Manager of e-Commerce, Mike Duggan, knows what he’s talking about, as opposed to The Bay’s Jeff Smith (who barely says two sentences).

What are the biggest obstacles facing Canadian retailers once they go online?

It is critical in an Internet environment to continuously ensure that usability matches customer expectations, as well as their online capabilities. The behaviour profile and level of experience of the user base should dictate how sophisticated your website should be from a technology and functionality standpoint. If customers are not interested, or worse, unable to navigate through your site, conversion rates and repeat traffic will suffer. It is important to develop processes to regularly take the pulse of your customer base.

Mike Duggan

Sears Canada’s online site is a one-up on The Bay, who is still in the midst of restructuring  (at least we hope) itself through new management by Bonnie Brooks. That department store could definitely benefit from an online site to drive up sales if done correctly.

Whatever formula Sears is using, it’s working. Hell, it’s got me convinced to peruse through its digital archives for goods. Their outerwear selection is actually quite nice, especially with the double-breasted coats they have. If Sears can just work on getting better name brands, polish up their fashion inventory, and of course have excellent customer service, it could still stand a chance to survive in this tough retail market.

And what of Holt Renfrew? The Bay? Ogilvy? Canadians are waiting for you online. Especially this one.

Only a day after reporting that Hudson Bay Company owner, Richard Baker, was in hot waters with his flailing retail purchases, The Bay announced a cut back of 1,000 jobs. This cut is part of a restructuring The Bay is undergoing, claiming it will refocus the department store. I’m not quite sure how you can offer better service if department staff are taking the axe though.

Today, the Globe and Mail reports that The Bay is relying heavily on the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Games to boost sales. The Bay is the official company  who will be dressing the Canadian Olympic team and will reveal their corporate logo for the Winter Games next week.

Exactly how patriotic will Canadians be about the Winter Games of 2010? The Bay had released official Olympic products for the Beijing Games last year, and failed to make any significant retail waves. Jeff Sherman, HBC’s CEO, acknowledged the shortcomings of last year’s fashion flop and promised to “not make those mistakes again.” They’re apparently working on “sought-after designs” that should have better retail longevity.

What HBC really hopes to accomplish is to reproduce Roots’ Olympic success. According to the Globe and Mail back in Oct:

The Olympics work had helped put Roots on the world map after its poor boy cap created a sensation – and a selling frenzy – at the 1998 Nagano Winter Games.

Since then, Roots had been the official outfitter for the U.S. Olympic team until last year when famed American designer Ralph Lauren designed the team’s jackets. The collaboration also proved fruitful as sales were still strong on the retail floor even after the Beijing Games were done.

Were HBC have made a collaboration with a Canadian fashion brands like Pink Tartan or DSquared, as Adidas made with Stella McCartney, that could help boost visibility for The Bay with their exclusive Olympic line.

Last year’s fashion flop – Who would actually wear these?

Another problem are the numerous licensees who are developing other Olympic products as listed by Vancouver Sun in February 2008. The list of products also include clothing apparel, which could place it in direct competition with The Bay’s designs. Although, Olympic Canadian fashion doesn’t really whip up my style senses into a frenzy.

With the news of the global recession, the implementation of Lord & Taylor into the Canadian market has been scraped for now. It will be a slow and painful process for Richard Baker to turn around two department store chains in 2 different countries.

Image credits: HBC, official Vancouver2010.com muk muk plush

If you’re not familiar with Lane Crawford, they are one of the most well-established department store chains in Hong Kong on par with our Canadian counterpart Holt Renfrew or Ogilvy. Under Brooks’ management, “the Lane Crawford group has tripled its business in the last five years and expanded its scope beyond Hong Kong and Macau into China, Japan, Taiwan, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand and Indonesia,” according to WWD.com.

Baker says that there’s a gap between The Bay and Holt Renfrew, and he wants to fill that gap, but many Globe and Mail commentators were skeptical. Raising the usually affordable Bay prices might drive consumers away even if they were offering a better selection of brands. This is especially true with the failed project of Complexe Les Ailes in downtown Montreal where they were offering high end brands with considerably high price points for shoppers. Toronto-based Fairweather Group bought Complexes Les Ailes in 2005 and the upper levels have since been turned into office space.

Bringing in a luxury player and turning The Bay into a brand that sits between The Bay (the old one) and Holt Renfrew will prove to be tricky. Here’s a pricing breakdown between the two.

Holt Renfrew: Carries ready-to-wear and some bridge collections. $200-$5000 on average.
The Bay: Carries fast fashion, local, and some bridge collections. $20-$300 on average.

A premium price point would probably be somewhere between $75-$1000, if they indeed intend to offer better brands. However, I don’t know why this hasn’t been mentioned but what about Simons? They clearly have that premium price point – offering unique different brands, established an attractive shopping experience, while also offering a chance to pick higher quality brands. The demographic is however geared towards 18-25 year olds, while The Bay is probably targeting 25-35 yr olds. If anything, the new Bay (or Lord & Taylor) should perhaps take a cue from Simon’s and just make the experience a little more fun and luxurious without alienating their intended consumers.

Some might scoff at the idea of paying more for clothes, but these are people who don’t care for quality or don’t know what quality clothing is. What with the way stores are churning out new stock every month, it’s no wonder the general public demand cheap clothing. But I really think all this fast fashion lifestyle will turn around bite them in the butt. Soon people will tire of keeping up with trends (especially as we get older) and we would eventually want something durable and trendless. Fashion designers are already working towards seasonless collections, so “trends” per se are becoming obsolete. Therefore, stores will now have to make up for their seasonless collections and improve elsewhere such as price point, quality, branding, service and consumer experience.

So the appointment of Ms. Bonnie Brooks does inspire hope for The Bay brand, or really just the department store experience as a whole. We’re in serious need of quality stores in Montreal, and despite my initial reactions of The Bay possibly losing its brand name and appeal, at least they’re making an effort in changing it for the better.

So there is a risk that in Montreal, the downtown Bay store can be on the death list and turned into a Lord & Taylor. Among the department stores left in Montreal, if The Bay goes, only Ogilvy will remain as the only original department store (previously there was Eaton’s and Simpson’s) established since the 1800′s, still standing.

Acquisitions of Canadian companies has been on the rise as of late. Limited Brands Inc, which owns Victoria’s Secret, bought out La Senza in 2006. It also owns Bath & Body Works and plans to expand 6 specialty stores this fall in Canada, don’t be surprised if they’re gonna try and buy out Canadian equivalent Fruits & Passion in the near future.

I find it a little sad that HBC didn’t make enough effort in turning this iconic department store around. And that has to take some business savvy American to come and outright buy it and have the galls to rename the store. So enjoy what you can of what’s gonna be left of The Bay as you’ll soon find it replaced by a more posh Lord & Taylor.

Image source: The Globe and Mail

Is it just me or is Guess? trying to say something to their customers? There seems to be quite an aggressive marketing campaign going on downtown. I would say more like an overkill. In not even a 1km radius, Guess has been popping up all over the place. It seems that not even a prime location downtown in Complexe Les Ailes, nor an accessory store in the Eaton Center, located two steps away, are enough. There seems to be a flagship store in the works on the corner of Peel and Ste-Catherine where a TD bank used to reside, another 5 steps. It’s hard to miss, its construction walls are practically giant billboards.

As if they couldn’t advertise themselves even more, they have struck at deal with The Bay in celebrating their 25th anniversary, just in the time for the holidays. When you arrive at McGill Metro level of The Bay, what was once a prime little spot for the M.A.C. makeup counter has now been scrapped and replaced by, you “guess”ed it, Men’s Guess wear. Where has the M.A.C counter gone? I’d like to know myself. On the main floor, they picked prime traffic location to put mannequins dressed in the brand’s signature urban chic style right at the escalator intersections. It is the first thing you see when you end up going on the 2nd floor in Women’s section.

Adding more fuel to the fire, with the new Browns shoe store in The Bay, you can honestly figure out (yay for synonyms) which shoe collection is facing you first. I have to admit that their Carrie shoe is hot, but I must resist temptations.

But honestly, in one metro stop I’m already nauseated with the onslaught of Guess’ efforts. When a brand tries too hard to promote itself, you’re wondering if they really care about you or your money.