Zara‘s parent company, Spanish-based Inditex, plans to open Massimo Dutti stores in Vancouver. It seeks high-profile retail spaces in the 4,000-5,000 square foot range.
A source familiar with the company says that potential Massimo Dutti store locations could include Robson Street, Pacific Centre, Oakridge Centre, Metropolis at Metrotown, Richmond Centre and West Vancouver’s Park Royal. At the moment, none of these locations are confirmed.
It’s interesting that Inditex plans to open more Massimo Dutti stores in Canada, despite mediocre sales in its first three locations. Similar to Zara, Massimo Dutti does almost no advertising. Dutti’s first Canadian store opened in August of 2012, measuring 4,800 square feet at the Toronto Eaton Centre. It subsequently opened two more Toronto stores: last August at Yorkdale Shopping Centre, and earlier this year at First Canadian Place.
The company is now targeting Montreal, Ottawa, Vancouver and possibly other Canadian cities for new stores, according to a source familiar with the brand. Its first Montreal location just opened at Centre Rockland, and a Carrefour Laval store will follow this week. Its first Ottawa location is already confirmed, being a 5,000 square feet, scheduled to open in August of 2016 at Rideau Centre.
Zara, on the other hand, does gangbusters sales in Canada, warranting further expansion that will see new and expanded stores, as well as a new Zara Home store for Vancouver. We’re awaiting further details on Zara’s plans for Vancouver.
Inditex’s brands will soon face increased competition in Vancouver, as Japanese fast-fashion brand Uniqlo intends to expand, and de-throne Inditex as the world’s largest fashion retailer. Uniqlo is currently working with a broker to secure Vancouver space, and a source informs us that Uniqlo management was in Vancouver last week for a number of meetings. Uniqlo intends to open multiple stores in cities across Canada, and the company’s CEO thinks that sales could surpass those of Zara. Last year, Inditex did sales of 16.7 billion Euros.
Local retailers could be hurt the most by these international expansions, as we discussed in an interview with CBC last week. Traditionally complacent and lacking innovation, some local retailers will need to innovate if they hope to survive amid increased competition.
Stay tuned for more exciting retail announcements from Retail Insider, here on Vancity Buzz.
Feature Image: IMEDAGOZE
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