Saks Fifth Avenue OFF 5th opening in Metro Vancouver in 2016

Another major retail player will be establishing its first presence in the Metro Vancouver region: Saks Fifth Avenue announced today its plans to open a Saks Fifth Avenue OFF 5th store at the Tsawwassen Mills shopping centre next year.

A press release states that the Tsawwassen store will have a floor area of 32,687 square feet and will be one of the anchors of the new 1.2 million-square-foot indoor mall. The mall will consist of 16 anchors, premium fashion brands, factory outlets, restaurants, and a 1,100-seat food court.

The OFF Fifth store is slated to open in time for the mall’s grand opening in the fall of 2016 and features 800 fashion brands for both men and women, including emerging designers and recognized fashion names at outlet prices. It should not be confused for the main department stores, which are substantially larger and offer a more upscale shopping experience.

Saks Fifth Avenue is a New York City-based department store chain owned by the Hudson’s Bay Company (HBC), which purchased the retailer in 2013 for US$2.9-billion. There are currently 46 Saks Fifth Avenue department stores and 110 OFF 5th locations, with plans to add 25 OFF 5th locations across Canada in the coming years.

Three other Canadian store locations at Ivanhoe Cambridge properties were revealed in today’s announcement: Place Ste-Foy (Quebec City, Quebec), Montreal Eaton Centre (Montreal, Quebec), and Outlet Collection Winnipeg (Winnipeg, Manitoba). These stores will open in 2017.

“We are excited that we are able to bring Saks OFF 5TH to these dynamic Ivanhoé Cambridge properties. We have now announced openings in five provinces across the country, and we look forward to bringing our OFF 5TH experience to the Canadian consumer,” HBC president of outlets Jonathan Greller said in a statement. “As we continue to grow our off-price business, we will announce more new Saks OFF 5TH locations in major markets across Canada.”

More Saks Fifth Avenue OFF Fifth stores are expected to open in Metro Vancouver, including a possible location at Oakridge Centre, another retail property owned by Ivanhoe Cambridge that will be undergoing a major redevelopment and expansion over the next seven years.

There is also speculation that the region will also have at least one full-scale Saks Fifth Avenue department store, likely within the 637,000-square-foot downtown Vancouver HBC flagship store. A portion of the under-utilized floor space could be repurposed for the department store.

Two Saks Fifth Avenue department stores will open in Toronto next year: a 170,000-square-foot Canadian flagship at Toronto Eaton Centre and a 130,000-square-foot store at Sherway Gardens.

Aerial photo of Tsawwassen Mills under construction.

Image: Ivanhoe Cambridge