A while back, we posted a piece about Yorkdale’s renovations and asked what stores you’d like see open there (followed up last week by a piece updating on speculated stores). So now we turn to another major shopping district in Toronto, the Bloor-Yorkville area. This area has one of the highest rents for a shopping district in North America, and definitely the highest in Canada. Stores include Prada, Louis Vuitton, Tiffany and Holt Renfrew. But with LV moving to a new location later this year and possibly other spots opening up (rumours now include new locations for Tiffany and Escada), one can’t help but wonder who will be moving in where.
The current “LV House”
Whether Tiffany and Escada move or not, there are two decently-sized spots available for new retailers. First is the current LV house and the second would either be the spot next to the NEW LV just east of Avenue Road or the current Tiffany location, should the rumours of its move next to LV be correct. Now, early last year we reported that Lisa Tant (Flare magazine) tweeted about a “major European brand” opening in the area “soon.” However, unless said “major European brand” was Porche Design (set to take over Marciano’s old spot), no announcement has been made though rumours about Dior and Dolce & Gabbana often come up. However, there are other brands that I’d like to see in the area – whether they move into any currently available spots or in new areas that will pop up (e.g. 1 Bloor East). They include:
- An Apple flagship (on and off rumoured, anyway)
- Ferragamo
- Tory Burch
- Theory
- Kate Spade
- Christian Louboutin
- A Judith & Charles boutique
- Nanette Lepore
- J.Crew
- 7 for all Mankind
- DVF
Of course, there’s the issue of room. There just isn’t any right now, and won’t be any until 1 Bloor (east of Yonge) opens up in the next few years. I actually won’t be surprised if some of the more mainstream, non “designer” labels move into 1 Bloor, giving even more room for high end labels to come in. However, I don’ think H&M is going to go anywhere.
Future home of LV
Finally, I really think the current Bay store either needs to shut down or become a bit more elevated. It just looks sad in its current state right now. I’m also hoping that Winners would move out. I’ve long thought of it as being a bit “off” for the area. I’m all for discount shopping, but it certainly does not belong on Bloor and the only reason why Winners moved in was because they needed a big store to take over Chapters when they moved out. Oh well, they’re looking at developing a new condo above Holt Renfrew right now. If the building is approved, Holt’s may need to find a new home on Bloor. Maybe they can take over that spot.
Who would you like to see move into Bloor-Yorkville? What WON’T you want to move in?
