BRIEF: Morphe Cosmetics & O bag Open 1st Canadian Stores, d’Anjou Sears Box Converting to Office Space

Popular beauty brand Morphe Cosmetics has opened its first Canadian store at Square One in Mississauga. 

The 4,660-square-foot store, located between White House/Black Market and across from Sephora and MAC Cosmetics, carries the full range of makeup colours and brushes that have given the brand a cult following.

Morphe was founded in 2008 by artists and influencers, and The brand is popular partly because its price-points are kept reasonable. Known for its eyeshadow palettes (a vast variety, most priced below $50) as well as its brushes that are used by makeup artists globally. It also offers beauty tools such as brush cleaners, beauty sponges, makeup removers and tweezers, among other items. 

Morphe is expanding rapidly and plans to open several stores in the US as well as in the UK in the near future. More Canadian stores are on the way as well, and we’ll be interviewing the company soon to get more details (an interview couldn’t be coordinated prior to press time).

Square One is becoming something of a beauty destination with other retailers such as Urban Decay, Deciem, Kiehl’s, NYX, The Face Shop, Yves Rocher operating standalone units in the mall, as well as anchors Holt Renfrew and Hudson’s Bay that both feature large beauty halls. Not to mention the mall’s Walmart and Shoppers Drug Mart stores also feature an offering of beauty items. 

Popular Italian bag brand O bag has opened its first Canadian store at the Centre Rockland in Montreal. A second location will open at CF Carrefour Laval in suburban Montreal in the spring of 2019. 

The brand is popular because of its simple, stylish and practical bags that can be personalized through customization options. The bodies of the bags are made from a lightweight foam called XL Extralight®, which is soft and warm to touch, waterproof, strong, flexible and anti-microbial. Retail Insider recently profiled the brand and its Canadian expansion. 

Carmine Di Fruscia, who is also president of Mr. Pretzels in Canada, is rolling-out the O bag retail expansion with plans for about 50 stores in Canada over the next five years. For any landlords interested in having O bag as a tenant, contact Carmine Di Fruscia at: 514-349-3911 or email: carmine@ptg.ca.

Upscale Montreal-based fashion brand Mackage has opened an impressive multi-level flagship located at 1300 Sainte-Catherine Street West. It replaces a 3,000-square-foot BCBG store which formerly occupied the space (BCBG closed all of its Canadian stores last year). Jeff Berkowitz of Aurora Realty Consultants represented Mackage in this deal (and other deals), and Manon Parisien of Aurora Realty Consultants acted on behalf of the landlord. 

The new Mackage space is at a very prominent corner in Montreal. Located at the intersection of Sainte-Catherine Street West and Rue de la Montagne, Mackage will be across the street from the new ‘Holt Renfrew Ogilvy’ building, which is in the process of a renovation and expansion that will see it become the epicentre of luxury retail for the city centre.  

Mackage opened its first freestanding Canadian store in October of 2015 at CF Carrefour Laval, near Montreal. In the fall of 2016, two Toronto locations opened at CF Toronto Eaton Centre and at Yorkdale Shopping Centre. Most recently, Mackage opened at CF Pacific Centre in Vancouver and Oakridge Centre in Vancouver. Next year, a Calgary store will open at CF Chinook Centre. In the United States, Mackage operates two stores in New York City, one in the Mall at Short Hills (near NYC) and in Chicago (on prestigious Oak Street). 

Adjacent to the largest shopping centre in Montreal’s East End, at the junction of two major highways, sits an empty Sears Canada box — not unlike the others sitting empty across the country. Landlords have been trying to figure out what to do with the empty space, and CF Galeries d’Anjou is offering the area up for offices.

The south wing is a prime location, available with areas ranging from 20,000-square-feet to 127,230-square-feet over two floors. This upscale corporate environment is preserved thanks to the dedicated entrance to the office section, vast and free parking, and direct access to the mall.

Other key features of the space at 7999 Galeries d’Anjou is the unrivalled access to all imaginable amenities, signage options with prominent visibility from the boulevard, 24/7 security, fibre optics, and elevator access.

Contact André G Plourde, Senior Vice President, Chartered Real Estate Broker at Colliers Canada for more details. [Click to Download PDF Lease Package]

Vancouver-based urban athletic apparel brand RYU Apparel Inc. has opened its second Toronto retail location at CF Sherway Gardens. The impressive store is located in the mall’s expansion wing that is anchored by Sporting Life and Harry Rosen, and is near recently opened locations for Tesla, Sandro and Maje. 

The attractive new store features the full assortment of RYU’s fashions and accessories, in a bright space that appears similar to the brand’s other retail stores. 

RYU Apparel’s first Toronto store opened at 361 Queen Street West in the fall of 2017. The company also operates four stores in the Vancouver area — its first opened at 1745 W. 4th Avenue in early 2015, followed by stores at 805 Thurlow Street (near Robson Street) in Vancouver, at Park Royal in West Vancouver, and at Metropolis at Metrotown in Burnaby. RYU opened its first store in the United States in August of this year in Venice Beach, California, and a second US store opened in the Williamsburg neighbourhood of Brooklyn NY in September. Next up is a store at Fashion Island in Newport Beach, California, and the company plans to open five units per year between 2019 and 2022 when it anticipates operating 29 stores. 

“We are delighted to announce this important second step in the growth of RYU in the biggest Canadian city,” said Marcello Leone, CEO and President of RYU. “Our brand is growing constantly and the response we received in our first location in Queen Street West, in combination with the RYU Underground, our Gym located downstairs, has been incredible: we felt the need to work harder to please the local community with a second location and we didn’t miss he chance to secure such a prestigious location”.

Originally founded in Portland, Oregon, RYU or ‘Respect Your Universe’, is an athletic tech-style apparel brand engineered for the fitness, training, and performance of the multi-discipline athlete. Marcello Leone, son of the founders of Vancouver-based multi-brand luxury retailer Leone, took the company over in 2014 and spearheaded an overhaul which saw its headquarters moved from the United States to Canada, choosing his hometown of Vancouver to be its new corporate address. RYU’s intention is to become the world’s top multi-discipline performance training and fitness brand, according to Mr. Leone. Jeri Brodie of Aurora Realty Consultants represents RYU as broker in Canada.

Landlord Cadillac Fairview and transportation company Lyft have partnered to create a dedicated Lyft drop-off zone at the CF Toronto Eaton Centre. 

It’s the first partnership of its kind for both parties, and will provide access to the downtown Toronto centre which is said to be the busiest in North America with more than 50-million annual visitors. The centre is accessible by transit, though getting to the centre and finding parking can be a challenge — and many people in Toronto are choosing not to drive their own cars. 

The Lyft pick-up zone will be on James Street at Albert’s Way, located outside of Aritzia at CF Toronto Eaton Centre’s west exit. An enhanced app experience allows riders to better select where they want to be dropped off and picked up based on what restaurant, office or retailer they are visiting and special offers will also be available shortly after the launch of the program. 

CF Toronto Eaton Centre was the proud winner of a 2018 Lyftie Award, celebrating North America’s most-visited destinations, in the ‘Only in Toronto’ category earlier this month. New Lyft users are invited to partake in the celebration and are eligible to receive $5 off their first four rides until January 31, 2019 with a Special Rider Code: RIDE2SHOP.