Holt Renfrew plans to significantly expand its Vancouver store while opening a dedicated menswear entrance on Howe Street, opening a restaurant and going even more upscale by launching new luxury personal shopping options.
Most of the expansion is the 40,000 square feet of additional space that the Toronto-based chain is taking by expanding west along Howe Street. Its April 24 announcement comes about five months in advance of competitor Nordstrom's planned opening of a 230,000-square-foot store a couple blocks south. Saks Fifth Avenue has also been rumoured to be interested in opening a store in the area.
Holt Renfrew’s Howe Street frontage will expand from about 30 feet to around 200 feet thanks to it taking over FGL Sports’ current sporting goods store, which is branded both SportChek and Atmosphere.
FGL will then move those brands to the corner of Robson and Howe streets in space that Chapters has occupied since 1998 but will leave by the end of June.
“We’ll start construction this summer and the shop will be completely done by the end of 2016,” Holt Renfrew president Mark Derbyshire said April 23, while taking Business in Vancouver on a tour of his store.
Above the 20,000-square-foot menswear area will be a 3,500-square-foot, 80-seat café that overlooks Howe Street. A "vendor partner" and Holt Renfrew products will be on display in the remaining 16,500-square-foot second level of the former FGL Sports location, he said.
Some sections of Holt Renfrew will be substantially larger post-renovation.
For more business news go to Business in Vancouver at biv.com.
