Nordstrom is taking over from Sears at Toronto Eaton Centre
Toronto Eaton Centre has officially locked down high-end American retailer Nordstrom to take over the mammoth multi-storey space currently occupied by a soon-to-close Sears. Last year, the U.S. chain announced two upcoming Toronto outlets (at Yorkdale and Sherway Gardens), and we speculated in the fall—correctly, as it turns out—that Sears’s coveted downtown space could be next. The new store is scheduled to open by December 2016, and will eventually be joined by at least one outlet of the chain’s less pricey counterpart, Nordstrom Rack.
Nordstrom is known for stocking a range of brands, from Valentino couture to Topshop, which operates standalone boutiques out of Nordstrom stores throughout the U.S. It’s unclear how the chain’s Topshop alliance will work in Toronto, where Hudson’s Bay holds exclusive rights to the Brit brand. What is clear: with Saks Fifth Avenue also coming downtown in the near future, Toronto’s department store scene is poised to become, well, an actual scene.
![](http://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?u=https://torontolife.com/style/nordstrom-opening-toronto-eaton-centre/&title=Nordstrom is taking over from Sears at Toronto Eaton Centre&picture=https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/nordstrom-624x149.jpg&description=[caption id="attachment_166176" align="aligncenter" width="655"] (Image: Dave Dugdale)[/caption]
Toronto Eaton Centre has officially locked down high-end American retailer Nordstrom to take over the mammoth multi-storey space currently occupied by a soon-to-close Sears. Last year, the U.S. chain announced two upcoming Toronto outlets (at Yorkdale and Sherway Gardens), and we speculated in the fall—correctly, as it turns out—that Sears's coveted downtown space could be next. The new store is scheduled to open by December 2016, and will eventually be joined by at least one outlet of the chain’s less pricey counterpart, Nordstrom Rack.
Nordstrom is known for stocking a range of brands, from Valentino couture to Topshop, which operates standalone boutiques out of Nordstrom stores throughout the U.S. It’s unclear how the chain’s Topshop alliance will work in Toronto, where Hudson’s Bay holds exclusive rights to the Brit brand. What is clear: with Saks Fifth Avenue also coming downtown in the near future, Toronto's department store scene is poised to become, well, an actual scene.){kind=link}
Hudson’s Bay signed a 10 year exclusive licensing agreement with TopShop, so Nordstrom won’t be bringing it to Canada when it opens next year. Nordstrom will also only occupy part of the Sears space, and there are currently negotiations for the rest of the space that will continue to be occupied as retail.
Bay is going more towards the high end, we already have Holt and now Nerdstrom.
Not sure how successful they will all be considering people have less and less disposable income these days.
The people who typically shop at Saks, Nordstrom, or Holt’s are generally not affected by the cyclical ups and downs of the economy. It’s simple; either you can afford to drop $5,000 on a handbag or you can’t. The GTA is oozing with wealthy people, in fact Toronto is rated one of the top cities in the world for the number of millionaires and multimillionaires (net worth calculated to EXCLUDE primary household, so home prices play no part in this).