With the arrival of eight luxury and international

With the arrival of eight luxury and international retailers debuting their first Canadian locations at
Yorkdale, the centre needed a customized retailer communication strategy and tools to streamline the
on-boarding process.
A 72-page hard cover book provided valuable information and contacts to maximize their brand’s debut,
build awareness and reach record-breaking openings. Featuring international supermodel Coco Rocha,
the face of Yorkdale’s advertising campaign, the book provided instant credibility and elevated the
centre’s marketing program. A digital version was also sent to each new retailer so that it could be shared
with members of their team.
Two months prior to each retailer's grand opening, follow-up communication was sent to key marketing
contacts delivering additional details about Yorkdale’s suite of digital and in-mall channels. To leverage
awareness of their arrivals, Yorkdale offered the brands exclusive access to the centre’s website
homepage, social media channels and a dedicated e-blast distributed to 60,000+ subscribers.
New retailers were also provided with a login to Yorkdale’s CONNECT, a retailer portal with 24/7 online
access to the centre’s digital channels. The portal allowed retailers to instantly post jobs to Yorkdale.com,
stay up to date on the latest news and easily download manuals and forms. The portal achieved over 1,000
views by the centre’s newest retailers during 2014/15.
Versace teamed up with two of Yorkdale’s past collaborative partners and Canada’s hottest influencers
and bloggers - The Coveteur x The Beckermans to launch their Toronto location. With the help of socialite
Sylvia Mantella and fashion editor Cary Tauben, the group enjoyed a private shopping spree and then later
hosted an epic in-store party that left the store's shelves empty! The retailer doubled its projected
opening sales goal.
For their Canadian launch, Jimmy Choo created a signature Toronto clutch featuring the TTC subway line
map that captured the attention of the news media. The brand garnered 57 million impression of publicity
coverage. The retailer also joined forces with the PR experts Power of Privé to host an in-store event with
guests of honour, Mila Mulroney and Waris Ahluwalia who helped cut the metaphorical ribbon and toast
the new boutique with a handful of cutting-edge fashionistas and a curated crowd of VIPs.
To unveil its first Canadian store, Moncler hosted a private opening party that was exclusively covered by
Hello Canada. Moncler surpassed their daily sales goal within the first four hours that they were opened.
To satisfy Yorkdale shoppers’ incredible demand for the brand’s merchandise, the retailer had to adjust
their distribution channels during their first month of operation.
Actor Nolan Gerard Funk played host for a celebration marking Montblanc’s Yorkdale boutique opening
and the brand’s ‘Extreme’ timepieces. Montblanc featured a contest on Yorkdale.com and grew their
e-database with 1,006 new subscribers. As a result of a successful debut, the retailer had to adjust their
targets to meet a higher sales threshold.
”Bulgari represents the ultimate in
craftsmanshop, creativity and innovation,”
said Jean-Christophe Babin, CEO of Bulgari.
“We are thrilled to open this store and to bring that
extraordinary combination to Canada in a manner that
perfectly represents the modern Bulgari brand while still
paying tribute to our rich Roman heritage.”
With no planned advertising supporting their individual grand opening dates, Yorkdale’s website, e-blasts
and social channels leveraged huge awareness for each luxury retailer’s debut and played a key role in
their success. Bulgari's e-blast achieved an impressive 22% open rate, far exceeding the industry average
of 15%. Bulgari at Yorkdale ranks as their #1 store in North America.
YORKDALE.COM HOME PAGE PRESENCE
E-BLAST
Yorkdale heralded Longchamp’s arrival by providing the brand with a strong presence on their newly
launched responsive website and with an e-blast that achieved an open rate of 25%. During the first 3
hours on their opening day, Longchamp reported doubling their projected sales goal.
For the opening of their flagship boutique, Vince Camuto himself was in attendance to meet with VIP
guests and media including Breakfast Television’s Jennifer Valentyne. At the event, the retailer named two
local influencers as their Canadian Brand Ambassadors to grow Vince Camuto's social following. In total,
2.2 million impressions of publicity coverage was leveraged for their arrival.
To celebrate their first Canadian store opening, Gerry Weber hosted a special invite-only event with Taylor
Schilling from the hit show on Netflix “Orange is the New Black”. The event leveraged over 4.2 million
impressions of publicity coverage. The brand also took advantage of Yorkdale's wardrobe sponsorship of
Breakfast Television's Dina Pugliese and outfitted her on the morning of their opening.
Working with Fashion Magazine, Yorkdale leveraged awareness of its new luxury fashion brands with a
3-page advertorial profiling each exclusive retailer in their much anticipated fall fashion issue. This allowed
the brands to achieve over 1.5 million gross impressions valued at $27,929 at no cost.
By working closely with each retailer’s public relations department, Yorkdale pro-actively managed
coverage and helped garner over 80 million impressions of publicity that included 3,116 lines of print and
online coverage and 40 minutes of broadcast. The coverage provided mass awareness for not only the
retailer but Yorkdale as well.
Yorkdale’s customized retailer communication, onboarding strategy and tools allowed the centre to
expertly launch eight new international retailers in the Canada marketplace. 100% of new luxury retailers
as well as Vince Camuto and Gerry Weber exceeded their grand opening traffic and sales projections, with
many breaking records for their chains. The new luxury retailers’ continued strong sales performance is a
testament to the support provided by Yorkdale in ensuring each brand was effectively launched at the
centre.