Swedish retailer H&M opened its newly renovated flagship store at CF Toronto Eaton Centre, and at 56,000 sq. ft., it’s now one the brand’s 10 largest stores in the world.
The retailer first opened at CF Toronto Eaton Centre in 2004, with a 33,000-sq.-ft. footprint over three floors. The store is located at the prominent intersection of Yonge & Dundas, known as the “epicentre of Toronto.”
“We’ve had a presence on one of most iconic street corners in the province, if not the country, for many years. But last year, we had the opportunity to take on some additional square footage when Sears decided to close,” said Emily Scarlett, communications and press manager at H&M Canada.
“We wanted to take that opportunity to renovate the entire store as well as expand it and add some additional concepts from the H&M brand that we didn’t currently have in the store, including H&M Home.”
The revamped store is the first location to offer H&M Home in Ontario. The line of housewares and accessories made its debut at H&M in West Edmonton Mall in 2014.
At the new flagship, a 20,000 sq.-ft. men’s section now has its own entrance, and H&M kids and maternity have their own floor. The other H&M concepts carried at the megastore include women’s, sport and beauty.
One of the biggest features of the renovation is a completely redone façade, which is fully illuminated with LED lights and features large digital screens. Screen content will include street style photos, imagery and video content from H&M’s marketing campaigns and behind-the-scenes shots from its look book shoots. Currently running now is the new David Beckham commercial for H&M’s spring collection.
H&M promoted the re-opening with a multi-platform campaign that included out-of-home, a 12-page insert in House & Home that promoted H&M Home, newspaper ads and social media. H&M also placed giant shopping bags at Bloor and Church Streets and took over all the surrounding billboards with ads for H&M Home.
The campaign was created by H&M and executed by Initiative.
Candice & Allison handled the launch event on Feb. 24, which included celebrity guest DJ Taryn Manning (from Orange is the New Black), and a performance by Canadian singer Alessia Cara.
