Major Department Store Coming To Halifax Shopping Centre
HALIFAX—Well-known Quebec department store and fashion retailer Simons is opening in Halifax.
Simons announced on May 17 that it will open a retail store inside the Halifax Shopping Centre in the spring of 2024.
The Quebec chain, known for its “accessible and inspired fashion,” will occupy part of the space that once housed Sears.
The company’s Halifax Shopping Centre location will be its 17th store in Canada and its first on the East Coast.
Bernard Leblanc, the president and CEO of Simons, said in a news release that the company has been interested in the Maritimes “for some time.”
He said they chose Halifax because it’s “experiencing a real renaissance,” as both Canadians and newcomers relocate to the “dynamic, growing city.”
Although it’s now expanding, Simons faced some financial trouble around the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic.
In February 2020, Canada Goose ended its wholesale agreement with the store, costing Simons millions in sales. Meanwhile, Simons ran into credit trouble in the pandemic’s early days and moved all stock from designers like Balmain to its website.
However, the store says those troubles have since passed and the company is once again on solid footing. A few weeks ago, Simons opened a fifth store in the Greater Montreal area and said customers are returning to brick-and-mortar stores “now more than ever.”
Simons is a family-owned business with a long history in Quebec. It began in 1840 as a dry goods store but by 1960 had evolved into a fashion-forward retailer and department store.
The company expanded beyond Quebec in 2012, with a location in West Edmonton Mall. Shortly after, it opened as an anchor tenant in other malls across the country.
Simons’ arrival at the Halifax Shopping Centre will be part of a major refresh at the mall.
HSC says it’s spending $52 million on a redevelopment project that will create “new retail and dining options as well as an updated aesthetic,” as well as a new mall entrance.
The space that once housed Sears will be converted into 150,000 square feet of “retail and added amenities” including a full-service restaurant.
The changes come on top of the $70 million redevelopment HSC finished in 2017.
Halifax Shopping Centre is operated by Toronto-based Cushman And Wakefield Asset Services Incorporated.
Trevor Nichols is the associate editor of Huddle, based in Halifax. Send him your feedback and story ideas: [email protected].