Reinventing Sears
Burlington store included in new marketing campaign
Burlington location part of the company’s latest revamp
TORONTO — Sears Canada unveiled a new store design at Toronto’s Promenade Mall on Tuesday, aimed at consumers who feel left behind as the marketplace vies for shoppers in the luxury sector.
“This is about re-inventing a company. This is our canvas,” said Sears Canada executive chair Brandon Stranzl, leading tours of a store that he called a beta design — something to build on and finesse as it is rolls out to other locations.
Sears Canada now operates 95 department stores across the country after exiting certain prime locations in Toronto, Vancouver and Calgary.
The Promenade Sears in Thornhill is half the size it used to be, unfurling across one polished concrete floor instead of two storeys.
All the carpets have been removed, and the shelves and space dividers are on wheels, making it easier to create and collapse departments depending on what’s selling and what’s not — the same principle underpinning the layout at the new Nordstrom at Toronto’s Eaton Centre.
Unlike Nordstrom, though, which aims at mid-market to luxury consumers, Sears is aiming for average Canadians, and is focused on value.
“We want to be really price-focused,” said Stranzl, leading the tour into the outerwear departAfter ment for women, which this fall includes $50 ultralight down jackets that roll into a pouch.
Japanese retailer Uniqlo, poised to open in the GTA, sells a similar jacket online for $80 (U.S.), although it’s currently on sale for $60.
In the Sears appliance department, prices are checked and changed daily to ensure customers are offered the lowest available price on any given day, said Stranzl.
The redesign includes a sign over the store inside the mall, with the new black Sears logo and red maple leaf. The marketing campaign for the new stores, including one at Mapleview Centre in Burlington, is “WTS” for “What the Sears is going on?”
The entrance from the mall also features a wide “decompression zone” to let customers stop and look around the store before deciding how to shop it. That differs from the more familiar department store design, where cosmetics crowd the entrance.
The new look is a departure from the white “luxe” look introduced by Calvin McDonald when he was CEO of Sears Canada from June 2011 to September 2013. McDonald focused on apparel during his tenure, dialing up the fashion in the men’s department and bringing in former Victoria’s Secret model Bar Refaeli to promote the retailer’s Nevada brand for women.
McDonald’s departure to cosmetics retailer Sephora in Los Angeles, former U.S. naval aviator and retail consultant Doug Campbell took over Sears Canada, promising a return to basics for the brand and a focus on cost-cutting. During his tenure, it was announced that Sears would close its Toronto Eaton Centre store, and the entire company went up for sale. There were no takers at the right price, and he resigned in September 2014, citing family matters.
Ron Boire was appointed interim CEO in October 2014. He announced a partnership with Wayne Gretzky to launch an exclusive line of casual menswear in the fall of 2015, which is still sold today. Boire stressed the importance of bigger, bolder and more value-oriented products. “We’re not the place to go if you want to go clubbing,” he said. He was replaced by Stranzl in July, 2015.
“I don’t think their problem is a refresh on the stores. I think they have much deeper problems,” said Maureen Atkinson, senior partner, research insights, J.C. Williams Group global retail advisers.
In the past, Sears Canada cash has been distributed to shareholders as dividends, when critics believe the money should have been reinvested in the store network.
“I would take a wait-and-see attitude,” said Atkinson.