Regina Leader-Post

IStore ventures spread from airports into malls

- HOLLIE SHAW FINANCIAL POST

TORONTO — The retailer iStore’s early success hinged on its ability to offer Apple products and accessorie­s in areas where people had no access to them: in airports, catering to stressed-out travellers who needed to buy gifts or forgot their headphones at home.

But the Montreal-based business has performed so well since it opened its first location at the city’s Trudeau Internatio­nal Airport in 2009 that its executives have decided to launch iStore boutiques in major malls across the country — even in ones that have Apple stores within them.

“It’s part of the learning process for us and for Apple, to see how well the concepts coexist,” iStore chief executive Joel Teitelbaum said.

About 15 per cent of iStore’s mix consists of actual electronic­s — Apple products such as Macbooks, iPhones, iPads and iPods. The other 85 per cent falls under the accessorie­s category — all products that are Applecompa­tible, such as headphones by Bose and Beats, speakers, chargers, cables and plugs, as well as fashion accessorie­s such as designer-branded iPhone cases from Ted Baker, Rebecca Minkoff and Kate Spade.

“Apple stores are amazing retail spaces, and they are focused predominan­tly on the sale of Apple’s own products,” Teitelbaum added. “If our stores are 85 per cent accessorie­s and 15 per cent Apple products, their stores are probably the reverse (in terms of assortment). In that sense, we complement each other tremendous­ly.”

This year iStore has opened three locations inside Canadian malls: Rockland Centre in Montreal, Scarboroug­h Town Centre in Toronto, and West Edmonton Mall.

“When we looked at the malls we didn’t see anybody approachin­g the category in the way that we wanted to. We had a vision for a store that really marries fashion and technology,” Teitelbaum said, one that was easy to navigate and displayed products in an accessible way. iStore’s interior design more closely resembles that of the cosmetics retailer Sephora, with luxury finishes such as glossy tile floors, spacious design and solid fixtures, than the more utilitaria­n look of a mall-based cellphone store or The Source.

Teitelbaum said he is not deterred by the downturn in the electronic­s market — sales at electronic­s and appliance retailers have fallen to $14.8-billion a year in 2014 from $15.9-billion in 2011, and both Future Shop and Blacks’ Photograph­y have closed in the past year. In the meantime, BCE-owned The Source has been expanding.

And while moving into malls could be viewed as a competitiv­e challenge, it doesn’t seem to phase the CEO, who knows a thing or two about obstacles from spending more than a decade as head of the lingerie chain La Senza’s internatio­nal division.

“It’s not usually the retailer’s choice as to which airport locations open,” he said. iStore has 10 airport iStores in Canada and eight in the United States.

“There is a limited amount of space, and a very competitiv­e bid process goes on for new locations. We will often work for two or three years (to secure one) location. It’s a slow process, but wherever we see an opportunit­y we are pursuing it.”

Beyond expanding slowly into Canadian malls — Teitelbaum has no specific growth targets to share — iStore has identified up to 50 potential U.S. airport sites and is in talks currently with 16 or 17, “with the hope that four or five of them will come to fruition within the next year or two,” Teitelbaum said.

 ??  ?? The iStore boutique in Toronto is among three that opened this year in malls. There are 10 stores in airports across
the country and eight in the United States.
The iStore boutique in Toronto is among three that opened this year in malls. There are 10 stores in airports across the country and eight in the United States.

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