Crate & Barrel Heads North

Euromarket Designs Inc. (Northbrook, Ill.) has confirmed that it will begin the expansion of its Crate & Barrel chain outside the U.S. in Toronto in fall 2008.

According to The Toronto Star, the retailer said it will open its first store outside the U.S. in Toronto's Yorkdale Shopping Centre. “We hope to have more in Toronto and our expansion plans call for more stores in Canada,” said a Crate & Barrel spokeswoman. “We feel Canada is a very sophisticated and interesting market and a natural choice for our first international expansion.”

She did not provide details on the number of stores Crate & Barrel has planned for Canada, nor on future locations outside the Toronto area. But observers said Calgary and Vancouver are likely choices.

The company operates 145 stores in the U.S.

Construction on the two-story, 35,000-square-foot store is scheduled to begin in June. A few tenants, such as Tip Top Tailors and Eddie Bauer, will be relocated elsewhere in the 1.6 million-square-foot, 240-store mall which recently reported sales of $1000 (Canadian) per square foot, the highest of any mall in Canada.