Holt Renfrew Expands hr2

Holt Renfrew (Toronto), the Canadian luxury retailer, has opened its second hr2 off-price store, in the Vaughan Mills center. The first hr2 store opened in March at the Quartier DIX30 shopping center in Montreal.

The one-level store is 26,000 square foot. It has been designed, in a minimalist fashion, by Janson Goldstein, the New York firm that has also designed some of Holt’s most luxurious full stores.

Heather Arts, vp of hr2, told Women’s Wear Daily that the chain is “not an off-the-rack operation. There is a clear personality and DNA to the store.”

According to WWD, hr2 is being described as a “premium off-price store with about 150 contemporary and designer labels sold at 25 to 60 percent off.”

“Seventy-percent of the product is from the same brands that Holt Renfrew carries, but the products are not the same,” Arts told WWD. The store will be a seasonal representation of contemporary labels and designer brands.

The roster of about 150 brands carried in the store include Alice + Olivia, Diane von Furstenberg, Splendid, Michael Michael Kors, Cole Haan, Ray-Ban, Seven For All Mankind, Nicole Miller, Elie Tahari, House of Harlow, Naked and Famous Denim, Anzie and Hunter. “Women’s will represent about 50 percent of the volume,” reported WWD, and “men’s, 20 percent, with footwear, accessories and jewelry representing the remaining 30 percent.”

A few of the better brands will be creating limited private label hr2 merchandise selections groups. A women’s cashmere line under the hr2 label is being developed for the fall.

“Hr2 has a separate buying team from Holt Renfrew,” said WWD.