Joe Fresh Thinking Beyond Manhattan

Joe Fresh, the Canadian apparel brand owned by Loblaws Cos. Ltd. (Brampton, Ont.), is in an expansion mode that might include going overseas.

The first international units will bow in spring 2014, “sooner, rather than later,” Mario Grauso, the company’s new chief operating officer, told Women’s Wear Daily.

In the meantime, the retailer will be opening its sixth New York store this month, in SoHo, and planning on moving beyond Manhattan.

“We think of New York as a country unto itself,” said Joe Mimran, president of Joseph Mimran & Associates Inc. and creative director of the Joe Fresh brand. “We’re always looking at new neighborhoods that are emerging.” Currently, Mimran indicated, that includes Brooklyn.

“What’s happened there in the last five years is amazing,” Mimran told WWD. The store is expected to open in early 2015.

Internationally, “We want to be meaningful in foreign markets,” Grauso said. “We’re looking to do multiple stores and we’re absolutely entertaining partnerships because that’s the only way to progress in a speedy manner. Of course, we’ll go to Europe, Asia and the Middle East. Asia will be the first stop for us. I’m already [having] those meetings.”