The Globe and Mail, citing unnamed industry sources, reported Thursday that Nordstrom Inc. from Seattle will take over the three locations that Sears will leave this fall after selling back its leases to landlord Cadillac Fairview Corp. for $170-million earlier this year.
According to media report, Nordstrom could soon occupy the Rideau Centre, the Pacific Centre in Vancouver and Chinook Centre in Calgary, as well as a fourth location in Toronto’s Sherway Gardens.
While the Rideau Centre and its owner, Cadillac Fairview, remain mum on who will fill the Sears space, the mall’s general manager Cindy VanBuskirk said last fall that a number of retailers would be a good fit in the Ottawa market, including Crate & Barrel, Victoria’s Secret, J. Crew, Anthropologie and H&M. Other examples Ms. VanBuskirk provided include Juicy Couture, Brooks Brothers, Williams-Sonoma and Pottery Barn.
Nordstrom could not immediately be reached for comment, but the company has yet to make any public announcement of its apparent plans to expand into Canada.
In March, Sears announced it would be closing its 240,000-square-foot Rideau Centre store by the end of October, along with locations in Vancouver and Calgary.
Despite plans announced earlier this year to cut roughly 400 jobs across the country, Sears opened its largest Sears Home store ever in Ottawa last month, filling 79,000 square feet of the old Ikea store in the Pinecrest Shopping Centre.
The $2-million move from its previous, smaller location in the same mall is part of an effort by the struggling Canadian company to focus on its strengths, said Sears Canada president and CEO Calvin McDonald at the store’s grand opening.
Sears has roughly 30,000 employees across Canada and more than 400 corporate, dealer and home services stores.
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