Canadian Lawyer InHouse

29 CANADIANLAWYERMAG.COM/INHOUSE JULY 2015 don, Ontario, and Quebec City, which will be about one-tenth the size of its regular outlets. The format allows customers to or- der online and drive to the stores to pick up the goods, to avoid delivery charges. There will also be some of its most popular items on sale inside the outlets. Whether customers will be willing to make the drive to save on shipping costs, remains to be seen, but it is an example of "omni-channel" retailing, one of the cur - rent buzzwords to describe multiple distri- bution channels to customers. It is also an attempt to address the growth in online shopping, a topic that is still an ongoing challenge for retailers and commercial real estate landlords in Canada, says Andrew. "When I attend retail confer - ences, you can see people turn a different colour. Online selling is truly the elephant in the room," he adds. Total online sales for retailers have dou- bled since 2010, according to industry sur- veys. It is still less than 10 per cent of overall sales, although the current figure is expected to double within the next five years. That could mean an increase in commer- cial real estate inventory that is about four times the size of what was made available when Target ended its Canadian opera- tions, estimates Turner. Some of the inven- tory will be "repurposed" says Turner. "But it means less need for space," he adds. For goods that customers want immedi- ately, retailers may be "immune" to online sales, says Andrew. Other areas, such as electronics, "are an enormous threat," he predicts. "You don't need to see it, you buy based on the lowest price," he adds. A comprehensive online presence is key, regardless of the type of retail operation, suggests Borsook. "People will research online and then go into the store to buy it," she says. The challenge for all retailers is to combine online and in-store sales into "a seamless experience" for consumers, says Turner. If there is less demand for overall space, then a retailer's decision on where to put each store is much more significant. "Where are they going to be located? Selection becomes very critical," says Turner. IH colour" that can be sold at outlet malls and which don't impact sales to its more af- fluent customers, he explains. Mixed-use or "urban retail" properties are on the rise in the largest cities in the country, although mostly in downtown areas. One very high-end example is a proposal by a Toronto developer to build an 80-story tower with eight floors of luxury stores, topped by 72 levels of residential units at the corner of Bloor and Yonge, where the men's clothing store Stollerys was located for over a century. The proposed tower is a project that "falls into the wow category," says Borsook. At the same time, it is still an example of a mixed-use property, if on a grander scale. Retail outlets at the base of downtown resi - dential properties for example, do not have to be just a food store, says Borsook. If there is a consistent theme it is that re- tailers are trying to get more value out of each square foot. "Fewer, but more produc- tive stores," says Turner. Ikea Canada announced this spring that it is opening "pick-up point" stores in Lon- Untitled-1 1 2015-06-10 10:49 AM

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