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<\/p>\nWandering through Simons\u2019s newest store a day before it opened on Thursday, Bernard Leblanc had a quiet confidence despite the busyness surrounding him.<\/p>\n
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Across almost every inch of the flagship store at Yorkdale mall in\u00a0Toronto, staff were scurrying to unwrap and steam the last of the location\u2019s merchandise, vacuum carpets and dress mannequins.<\/p>\n
The seemingly menial tasks belied the enormity of what they were all preparing for: Simons\u2019s entry into the venerable\u00a0Toronto\u00a0market.<\/p>\n
That feat has been a long time coming. La Maison Simons is 185 years old but has taken such a methodical expansion outside its home province of Quebec that it only counted 17 stores until now. While it\u2019s long wanted to head to\u00a0Toronto, it somehow detoured through Halifax, Vancouver and even the city\u2019s outskirts in nearby Mississauga before forging its way into the heart of Ontario on Thursday.<\/p>\n
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Leblanc, the CEO of Simons, sees the entry as both a \u201cnew chapter\u201d for the company and proof that \u201cslow and steady wins the race.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cUltimately, we have owners that don\u2019t think in quarters. We think in generations,\u201d he said of the Simons family.<\/p>\n
They founded the business in Quebec City in 1840 as a dry goods retailer and charted its evolution into a department store beloved by Canadian fashionistas.<\/p>\n
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Leblanc is the first non-family member to hold the company\u2019s top job and so there\u2019s a lot riding on the\u00a0Toronto\u00a0expansion.<\/p>\n
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The retailer will spend a combined $75 million on the Yorkdale store and another to follow at the Eaton Centre this fall. Leblanc expects them to increase the company\u2019s annual sales by 15 per cent to $650 million.<\/p>\n
In some respects, his milestone is coming at a perfect time. The last eight months saw the fall of Simons\u2019 biggest competitor \u2014 355-year-old department store Hudson\u2019s Bay \u2014 and a rise in consumer support for Canadian goods amid the tariff war. Simons\u2019 house brands, including Twik, Ic\u00f4ne, Contemporaine and Le 31, make up 70 per cent of its stores\u2019 merchandise on average.<\/p>\n
While Leblanc is thrilled to see the patriotism having an effect on customers, he\u2019s not relishing the collapse of his rival, which filed for creditor protection under the weight of mounting debt in March.<\/p>\n
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\u201cI\u2019m saddened by the fact that such a historical Canadian icon has left the market,\u201d he said of Hudson\u2019s Bay. \u201cAs a retailer, we like to have a very buoyant and dynamic retail industry, so having somebody exit is always a little bit of a shock to the industry.\u201d<\/p>\n
It was also a reminder to Simons that the company has to keep reinventing itself because \u201chistory and heritage is not a guarantee of success,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Simons has not publicly emerged as a bidder for any of the Bay leases or intellectual property.<\/p>\n
Nor has it \u201caggressively pursued specific brands that we didn\u2019t have because of exits from different people in the industry,\u201d Leblanc said.<\/p>\n
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