What does the expansion of Simons in Canada mean for the department store?

Your Morning’s Kelsey McEwen speaks with Simons CEO Bernard Leblanc at the opening of the Quebec company’s new location in Toronto.

The secret to success for Simons has been “adapting and changing” to the needs and trends of the marketplace, says the chief executive officer of the Canadian department store.

“The future is more difficult” for a retailer that doesn’t evolve with the times, no matter how long it has been around, Bernard Leblanc told CTV Your Morning on Thursday. Quebec-based Simons has been operating for 185 years in Canada.

“We take inspiration from all of the fashion scenes from around the world,” Leblanc, the company’s first CEO who is not a member of the founding family, said from the new Simons location at Toronto’s Eaton Centre. Nordstrom formerly occupied the space before it exited Canada in 2023.

“Our merchant team is always travelling around the world and looking for that new trend that’s up and coming. We listen to the whispers and we start thinking about how it can be built into the next collections.”

Simons has been expanding in the country in recent months. It has nearly 20 locations across Canada so far. The department store celebrated the opening of its new location at the Eaton Centre in downtown Toronto on Thursday. About a month ago, Simons opened its first Toronto store at Yorkdale Shopping Centre. Meanwhile, other retailers are struggling and have even closed their physical stores, including the country’s iconic 355-year-old retailer Hudson’s Bay.

Why is Simons successful in Canada?

Leblanc said Simons has taken a “very cautious approach” to its expansion.

“It has been done with a lot (of) intent, a lot of reliance on data, and on what the customers have been telling us,” Leblanc told Your Morning.

He called the retailer’s entrance into the Toronto market “a new chapter” and proof that “slow and steady wins the race,” The Canadian Press reported on Aug. 14. The Simons family, which has owned the company for decades, “think in generations” rather than in quarters, he told the news agency.

Simons has its own design team, Leblanc added in the interview with Your Morning on Thursday. He said more than 100 designers work at its headquarters in Quebec City.

Another ingredient to its success? It curates a “very unique assortment of products,” Leblanc told Your Morning.

The retailer’s house brands represent about 70 per cent of stores’ merchandise, he said. Simons sells many products that the market has not seen before, he added.

Bruce Winder, a retail expert in Toronto, told CP24 last month that Simons has done “very well” compared to many of its brick-and-mortar competitors.

La Maison Simons was founded as a dry goods retailer in Quebec City in 1840. The company says it is the country’s oldest family-owned business.

Watch the video above for the full interview.

With files from CP24.com’s Codi Wilson and The Canadian Press