Simons part of Rideau Centre revitalization

An artist's rendering of how Simons' storefront will look at the redeveloped Rideau Centre in Ottawa, Ont. (Courtesy: Rideau Centre)

Another addition is coming to downtown Ottawa to add to the already growing retail destination.

Simons, a clothing and home décor store, is scheduled to open in the CF Rideau Centre on August 11^th of this year.

La Maison Simons started in Quebec in 1840 and has since branched to 13 different locations across Canada. It is a family run business going back five generations.

“We’ll be one of the only, or fewer, Canadian private family businesses left in retail. We’ve got some unique things from our merchandise, to our service, to our store décor,” said Peter Simons, the president of La Maison Simons.

Bringing Simons to the capital is part of a much large revitalization plan at the Rideau Centre. It will be the anchor of the newest wing near the mall’s front entrance on the third and fourth floor.

“We’ve been under construction since 2013, we’ve opened a new dining hall and some new retailers, and we’ve renovated the interior and the exterior of the property. We opened Nordstrom last year and the last piece of the puzzle is the opening of our expansion,” said Cindy Vanbuskirk, the GM at the CF Rideau Centre.

Other stores coming to the same wing will be H&M, Anthropology, Massimo Dutti, and a new home for Zara. Vanbuskirk said the combined cost for renovations at Rideau is $360 million dollars.

Peter Simon’s said the timing was right to move into Ottawa’s downtown.

“I think we’ve been looking at Ottawa for the last 20 years and really we’re a small company, we don’t have unlimited resources so we’ve had to make decisions, but I think in the last 20 years now more than ever there is a real vision for the downtown core.

It will become a new attraction in an already growing destination.

“We’re going to see all kinds of new features here, construction starting this fall, we’re also anxiously awaiting the opening of the Andaz Hotel, the first in Canada, they chose the market, and really we’ve got LRT coming, the Rideau Centre expansion. It’s big changes for Ottawa,” said Jasna Jennings, Executive Director of the Byward Market BIA.