Forever 21, the Californiabased fashion Goliath with stores around the world, is coming to the Uptown shopping Centre in Saanich.
The chain is known for hot new fashions at budgetconscious prices. When it opens - likely in spring 2013 - Forever 21 will be facing off against Victoria's first Target store, another U.S. retailer scheduled to open at the same time, in the Tillicum shopping centre. The region's second Target is slated to open in 2014 at Hillside Centre.
Greater Victoria shopping centres are vying to be the first on Vancouver Island to attract trendy fashion stores.
A spokesperson for Forever 21 could not be reached Monday.
Saanich issued a building permit last Wednesday for $1.1 million in tenant improvements for Forever 21 at 109-3600 Uptown Blvd. The permit is for a two-storey space of about 21,000 square feet.
Roberta Ferguson, Uptown general manager, would not comment specifically on Forever 21. She said stores make their own announcements about where and when they are opening.
Ferguson said talks have been going on with three large fashion retailers for space in 3600 Uptown Blvd., the building facing the centre's new town plaza.
Each store would be two levels and have about 14,000 to 20,000 square feet, she said. The aim is for all to open by spring 2013. "This is offering new-to-the-Island retailers, a very unique shopping atmosphere that just hasn't been available before," she said.
Major construction work has been completed in the second phase of Uptown, a $300-million mixed use development at the north end of Douglas Street. The rest of the parkade and escalators are expected to open in late October or early November, she said.
"The public has been asking for these type of retailers for a long, long time. They are very popular and they all mix well together. The Island, I think, has been needing these fashion retailers for a long time," Ferguson said.
Forever 21 has 21 stores across Canada, including Burnaby and Richmond. A third in B.C. will be opening on Robson Street. The company has more than 480 stores in the U.S. and has grown rapidly since founder Do Won Chang opened the first store in 1984. It has a strong international presence with stores in Europe, Israel, Japan, Korea, the Philippines and Thailand.
In November 2011, Forbes ranked Forever 21 at No. 162 among America's largest private companies, with revenues of $2.6 billion, assets of $1.4 billion and 27,228 employees.
When Forever 21 opened its first B.C. outlet in Burnaby's Metropolis at Metrotown in 2009, excitement buzzed through the centre as shoppers packed both levels of the two-storey outlet.
Artie Chumpol, Metropolis spokeswoman, said Forever 21 "is quite significant to us. It draws a lot of the fashionista, teenage-early twenties people into the centre, who are looking for the latest trends but in a more cost-effective way."
Statistics Canada's latest retail report said sales dipped by 0.4 per cent in July, but were up 1.7 per cent year-over-year nationally. Clothing was among the strongest retail performer with a monthly increase of 0.2 per cent and a yearly rise of 5.1 per cent.
David Soberman, professor of marketing at the University of Toronto, said Canada's retail landscape has gone through an upheaval in the past decade and that is going to continue.
Zeller's stores are shutting down across Canada, the Bay stores are moving up-market and emphasizing fashion, and Sears is working on its turn-around plan. Although Forever 21 has been in Canada for years, other American companies are starting to move in, such as Target, Marshalls and Nordstrum.
Forever 21 is putting itself in an upscale position and is like a new version of Gap or Le Chateau, Soberman said. It is responding to stores such as Zara and H&M, which offer current fashions, and it wants to be the first place shoppers can get new trends.
