Retail trade | A Nike store will open in Laval

Carrefour Laval will host a high-end Nike store in mid-February.

This will be the first full-fledged Nike store in Quebec. The only two other Nike addresses currently open, at Marché Central and Mirabel, carry the Nike Entrepôt sign, whose products are generally more affordable.

“We are very happy,” said Brian Salpeter, senior vice-president of development at Cadillac Fairview, owner and operator of Carrefour Laval. We are talking about a real high-end Nike store which is right next to the Apple store. »

At the same time, the brand with the Swoosh logo is setting up a flagship store at the Eaton Center in downtown Montreal, with a storefront on Sainte-Catherine Street. The opening is scheduled for next spring. The store of at least 1850 m² (20,000 ft²) takes the place of the Gap sign. This is the second flagship store in Canada, after the Yorkdale shopping center in Toronto, which opened in 2021.

According to the specialized publication Retail Insider, the Israeli group Fox will operate the stores. He signed a seven-year deal with Nike in 2017 to open Nike stores in Canada. This group also has the mandate to bring the Spanish brand Mango back to the country.

In Laval, the Nike retail store has 840 m² (9000 ft²). The chosen location faces Highway 15 between La Baie and Simons. The new tenant replaces the Banana Republic store.

A Nike retail store mainly sells the freshly released Nike products with prices accordingly, while its warehouse version offers an assortment of products that may differ from high-end boutiques and usually come at cheaper prices.

Competition

At Carrefour Laval, the new Nike will compete with Sporting Life, which opened its doors last month. Covering an area of ​​2500 m² (27,000 sq.ft.²), this store mainly sells clothing and sports shoes, often at the high end. Items retail for over $1,000 each.

Nike raised prices last quarter

The sports equipment manufacturer published Tuesday a turnover up 17% in its last quarter, above expectations, offsetting by an increase in the prices of its products the effects of stock and inflation.

The group based in Beaverton, Oregon, achieved 13.3 billion US dollars between September and November, with an increase in turnover in all geographical areas, with the notable exception of “greater China”, which includes mainland China, Macao, Hong Kong and Taiwan.

Nike says it had to deal with increased inventory, raw material and logistics costs, as well as unfavorable currency effects, all of which was “partly offset by strategic pricing action. of its products, according to the statement released Tuesday.

Over the period, its net profit reached 1.3 billion US dollars, stable compared to the same period of the previous financial year, with earnings per share of 0.85 US dollars, against 0.65 US dollars expected by analysts.

The group’s gross profit margin fell, due to unfavorable exchange rate effects, losing 3 percentage points to 42.9%.

Its inventories jumped 43% year-on-year, in line with the increase observed in the previous quarter (44%), due to the persistent disruptions in the supply chain at the start of the year.

Its marketing and administrative expenses are also up 10%, notably due to an increase in salary expenses and strategic investments in technology.

With Agence France-Presse