Two Calgary malls – CF Chinook Centre and CF Market Mall – are on the top 30 list of the most productive shopping centres in the country, according to a new report by the Retail Council of Canada.
CF Chinook Centre was 6th overall in 2019 with sales per square foot of $1,119 which was up 3.52 per cent from the previous year while CF Market Mall was 16th with $914 sales per square foot which was an increase of 1.67 per cent from 2018.
Even with Calgary’s challenging economy, both CF Chinook Centre and CF Market Mall experienced productivity gains in 2019, said the report.
CF Chinook Centre also surpassed the annual sales per square foot benchmark of $1,100 for the first time after adding retailers such as Louis Vuitton and Saks Fifth Avenue.
For the fourth year in a row, the Canadian Shopping Centre Study, developed by Retail Council of Canada (RCC) and sponsored by Engagement Agents, ranked Toronto’s Yorkdale Shopping Centre as the most productive shopping centre in Canada with annual sales per square feet of $1,964, which was up 3.1 per cent from a year ago. As of June 30, 2019, 11 shopping centres in Canada had annual average sales per square foot surpassing $1,000. Given growth projections for 2020, as many as 14 Canadian shopping centres could see their annual sales per square foot exceed $1,000, said the report.
If Yorkdale sees just a two per cent increase in 2020, it will surpass $2,000 per square feet annually – the new ‘high benchmark’ for shopping centres in Canada. In the United States, only a handful of centres have surpassed the $2,000 benchmark (in US dollars), including Bal Harbour Shops in Florida, The Grove in Los Angeles, and the Mall at Rockingham Park in Salem New Hampshire.
On the top 30 list of shopping centres in Canada, following Yorkdale is CF Pacific Centre in Vancouver with sales per square feet of $1,865, up 10.36 per cent from the previous year followed by CF Toronto Eaton Centre at $1,592 and a hike of 2.31 per cent. Park Royal Shopping Centre in West Vancouver experienced a stunning 46.83 per cent year-over-year hike to $1,342 and rounding out the top five malls was Southgate Shopping Centre in Edmonton at $1,121 but sales were off by 0.62 per cent from the previous year.
Park Royal had the highest increase tracked over the past four years in this Retail Council of Canada study. Landlord Larco attributes the gain to increased foot traffic from a newly-opened VIP Cineplex Cinema, highly productive retailers such as Tesla, and the addition of new retail tenants.
Canadian shopping centre productivity numbers were provided by landlords for non-anchor reporting commercial retail units for the 12 months ending June 30, 2019.
“CF Chinook Centre features a wide range of retailers, including fast fashion and luxury brands. Anchor stores Nordstrom and Saks Fifth Avenue are upscale draws, and a stand-alone Louis Vuitton store opened in 2018. Other new upscale retailers include Mackage and Matt & Nat. The centre’s food court recently underwent a $17 million overhaul. Future plans include a south expansion that could include mixed-use and an indoor-outdoor retail configuration. New tenants will soon be announced,” said the national study.
Mario Toneguzzi is a business reporter in Calgary.
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