First J. Crew store set to open at Yorkdale Shopping Centre in Toronto

Seven months after apparel retailer J. Crew announced it would be opening across Canada, the first location is confirmed for the Yorkdale Shopping Centre in Toronto.

With its U.S. stores frequented by tourists for the past two decades and Michelle Obama often sporting the relatively affordable higher-end fashions, the announcement of its arrival was met with widespread enthusiasm.

For retailers that have operated in Canada for decades, though, this hype has shed light on their failure to appeal to consumers eager to be seduced by J. Crew. But the largest companies already started to make changes.

Sears, which has struggled in the marketplace, said this week it recruited Loblaw veteran Calvin McDonald as its new chief executive. The store previously announced a deal with "Top Model" personality Jay Manuel to develop a retro-inspired line, Attitude, which will include wide-legged trousers and pencil skirts.

Similar moves have been made in recent years at the Bay, whose president and CEO Bonnie Brooks has sought to give it a more trend-conscious image, and has signed new deals to carry clothing from Topshop, Tommy Hilfiger and the Material Girl line designed by Madonna and her daughter Lola.

These developments coincided with upgrades and expansions at most of Canada's largest shopping centres. With the Bay and Sears entrenched as anchors, their upgrades are anticipated to also bring more traffic to the stores located in between and vice versa.

Despite the apparent popularity of J. Crew, though, it recently misread its customer base.

Mickey Drexler, the former GAP executive who took the reins of J. Crew in 2003, explained to The Globe and Mail the company's recent financial woes were based on his decision to skew the clothing designs younger, away from the more modest classic styles that established its reputation.

The losses it suffered were to the benefit of bargain hunters, of course. The company had to get rid of the ill-conceived merchandise somehow.

So, the real winners in the national race to attract fickle fashion customers might be those who count on discounting items others couldn't sell.

No wonder the owner of Winners, TJX Companies, figured there was room in the Canadian market to introduce a second off-price chain, Marshalls. They will never run out of stuff to fill their racks.

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