Birks Group Inc. (the “Company,” “Birks” or “Birks Group”) (NYSE MKT LLC: BGI), and Ivanhoé Cambridge announced today the signing of an agreement for the opening of five Birks stores at Ivanhoé Cambridge shopping centres in Canada.
Under this agreement, two new Birks stores will open this coming October at Oshawa Centre (Oshawa, Ontario) and Guildford Town Centre (Surrey, British Columbia). Three other Birks stores now located at Bayshore Shopping Centre (Ottawa, Ontario), Southgate Centre (Edmonton, Alberta) and Place Ste-Foy (Quebec City, Quebec) have had their leases renewed for the long term. All three stores will also be relocated to new, entirely renovated spaces.
The new Birks stores at Oshawa Centre and Guildford Town Centre, as well as the relocated stores at Bayshore Shopping Centre, Southgate Centre and Place Ste-Foy, are designed around a “monobrand” concept, where customers are offered only Birks collection products. The size of the new stores, at about 1,100 ft2 (102 m2) each, will enable Birks to offer a selection of its most popular collections, including silver, gold and diamond jewelry, along with diamond engagement rings and wedding bands. The new stores’ design is inspired by the very latest concept developed by Birks and unveiled for the recent opening of the Birks store at Yorkdale Shopping Centre in suburban Toronto.
“We are pleased to announce the opening of new stores in partnership with Ivanhoé Cambridge, which will enable us to expand Birks’ visibility in Canada with a store format tailored to each regional market,” said Jean-Christophe Bédos, President and Chief Executive Officer, Birks. “The construction of new stores reflects our desire to constantly stay attuned to the preferences of our customers across the country, and the choice of the monobrand format is in line with our goal of continuing to grow the Birks brand.”
Claude Sirois, President, Retail, Ivanhoé Cambridge, said: “We are extremely proud to maintain and grow our partnership with Birks, Canada’s leading jeweller. Our customers are increasingly demanding and they expect us to continually enhance both the physical and online shopping experience. Today’s announcement perfectly fulfils this promise.”