Nordstrom Rack expected to serve as big draw for Langley’s Willowbrook mall: retail strategist
Posted September 6, 2019 3:58 pm.
Last Updated September 6, 2019 4:01 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
LANGLEY (NEWS 1130) — With word Nordstrom Rack will open a seventh location at Langley’s Willowbrook mall next spring, one retail strategist says you shouldn’t be surprised to see other big name retailers making their way there.
Willowbrook has lost a number of its anchor stores, and David Ian Gray with DIG360 says if anything, the shopping centre’s owners have likely been using this to ramp up the excitement for other prospective big names.
“As soon as that deal got signed, the management at Willowbrook and other brokers in the area would have been telling prospective tenants that Nordstrom will be in, and trying to attract others. And it’s definitely known as, in the business as an anchor or a draw to that mall,” he says.
This is the first Nordstrom Rack to open in B.C., and joins the likes of locations in Toronto, Ottawa, Calgary and Edmonton. The Seattle-based luxury retailer already has a flagship Nordstrom location at Vancouver’s Pacific Centre, but Gray says picking a 30,000 square foot space in Langley makes sense.
“Anywhere in the suburbs where it’s families trying to manage a budget, that’s a really good place to be for them; where there’s a critical mass of population. I don’t think they’d go any further out in the Valley.”
Gray says people still prefer to shop in stores, and Willowbrook’s move is similar to some of the upgrades seen at spots like Richmond’s McArthurGlen Designer Outlets, where owners are looking to provide shoppers with a wide-ranging selection.
“The top malls are continuing to be very relevant, part of that is to make sure they’re attracting the best retail, and Nordstrom Rack is considered a prime retail tenant. ”
He doubts there will be any negatives for the shopping centre; if anything, independent businesses near the mall that tend to target the same kind of clientele should brace for a bit of a dip in their sales.
“If you’re an independent retailer, or working along but selling fashion, and not really with a well-defined niche or audience, you may lose some business to Nordstrom Rack. For the mall itself, it’s a big win.”
Willowbrook is owned by QuadReal, the property division of B.C.’s public sector pension fund — the BC Investment Management Corporation.
