When a new luxury retailer from the U.S. decided to open its first store outside the country in Toronto in 2021, no one was surprised that Yorkville was the location of choice. The Webster, a multi-brand luxury shop that found success in multiple high-traffic cities south of the border (including New York City’s SoHo and The Beverly Center in Los Angeles), unveiled its signature pink facade in the fall of 2021 on Scollard Street. But it turns out the retailer was no match for Toronto’s fashion scene. The Webster announced on Thursday that the Yorkville location — and its only Canadian outpost — is closing.
“The Sun Sets in Toronto,” reads the dramatic title on The Webster’s Instagram post. “The Webster Toronto will be closing its doors after many wonderful years in Toronto.”
The post noted that any last-minute shopping or stylist appointments can be done until Dec. 27, after which the store will close for good.
This marks yet another U.S. department store concept that has failed in the Canadian market. Earlier this year, all Saks Fifth Avenue and Saks Off 5th stores closed in Canada as part of Hudson’s Bay Company’s liquidation. Nordstrom closed down in Canada, shuttering all 13 stores, in early 2023. A Canadian department store, Simons, has since taken its place, taking over some of the former Nordstrom storefronts when it launched in Toronto this year.
While The Webster isn’t a traditional department store — it operates as more of a multi-brand boutique — it marks another successful U.S. brand finding challenges translating its concept to a Canadian audience.
If you’ve never stepped foot inside that pink storefront before, now is your chance: the farewell sale is pretty huge. Many items are 60 per cent off, and there’s an additional 40 per cent off on the entire store — including the pieces already 60 per cent off. That means you can score a Courrèges puffer jacket, normally $1,580, for $380 plus tax.
The Webster stocks top designer brands, ranging from Loewe and Alaia to Miu Miu and Maison Mihara, so their closing sale might be an opportunity to build up (or start) your high-end fashion collection.
However, not everything in the store is for sale: for those who have visited the shop before, you may recall being greeted by a life-sized pink bear, sculpted by Italian artist Paola Pivi. But if you’ve been dreaming of taking home a not-so-little keepsake from the retailer, bad news: the bear is off-limits!
It’s unclear why The Webster couldn’t find success in a Canadian market. Some might expect that the location, in a historic brick building, played a role. Scollard Street is one of the least-travelled streets in the Yorkville neighbourhood, filled mostly with quiet townhouses, hair salons and other beauty clinics. The retailer also opened in the midst of the pandemic, and Toronto has had a slow return to downtown life. The city has lagged behind most other major cities in the return to the office, with fewer average days per week than Paris, Singapore, New York, Sydney and London.
Conversations with members of the in-store Toronto team suggest that The Webster didn’t put enough into marketing, relying too strongly on organic reach through Instagram. And without any other Canadian outposts (the brand originally hinted at a Vancouver location, but that never transpired), national marketing was limited and difficult as well.
The Webster Toronto’s closure will leave a hole in Yorkville’s retail scene, especially as one of the only multi-brand luxury shops in the city. Maybe another Canadian concept will take its place!
