On a stretch of 1.9 kms, sandwiched between Yonge Street and the Royal Ontario Museum, lies the posh district of Bloor Street where the rich buy their Louis Vuittons and Hermes. These days of the pandemic, 17 stores or boutiques are closed, 8 of which have the sign “prime retail for lease” stuck to their windows. Never in my Canadian life, since I first set foot here in 1974, has there been that many vacancies, until now. While I can’t remember which boutiques ceased operating in Bloor, one store stood out for me — the Gap which is not even high-end but had 3 levels of shopping space which I would visit when I needed new shirts or items for Christmas gifts.

Vicki M. Young in Sourcing Journal’s article dated December 31, 2020, reported that more than 11,000 fashion-related stores in the US  closed in 2020 because of Covid 19. These stores had branches here in Canada which also closed. When lockdowns started, most carried the wrong merchandise. Focus shifted on athleisure wear or comfortable clothes worn while working from home. Already struggling before the pandemic, some were unable to switch to digital commerce or online shopping that the virus just accelerated their demise.

In Canada, a famous Montreal-based apparel store which existed for 60 years became a victim to the pandemic. Struggling even before March 2020, Le Chateau filed for bankruptcy protection and liquidated its assets in October 2020. As well, Aldo, Mountain Equipment Co-op, Ricki’s, Cleo + Bootlegger, Group Dynamite, Ann Canada which carry Ann Taylor and LOFT applied for credit protection at the start of the pandemic. Reitman’s (Canada Ltd) liquidated Addition Elle and Thyme Maternity Stores and focused on Reitman’s, Pennington’s and RW & Co.  Brett Bundale of CTV News reported on December 11, 2020 on the observation of retail analysts over the lack of strong e-commerce presence in the industry which failed to see the shift in consumer behaviour when lockdowns were instituted. On the other hand, Lululemon and Urban Outfitters which sell athletic wear, loungewear, and outdoor wear flourished because they managed to integrate online shopping with in-person shopping.

On May 24th, 2021, CBC’s Jacqueline Hanson enumerated 5 top-selling items in March: t shirts, jeans, active pants, coats and non-sport bras, as reported by NPD Canada and confirmed by Statistics Canada, which released figures reflecting an increase of “almost 24% in March” in clothing and accessories sales. While sales of clothes for social gatherings went down, one interesting thing was reported: 28% of Canadians aged 28 to 34 plan to shop and wear new clothes.

CTV News’ Jordan Press reported on March 11, 2021, on the speed of recovery of job market in relation to consumer spending. Noteworthy was the mention of $5,800. With businesses closed because of restrictions and consumers hesitant on leaving the safety of their homes where they worked, Canadians saved an average of $5,800. Lawrence Schembi, Bank of Canada Deputy Governor, says that the manner and the time in which these savings get spent will affect economic recovery of the country. “There is much uncertainty about what Canadians will do with these savings.”, he reiterated. Curious how much of the savings will go to apparel. One bright note to this uncertainty was seeing the queues in Winners at College and Yonge which went for a block and a half, Nordstrom Rack at Bloor and Yonge which was about a block long, and H&M’s flagship store across Yonge and Dundas Square which stretched close to Bay Street when Ontario opened in-person shopping in retail stores.

Despite this relentless assault by the pandemic on the garment retail industry in Canada, I see hope for its survival. Looking at the people in the queues, waiting for their turn to go inside the stores, I saw a fair distribution of millennials, Gen X and baby boomers all anxious to buy something, anything, in the stores. Perhaps, the uncertainty on where and how that $5,800 savings would be spent has started to become a certainty.

In the pic by Ricky Castellvi, sign by the window of a once-occupied high-end store in Bloor