The iconic steakhouse brand Black+Blue, based in Vancouver and owned by the Glowbal Restaurant Group, will be opening its first Toronto establishment later this year, in a prime location at the Exchange Tower, in the First Canadian Place complex, in the heart of the city. “This year marks Glowbal Restaurant Group’s 20th anniversary, and what better way to mark this milestone than by returning home to Toronto where it all started. I am thrilled to be bringing our flagship restaurant and premier steakhouse, Black+Blue, to my hometown and to one of the city’s most iconic buildings – just steps away from where I started my career at the King Edward Hotel. I look forward to bringing old and new friends together at Black+Blue Toronto,” said Emad Yacoub, owner of the Glowbal Restaurant Group.

“We had a vision of growing % Arabica across unique lands and cultures of the world, so that everyone can “See the World Through Coffee”,” shared a spokesperson. “We are so thrilled to be coming to Canada with one of our locations landing inside Toronto’s iconic Union Station. We are excited to share our love for coffee and design with the Canadian market and offer a truly unique coffee experience.”

Toronto’s Union Station is in the process of seeing a transformation that will turn Canada’s busiest and most iconic transit hub into a destination with a mix of retailers and food concepts. A key tenant to the development will be LVMH-owned beauty retailer Sephora which will open at Union Station in 2022.

Upscale French bakery and sweets maker Ladurée has opened its second Toronto location in the heart of the city’s Financial District. It is the fourth Ladurée location in Canada after the company opened its first storefront almost four years ago in Vancouver.

The highly anticipated Hargrave St. Market at True North Square in downtown Winnipeg opened last month to much fanfare. It is already seeing crowds and adding much needed foot traffic to the city’s downtown core.

Construction is set to begin on the project in the spring, which will include a new exterior façade for Manulife Place which the landlord says will include multi-level transparent glazing, as well as large digital signage on the podium exterior…

Italian food concept Eataly has announced the November opening date of its first Canadian location, which will be located in the overhauled retail podium of Toronto’s Manulife Centre at 55 Bloor Street West. The company says that more locations will open in Canada if the right spaces can be found…

Japanese retailer Uniqlo will open a unique storefront this month in Toronto’s Financial District. The 8,157 square foot space, which will remain open until at least October of 2020, will see a monthly rotation of different items from Uniqlo’s ‘LifeWear’ line.

Upscale French bakery and sweets maker Ladurée will open its second Toronto location in November this year in the heart of the city’s Financial District. It will be the fourth Ladurée location in Canada, after the company entered the country by opening a storefront in Vancouver about three and a half years ago.

The busiest transit hub in Canada, Union Station in Toronto, is undergoing a multi-year overhaul that is adding commercial uses to the historic property. The latest phase to be unveiled is Union Station’s new food court, featuring 10 new tenants in a dramatic 25,000 square foot space featuring unique ceiling orbs and ample digital signage.

The Queen St. Fare, set to open on December 7, is a 10,000-square-foot licenced food hall, with a stage for live events, in downtown Ottawa at the Sun Life Financial Centre, 170 Queen Street. The food hall was conceptualized, curated and leased by Toronto-based Beauleigh Retail Leasing Consultants.

The Manulife Centre at 55 Bloor Street West is seeing a transformation that is adding retail space in an expanded podium that will soon house Canada’s first Eataly (spanning about 50,000 square feet over three floors) as well as a new location for Over the Rainbow Jeans, and an updated Birks jewellery store which will feature street-front facades for Breitling, Van Cleef & Arpels and Cartier.

Toronto’s historic Union Station is transforming into a world-class commuter and retail destination. It’s already the busiest transit centre in the country, even surpassing Toronto’s Pearson International Airport, in terms of annual visitors. Union Station’s retail component is seeing an overhaul with plans for more than 100 retail spaces contained within a significant heritage structure that in many ways is the heart of the city.

Toronto-based Deciem, the self-proclaimed ‘Abnormal Beauty Company’, will open a store in July in Toronto’s PATH, in the retail component of the Exchange Tower in the heart of the city’s Financial District. It will be Deciem’s sixth location in the Greater Toronto area, as the beauty brand secures diverse retail spaces in an effort to gain maximum consumer exposure.