| Type | Privately held company |
|---|---|
| Industry | Retail |
| Founded | 1837 (Quebec City, Quebec, Canada) |
| Headquarters | Toronto, Ontario, Canada |
| Products | Clothing and accessories, footwear, fragrances, jewellery, beauty products |
| Website | http://www.holtrenfrew.com/ |
Holt Renfrew (also commonly known as Holt's)[1] is a chain of high-end Canadian department stores. It is comparable to Barneys New York[2] and Saks Fifth Avenue[3] in the United States, and to two other upmarket chains owned by the same family, Britain's Selfridges and Ireland's Brown Thomas.[4] Once the "Furrier-in-Ordinary" to Queen Victoria, the chain began in 1837 as a hat shop in Quebec City.[5]
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With a small assortment of caps and hats, William S. Henderson of Derry, Ireland, arrived in Quebec City in 1834. He joined the retailing firm of Ashton and Company in 1835. After buying controlling interest in 1837, he renamed the company after himself, and opened a store on rue Buade.[5][6]
In 1849, Henderson started selling furs, and three years later, sold the shop to his brother, John Henderson. In 1860, George Richard Renfrew, who had been an employee, bought a partnership, and the firm became Henderson, Renfrew & Co. In 1867, John Holt bought out Henderson's remaining interest, and the company eventually was renamed Holt Renfrew & Co. Ltd. in 1908.[5]
The company built a reputation for furs that was solidified in 1886 when the firm had the honour of being appointed "Furrier-in-Ordinary to her Majesty" by Queen Victoria. The company eventually received five generations of Royal Warrant.[5][6]
The company expanded to Montreal, and in 1889 it extended into Ontario with the opening of a Toronto store. Stores followed in Winnipeg in 1910, Ottawa in 1942, Hamilton in 1945, Edmonton in 1950, and Calgary and London in 1953. The chain also opened outlets in some of the country's most notable hotels, including the Royal York, the Château Frontenac, and the Château Laurier.[6] Holt Renfrew's expansion across the country continued in the next two decades, with locations opening in Toronto's Yorkdale Shopping Centre in 1964, Ste-Foy in 1965 and Vancouver in 1975.[7]
In the 1930s, the company began entering into exclusive accounts with some of the best designers in Europe and the United States to sell their fashions in Canada. In 1947, Holt Renfrew began a relationship with Christian Dior and his "New Look" that continues to this day.[7] Many well-known upscale designers have since been added.[5]
The firm was purchased by New York financiers CIT Group Incorporated in 1965, and resold in 1972 to the American retail chain Carter Hawley Hale, which also owned Neiman Marcus and Bergdorf Goodman at that time. In 1979, the Holt Renfrew head office was moved from Montreal to Toronto.[8] This move coincided with the opening of the new flagship store at 50 Bloor Street West in Toronto.[7]
Holt Renfrew returned to Canadian ownership when Galen Weston bought the chain in 1986.[5] Through George Weston Limited, Wittington Investments, and other holding companies, the Weston family owns or controls over 200 companies, including Canada's largest food retailer, Loblaw Companies Limited, and upscale department stores Brown Thomas in Ireland and Selfridges in the United Kingdom.
Weston and his wife, Hilary Weston, immediately sought to revitalize the chain, which was perceived to have been in decline during its time under absentee ownership. Well-known retail designer Naomi Leff was hired to guide store renovations, new designer boutiques were opened, and changes were made to the merchandise mix.[8] A new high-end Holt Renfrew magazine was launched in 1987, Point of View, which was renamed Holts in 2000 and split into separate men's and women's editions in 2006.[7]
In 2004, Holt Renfrew was named "Store of the Year" by the National Association of Store Fixture Manufacturers at its 33rd annual Retail Design Awards.[9] Later that year, Caryn Lerner took the reins as firm president, succeeding Andrew Jennings, who left in February to head up Saks Fifth Avenue. Lerner has held senior management positions at QVC, Jones New York, Barneys New York and Bloomingdale's. She had most recently headed Escada.[10]
In 2005, the chain launched another rebranding exercise, including the introduction of a new logo, led by Alannah Weston, the daughter of Galen Weston. Other changes included the return of children's wear to the chain's stores, a drastic increase in floor area devoted to footwear, store renovations and the construction of new and larger stores in Vancouver and Calgary. Holt Renfrew retained the New York City-firm of Janson Goldstein to design the new Vancouver and Calgary stores, which opened in 2007 and 2009 respectively.[11]
Holt Renfrew bills itself as "a national retail specialty store of international renown and the headquarters for the world’s most prestigious brands and innovative designers".[5] It currently operates nine stores, located in Toronto (on Bloor Street, and in Yorkdale Shopping Centre and Sherway Gardens), Montreal, Quebec City (Ste.-Foy), Ottawa, The Core Shopping Centre in Downtown Calgary, Manulife Place in Downtown Edmonton and Pacific Centre mall in Downtown Vancouver.[5] There is also a "Last Call" end-of-the-line store at Vaughan Mills in Vaughan, Ontario.[5] The Last Call outlet in Winnipeg closed in 2007,[12] but Holt Renfrew operates personal shopping suites and a cosmetics outlet in that city.[13]
The Bloor Street (Toronto), Montreal and Edmonton locations include Holt's Café, an informal diner-like restaurant concept, that features tartine made from Poilane bread that is flown in directly from Paris, France.[5]
Holt Renfrew also contributed to promote new brands, such as Greta Constantine, designed by Kirk Pickersgill and Stephen Wong. [14]