SYDNEY, N.S. — The changing face of Cape Breton's largest shopping mall will soon see one of North American’s most popular clothing stores take up local roots.
Old Navy, known for basic, affordable clothing for men, women and children, and for its colourful marketing campaigns will open at the Mayflower Mall this fall.
It will be the first ever Cape Breton location for the Gap Inc. owned store. Old Navy’s other locations in Nova Scotia are in Dartmouth and Halifax.
“This is huge, this is huge,” said mall manager Greg Morrison. “If you had asked me during the last eight years that I have been here who would be the No. 1 tenant you would like for this market, it would be Old Navy.”
Morrison said efforts to lure the company to Cape Breton were employed several times in the past and he’s glad to see those efforts finally come to fruition.
“They make their decisions on their own. They see the positives of the market they are in.”
This current deal had been in the works for some time but was only recently finalized with Old Navy’s head office and its real estate people.
The latest wooing effort proved successful because “we are at the beginning of something large in this area,” Morrison speculated.
“There are reports of the construction, it is going to be a boom like we haven’t seen in a long time, it appears, between the schools, the hospitals, the community college, and other construction in the area.”
Morrison said the ongoing construction for the FedEx distribution centre in Sydney, positive signs from Membertou and port development are all positive signs for the area.
“I mean, I’m hearing investment numbers … that are very welcoming to us as managers and owners.”
George Karaphillis, dean of the Shannon School of Business at Cape Breton University, said the store opening, as well as the ongoing construction of the FedEx terminal, are indications of quite a bit of purchasing power in Cape Breton.
“They do a lot of market research,” Karaphillis said of the company that owns Old Navy.
“They wouldn’t be opening a store here if they had not done their research that indicated a positive outcome for the business here. That’s a good sign.”
Old Navy’s target market is big, said Karaphillis, and includes young families and young adults. They also have a big kids section.
“The stuff is low cost and when you have kids who are growing fast, you are not looking to buy expensive clothes,” he said.
“That’s where families go and they seem to have good designers because they always seem to be trendy. For a budget conscious kind of a market like Cape Breton that would be a good fit.”
He sees no negatives for local businesses but said big box stores like Mark’s Work Warehouse and Walmart might be impacted.
“It will definitely be affecting Halifax sales, there will be fewer people travelling to Halifax to shop. That’s the closest Old Navy. That would be, I think, the effect it is going to have. I don’t think it will affect anybody else locally.”
An estimated 13,000 square feet will be needed for the store’s Mayflower Mall location, according to Morrison, and Old Navy will take care of all aspects of its operation, including hiring and management.
The mall announced its newest addition through its social media channels Friday morning. The posting on the mall Facebook page alone generated more than 400 messages, mostly positive, in just a few hours.
“Finally,” wrote Pat Savage. “I love this place. Can’t wait.”
An informal survey on the Cape Breton Post Facebook page also produced a mostly positive response.
“This is long overdue for Cape Breton,” wrote Brandon Sears.
“I started shopping Old Navy when my granddaughters were toddlers and I’m still shopping there for myself, and well,” added Judy Hennessey. “I love it.”
The news of Old Navy’s imminent arrival comes shortly after Quebec-based Bizou jewellery closed its Mayflower Mall location, as did Things Engraved.
Morrison said Bizou’s lease had expired, while the Things Engraved closing was a national decision.
A media inquiry to Urban Planet, a clothing store inside the mall, confirmed its imminent closure, as well.
An emailed response to questions indicated the store will close in early February. The reasons for the closure and whether it was permanent or not, were not available.
Despite those closures, Morrison said there’s plenty of interest from other companies to set up shop at the Mayflower Mall.
“We hate to see stores closed,” he said. “It has an effect on the workers of those stores but we hope that we can have new stores for the future that will employ various workers in Cape Breton.”
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