New Montreal ba&sh Location Features In-Store Cafe

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French women’s fashion brand ba&sh has opened its second standalone Canadian store in Montreal’s affluent Westmount area. The impressive two-level space is the first to feature an in-store cafe as well as a second level mezzanine intended for events. The Montreal ba&sh store is located at 4932 Sherbrooke Street in a 3,300-square-foot space. That includes a street level spanning about 2,300 square feet, as well as a 1,000-square-foot second level. The main level includes a cafe in a partnership with Montreal-based Pastel Rita — the decor in the ba&sh store was inspired by the St. Laurent Blv. Pastel Rita location. The mezzanine level is intended for special events and is otherwise not accessible to the public.

This spring, ba&sh opened its first Canadian store at the base of the Hazelton Hotel at 118 Yorkville Avenue in Toronto, spanning about 1,300 square feet on one level. Jeff Berkowitz of Aurora Realty Consultants represents ba&sh in Canada and negotiated both lease deals on behalf of the retailer. As part of its Canadian direct-to-consumer expansion, a dedicated Canadian ba&sh e-commerce website will be launched later this year as well. In the fall of 2019, ba&sh launched its Canadian wholesale expansion in a partnership with the Hudson’s Bay Company to open ba&sh shop-in-stores inside Hudson’s Bay locations in Toronto, Montreal, and Vancouver. Holt Renfrew also carries the ba&sh line at its stores in Canada. In Toronto, ba&sh opened a pop-up space at the Yorkville Village shopping centre in Toronto in a partnership with local retailer TNT and it remained open until the new 118 Yorkville Avenue store opened to the public for two days in March of this year (before shutting temporarily along with other retailers because of COVID-19).

Joanna MacLellan