Marshalls Opens Downtown Toronto Location Today

To the delight of fashionable, bargain-loving and downtown-dwelling young professionals, Marshalls opens its doors today in a massive new downtown location. Taking over 126 John Street, a surely iconic address for longtime Toronto YPs, the 29,000-square foot now retail space is the former Circa Night Club, Lucid (remember?) and Playdium. 

The downtown location reflects Marshalls’ growing expansion into Canada. Once reserved for trips south of the border, Marshalls, one of the world’s leading off-price realtors, launched in Canada last year. It has since opened six stores in 2011 and eight in 2012, in Canada, with over a dozen locations throughout Ontario. With something indescribably more refined to it than Winners (though both are owned by the same company, TJX Companies Inc), Marshalls offers us sometimes cash-strapped YPs the chance to score brand name and designer clothing, shoes and accessories without feeling guilty about it. Significantly lower than department store prices, everything in-store is up to 60 per cent off. 

We checked out the new downtown Marshalls space on media day on Tuesday and our only regret is that we couldn’t stay longer to take advantage of the first-dib shopping situation. We were impressed with the caliber of brands before our eyes, the expansive shoe section, a pretty lingerie area that could rival the likes of La Senza, the bright and inviting change rooms and, of course, the location…which just made movie Sundays at Scotiabank Theatre a lot more fun.  

An ample women’s shoe section displayed some of the season’s must-have boots, flats, rain and active footwear for even the most stylish female. Eye-catchers included Ivanka Trump riding boots, staple Michael Kors flats, beautiful brown and black leather Ralph Lauren boots (which we are hoping we can still get our hands on) and a selection of the perfect “day boot” offered by Florans. Admittedly, we were a little surprised to see no shortage of the designer brands, with Dior, Gucci and Dolce and Gabanna evening shoes at hard-to-resist prices…even if they are only worn once. To complement the shoes, a handbag section featured handbags by Coach, Ralph Lauren and Michael Kors, among others.  

Though we didn’t spend as much time in the men’s section (work meetings called), a few items for the YP male caught our rapidly-wandering eye, like footwear from Sperry, Kenneth Cole, Nike and Adidas, and fall staples like Chaps! men’s active wear, a Michael Kors fall/winter jacket and a crisp and classic Ralph Lauren blazer. 

The best part of these types of stores is never having to wait for a sale. Furthermore, each store and every visit provides an entirely new shopping experience as no two stores sell exactly the same merchandise and stores receive thousands of items weekly. To “borrow” the tagline from Winners: you should go.  

For all Marshalls store locations, visit MarshallsCanada.ca.

Photo courtesy Marshalls