Canada Goose is literally giving customers the cold shoulder with a new retail concept called “The Journey.” It’s an ambitious undertaking, reflecting increased efforts by brick-and-mortar retailers to give customers experiences that cannot be replicated online.
The Journey brings together 60-foot wide curved video screens displaying 4K video, sound, interactive hotspots—even real snow—to fully immerse customers in the Arctic conditions its products are designed to conquer.
Opened at Toronto’s Sherway Gardens on Dec. 5, the inventory-free concept is designed to push the boundaries of e-commerce and retail, says Canada Goose president and CEO Dani Reiss.
“In retail, experience is everything—and trying on a Canada Goose jacket for the first time is a powerful experience,” said Reiss. “This new store amplifies that moment by creating an environment that digitally and physically transports people into the Arctic in innovative, surprising, and inspiring ways.”
Visitors to The Journey can browse Canada Goose’s full product lineup and place an order for same-day home delivery for products ordered before 1:30 p.m.
Guests first encounter the retail environment via a two-storey high facade featuring an image of a glacier. They enter the “store” via a narrow crevasse that has the sound of ice cracking beneath their feet.
The concept also features a display of Canada Goose’s Snow Mantra parkas complete with five interactive “hotspots” that enable guests to explore their specific functions and features. When visitors touch one of the hotspots, 4K content about that specific area of the parka will play on a screen beside the display.
The centrepiece of the concept is the “cold room,” where the temperature is set at a frosty -12 degrees Celsius and guests wearing a Canada Goose parka are surrounded by a floor-to-ceiling Arctic landscape. Canada Goose has previously utilized the cold room concept at several stores, including Banff, Montreal, Boston, Hong Kong and Tokyo, but the Toronto execution marks the first time it has incorporated both digital projections and real snow.
The room also shows a pair of films narrated by its so-called “Goose People”—including four-time Yukon Quest and Iditarod champion Lance Mackey and Indigenous activist/artist Sarain Fox.
