Bretton's was a high-end
department store
A department store is a retail establishment offering a wide range of consumer goods in different areas of the store, each area ("department") specializing in a product category. In modern major cities, the department store made a dramatic app ...
in
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
from 1985 to 1996.
The first two Bretton's stores were opened in
Ottawa
Ottawa (, ; Canadian French: ) is the capital city of Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River in the southern portion of the province of Ontario. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the core ...
in 1985 by the parent company,
Comark Incorporated. Comark (founded 1976), owned by the
Brenninkmeijer family
Brenninkmeijer (german: Brenninkmeyer) is a Roman Catholic Dutch/German/Swiss family of manufacturers, which own an international chain of clothing stores. Originally the family came from Tecklenburger Land (Westphalia), selling linen in Frie ...
of the
Netherlands
)
, anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau")
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, subdivision_type = Sovereign state
, subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands
, established_title = Before independence
, established_date = Spanish Netherl ...
, had owned many retail chains including
Ricki's,
Bootlegger,
Clark Shoes,
Collacut Luggage and
D'Aillards. The family also owns the
C&A chain of department stores in Europe.
[''The Globe and Mail'', "Meet the Green Family", 10 September 2008, p.B1]
Brettons sold clothing and cosmetics, in order to focus on high-margin, high-turn merchandise. Their stores were typically 60,000 square feet (6,000 m²), smaller than a typical department store.
Comark aimed to establish 40 to 50 branches of Bretton's, but was blocked by existing department stores who generally had clauses in their shopping centre leases allowing them to approve or reject leases to other stores
Locations
*
Ottawa
Ottawa (, ; Canadian French: ) is the capital city of Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River in the southern portion of the province of Ontario. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the core ...
:
Rideau Centre
The Rideau Centre (french: Centre Rideau) (corporately styled as CF Rideau Centre) is a three-level shopping centre on Rideau Street in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. It borders on Rideau Street, the ByWard Market, the Rideau Canal, the Mackenzie Ki ...
*
Ottawa
Ottawa (, ; Canadian French: ) is the capital city of Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River in the southern portion of the province of Ontario. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the core ...
:
St. Laurent Shopping Centre
St. Laurent Centre (French: ''Centre St-Laurent'') is a shopping mall located in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. It is owned and operated by Morguard, Morguard REIT. The shopping mall is located just north of Highway 417 (Ontario), Highway 417 at the co ...
*
Toronto
Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...
:
Manulife Centre
The Manulife Centre is located on the southeast corner of Bay and Bloor streets, along the Mink Mile and adjacent to the southern edge of the Yorkville district of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It consists of a 51-storey 800-suite luxury resident ...
*
Toronto
Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...
:
Sherway Gardens
Sherway Gardens (corporately known as CF Sherway Gardens) is a large retail shopping mall in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The mall is located west of Downtown Toronto, near the interchange of Highway 427 with the Queen Elizabeth Way and Gardiner Ex ...
*
Vaughan
Vaughan () (2021 population 323,103) is a city in Ontario, Canada. It is located in the Regional Municipality of York, just north of Toronto. Vaughan was the fastest-growing municipality in Canada between 1996 and 2006 with its population increas ...
:
The Promenade
*
Winnipeg
Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the province of Manitoba in Canada. It is centred on the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine rivers, near the longitudinal centre of North America. , Winnipeg had a city population of 749,6 ...
:
Polo Park
Polo Park (corporately styled as CF Polo Park) is a shopping centre in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. It is situated on the former Polo Park Racetrack near the junction of Portage Avenue and St. James Street. Its grounds also includes a Scotiaban ...
Shopping Centre
*
Calgary
Calgary ( ) is the largest city in the western Canadian province of Alberta and the largest metro area of the three Prairie Provinces. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806, makin ...
:
Chinook Centre
Chinook Centre (formally branded as "CF Chinook Centre") is the largest shopping mall in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. It is located near the geographic centre of the city on Macleod Trail (Calgary), Macleod Trail, north of Glenmore Trail about sout ...
*
Calgary
Calgary ( ) is the largest city in the western Canadian province of Alberta and the largest metro area of the three Prairie Provinces. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806, makin ...
:
Market Mall
CF Market Mall is one of the largest malls (by area) in Calgary, Alberta, Canada (900,490 square feet/83,658.3 m²). It is located in Varsity, a suburban neighbourhood in the city's northwest quadrant on Shaganappi Trail. The mall is jointly ow ...
*
Edmonton
Edmonton ( ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Alberta. Edmonton is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Alberta's central region. The city ancho ...
:
West Edmonton Mall
West Edmonton Mall (WEM) is a shopping mall in Edmonton, Alberta, that is owned, managed, and operated by Triple Five Group. It is the second most visited mall in Canada, after the Toronto Eaton Centre in Toronto, followed by Metrotown Mall in B ...
*
Burnaby
Burnaby is a city in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia, Canada. Located in the centre of the Burrard Peninsula, it neighbours the City of Vancouver to the west, the District of North Vancouver across the confluence of the Burrard I ...
, B.C.: Eaton Centre
Metrotown
*
Mississauga
Mississauga ( ), historically known as Toronto Township, is a city in the Canadian province of Ontario. It is situated on the shores of Lake Ontario in the Regional Municipality of Peel, adjoining the western border of Toronto. With a popul ...
:
Square One Shopping Centre
Square One Shopping Centre, or simply Square One, is a shopping mall located in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada. It is the largest shopping centre in Ontario and the second largest shopping centre in Canada, after the West Edmonton Mall. It h ...
See also
*
List of Canadian department stores
References
{{reflist
Department stores of Canada
Defunct retail companies of Canada
Retail companies established in 1985
Canadian companies established in 1985