Home Outfitters accelerates openings

Staff -- Home Textiles Today, 3/31/2003 12:00:00 AM

TORONTO —

Home Outfitters, the specialty home fashions chain from Hudson's Bay Co., will open nine new stores, including eight in new markets, bringing the chain's total store count to 46, the company announced last week.

Home Outfitters was launched in 1999. In Quebec, it operates under the name of Déco Découverte. It's the largest superstore format of its kind in Canada, the company asserted, with an average footprint of 34,000 square feet.

"The customer response to the Home Outfitters concept has been overwhelmingly positive, and, as a result, the rate at which we open stores continues to accelerate. Our goal is to continue to expand this chain over the next few years," said Bill Morrison, general manager.

Besides adding stores to its existing markets of Calgary, Alberta, Toronto, Ontario and Montreal, the company will also enter Halifax, Nova Scotia; Windsor, Ontario, Quebec City, Quebec; and Kelowna, British Colombia.

"We are encouraged by the acceptance and recognition of Home Outfitters as the premier home decor destination for Canadians," said March Chouinard, president and coo, The Bay. "We are able to participate in the growth of the power-center format with a proven concept."