Bape is making a move into Canada.
The Japanese streetwear brand will open a flagship in Vancouver on Friday. The 3,780-square-foot store at 1028 Alberni Street marks the company’s first Canadian store, but it might not be its last.
“We’re very happy that we’re finally coming to Canada through Vancouver as a starting point,” Mahmoud El Salahy, global chief executive officer of Bape, told WWD. “For sure, there will be more opportunities for us in Canada, but we would like to first see how consumers react to our store in Vancouver.”
He stressed that the company, which operates some 150 stores under Bape and related nameplates globally — 40 in North America — is “critical and picky when it comes to our locations.” The majority of the brand’s business is direct-to-consumer and El Salahy believes there is “huge room to expand our footprint in unique locations — either shopping malls or street locations. But we’re very careful about how we expand our footprint — it’s not just about having more stores; it’s about having the right stores and the right locations.”
You May Also Like
Like all of its flagships, the Vancouver store was designed to reflect the local culture. The color palette is inspired by the Vancouver flag, incorporating shades of blue, green and yellow that also speak to the city’s abundance of ocean, forests and sunlight.
“We don’t have one standardized design. Each store has its own unique look and feel, but it still remains and stays Bape when you get into the environment,” El Salahy said.
In addition to the locally influenced design, the store will also feature an exclusive camo capsule and souvenirs along with signature Bape items such as T-shirts, hoodies, sneakers and accessories.
He said that the company has a “huge emphasis” on expanding in North America as well as Asia, specifically Korea where it is opening its first flagship this week. “But North America is our top priority in terms of our footprint expansion as we move forward,” he said. “Business has increased significantly in recent years, and we believe that, at some point in the next five years or so, North America will probably become the biggest market for the Bape brand globally.”
In May, the company will also open a relocated store in Miami, whose design El Salahy said will reflect that city.
A Bathing Ape, shortened to Bape, was founded by Nigo in Tokyo in 1993 and acquired by Hong Kong-based I.T. Apparels Ltd. in 2011. Although El Salahy would not disclose sales, he said the business is “sizable,” with distribution in more than 30 countries.
In order to keep growing, he said, the plan is to continue creating collaborations with high-profile celebrities and key opinion leaders, while working to accelerate digital commerce by improving the customer experience to increase conversions.
And while exclusivity will continue to define the business, the expansion of the store fleet and its product offering will help to bring the collection to more people, he said.
He said Bape’s target customer is an “outlier,” someone who “dares to fearlessly express themselves in everything they do.” They’re attracted primarily to pieces with the ape logo as well as its camouflage products.
El Salahy said the brand has “done a great job with our iconic products such as T-shirts and hoodies. Now it’s time to focus on our outerwear and sneaker business,” while also working to attract more women. He said that — thanks to the power of the female celebrities that have worn the brand, including Alysa Liu, Billie Eilish, Bella Hadid and others — Bape is becoming more popular with women. But by creating more items targeted directly to females, he believes the desirability will increase.
