The Journey: A Canada Goose Experience Opens at Toronto’s CF Sherway Gardens

On December 5, Canada Goose opened its doors to The Journey: A Canada Goose Experience at CF Sherway Gardens in Toronto. The one-of-a-kind shopping experience is like anything you’ve ever seen before and completely unexpected from its exterior. The adventure begins with the customer walking over cracking ice in The Crevasse, leading to The Elements Room which is surrounded by projections of the environment in British Columbia around the mannequin installation. The Glacier Wall features interactive lasers that highlight the features of the jackets, including the iconic Snow Mantra. Following The Glacier Wall is the Gear Room and the Cold Room where visitors can test the products in thermal temperatures. Allowing only six people in at once, the immersive experience is a must try. The final stops in the store are the retail area and the archive jackets where you can learn even more stories about the brand before making your purchases. The store fuses online and in-store shopping in a unique experience; if a customer makes a purchase before 1:30PM, they will receive same day delivery. Any purchases made past 1:30PM will be delivered with 24 hours. The one-on-one cliental and in-store experiences provide a deeper understanding of the Torontonian brand. We spoke to Penny Brook, CMO of Canada Goose, about the brand’s experience in building The Journey.

Can you tell us a bit about the inspiration behind The Journey and how this all began?

“We wanted to create an experiential and experimental moment for the brand. We’re a storytelling brand and we’re also a performance-first brand. When you’re going into a retail environment, we can tell that story, but we wanted people to actually feel that story. We wanted to give them a taste of retail therapy in a totally different way⁠—this is almost the antithesis to the hustle and bustle of shopping where you get to break out of your everyday and take a moment to reconnect with your senses by disrupting your senses a little bit. You come in and it’s dark, the ice starts cracking under your feet, and that’s disorientating for a human being, but that’s also storytelling for the brand, because we have had people who have fallen through the ice wearing the Snow Mantra and that’s actually what saved their lives.”

Is there a reason why CF Sherway Gardens was the chosen location?

“We’re a Torontonian brand so it’s really important that when we do things like this, we do it where the heart of the brand is. It’s the ultimate homage to Canada⁠—the content that’s shown is shot in British Columbia, the products are made in Canada, the ambassadors who greet you are all Canadian and understand what it is to live and breathe this brand. I’m so proud of what a homage to the greatness of this country and it gives us a beautiful opportunity to tell stories in depth. Whether you want to know more about how Canada Goose continues to be good for the world with working with Polar Bears International, or the work that we do with the indigenous communities of Canada, or if you just want to know why it really is the most extreme performance product you can have in the elements, this is a moment that you can do that.”

Do you plan on doing The Journey: A Canada Goose Experience at any other locations?

“It’s experimental for us so we’re really going to be really watching the way that people are engaging with the space and taking the feedback and then what we learn here, we’ll be looking to travel to other places. There’s no actual plans at the moment, we just want to spend our time observing how it works here.”

Do you have a personal favourite jacket?

“The Aldrige Parka is my personal favourite. When you put a Canada Goose jacket on, it’s like having a warm hug. It’s equally in part emotional and physical when you put the product on because you feel protected, which goes on the emotional scale, but then you know that practically, you’re covered. Whether you’re wearing rainwear that aren’t going to soak through, or you’re wearing insulated parkas and you’re not going to freeze, that’s important.”

View the gallery for an inside look at the store, located at CF Sherway Gardens, 25 The West Mall, Etobicoke.