FAVORITE Canadian stores?

[SASM]

Okay...I am going to sound like an IDIOT but I don't care. Whenever I go into Canada I am surrounded by all of the wonderfully mysterious stores ~ Galaxy, The Bay, Zellers, Winners ~ to name a very few. I LOVE to shop ~ grocery, kids & mommy clothing, home goods...anything. DH doesn't have much patience but he understands that I DO like shopping adventures every now and then. So...what are YOUR FAVORITE stores?? I love a GOOD grocery store (you have the BEST candy & potato chips up there!!), Target-like store, or anything. Can you help me navigate Canadian shopping??? I am clueless!

TIA...signed, a clueless American shopper!!

[bubbaray]

Winners = TJ Maxx (same parent company, selection is FAR WORSE and out of date compared to TJ Maxx). Personally, I loathe Winners.

Zellers is kinda like KMart in the US. Smaller than a Target or Walmart, higher prices. THey do sell the CHerokee line of clothes that is also found at Target, but they do not sell Circo clothes. You will find the prices high there and the stores are dirty. Ick.

Walmart in Canada again has higher prices and poorer selection compared to the US stores.

If you want something truly Canadian and don't mind paying $$, you can get an Hudson's Bay Company blanket. They are a few hundred dollars, but they are the same blankets (though probably MIC, not sure about that) that the fur traders traded to the Indians (First Nations) for pelts. Well, minus the smallpox, of course.

Hmmm, what else. Maple syrup. Sooooo much better than the crapola syrup you have in the US. You might even be able to actually visit a syrup farm in Quebec, that would be kinda cool.

Rodgers Chocolates are Canadian and very expensive (made in Victoria BC). THere are some East-coast brands that are Made in Canada, Molly might know those. Also, we have different mainstream-brand candy than the US too. There are LOTS of products in mainstream groceries that are now peanut-free that are not in the US (for example, Quaker granola bars in various (not all) flavors, most Dare products).

Matt & Nat purses are a Canadian brand. La Canadiene boots. Those coats Molly talks about. Roots is a Canadian brand, kinda like Coach but more emphasis on leather goods.

Holt Renfrew is like Neiman Marcus.

More later....

[SASM]

If you want something truly Canadian and don't mind paying $$, you can get an Hudson's Bay Company blanket. They are a few hundred dollars, but they are the same blankets (though probably MIC, not sure about that) that the fur traders traded to the Indians (First Nations) for pelts. Well, minus the smallpox, of course.

THANK YOU so much for the response!! I'll definitely check that out! The blankets sound interesting and definitley Canadian. I remember going to this store (Hudson's Bay and the Bay are the same, right?) whenever I'd go to Eaton Centre in Toronto. I had my first sample of Lindt truffles on the food level of this store ~ OMG...it was a moment I'll never forgot...although, I wish that I could as they are my HUGE diet downfall!! YUM!!

Hmmm, what else. Maple syrup. Sooooo much better than the crapola syrup you have in the US. You might even be able to actually visit a syrup farm in Quebec, that would be kinda cool.

It seriously tastes different than REAL maple syrup in the US?? I do not think that I'll have a problem getting DH to buy some as he is a great lover of real maple syrup. However, I wonder if we can export a small bottle...hmmm, as DH noticed that we can only export 4 oz (?????) of wine. What is that about??? Years ago, we used to bring multiple bottles back home with us.

There are LOTS of products in mainstream groceries that are now peanut-free that are not in the US (for example, Quaker granola bars in various (not all) flavors, most Dare products).

I remember reading this is a past Lounge thread (probably by Bubbaray) ~ LOVE this as we have peanut and tree nut allergies in our family.

Matt & Nat purses are a Canadian brand. La Canadiene boots. Those coats Molly talks about. Roots is a Canadian brand, kinda like Coach but more emphasis on leather goods.

Ohhh...have to check those out! I never thought of Roots as a Coach-like store, more of a leather product and logo sports apparel/souvenior store. Gonna check that out as Roots is EVERYWHERE.

Holt Renfrew is like Neiman Marcus.

Ohhh...I've NEVER seen that store! Maybe that's a GOOD thing...

THANK YOU!!!!

[MontrealMum]

You can bring back as much maple syrup as you want. The only things that are restricted by volume are cigarettes and alcohol. Also, there are restrictions on meat, fruit, and veggies. But anything in a sealed package or can...that's OK. (You can tell I cross-border shop quite frequently). Quebec is the world's largest producer of maple syrup. It comes in grades like olive oil or beer. Trust me, even though Vermont does some nice syrup, you've really got to try the Quebec stuff. And you should also try tire, I'd only ever had maple sugar candy, but DH lives for that stuff.

The other leather producer is Rudsak I think. http://www.rudsak.com/ They sell them at Simon's but they also have their own boutique in Old Montreal.

As for chocolate, I am not the best to guide you here, but I do know that the great European chocolates are widely available here. You can get Ritter, Lindt, Cadbury, and Droste at the drugstore. Leonidas and Daskalides, which are Belgian, both have several boutiques here as well.

Your boutique shopping experience should include: St-Denis between Sherbrooke and Laurier (this is a huge stretch), Laurier between Cote-Ste.-Catherine and St. Laurent, Monkland Village (Villa Maria metro), Greene Ave. in Westmount, and Sherbrooke between Claremont and Victoria in Westmount. Also Bernard west of av. du Parc. I know nothing about the East end, unfortunately. Also, the Cours Mont-Royal downtown has quite a few high end places (Donna Karan) as well as Club Monaco.

The Bay and the Hudson's Bay Company are the same thing. The Bay has since been bought out by an American company (can't remember which one) It was a sad day for Canadian history. Eaton's went under quite a few years ago. It was another Canadian institution. Have you heard of "The Hockey Sweater"..."Cher Monsieur Eaton"... it's classic Canadiana. They were bought out by Sears in Ontario and several stores were reopened in the Toronto area. I don't know if they're still open or not. The Quebec department store Les Ailes de la Mode bought the downtown building here, faltered in a big way, and the store sells very little; it's not worth your time. They have a few other branches in suburban malls (Bruno, Laval) that are quite nice though.

[mikeys_mom]

Your boutique shopping experience should include: St-Denis between Sherbrooke and Laurier (this is a huge stretch), Laurier between Cote-Ste.-Catherine and St. Laurent, Monkland Village (Villa Maria metro), Greene Ave. in Westmount, and Sherbrooke between Claremont and Victoria in Westmount. Also Bernard west of av. du Parc. I know nothing about the East end, unfortunately. Also, the Cours Mont-Royal downtown has quite a few high end places (Donna Karan) as well as Club Monaco.

These are pretty much all the places I try to get to every time we visit Montreal. I love all the boutiques because the selection is so different from what you can get in Toronto. There are a lot of children's boutiques that carry European style clothing.

My mother is always bringing me clothes for DD from Blu. It is a Quebec designer with really cute and different styles. She goes to the Rockland Shopping Center location, but I think they might have a store on St Denis as well. Every time DD wears one of the outfits people comment how cute and different they are.

[SASM]

My mother is always bringing me clothes for DD from Blu. It is a Quebec designer with really cute and different styles. She goes to the Rockland Shopping Center location, but I think they might have a store on St Denis as well. Every time DD wears one of the outfits people comment how cute and different they are.

Thank you! Will definiltey look into that! Do you know their size range is?

[mikeys_mom]

Thank you! Will definiltey look into that! Do you know their size range is?

I think it starts at size 12 months, and runs into bigger girl sizes. I'm not sure how big, but a friend of mine has a 6 year old DD (average size) and she is still wearing clothes from there. I find the sizing runs a bit on the small size, so I usually have my mother buy one size bigger, especially in the dresses/jumpers. For pants, it depends on the cut.

[SASM]

Trust me, even though Vermont does some nice syrup, you've really got to try the Quebec stuff. And you should also try tire, I'd only ever had maple sugar candy, but DH lives for that stuff.

Sooo good to know that I can bring back as much as I want as DH is a syrup freak! Love MS candy.

As for chocolate, I am not the best to guide you here, but I do know that the great European chocolates are widely available here. You can get Ritter, Lindt, Cadbury, and Droste at the drugstore. Leonidas and Daskalides, which are Belgian, both have several boutiques here as well.

I can actually get a lot of the European chocolate in the US. The thing that I actually have a difficult time finding, when I am away from Dean & Deluca, is European black licorice. Is it popular up there? All I can find down here is Twizzlers (Yuck...don't get me started) and Aussie Kookaburra, which is not the same as European, either. UGH!

The Bay and the Hudson's Bay Company are the same thing. The Bay has since been bought out by an American company (can't remember which one) It was a sad day for Canadian history. Eaton's went under quite a few years ago. It was another Canadian institution. Have you heard of "The Hockey Sweater"..."Cher Monsieur Eaton"... it's classic Canadiana. They were bought out by Sears in Ontario and several stores were reopened in the Toronto area. I don't know if they're still open or not. The Quebec department store Les Ailes de la Mode bought the downtown building here, faltered in a big way, and the store sells very little; it's not worth your time. They have a few other branches in suburban malls (Bruno, Laval) that are quite nice though.

Thank you for the boutique tour of Montreal! I hear you about Eaton's. DH and went to Eaton Centre a few years back and was shocked to see that the store closed, as it was ALWAYS busy and obviously a HUGE anchor store. I was even more shocked to find a SEARS there the next time that we went and it was UNLIKE any Sears that I've VER seen in my life!! I've never seen a neat, unique, boutique Sears...that is soooooo un-Sears!!! Only in Toronto. I was quite sad...I really like Eaton's.

[mom2binsd]

[

The Bay and the Hudson's Bay Company are the same thing. The Bay has since been bought out by an American company (can't remember which one) It was a sad day for Canadian history. Eaton's went under quite a few years ago. It was another Canadian institution. Have you heard of "The Hockey Sweater"..."Cher Monsieur Eaton"... it's classic Canadiana. They were bought out by Sears in Ontario and several stores were reopened in the Toronto area. I don't know if they're still open or not. The Quebec department store Les Ailes de la Mode bought the downtown building here, faltered in a big way, and the store sells very little; it's not worth your time. They have a few other branches in suburban malls (Bruno, Laval) that are quite nice though.[/QUOTE]

AH, the Hockey Sweater Book, DS age 2 1/2 is obsessed with it, he got it for Christmas and along with Z is for Zamboni and his Chicago Cubs book we have a daily dose of sports before nap and bedtime...I love in the story how the mum writes a letter to Mr. Eaton (I worked at Eaton's through high school and university)...a great story, but I'm afraid DS thinks maybe going to the church is like spending time in the penalty box!

Do they have any LUSH stores in Mtl?? I love going to the Ottawa store and stocking up, although there is one up in Chicago at Macy's on Michigan Ave now too.

I also love to pick up Canadian treats like Mackintosh toffee and Caramilk bars, and DH just ran out of his Timmy's coffee, oh oh!

[MontrealMum]

Well, this feels a bit strange to me as I usually do most of my shopping in the US - sooo much cheaper, but here goes...

From what you mentioned:
-The Bay is a department store, originally the Hudson's Bay Company, and the oldest business in the British Empire. It was founded in 1670. More here: http://www.hbc.com/hbcheritage/history/ They have the same sorts of things as Marshall's Fields or Hudson's (now Macy's?) Their customer service is abysmal...as in, do they even have any sales clerks?
-Galaxy I've never heard of, but it may be regional...I'll have to Google
-Zellers is the Canadian version of Target....but leaves much to be desired if you've actually shopped at Target. That said, I still shop there a lot.
-Winners is owned by TJ Maxx and is similar but their shoe prices are through the roof

Here in Montreal:
-I like to shop at Simon's and Ogilvy's which are both department stores. Simon's is based in Quebec City and does trendy with great sales, some higher end stuff. Ogilvy's is not a chain, has a piper every day playing throughout the store at noon, crystal chandaliers and lots of brass and marble. Makes me feel very special It's a good place for all the fancy Am. beauty stuff we can't get here since there is no Sephora.
-There are lots of boutique-y places here since Mtl. has quite a fashion design scene...to many to list, but St.-Denis is a great street to shop on. Mont-Royal is good for (extremely overpriced) vintage.

I very much enjoyed shopping in Vancouver when I visited in the spring, and if you want fancy or organic grocery - that's the place to get it. Apparently Toronto has Whole Foods now, but I haven't been to TO in awhile. Here in Mtl. we have lots of small ethnic grocery stores which make it a bit easier to cook your own Indian or Japanese food or whatever. We also have several great outdoor markets.

I am afraid that I try to steer clear of potato chips (they are my downfall) and I don't eat candy, so I'm no help there, but Pharmaprix (called Shopper's Drug Mart elsewhere) has a great line called Nativa that does some pseudo-healthy snacks: as in, organic cheese puffs. They also sell imported European chocolate.

Lots of Canadian stores are turning up in the US nowadays: Roots (which was actually started by 2 Michiganders!), MAC, La Cache, Aldo. I like La Cache and MAC but Aldo shoes are carp. Brown's is better, they have one in Water Tower Place in Chicago. We also have tons of your basic American mall stores too like Banana (finally!), Nine West, and apparently American Eagle (just saw that the other day).

Alot of Canadian shopping is regional or even city-specific, so if you have a target area I could tell you more. I have been to every province except Sask., but none of the territories and I LOVE to shop.

Ah, Melissa was faster than me! I got distracted thinking about Ogilvy's and then forgot Holts! I'll think a bit more, but really boutiques are your best bet for unique here in Quebec.