griffintown Activité commerciale dans Griffintown

[franktko]

Je trouve qu'il y a une petite atmosphère... "Unité 9"...

[Detailer]

Ca va ressembler a un mini beer garden!

[IluvMTL]

A contemporary remix

 

Fraser Furniture reinvented as Item, caters to condo dwellers, eclectic tastes in Griffintown

 

BY EVA FRIEDE, THE GAZETTE SEPTEMBER 26, 2014

 

 

A view of a new furniture store in the Griffintown area of Montreal called ITEM Thursday, September 18, 2014.

 

Photograph by: John Kenney , The Gazette

 

 

MONTREAL — Fraser Furniture has up and left the suburbs, downsized, shed its mahogany inlaid tables and Louis XVI chairs — or at least recovered them in denim — and set up shop among the condo dwellers of Griffintown.

The traditional furniture store, which would have been 134 years old this year, has been reinvented as Item, a — Yes — item-driven home decor shop of 10,000 square feet, down from 80,000.

At the foot of Peel St., with soaring 26-foot ceilings, industrial chic fittings and recherché stock, the store offers giant picture-perfect views of the Montreal skyline and iconic Five Roses sign above the Lachine Canal.

It’s a little different than the feeling when you walked into Fraser, joked Ross Fraser, the fourth generation in his family to run the business. Last winter, he and partner Carol Alfieri started liquidating stock at the massive T.M.R. showroom, planning to close and move to urban, high-traffic locations with a new concept.

The store opens Friday (Sept. 26).

“In reality, furniture has become an item-driven business,” Fraser said on a tour of the store last week. “People used to buy the set, now they buy the piece.

“They’re blending elements to suit their personal style.”

Added Alfieri: “The objective was to create an eclectic environment.

“This is more livable; Fraser was more formal.”

As clubby lounge music played, the pair explained how they travelled the world to shop for items and retail concepts. Rather than the furniture-heavy stock at Fraser, there are plenty of smaller decorative pieces: bread-board shaped serving platters from Denmark, English limited-edition frames set with hyper-hued butterflies, steel wire clocks from Barcelona, hyper-modern Tom Dixon lighting and accessories and spectacularly preserved mosses, artichokes and roses from North Carolina.

Those modern dressed Louis XVI chairs, in shades of denim or linen, are a signature item that greets customers upon entry, but most furniture tends to the sleek and contemporary as well as small to meet the needs of the condo owners.

Designed by Optima, the store also boasts an imposing 3D wall upon entry and a giant steel structure that acts as both sculpture and display case.

There is a small mezzanine with bed and bath supplies.

The store took an investment of $2 million, Fraser said, and is a prototype that they intend to roll out to a few more locations in Montreal and Quebec in the short term.

“We feel the retail scene is changing drastically, and clients are not interested in travelling terribly far.

“So we feel smaller, neighbourhood stores are the future of retail,’’ he said, adding, “Maybe not for Ikea.”

But the long-term success of the model is based on multiple locations.

“Once we’ve ramped up the model and the details of the brand to a very successful level, we feel it’s very portable to other provinces and other markets. This is not a one-store operation.”

An interactive, e-commerce website is planned for by the end of the year.

Set in Griffintown, in the midst of what remains a giant construction site, the store will benefit from city plans to develop a park that runs along Smith St., with a pedestrian promenade, gardens and trees right beside the picture windows under the shadow of the railway bridge, where trains shuttle quietly toward Central Station, Fraser said.

The area has become a hub for decor stores. West Elm, a division of Williams-Sonoma, is nearby, as is high-end Celadon, which has recently added a separate Mitchell Gold + Bob Williams showroom.

 

Fraser said Griffintown is already thriving. Downtown and Ste-Catherine St. were among the locations they considered, he added, but high rents and taxes make it difficult for any retailer.

“I see Griffintown as a young, growing and vibrant community that will become a focal point of Montreal — it is now and I think it will become more and more so.

“Griffintown is coming into its own as we speak. There is an incredible vibe.”

 

 

 

 

[Lexi]

Ça veut dire quoi ça??

Vu sur la page facebook de Richmond

 

Well friends, the futur is now!

A new project is underway…more details to come!

 

#Griffintown

[SynosiK]

Ça veut dire quoi ça??

Vu sur la page facebook de Richmond

 

Well friends, the futur is now!

A new project is underway…more details to come!

 

#Griffintown

[ATTACH]17703[/ATTACH]

 

Richmond ouvre une boutique/resto avec des plats précuisinés de luxe. Un peu du style de Chez L'épicié.

 

Je dis ca puisque je l'ai lu sur la page facebook il y a très longtemps, mais peut-être je me trompe parce que le plan avec toutes les toilettes indique plustot vers un bar ou resto (pas de boutique).

 

L'emplacement est au coin de William et Richmond (ancien Simple et Cool qui a déménagé).

[Lexi]

Ah merci. Très cool! J'ai hâte de voir ça.

[DENIJS]

1654 Notre-Dame Ouest, Boucherie Grinder. Belle bâtisse, vitrine assez étonnante avec les quartiers de viande qui pendent.

 

[swansongtoo]

Love script on the banner wonderful throwback.

[ScarletCoral]

Le chef Stephano Faita va s'installer dans la tour Wellington!

 

 

http://www.ville.montreal.qc.ca/culture/transformation-de-la-tour-daiguillage-wellington

 

Le rez-de-chaussée accueillera une galerie d'art et une aire de restauration gérée par le chef Stefano Faita, alors que l'espace supérieur sera un atelier.

[Lexi]

Nouveau resto

sur William, coin des Seigneurs

http://montreal.eater.com/2015/7/7/8909047/le-fantome-new-montreal-griffintown-restaurant

https://www.facebook.com/restofantome