Montreal-based Cozey has leased nearly 3,700 square feet of space on two floors at 137 Rideau St.
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An up-and-coming Canadian furniture retailer has chosen downtown Ottawa for its latest brick-and-mortar store as it shifts away from an online-only business model.
Montreal-based Cozey is leasing space at 137 Rideau St. for a pop-up location that will be open from June until the end of next January, the company’s director of marketing, Felix Robitaille, told OBJ on Thursday.
Robitaille said company officials toured various neighbourhoods in the capital and considered leasing space in Westboro, but they ultimately decided Rideau Street was “by far the best location” for the store due to its proximity to light rail as well as major visitor attractions such as the Rideau Centre and the ByWard Market.
“We were trying to find the most impactful location for us in that market,” he explained. “Rideau (Street) has a lot of eyes on it. There’s a lot of foot traffic. The building itself looked great as well.
“Our objective with doing pop-up stores is also to generate awareness. We felt like having it on Rideau (Street) was more accomplishing that objective than having it in Westboro.”
Founded in 2020, Cozey began as an e-commerce operation before branching out into brick-and-mortar retail last year with a 3,600-square-foot store on Queen Street West near downtown Toronto.
The retailer later opened a series of pop-up shops, starting with a spot on Montreal’s south shore. Cozey founder and CEO Frédéric Aube said last year the temporary locations were designed to gauge customer interest and gather insights on the firm’s “impact in various Canadian cities.”
“This will guide us in determining prime locations for future flagship stores across the country," Aube said.
Cozey has since opened temporary stores in Vancouver and New York City, Robitaille said. If the pop-up on Rideau Street is successful, it could lead to Cozey setting up a permanent store in the city, he added.
“That’s the goal,” he said. “We know from the online sales that Ottawa is a good market for us. There are a lot of sales on our e-commerce platform happening in Ottawa.”
Candice Lerner-Fry, head of the retail leasing division at the local office of Marcus & Millichap, said the deal includes nearly 3,700 square feet of space on two floors previously occupied by a vape shop.
“It’s going to be new and exciting for Ottawa to have a tenant of that … cachet,” Lerner-Fry said.
