HACHETTE DISTRIBUTION EXPLORES "TARGETED SHOPPING DESTINATIONS"
By Adnews Staff
Hachette Distribution Services Retail North America is opening its first two Explorus stores in the Canadian market. Hachette, which is a subsidiary of Paris-based Hachette Distribution Services, currently operates 370 retail outlets across North America including the Relay, Great Canadian News Company and Maison de la Presse stores. HDS is opening its first Explorus store in Toronto's Scarborough Town Centre on November 8. A second location, at Square One Shopping Centre in Mississauga, is scheduled to open on November 16. The Canadian outlets are inteded to be what the company calls "targeted shopping destinations." Explorus stores, which sell gifts, toys, home accessories, decorative items, books, magazines and other merchandise, are designed to offer consumers a new shopping experience. The retail environments, from Toronto's Fiorino Design, build on the idea of exploration and discovery by encouraging shoppers to experience instead of just viewing the merchandise, according to Hachette. The two prototype Canadian stores will each be 5000 square feet in size. The various departments will be presented on an oval display floor that is meant to encourage a natural flow of traffic. Each department, (Adventure, Mind/Body/Soul, Arts, Current Events, Home and Kids,) is identifiable by a specific color, an icon and a floor-to-ceiling graphic. The opening of the two stores is being supported with public and media relations from Buzz Marketing and Public Relations of Toronto.