Indigo Announces the Grand Opening of its Vancouver Flagship

Indigo the world’s first cultural department store for booklovers and one of Canada’s pre-eminent retailers, is delighted to announce the grand opening of Indigo’s new flagship store in Vancouver, British Columbia. Located at 1033 Robson Street, the two-level, 29,000 square foot location marks the company’s return to the globally renowned shopping district. A destination for the whole family, customers can look forward to grand opening weekend events from November 3-4 including author signings, kids’ storytime, fun activities, live music and more.

“We are thrilled to be back on Robson Street to share our new retail concept with our passionate customers,” said Heather Reisman, Indigo CEO and Chief Booklover. “As a proudly Canadian company, we are committed to providing Vancouver’s book-loving community with a unique, life-enriching retail experience. We are so looking forward to welcoming everyone again.”

Heather Reisman, a proud Canadian, opened the first Indigo location in 1997, bringing a lifelong passion for books to the retail environment with the goal of creating a cultural department store for booklovers. In 2001, Chapters and Indigo officially merged to form the largest book retailer in Canada. Since then, Indigo has grown to over 200 locations in Canada under the banners Indigo, Chapters, Indigospirit and Coles, while continuously evolving its offerings and experience. The new store on Robson Street is part of the company’s larger commitment to reimagining its retail store network.

Indigo Robson is excited to share with Vancouver a photography installation by celebrated Canadian photographer Edward Burtynsky.  Known for capturing evocative landscapes, Burtynsky’s installation showcases the stunning ancient forests in Avatar Grove, Pacheedaht First Nation Territory, near Port Renfrew in British Columbia. The installation’s ambition is to raise awareness about the implications of the clear cutting of ancient forests and reinforcing the need to protect them. With less than 10% of the grandest ancient forests on Vancouver Island remaining, only 6% of these forests are protected in parks and the rest is at risk of being logged in a few short years. Dedicated to this cause, Indigo and Edward Burtynsky are committing $25,000 each to the Ancient Forest Alliance, a non-profit organization working to protect BC’s endangered old-growth forests and ensure a sustainable, second-growth forest industry.

Designed by award-winning and globally recognized design firm Burdifilek, Indigo Robson is a warm, contemporary and immersive setting for booklovers to explore the best in books, beautiful gifts and toys, and Indigo’s exclusive in-house designed lifestyle products. Offering consumers a place to unwind and unplug, Indigo Robson is centered around life-enriching pillars including reading, wellness, cooking, kids’ edutainment and events celebrating authors and artists from the community and beyond.

Of the design, Diego Burdi, Creative

Director at Burdifilek, notes, “This was so much more than just a cosmetic renovation for the brand. To create a true cultural department store experience, we redesigned Indigo’s entire store concept to match their ambitious vision. Shoppers can now navigate the full breadth of their book and expanded lifestyle assortments.”

“No matter what you’re selling today, we need visionaries to take bold action and lead the way forward. Indigo took hold of this vision for a cultural department store to revitalize the traditional bookstore experience and has clearly set a new standard for the industry,” said Paul Filek, Managing Partner at Burdifilek.

Indigo Robson is organized in a shop within a shop concept, including Books, Wellness, Joy of the Table, A Room of Her Own, Home Beautiful, IndigoKids and IndigoBaby. With books at the heart and soul of Indigo, the Vancouver flagship will have over 58,000 unique book titles. Customers can also access an unlimited selection online through in-store kiosks, including online exclusive items which offer free shipping of all items to store with no minimum spend, plus free returns. In addition, the Robson Street store also has a Starbucks café.

Indigo will also be supporting the local community through the Indigo Love of Reading Foundation, an organization that is dedicated to putting books in the hands of Canadian children. Since inception, the Indigo Love of Reading Foundation has provided over $29 million to high-needs elementary schools across Canada, with $3.5 million to British Columbian schools.

To celebrate the opening of Indigo Robson, the public is invited to attend a special weekend of grand opening events from November 3-4. For full event details, please visit indigo.ca/events.

For more information on Indigo, please visit indigo.ca.