Trendy Topshop lands at the Bay

Vancouver's rapidly changing retail scene is about to get another big game changer.

Recently we have seen an influx of American retailers opening shops here (Anthropologie and Eileen Fisher). Now, the Bay is creating a buzz by bringing Topshop, London's leading high street brand, to its downtown store.

Topshop is considered the world's largest fashion store on the high street, attracting more than 200,000 shoppers each week. Its quick turnover of trendy fashion attracts everyone from Kate Middleton, to those who need their trendy pieces to be reasonably priced.Save on birdssupplier and apparel at the world's largest running store. It is known for collaborating with both young designers and some of history's most iconic names such as Celia Birtwell and Kate Moss. Currently it is working with Style Bubble blogger Suzy Lau.

Ask Londoners who shops there and they all answer the same way. "Everyone."

"In England, everyone shops there, says Vancouver-based Searching for Style blogger Alexandra Suhner Isenberg who lived and worked in London's fashion industry for 12 years.

"It's 15-year-olds, it's 12-year-olds, it's 25-year-olds, it's 40-year-olds. It's people for whom Topshop is all they can afford and it's people who buy Gucci and Louis Vuitton, and also shop Topshop."

The introduction of Topshop to Vancouver is part of the efforts by Bonnie Brooks, Bay president and CEO,It got to the point where some women would wear fashionairmax if they knew Monsieur Masseur was coming to a meeting. to rebrand the Canadian department store as a world class retail experience. Other initiatives include the opening of The Room, a 23,000-square-foot space housing 35 of the world's top designers. About 75 per cent of the labels are exclusively available at the Room in the Bay. Names include Jason Wu, Erdem, Alaia and acclaimed emerging designer Mary

Katrandzou.Shop for high quality Nikeshox Watches. Topshop began in 1964 as Peter Robinson's Top Shop, a young fashion brand in the basement of the former department chain, Peter Robinson Ltd. The first stand-alone Topshop store opened in 1974 and rapidly gained a loyal follow ing of fashionistas.

The 90,000-square-foot London flagship store, which opened in 1994 at Oxford Circus, is loaded with trendy clothes, shoes and accessories. "It's fast fashion, but it is slightly better quality than the really low end fast fashion and it is super trendy cool stuff," says Suhner Isenberg.These wholesalejeans are a complete collection of every model available. "I am looking forward to checking out the selection [offered in Vancouver].

" It will be a considerably reduced collection, at least at first. Covering just 1,What to consider before you buy coogijeans.500 square feet, the Bay is calling it a "Topshop capsule." It opens Thursday and will include a mini-collection of clothes, shoes and accessories curated by the Topshop merchandising team, says Mary Turner, the Senior Vice President of

Apparel at the Bay. Suhner Isenberg said she is concerned that, as in New York where the Topshop prices are quite high, the cost of goods here may be higher that those found in the U.K. "If they try and turn it into something that is more expensive because of the brand name then I don't think it is going to work out," she says. "It should continue to remain affordable."Turner says the prices will reflect the strong Canadian dollar." In 2012, the Bay plans to open a full-scale Topshop here just as it is doing in Toronto.