Breaking into the GTA market is no small thing for a homegrown Canadian business, that’s why Rachel Mielke, founder and CEO of Hillberg & Berk, is elated about this upcoming weekend.
Saturday marks the grand opening of the jewelry store’s location at Upper Canada Mall in Newmarket, the business' second Ontario location and first in the GTA.
“Getting into the Ontario market in the last couple years, and now into the GTA has been so exciting to see,” she said. “It feels like a tremendous milestone for the business and it definitely has been one of those moments for me where it’s like ‘wow,’ because we’re really expanding across the country now and entering the biggest market in Canada.”
Mielke said the transformation of Upper Canada Mall was one of the most appealing aspects of Newmarket being the first GTA location for Hillberg & Berk.
“I had toured Upper Canada for the first time eight years ago and it’s a spectacular mall, so it’s been on my mind for a long time,” she said. “Then seeing the renovations and that being coupled with a digital customer base and being offered a fabulous location, it all came together. That’s why we decided to move forward with it as our first GTA location.”
As part of the grand opening on Saturday, the first 500 customers will receive a gift with a purchase and for every pair of earrings sold, Hillberg & Berk will be gifting a pair to Dress for Success, a non-profit aimed at empowering women to achieve economic independence.
“We’re very focused on working with organizations that support and uplift women and focus on gender equity,” said Mielke. “We look for community organizations that do that work and since our inception, we’ve contributed over $10 million in cash and product to organizations across the country.”
This is the 15th Hillberg & Berk location in Canada and the company is aiming to have 30 locations by 2028, but for the first six years of its existence, it didn’t have any retail locations, so while the company grew, it grew slowly, said Mielke.
“In 2011, we opened our first store in Regina,” she said. “It was a turning point for the business where we discovered we love retail and the first store hit it off right away. That was the moment the business accelerated in terms of growth.”
After the success of the first store, H&B opened its second location in Regina at the Cornwall Centre.
“That was our first mall location and from there we continued to open more stores,” Mielke said. “As we expanded outside of Saskatchewan, we went to Alberta and Manitoba as we took the time building the awareness of our brand.”
Mielke said the focus was to grow the brand organically over the last 11 years after she started the business nearly 17 years ago. It’s now in Saskatchewan, Alberta, Manitoba, British Columbia and Ontario.
“It was definitely a milestone when we opened in Ontario because for a long time going east felt like such a dream that was so far into the future,” she said. “Through COVID we had the opportunity to develop our digital side and we really grew our customer base, which allowed us to open more retail.”
Locations are decided on by looking at digital sales in the area and then finding a mall location that fits the Hillberg & Berk brand. Mielke said that everything aligned with Upper Canada Mall.
“The mall is so beautiful and so we’re really excited to have this be our first GTA store,” she said. “This opportunity is a huge opportunity.”
The grand opening will be Saturday at Upper Canada Mall from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
