La Maison Simons

opened its first Toronto location in Yorkdale Shopping Centre Thursday, and chief executive Bernard Leblanc talks with the Financial Post’s Larysa Harapyn about how the company is bullish despite the economic headwinds facing retail.

The 185-year-old Quebec retailer was able to move into Yorkdale and a second location in the Eaton Centre this fall because U.S. department store

Nordstrom Inc

left Canada, saying it had been too hard to make a profit in the market.

Simons will spend a combined $100 million on the two Toronto stores and Leblanc expects them to increase the company’s annual sales by 15 per cent.

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With files from The Canadian Press