American footwear giant Steve Madden has expanded its Canadian retail presence with a new lifestyle concept store in Toronto’s financial district. The new location at First Canadian Place marks the brand’s first full-concept store in Toronto, offering the company’s complete product range beyond its traditional footwear focus.
The new store showcases women’s and men’s shoes alongside apparel and accessories, reflecting the brand’s evolution from shoe designer to lifestyle fashion company. The store is in soft-opening, with a grand opening scheduled for April 4th, the location strategically places Steve Madden in the heart of Toronto’s business core at King and Bay streets.
This expansion builds upon Steve Madden’s established Canadian footprint, which currently includes 27 locations nationwide. In the Greater Toronto Area alone, the company already operates stores at Toronto Eaton Centre, Fairview Mall, Scarborough Town Centre, Sherway Gardens, Square One Shopping Centre, and Vaughan Mills.
Beyond the Steve Madden namesake brand, the parent company designs and markets fashion products under multiple labels including Dolce Vita®, Betsey Johnson®, Blondo®, and ATM®. The company also licenses products for Anne Klein® and creates private label merchandise for major retailers.
The First Canadian Place location represents a potential shift in Steve Madden’s Canadian retail strategy, potentially signaling similar lifestyle concept rollouts across its national network. The high-traffic shopping complex serves both the Financial District’s daytime office population and the area’s expanding residential community, providing a prime showcase for the brand’s expanded product categories.
Founded in 1990 with just $1,100 in initial capital, Steve Madden has transformed from a Queens-based shoe manufacturer into a global fashion brand with distribution through department stores, mass merchants, off-price retailers, shoe chains, online platforms, and company-owned retail locations.
Under Beauleigh’s exclusive leasing mandate, First Canadian Place continues evolving its retail offerings to serve both the Financial District’s daytime office population and the area’s expanding residential community. The 72-storey landmark’s strategic mix of quick-service dining, retail, and essential services reinforces its position as a premier downtown Toronto destination, leveraging its 232,000 square feet of retail space alongside Exchange Tower’s 66,000 square feet to create the largest retail component in the Financial Core.
Dustin Fuhs is the Editor-in-Chief of 6ix Retail. He is the former Editor-in-Chief of Retail Insider, Canada’s most-read retail trade publication. He has over 20 years of experience in the retail, marketing, entertainment and hospitality industries, including with The Walt Disney Company, The Hockey Hall of Fame, Starbucks and Blockbuster.
Dustin was named as a RETHINK Retail Top Retail Expert in 2024 and 2025.