goodbye, caban

ah... i'm going to miss Caban alot. Ralph Lauren, which acquired Caban in 2000, announced the closure of this Canadian hip lifestyle/home furnishing/clothing store in June 2006. when i saw the headline on Globe and Mail, i was quite surprised; i always thought Caban did fine. one major cause was that Loblaw, the landlord of 3 main Caban locations, wanted to use the space for its own recently-launched clothing line, Joe Fresh Style, and expected to expand into homewares.

'Caban made a big splash when it was launched in 2000 as a stylish home fashion chain under the creative inspiration of Mr. Mimran. But it later lost its focus after he was ousted from Ralph Lauren that same year, shortly after the New York fashion retailer had acquired Mr. Mimran's Club Monaco.' 'the turn of events has an ironic twist to it. Joe Mimran, who came up with the Caban concept when he headed hip fashion retailer Club Monaco, is now the chief architect of Loblaw's private label home furnishings and fashion lines.'

the closing sale is still on at several locations. hope you'll find a good deal and then say goodbye to the store.