With the Canadian dollar trading at par for the foreseeable future, its always odd to see Canadian products cheaper in the USA than here. Obvious examples are cars (civic, rdx, rx350, etc.) and books.

Canada Goose jackets have maintained par pricing this season. With their jackets selling dollar-for-dollar between USA and Canadian retainers.

Their men’s jackets are available at Harry Rosen, Sporting Life, Holts and Uncle Otis.

I’ve been using the Nike+ App on my iPhone for the past year when I go out for a run. A simple little app, it combines with a small pedometer in  your shoe that calculates how far and fast you have ran. It does have it’s drawbacks since it has to be calibrated for your specific steps.

Finally the Nike has created a new app that takes advantage of the GPS built into your iPhone. It works in the background and tracks your location while running. The downside is that this app is no longer free, but $1.99USD in the App Store.

Gotstyle, the menswear store, is moving. Their new location is at Bathurst and Wellington.

Update: The opening is delayed until Tuesday

Canards first Victoria’s Secret store opens tomorrow, Thursday August 26th at Yorkdale. A few of their Angels are on hand for the grand opening.

Looking for some Nike gear and having trouble finding it? I found this graphic at Endurance Sports – the management company for all the Nike stores in Ontario (with the exception of the Bloor St. store). It’ll help you find what you are looking for.

What’s surprising is how selection some of the gear is, like Tennis and Hockey gear, and only a single store carries the Jordan line.

Baselworld is on! This yearly event for the watchmaking elite bring out all the manufacturers to show off their latest concepts and production pieces. Tag Heuer showed off their newest Carrera Calibre 1887 which uses a new movement. However, they’ve raised some controversy about it not being entirely “Swiss”. Most people won’t care but watch nerds seem to be up in arms.

One of Toronto’s best menswear stores, GotStyle, started a blog a few months ago. It’s been updated fairly frequently and is a nice way to keep up with whats new in the store.

I don’t know what changed, but I don’t like anything at Banana Republic anymore. They used to be my go-to store for a work dress shirt, some dress pants, or other daily wear item. I remember being given a discount card after a purchase and going back to find nothing I liked. This weekend was a 30% off sale and again I found nothing I liked.

Watches are pretty important for a guy. For most, it’s our only piece of jewelery besides a wedding ring. While Rolex has always been known for the “king” of the elegant watch, I’ve always found their style a bit boring – a bit too traditional.

While helping my friend shop for a nice woman’s watch, I stumbled upon a new update to a classic Rolex. The Oyster Perpetual Day-Date II. The II is important since it signifies the updated, contemporary look. Now I have to start saving my pennies.

It’s funny how at the height of the Canadian dollar, American stores paid the highest rates for labour and materials to set up a bunch of new retail precenses in Canada. In the past year alone, both Crate and Barrel and Bath and Body Works have set up new locations in the GTA. Now that the dollar has sunk, profits generated by the store probably make the breakeven point a lot longer than they expected.

West Elm is amoung the new stores. I’ve never been to one before so this was a good experience. They sell a large line of furniture ranging from bed to living to office wares. The store is littered with all sorts of accessories too. Although billed as “modern country” I find most of their offerings to be contemporary and not out of place with what you would find at the old Caban. Curiously, their offerings remind me of Urban Barn, so maybe “modern country” is the right word for it. I’m going to add them to my list of “go to” furniture stores in Toronto.

West Elm is tucked away in the Northwest part of Liberty Village.

West Elm
109 Atlantic Ave.
416.537.0110