Ottawa shoppers downtown are about to get their first taste of three major home goods brands, as Williams Sonoma, West Elm and Pottery Barn are set to move into part of the former Nordstrom store at CF Rideau Centre.
What's moving in
The three retailers will take up some or all of the level three section of the 157,000-square-foot space that Nordstrom vacated. All three brands are operated by San Francisco-based Williams-Sonoma Inc., meaning the mall is essentially landing one company's home goods portfolio in a single move. The stores are slated to open in spring 2027.
For Ottawa, the announcement carries some novelty: the CF Rideau Centre locations will be the first stores for all three brands in the city. Anyone who wanted a Pottery Barn sofa, a Williams Sonoma cast-iron pan or West Elm furniture has, until now, had to order online or drive out of town.
A vote of confidence downtown
Retail analyst Bruce Winder described the additions as a vote of confidence for the Ottawa market and for downtown specifically. That matters for a mall that has spent the better part of three years figuring out what to do with a huge vacant anchor space in the middle of the city's core.
How Rideau Centre got here
Nordstrom opened at CF Rideau Centre in March 2015, part of Cadillac Fairview's major redevelopment of the downtown shopping centre at the time. It was meant to be a flagship draw for the mall. Eight years later, in 2023, Nordstrom announced it was leaving Canada entirely, eventually closing six full-line department stores and seven Nordstrom Rack locations across the country, including the Rideau Centre location.
That left Cadillac Fairview with a large, awkwardly shaped hole to fill in one of the city's busiest retail spaces. The Williams Sonoma, West Elm and Pottery Barn deal fills part of it, specifically the level three section, but Cadillac Fairview has not disclosed plans for the upper Nordstrom floor. So while shoppers now know what's coming to part of the old store, the rest of the building's future downtown remains an open question.
What it means for shoppers
Until spring 2027, Ottawa residents will still need to shop these three brands online or travel to stores in other cities. But the timeline gives Cadillac Fairview more than half a year to firm up plans for the remaining space, and gives downtown Ottawa another reason for shoppers to return to a mall that lost its main anchor tenant.
What led here
The Rideau Centre news lands the same week Ottawa's downtown hospitality sector saw its own shakeup, with ottown's earlier report noting the Westin and Delta hotels are losing their longtime general manager. Both stories point to a downtown core still working through post-pandemic changes in who runs, and who fills, its biggest buildings.
Sources: Ottawa Business Journal, Retail Insider
