5 brands that excited Torontonians

Some Torontonians have been in a tizzy since Uncle Tetsu’s Japanese Cheesecake opened its first location outside of Asia right here Bay Street.

The Bay and Dundas location opened last Wednesday to fanfare and lines — long, long lines — with eager patrons waiting up to two hours for a bite of the take-out shop’s sweet treats.

With more than a hundred stores across Japan, China, Singapore, Thailand, Taiwan, Malaysia and the Philippines, it’s not hard to see why a new location would spark heated interest.

And it’s not the first time a brand’s first foray into our frontier has been accompanied by built-in interest.

Let’s take a look at some of the other big international brands that opened their doors to long lines of eager Canadians.

Uniqlo

Japanese clothing retailer Uniqlo won’t be opening its first Toronto location until 2016, but fans are already saving up.

Saks Fifth Avenue

Hudson’s Bay Co. bought the U.S. luxury department store brand in 2013 with plans to open stores in Yorkville and the Eaton Centre, much to the joy of luxury-goods buyers.

Nordstrom

Saks will be joined by Nordstrom when it takes over the old Sears location at the Eaton Centre.

Whole Foods

There are 12-year-olds who have never known what it’s like to live in a Canada without Whole Foods Markets, but for those of us born before 2002, the addition of this upscale grocery store was a momentous occasion. Finally, Canadians could get their hands on three-ounce cartons of wheatgrass juice for $40 and copious free cheese samples.

Target Canada

Remember when Canada had its own Target stores? When the big-box retailer announced plans in 2011 to expand into Canada, the whole country was all, “Tar-jay is coming, hurrah!” And though it may have been exciting to live in closer proximity to a chain that Oprah Winfrey herself had endorsed, the whole experiment failed.