Located in the CF Sherway Gardens Mall, Toronto (Canada), the Canada Goose store has no inventory for shoppers to take home. Instead, the coat maker wants consumers to have a multi-sensory experience to feel why the outerwear is worth the price tag. It’s called “The Journey.” 

The entrance to the concept store is called “The Crevasse.” There are LED panels under glass flooring that simulate cracking ice as consumers walk forward. The walls are made to look and feel like rock. There’s an accompanying soundtrack pumping out the sounds of the Arctic.

There’s an “Elements Room,” with two curved walls that play seasonal nature films shot in British Columbia from 4K laser projections in the ceiling. In the middle of the room, mannequins wear merchandise that complement the season.

The “Gear Room” is a “re-interpretation” of a seed vault in Norway, which holds seeds from around the world in case of a pandemic. In this room, consumers will store their personal belongings and select a Canada Goose coat and accessories to try out in the “Cold Room.” There’s a quick explanation by brand ambassadors of the cold room and Canada Goose’s “Thermal Experience Index,” which is a rating scale for its outerwear based on the temperature range for which it’s best suited. 

When consumers enter the room, it’s dark and cold,-12 degrees Celsius. The walls are projection screens with original films about the cold and nature, narrated by Lance Mackey, an Iditarod champion, and Sarain Fox, an artist and indigenous activist from the Anishinaabe nation.

After leaving the “Cold Room” consumers will head to the retail area, where brand ambassadors are available to answer questions and help navigate through the product inventory, digitally on kiosks.

If “The Journey” did its job, shoppers will leave empty-handed, but filled with the anticipation that a new coat or accessory will arrive at their home that night, or the next day, if purchased after 2 p.m.