Dualité

While there was much fanfare of another high end store establishing itself in Montreal, Toronto-based TNT was sort of lackluster in presentation when I finally made my way to their store last weekend.

I was anticipating a stylized interior with blue lit frosted walls, gray slated tables, and open spacing like the pictures I saw of Toronto’s stores. Unfortunately, even at 5000 sq.ft, the presentation was little more than bland and cozy. Montreal’s TNT had low ceilings and dark wooden walls with a white floor tiling. Clothes were hung up on one single rack that lined the walls in no particular order, finding brands mixed together. There were a few tables containing accessories, and on the main floor there were shelves displaying the shoe collection.

Looks cool right? Montreal’s TNT isn’t as snazzy.

Brand-wise there’s a lot to choose from, and for those who enjoy the hunt of finding something particular and special will perhaps enjoy the non-orderly mix. All of them are of pretty high quality and you can find some gems in here, so I have no complaints of the choices offered.

I myself settled on a Mackage woven wool coat with some leather details. I had to have the sleeves taken in even as an XS, but fortunately TNT offers free tailoring service (and the seamstress did a good job btw).

The problem with TNT is the shopping experience, had it not been for the good choice of clothing, I wouldn’t really return to this store. A store of this size should maximize the spacing and probably would’ve benefitted from multiple frontal (vertical?) racks rather than horizontal since the clothes aren’t properly presented. I like stores who make you want to fend for those looks on a mannequin, or arranges coats so that I can clearly see them when I pass by. These high end clothes deserve to be given some emphasis, they are too beautiful to be buried amongst others. Lackluster presentation can drive shoppers away especially in these difficult economic times, retail stores will really have to step it up if they want to survive here.

Image credit: TNTBlu