Brian Hill, Chief Executive Officer, Aritzia

VANCOUVER, Canada — Vancouver may be far away from the traditional centres of the fashion world, but in recent years this laid-back Canadian city has produced two fashion success stories that are taking the North American market by storm. The first, of course, is Lululemon. The second is Aritzia, a vertically-integrated fashion chain targeted at 15-30 year old women with a penchant for style and the disposable income to buy it.

The company seems to have hit its mark.  With over $200m in sales and more than 40 stores, some of which are said to approach a whopping $2000 in sales per square foot (reportedly four times the industry average), Aritzia is one of the top performing retail chains around. The company’s recent U.S expansion has been fueled in part by an injection of capital from Berkshire Partners, the Boston-based private equity firm which took a majority stake in the business in late 2005.

Reached at his Boston office by email, Josh Lutzker, a Principal at Berkshire Partners explains: “[we] invested in Aritzia because of the strength of the management team, led by Brian Hill, and because of Aritzia’s outstanding position in the market. Aritzia’s connection with its consumers, the strength of its product design and its excellence in store design and retail operations have all led to very strong retail economics and a unique opportunity for growth.”

As Aritzia celebrates its 25th anniversary and Vancouver enters the global spotlight of the 2010 Winter Olympics, I sat down with Brian Hill at the company’s headquarters in the city’s industrial East side to learn about the retail model that has everybody talking.

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