With interest on sustainable fashion gradually emerging, one popular Canadian brand is also ready to be part of the "green team" in a revolutionary way.

While labels such as Nicole Bridger, Laura Siegel, and H&M rely on eco-friend fabrics and have implemented ethical manufacturing to promote sustainability, Québec-based retailer Simons is advocating it not through its clothes, but through its first ever "net zero" energy branch.

Simons's eco-friendly branch will be achieving the "net zero" objective by installing a geothermal heating system that pulls warmth from the store back into the ground to cool the store and a solar parking electric system in the parking area that will produce the equivalent of the amount of energy used by 50 homes in a year. There will also be a "WeWatt" station inside the store that will allow customers to uniquely charge their phones by pedalling on stationary bicycles.

Architectural rendering of the new Simons store in Quebec. Image courtesy of LEMAYMICHAUD Architecture Design.

According to Simons, this retail innovation is a great test to see how well Canadians can take "leadership roles on big issues" and how willing they are to shop at stores that are making an effort to tackle such issues.

The new Simons will replace its existing store in the Galeries de la Capitale shopping centre in Quebec City and will be opening on March 15.

By: Franz Tabora

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