Iconic Drake General Store Expanding its Cool-Canadiana Retail

UP Express and Drake Partner UP at Union Station

TORONTO, April 17, 2015 /CNW/ - Drake General Store today announced a partnership with Union Pearson (UP) Express, with their latest retail store opening at Union Station this spring. The two companies plan to offer an exclusive collection of Drake General Store and UP Express products, a new apparel line as well as online shopping.

"This newly formed relationship is decidedly an appropriate one," said Drake General Store Co-Founder Carlo Colacci. "We love classic and modern goods that fill us with whimsy and nostalgia, and the UP Express plans to bring an era of nostalgia back to Toronto."

The 167-foot retail space at Union Station, the UP Express flagship station, will offer a carefully selected collection of travel items, souvenirs, gifts, apparel and best-selling Drake General Store items. Travellers will also be able to shop for quirky curiosities 24-hours a day from the new retail website www.drakegeneralstoreupexpress.ca and at www.upexpress.com.

The original collaboration will feature two collections: a travel-focused apparel line, as well as a second product-focused collection of gifts and stationary. Each piece in the apparel line is designed and made in Toronto, and reflects the classic refined wardrobe-staple aesthetic paired with the UP Express understated elegance. A carefully handpicked collection of best-known Drake General Store items has also been selected to offer to guests.

"Our mission is to transform the way people travel to and from the airport and how they experience what the province and the city have to offer," says Kathy Haley, President of UP Express. "Offering a unique and decidedly distinctive collection of gifts and apparel, retail partners like Drake General Store will surprise and delight our guests and showcase the best of Ontario."

Drake General Store at UP Express Union Station will be open seven days a week: 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.

About Drake General Store

Drake General Store is a Toronto-based lifestyle brand that was co-founded in 2008 by Jeff Stober (CEO, Drake Hotel Properties), Carlo Colacci and Joyce Lo. Currently, there are three store locations in Toronto at 1142 Queen St. W., 167 Yonge St. (at The Bay, Lower Level), and 2607 Yonge St. (at Eglinton Ave.). The store opened its first outpost location with Hudson's Bay in Ottawa (73 Rideau St., main floor) in Aug. 2014. They offer flat-rate $10 shipping to anywhere in Canada, and welcome international orders via www.drakegeneralstore.ca.

About UP Express

Union Pearson Express is a division of Metrolinx, an agency of the Government of Ontario, and one project among $16 billion of transportation improvements Metrolinx is bringing to the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area. Launching this spring, UP Express will be a dedicated express air-rail service connecting Union Station in downtown Toronto and Toronto Pearson International Airport in just 25 minutes. For more information, visit www.upexpress.com.

SOURCE Drake General Store

Image with caption: "Drake General Store (CNW Group/Drake General Store)". Image available at: http://photos.newswire.ca/images/download/20150417_C6266_PHOTO_EN_14411.jpg

For more information and interview requests, please contact: Abigail Van Den Broek, Senior Public Relations Manager, [email protected] or [phone] x2; Metrolinx, Anne Marie Aikins, Manager, Media Relations, [email protected] or [phone]