Australian tourists try on jackets in Toronto, and then the shop gives them a unique way to test them: ‘This is so weird’

What if you could test a winter jacket in the cold before deciding whether to buy it? One Toronto store appears to have taken that idea literally.

The store, which appears to be Canada Goose, features a snow-filled room where shoppers can experience temperatures of minus 15 degrees Celsius while trying on jackets. Two Australian travelers filmed the unusual experience in a TikTok video.

The clip from the account Walkie Talkies | Travel & Life, under the handle @thewalkietalkies_, has drawn more than a million views. Its caption reads “Coolest shop in Canada… literally.”

Canada Goose has used cold rooms for jacket testing

The camera operator, whose voice is heard but who does not appear on screen, walks through a dark modern corridor after a man in a black puffer jacket holds open a glass door. The operator says “Thank you,” then asks “What’s she mean? Is that fun?” as they reach a second glass door with a gold handle. The man opens it to reveal a room with artificial snow on the floor, and walls textured to look like dark rock.

On-screen text states, “There’s a store in Toronto that has a -15 degrees snow room to test your jackets before you buy them!?” The operator steps inside and says, “Yeah.” “This is so weird,” one of the women says, while exploring the room.

The two women later enter: one in a long maroon puffer coat and one in a pink puffer jacket holding a smartphone. The woman in pink raises her phone for a selfie in a mirror set into the rock wall while the other stands beside her; both appear to laugh and pose as the man in black watches from the left. Visitors to Canada often run into quirky surprises like this, as with the tourist who found weird Canadian cookies.

Canada Goose CEO Dani Reiss told Bloomberg in 2019, “We are pushing the boundaries of traditional retail and experimenting to see how an inventory-free format, where experience comes first, works.” He added that brand awareness and customer engagement are key goals for the store. The Toronto opening marked the brand’s 20th location at the time.

Markus Giesler, an associate professor of marketing at York University’s Schulich School of Business in Toronto, called similar setups an example of putting customers at the center of an adventure in the 2019 report. He said the focus has shifted away from the store as a point of purchase because buying has moved online.

Under the recent video, some viewers questioned whether the temperature was low enough to properly test a jacket. One wrote “why would you wear a jacket in -15.” Another pointed out that the room lacks wind, stating “Without wind it’s kinda useless though.” Unusual rooms tend to spark debate on TikTok, like when a woman’s secret room was a panic room.

A third suggested the setting felt mild for Canadian winter conditions, writing “-15 is quite warm for winter tbh.” One added “Going to need a -30 test lol.” Another focused on the brand’s pricing, commenting “Cute but…. Canada goose is over priced for coats that can’t even get through the cold.”