Holt Renfrew shines with "Vinyl": splashy gala attracts attention and customers.(Holt, Renfrew and Company Ltd.)(Vinyl, Style in the Groove)

TORONTO -- Many of today's most successful entertainers, including Mike Myers and Celine Dion, hail from Canada, so it should not be a surprise that this country offers some excellent retailtainment as well. Canada's premier luxury department store, Holt Renfrew, proved that this was the case on Sept. 14, during a gala marking the peak of a month-long national marketing extravaganza: "Vinyl, Style in the Groove."

As its name suggests, Vinyl was a marriage of music and fashion, a theme carried throughout Holt. From signage, to merchandising, to the fact that the entire store was wrapped in hot-pink vinyl, there was no way a consumer could miss it.

The evening …