Canadian Retail Thread

[SSLL]

Bay play part of global game
Feb. 28, 2006. 06:56 AM
DAVID OLIVE
BUSINESS COLUMNIST

From outward appearances, a proud G-8 economy is being hollowed out. Many of its best-paying jobs are being outsourced to low-wage nations, turning one-industry communities into ghost towns. Iconic local enterprises are being snapped up by foreigners, and entire sectors of the economy are falling under the control of interlopers from abroad.
We're talking about the United States — something to keep in mind with South Carolina billionaire Jerry Zucker's successful deal to take over Hudson's Bay Co. But HBC's agreement to the takeover last month has prompted dismay in some quarters over the loss of an enterprise rightly identified with the creation of Canada itself.
"The Bay's demise as a touchstone Canadian institution sends an uncomfortable message," says HBC historian Peter C. Newman, mindful of the foreign takeovers in recent years of Molson Cos., Dofasco Inc., Future Shop and many Western Canadian energy firms.
"If we continue to cast adrift all of our historic anchors and become mere squatters on our own land, it will be too late."
When the HBC deal was first announced in January, retail consultant Wendy Evans told the Toronto Star that a blend of consumer cultures across the continent was a good thing, but "I don't think we want to have a total Americanization of Canadian retail."
Yet a glance to the south reveals a "de-Americanization" of stateside industry as pronounced as events in the Great White North, if not more so. The Bush administration recently approved the takeover by state-owned Dubai Ports World of several major U.S. ports, including terminals in New York, Philadelphia and Baltimore, dismissing concerns on Capitol Hill about the implications for national security. The company has asked U.S. federal authorities to review the deal again for potential security risks.
The White House is hamstrung in its efforts to censure the rabid Bush-hater Hugo Chavez, president of Venezuela, because Chavez could play havoc with U.S. fuel supplies, given the dominance on the U.S. Eastern Seaboard of Venezuela's state-owned Citgo Petroleum Corp.
British utility giant National Grid is seeking to expand its U.S. assets as one of the two bidders for KeySpan Corp., the fifth-largest U.S. natural gas distributor. British grocery giant Tesco PLC this week unveiled plans for a chain of U.S. mini-marts, joining Japan (7-Eleven), Canada (Circle K convenience stores and Eckerd drugstores), Sweden (Ikea) and Holland (Giant and Stop `n' Shop grocery stores) among foreign firms crowding the U.S. retail scene.
Canadians control the Illinois Central and Wisconsin Central railways; the Number 2 U.S. auto-parts maker, Magna International Inc.; John Hancock Financial, the biggest insurer in New England, which competes for business in the American market with the U.S. operations of Canada's Sun Life Financial and Great-West Lifeco Inc.; the U.S. Number 2 discount broker, Ameritrade; and one of Chicago's three biggest local lenders, Harris Bank (another of the three, LaSalle Bank Corp., is Dutch-owned). Puerto Rico's banking industry is effectively a branch plant of the Bank of Nova Scotia.
There are no American players in the burgeoning U.S. market for regional commuter jets, a sector dominated by Bombardier Inc. and Brazil's Embraer SA, soon to be joined by Russian aerospace giant United Aircraft Corp.; and Bombardier's lineup of corporate jets has displaced Savannah, Ga.-based Gulfstream Aerospace Corp. as the most popular private jet of choice for Fortune 500 CEOs, who long ago traded in their Cadillacs and Lincolns in favour of a Mercedes, Lexus or BMW.
The BlackBerry instant email device, a product of Waterloo-based Research In Motion Ltd., is so indispensable among U.S. decision-makers in Congress, on Wall Street and in Hollywood that the U.S. government has repeatedly intervened in the current patent dispute that threatens to shut down an addictive service with 3.2 million U.S. users.
American consumers enrich foreign companies with every purchase of Wild Turkey bourbon, Vaseline, Harlequin books, Allegra antihistamine, Dixie Chicks CDs, PlayStation game consoles, Kit Kat bars, Perrier sparkling water, Sunlight detergent, Hellmann's mayonnaise, Ben & Jerry's Chunky Monkey, Gerber baby food, Nicoderm tobacco-cessation patches and Ciba contact lenses.
As recently as two decades ago, America's biggest companies had mostly themselves to compete with. Today, non-American firms control more than half the U.S. market for autos, steel, beverage alcohol, nickel, newsprint, rubber, gold production and civilian aircraft.
Three of the Big Four global oil giants are European, as are three of the Big Five pharmaceutical houses. America has only two domestic auto makers; while Germany and France, with a combined population less than half that of the U.S., boast five major ones.
At least three Chinese auto brands — Geely, Chery Automotive and Lifan Group — are preparing U.S. rollouts of fuel-efficient, modestly priced ($10,000 U.S.) passenger cars. IBM personal computers are now made by a Chinese firm, Lenovo Group Ltd. And production of Play-Doh and the Etch-a-Sketch, 46-year-old flagship of the Ohio Art Co., has for the most part shifted to China.
Yet America remains the dominant global economy, whose stature won't come under serious challenge — principally from China and India — until mid-century at the earliest. Indeed, the stupendous buying power of U.S. consumers is the lifeblood of the world's leading non-American firms, which would shrivel or perish if denied access to the U.S. market. As for Canada, its economy has never been stronger, in job creation, wealth generation and fiscal surplus. And despite the new absentee ownership of several famous firms, Canada punches above its weight in the multinational game.
Global business is, to some extent, a game — one of musical chairs. Shoppers Drug Mart, to pick an example, has passed from Canadian to British to American and back to Canadian hands since the late 1970s.
And at this moment, an Indian steel maker headquartered in London, incorporated in Holland and boasting extensive U.S. operations including the former Bethlehem and LTV steel firms, is seeking control through a hostile takeover of a French rival that itself just bought Canada's Dofasco, which the Indian firm proposes to spin off to Germany's ThyssenKrupp AG if its acquisition gambit succeeds.
Unlike the asset shuffling and "asset stripping" that reached its zenith in the late-1980s, today's industrial consolidation — in theory, and usually in practice — enhances productivity and innovation, and, in the long term, job and wealth creation.
Japanese auto makers now employ almost as many workers in Cambridge and Alliston, Ont., and in U.S. communities as they do in Toyota City and Hamamatsu. European drug makers are increasingly concentrating their R&D activities in New Jersey, still the world capital of the pharmaceutical sector; Houston remains the leading centre of global oil and gas exploration and production technology; and Toronto keeps its role as a leader in global mine financing.
In a proper order of events, HBC would have been acquired by Target Corp. of Minneapolis, a well-managed retailer that has withstood the threat from Wal-Mart Stores Inc., and not by a financier, Jerry Zucker, with no background in merchandising. That the 335-year-old HBC has fallen into the hands of an investor whose resumé includes the bankruptcy-protection filing of a textile conglomerate he assembled in the 1980s says less about Canada's vulnerability to a plague of absentee owners than to the chronically risk-averse, unimaginative corporate culture of HBC for most of the 20th century.
"Despite its historical significance," says HBC historian Newman, the firm "turned out to be the most stunningly unsuccessful monopoly in Canadian history," failing to parlay its founding fur-trading empire into a business that could indefinitely outlive the obsolescence of beaver coats.
Here and there, one finds Bay customers who mourn HBC's change of ownership. But realistically, a radical change at HBC is long overdue.

[SSLL]

Zucker takes hold of 82% of Hudson's Bay, retail changes expected swiftly
GILLIAN LIVINGSTON
Mon Feb 27, 5:22 PM ET

TORONTO (CP) - U.S. businessman Jerry Zucker has gained control of retailing icon Hudson's Bay Co., and within months consumers will experience a "revitalized" department store giant.

But analysts expect bigger changes in the years to come, from a slimming down of Bay and Zellers stores, to a potential merger of those two recognizable Hudson's Bay (TSX:HBC - news) brands.

"This is a historic day for HBC," stated Zucker, CEO of Maple Leaf Heritage Investments Acquisition Corp. after a majority of the retailer's shareholders tendered to his $15.25-a-share offer and allowed him to gain control with 82 per cent of Hudson's Bay.

"As HBC's largest shareholder for more than two years, Heritage is aware of the tremendous opportunities available to HBC and looks forward to working with management and associates to build upon HBC's strong position and dynamic growth opportunities."

Initial changes will revolve around simple fixes, such as improving merchandise by adding more exclusive brands and higher-end products, and better customer service.

On the corporate side, it means a new board of directors and chief executive officer, and potentially a slew of changes in the management ranks.

"We think there's a lot of room for improvement at the company," said Robert Johnston, vice-president of strategy with Maple Leaf.

"Clearly, we're very excited about this opportunity, we think that this is a great company with great brands and great locations."

Although some Canadians will lament the fact a U.S. owner has bought up the oldest Canuck retailing icon, "we think that the change of ownership may in fact give it a shot in the arm and relaunch and revitalize it," Johnston said.

But Maple Leaf will also continue with a strategy to trim the number of small Zellers stores.

"Some of the smaller Zellers will probably be closed over the next number of years and the bigger boxes will be opened, which is a global trend in retailing," Johnston said.

Maple Leaf will own 56.9 million shares once it takes up the 43.8 million HBC shares tendered to its bid, which closed Friday, as well as $124.6 million worth of subordinated debentures.

Those who haven't tendered their shares now have until March 9 to do so.

At the retailer, there will be technical improvements to the stores, a focus on ensuring advertised merchandise doesn't run out, and the retraining of staff for better service, Johnston said.

For years, consumers have complained that service at the company's Bay and Zellers stores is notoriously poor.

"We know that Canadians in some instances have not been fully satisfied with these chains," Johnston said.

But, "it's a sad day for Canada," said Joseph D'Cruz, a professor at the Rotman School of Business in Toronto, since the buyout of Hudson's Bay by a U.S. firm illustrates that Canadians have failed in retailing. It also highlights that Zucker, a businessman from South Carolina, has a huge challenge before him.

"It's a very tough environment to pull off what Zucker is trying to pull off," he said. "What he needs is aggressive U.S.-style retail management."

The success in Canada of U.S. retail giant Wal-Mart has come at the expense of Zellers, and the Bay and Sears have both struggled as customers turned to specialty retailers and avoided the traditional department store, which partly led to the demise of Eaton's.

D'Cruz expects amid the competition Zucker might decide to merge the two store brands, Zellers and the Bay, to reduce overlap and give it the strongest chance to battle Wal-Mart head-to-head.

Or, Zucker could make the Bay more upscale so it competes more with retailers such as Holt Renfrew.

Any such change would mean the Bay would slim down store numbers so it's only in the top shopping mall markets, said Ken Jones, dean of the faculty of business at Ryerson University.

There needs to be significant longer-term changes at the retailer because it has struggled for years, Jones said.

"Maybe they'll have to downsize their stores," he said.

Looking years ahead, with Hudson's Bay soon to be a private company and Sears Canada moving in that direction, it gives those two department store chains the opportunity to look at how they could work together to be more profitable, said John Chamberlain, a retail analyst with Dominion Bond Rating Service.

"That's something that I think has a better than even likelihood of happening at some point," he said.

But a merger of the Bay and Zellers banners isn't likely, Chamberlain said.

In the meantime, however, Zucker will have revamp the stores with a bit of "paint and polish," better merchandise, displays and service, and advertise to lure shoppers back to the stores to give them another chance, Chamberlain said.

"It doesn't take a big increase in sales to drive a substantially greater increase in profit," he said.

"People are still going in the stores, you just have to have the right merchandise."

Shares of HBC closed Monday at $15.22, up one cent on the Toronto stock market.

[malek]

we knew this already, but this just came out:

H&M Expands Into Montreal Market

- Four Stores to Open in Spring 2006 -

TORONTO, March 1 /CNW/ - H&M, (H & M Hennes & Mauritz AB), the Swedish-
based, international clothing retailer, will open its first four stores in
Montreal and the Greater Montreal Area in spring 2006. The locations include
Fairview Pointe Claire (6801 Trans-Canada Highway), Rockland (2305 Rockland
Road), Carrefour Laval (3003 Le Carrefour Boulevard), and Galeries d'Anjou
(7999 Les Galeries d'Anjou Boulevard).
"We're thrilled to be expanding into the Montreal market," says Lucy van
der Wal, country manager, H&M Canada. "Montreal is an extremely fashion
forward city with many consumers seeking stylish and affordable fashion. H&M
offers a simple solution - fashion and quality at the best price."
H&M stores carry a wide range of fashion - from updated classics and
basics to clothes that reflect the very latest international trends. The new
stores will carry the following collections: Fairview Pointe Claire - women,
teenagers, children and baby; Rockland - women, men and teenagers; Carrefour
Laval - women, men and teenagers; and Galeries d'Anjou - women (including
lingerie), teenagers, children and baby.
H&M currently has eleven stores in Toronto and the Greater Toronto Area
(GTA). They include: Bloor Street, Erin Mills Town Centre, Fairview Mall,
Markville Shopping Centre, Oakville Shopping Centre, The Promenade,
Scarborough Shopping Centre, Square One, Eaton Centre, Vaughan Mills Shopping
Centre and Yorkdale Shopping Centre.

H & M Hennes & Mauritz AB (H&M) was established in Sweden in 1947. The
company's business concept is to offer fashion and quality at the best price.
H&M is quoted on the O-list of the Stockholm Stock Exchange and has
approximately 1,200 stores in 22 countries. H&M has more than 50,000 employees
and achieved sales including VAT in 2005 of SEK 71,886 million. H&M has a wide
product range that is divided into a number of different concepts for women,
men, teenagers, children and cosmetics. The company's clothing collections are
created by its own designers, pattern makers and buyers. For further
information visit www.hm.com.

[MTL-514]

oops - 5 minutes late - malek beat me to it...

[malek]

[SSLL]

There goes the 'hood

Rising rents and rumours of H&M's move to Queen West leave locals mourning their once-hip strip

DEIRDRE KELLY

It's a familiar scene these days on Queen Street West: Long-time customers of the strip's funky indie businesses stop by to shop and discover a "Going out of business" sign in the window.

This week, it was Joan Frick's turn for a rude awakening. The artist and Queen West resident was found picking through the remains of Circa Forty, a vintage clothing store that after 14 years is closing in the wake of rising rent and rumours that Swedish fashion retailer H&M is expanding into the area. The move swells the ranks of foreign big-box stores such as Zara and HMV, which even now are altering the distinctive character of the Queen West streetscape.

After hearing the news, Ms. Frick began looking not just for a bargain but for a shared memory, a memento, of the halcyon days when Queen West was alternative and not mainstream, authentic and not a runway knock-off.

"The cool is no longer here," she griped. "It used to be a centre for artists and creativity and now it's becoming a shopping mall. And I don't like shopping malls."

Proprietor Philip Abtan, flanked by a canary yellow cocktail sweater festooned with sequins, agreed. "Queen Street is unique," he said. "I would call this one of the most unique streets in North America."

But the scene is changing fast. His shop had long been a fixture on the burgeoning strip, selling retro chic to poor but thread-proud locals as well as to the rich and mega-rich, including out-of-town visitors like Bruce Springsteen and Sharon Stone.

But with the arrival of commercial heavyweights to the area, Mr. Abtan has seen his rent steadily rise, from $2,300 a month two years ago to $3,000 last year. Now it's about to take a far bigger leap.

"My landlord said 30 days or $5,600. I took the 30 days."

He is setting up a new business, a furniture store, in the Vaughan Mills shopping mall north of the city. "If you can't beat 'em, join 'em," he said.

Ms. Frick looked up wide-eyed from the faded cognac leather jacket she was fingering. "My estimation of you has just dropped considerably."

But Mr. Abtan said he is not a sellout. He's a realist. Last Sunday, he was able to verify talk of H&M's imminent arrival to the strip when, ironically, one of the company's employees came to pick out a little something for herself from his funky store -- at grossly discounted moving-sale prices.

She told him the firm had taken over the building that used to house Tortilla Flats, along with a handful of small businesses, and it planned to build a new three-storey store on the site.

Tortilla Flats manager Duane Feeley said the restaurant was forced out of its space just east of Spadina last April when landlords Living Property Management wanted to raise its rent from $37.50 a square foot to between $75 and $100 a square foot.

"Rent is becoming too high for the strip," he said. "It is becoming the new Yorkville.

"I think if H&M comes to Queen Street, it will become an outdoor mall."

Speaking by phone from Geneva, H&M spokesman Christian Bagnoud wouldn't confirm the company's plans, but enthusiastically endorsed Queen West as being where the company wanted to amplify a Toronto presence that already includes tony Bloor Street West and malls like the Eaton Centre, Yorkdale and Sherway Gardens.

"We don't go to areas that we don't think are the best. Queen West is a good location," he said.

Still, in Mr. Abtan's view, the appeal may be short-lived. "What people are saying, " he said, "is that the street is changing into that corporate Yorkdale type of atmosphere -- that it is losing its uniqueness."

He was perched on a stool that afforded him an unobstructed view of his fluid subject. Outside, the "crazies" commingled with the corporate kingpins, all of them clutching Styrofoam cups of coffee. Mr. Abtan pointed out the diversity and worried that with more gentrification, the area will lose its character.

Hip seems already to be losing the battle to the forces of homogeneity. Mr. Abtan said the rumour mill is again churning, this time with news that Urban Outfitters is moving in on the south side of Queen West, at Augusta.

If true, it means that the commercialization of Queen is migrating farther westward, well past Spadina and into territory that, until last year's opening of an American Apparel store, has remained safely beyond reach of the multinationals.

Several blocks west of Bathurst at the Kama Kazi clothing boutique, owners Debra and Fred Antwi said they believe they're in the new sweet spot.

"People are looking for the old Queen West vibe," Mr. Antwi said. "They come in here and say, 'Oh, here it is, we thought it was gone.' "

Still, cities and their streets lead organic lives, subject to change. And so Queen Street will evolve as well its grasp on cool, Edward Majkut said as he walked out of Circa Forty with a bag of clothing Mr. Abtan had sold him for less than $12. He knew Queen Street before it was Queen Street and now he is seeing it at the tail end.

"Centres of cool have a short lifespan," Mr. Majkut said. "They are in places where no one wants, initially, to go, and then they are where everyone wants to go and so they cease being cool.

"That, my friend, is life."

[samne]

This is not news. That stretch of Queen St, east of Spadina, lost its independant character long ago. The good news is, it keeps pushing new independant businesses further west and reclaiming forgotten areas like Parkdale.

[miketoronto]

Queen east of Spadina still has some cool owner run stores yet.

But if all these chains keep coming in, then Queen east of Spadina is not going to last to long, and the chains will probably close, and new own run stores will open up.

Really, if this keeps up, Queen east of Spadina will just be The Eaton Centre without a roof. And who is going to make a trek down there if you can get the stuff at Eaton Centre two blocks east.

I wish the chains would just stay in the Eaton Centre. Because now with the movement of chains to the street, they are pushing the unique stores farther out along Queen and other areas. And well it makes it harder now to go shop. Before you could go downtown, and everything was within that nice little square mile. You had your chains at the Eaton Centre, the funky on Queen, and the other stores in the other unique areas.

But now, if you want funky, you gotta ride the streetcar out for like 15-20min to west queen west, etc.
Toronto is not staying compact.

Yonge Street however managers to keep tons of unique stores, which is a good sign.

[samne]

Really, if this keeps up, Queen east of Spadina will just be The Eaton Centre without a roof. And who is going to make a trek down there if you can get the stuff at Eaton Centre two blocks east.

Because its a hell of alot more fun to shop outside and stop at a patio along the way.

Yonge Street however managers to keep tons of unique stores, which is a good sign.

If thats what you call peep shows, fetish and dollar stores.

[Rusty van Reddick]

West Queen West is the coolest street in Canada. Makes Commercial Drive look like a joke.

[204]

Vancouver's retail space is the most expensive in Canada:

Retail rates among world's top 5

At $135 US per square foot, Vancouver retail space is the fifth-most expensive in the world -- and Robson's even worse

Derrick Penner - Vancouver Sun - Monday, February 06, 2006

Move over Melbourne, step aside Midtown Manhattan, Vancouver has you beat when it comes to the prices chi-chi retailers have to pay to play in top retail sales locations, according to the commercial realtor NAI Global.

Vancouver, while it can't top the highest rents on New York's 57th Street, still ranked fifth in the world for expensive retail real estate with a $135 US-per-square-foot lease rate for top locations, including its renowned Robson Street.

Hong Kong ranks No. 1 in NAI Global's top 10 list with a $696 US-per-square-foot lease rate, Tokyo was second, charging an average rent of $209 US per square foot and Beijing was third with a lease rate of $183.

New York's Midtown Manhattan was the only United States location to crack NAI Global's top 10, and it ranked ninth with an average lease rate of $86.

Greg McPhie, director of NAI Goddard & Smith, NAI Global's Vancouver-based affiliate, compiled the data for Vancouver. He said it was an average of "high-street" fashion rates for Robson Street, where the highest rents are approaching $200 Cdn per square foot.

"I guess it speaks to our attractiveness as a city and all the dynamics that make our downtown exciting and attractive," McPhie said. "Vancouver, as a city, has done very well at developing, and is well known for that."

So high-profile fashion chains can justify paying high rents on Robson Street for the profile that it gives them, and McPhie guessed that some of the justification comes from the advertising value of just being there.

Robson is home to stores such as A/X Armani Exchange, Original Levi's, Club Monaco, Banana Republic, the Gap and Bebe. Cosmetics company Kiehl's has a location there, as does Pegabo Shoes and local fashion icon Aritzia.

"Some of those retailers have to be there," McPhie said. "They seem to want to be there for the tourists and the profile it gives them. They rationalize those rates, and rationalization goes on, because they're paying much lower [rents] in other parts of the city."

Boy's Co. is another local, three-store chain with a location on Robson. Boy's Co. president David Goldman said the company opened the Robson location in 1987, and said staying there is worth it despite ever-rising rents.

"The exposure alone is worth I don't know how many times its value in advertising simply because you get the numbers of people walking past your door," Goldman said.

Goldman added that all the major retailers who want to be in Vancouver want to be on Robson. He said these days "there's more wants-to-be" than there is space available in choice locations.

Shaadi Faris, a senior analyst for Colliers International, said it sounds a bit surprising to see Vancouver ranked so high on NAI Global's list, until he stops to think about recent developments.

Colliers' 2005 retail survey shows that Robson's top rents of $200 per square foot still do not approach the top rents on New York's 57th Street, where stores paid $950 US per square foot, or even Geary Street in San Francisco, where the highest lease rates topped $450 US.

However, Faris said Vancouver is becoming internationally recognized as a shopping destination, and "the big-name guys" are willing to pay high rents, even if they lose money, "just to be on Robson."

Kari Baker, a retail consultant with Sixth Line Solutions in Vancouver, said very few stores, especially the big brands, would lose money on Robson. She said those stores tend to have their sales formula "down to a science."

Robson, she added, has a reputation for carrying the same amount of pedestrian traffic as some prime New York spots.

Edward Finn, NAI Global's senior vice-president, said Vancouver's improving economy, the strengthening of the Canadian dollar and the impending 2010 Olympics all increase Vancouver's desirability as a retail destination, and "has pushed Vancouver to [become] one of the leading retail cities in terms of the price of exclusive retail space."

depenner@png.canwest.com

THERE'S GOLD IN VANCOUVER'S STORES:

The city has become enough of a retail destination to earn a fifth-place ranking on commercial realtor NAI Global's top-10 list of the world's most expensive places to rent a retail store.

1. Hong Kong -- $696

2. Tokyo -- $209

3. Beijing -- $183

4. Seoul -- $161

5. Vancouver -- $135

6. Shanghai -- $134

7. Taipei -- $131

8. Jakarta -- $114

9. New York City, Midtown -- $86

10. Melbourne -- $81
Source: NAI Global, commercial realtors

[miketoronto]

High rents are not always great. It just means the unique places in the downtown are forced out and downtown becomes nothing but an outdoor mall and forces everything out to the fringe.

samne, you should give Yonge another look. There are tons of great stores on that strip, if you take the time to actually look. Actually there are alot of stores on that strip that make it a real downtown main street yet. It might not be all polished, but that is what makes Yonge a true main street yet, and not a disneyfied playground.

[SSLL]

Saturday » March 4 » 2006

Canadian Tire on a roll
Focus on 'Concept 20/20': Adding new stores, bolstering financial services division

Hollie Shaw
Financial Post

Thursday, March 02, 2006

Canadian Tire Corp. is pursuing an ambitious expansion strategy, adding 19 new stores to its network and retrofitting or closing hundreds of others over the next five years, chief executive Wayne Sales said yesterday.

"We are embarking upon the most aggressive growth agenda in Canadian Tire's history," Mr. Sales told a CIBC World Markets retail conference. The strategy will winnow the company's old-store network down to 54 from 117 by 2009 and increase the number of its newest "Concept 20/20" stores to 299 from 53 today during the same time frame.

The 20/20 format refers to outlets that have 20% more selling space and aim to reap 20% higher sales than a traditional store. They were designed to have a greater appeal to women, with wider aisles and a greater complement of home products.

Looking at categories that have been growing over a multi-year housing boom, Mr. Sales noted 49% of the company's customer base is female, "but we were not getting a share of the purses that we wanted."

The 20/20 stores, which were introduced in late 2003, offer more housewares, ready-to-assemble furniture, gardening and home decor products than either the chain's traditional or larger, new-format stores. Male customers are not forgotten, he added quickly, "you can buy ATVs, powerboats, outboard motors."

Bob Gibson, retail analyst at Octagon Capital Corp., said consumer shopping trends have led to a proliferation of big-box retail developments, with Canadian Tire joining Staples, Wal-Mart, Old Navy, and competitors Home Depot and Rona.

"Now you might have a Canadian Tire in the same power centre as a Rona and a Home Depot and it's a huge destination and they actually do phenomenally well in a place like that. The other guys have more of a [big ticket] shopping thing going. Canadian Tire is more about convenience items, and maybe you'll pick up one or two other little things while you are there."

The company will replace, retrofit or expand 80 stores this year, Mr. Sales said, and will add another 1.5 million square feet, or eight stores, in 2006. Revenue at the retailer's 462 stores rose 8.4% to $9.09-billion last year.

Mr. Sales also outlined plans to increase business in its financial services division, which obtained a banking licence in 2003.

The average monthly card balance on the retailer's branded MasterCard is $1,614, compared with the industry average on all other credit cards of $2,460. Increasing the balance proportionally on Canadian Tire's card could add another $1.5-billion in credit card receivables annually, Mr. Sales said.

The retailer is also planning to introduce new financial services products.

These include variable-rate cards and gold cards, and the company is testing a 'gas advantage' points card in Ontario that can be used for discounts. Other bank products such as mortgages and GICs are also in the works, he said.

Another key strategy focuses on shifting more of its product sourcing offshore for access to less expensive goods. The retailer aims to see 48% of its sales from offshore sourcing in 2009, compared with 34% in 2005, and plans to add new and exclusive products.

- - -

CANADIAN TIRE CORP.

Ticker: CTR.NV/TSX

Close: $64.40, down $2.10

Volume: 396,794

Avg. 6-month vol.: 235,895

Rank in FP500: 36

HOISTING UP AN OLD BUSINESS:

THE COMPANY

The long-time Canadian retailer, with sales of $9.09-billion last year, up 8.4%, is undergoing an expansion strategy that puts an emphasis on larger stores.

THE TARGET

Long considered a chain that catered to men, Canadian Tire's new stores aim to boost sales to women by offering more housewares and home decor than traditional stores.

THE SPACE

Plans are in place to add 1.5 million square feet of retail space in 2006, or eight stores. They currently have 462 stores and will increase that to 481 by 2009.

THE FORMAT

The new 'Concept 20/20' format offers 20% more selling space with a goal of 20% higher sales. The plan is to increase the number of these stores from 53 to 299 in five years.

[204]

Originally Posted by miketoronto

High rents are not always great. It just means the unique places in the downtown are forced out and downtown becomes nothing but an outdoor mall and forces everything out to the fringe.

Very true. Granville Street is starting to lose some of the more unique stores as the rents go up.

[SteelTown]

New retailers are buying into Hamilton

By Lisa Grace Marr
The Hamilton Spectator
(Mar 7, 2006)

Hamilton is fast becoming a mecca for those who need doses of affordable retail therapy.

Two new retailers are throwing open their doors at different ends of the city. Talize, a department store that's a cross between Value Village and Winners, is opening Thursday to 20,000-square-feet of shopping space where White Rose used to be on the Mountain.

Yves Rocher, which offers beauty products and aesthetic services, starts enticing women to Jackson Square tomorrow.

They're just the latest in a string of similar announcements.

Last month, Quebec-based Hart department store announced it is moving into a 40,000-square-foot space in the Hamilton City Centre this fall. Hip H&M is also moving to Hamilton this fall. The store's location is not yet finalized.

Neil Everson, the city's economic development director, said the stores will help stop "retail leakage."

"Now there will be even more reasons to keep people's dollars in the city," he said. "There won't be as much reason to go to Oakville or Toronto."

Paula Lord, Yves Rocher's Ontario regional sales manager, said that's part of the reason why the firm chose Hamilton. She said their market is primarily women who work and live in an urban centre.

"There are half a million people who live in the city," she said. "We do our research. We like what's happening and what's going on (in the core). There are also customers who are familiar with our name through our mail order or Internet business.

"In some malls, we're considered an anchor tenant."

Yves Rocher is based in France and sells all its own products in 33 countries. It has 58 stores in Ontario and Quebec. Hamilton represents one of its initiatives to expand into southern Ontario.

The Jackson Square store will be about 800 square feet and employ five workers.

Kathy Drewitt, executive director of the Downtown Hamilton Business Improvement Area, said it's exciting.

"It's an example of interest from someone who sees Hamilton with fresh eyes," she said.

Lord said the move downtown was partially motivated by the series of residential developments taking place in the core. Marvin Ryder, a business professor at McMaster University, said Talize will also likely do well on the Mountain for the same reason.

"There are a number of young families moving in who will be interested in the kind of value ... (Talize) is offering."

Talize is a new chain of stores, starting with its first franchise last September in London, Ont. There are two other stores in Kitchener and Delta, B.C. Talize president Nancy Bryce said she was drawn to Hamilton "because I feel like I know the people there.

"They're just ordinary, average people like me."

Talize's clothes are 80 per cent nearly new and 20 per cent new. Its used goods come from the Children's Wish Foundation, a charity which collects clothes.

Products are tested and sorted and shipped out from a Toronto warehouse.

"I want to take away the stigma from thrift stores," she said. "I want to make it clean and bright and smelling good."

The store's shiny shelving sports everything from kids' books for 49 cents to shelves of Lysol wipes for $1.99 -- $1.49 with a coupon.

But Bryce is picky about what ends up on the floor and it shows. Clothes are colour coded and smack of a hip fashion sense, toys are neatly sorted, furniture is in auction-ready condition and there are walls of hair clips.

Talize manager Bob Nazar said the hardest part right now is getting all the products on the shelves -- 6,000 items arrive daily -- and keeping customers out until the store opens Thursday.

[SSLL]

^my money's on H&M landing at Limeridge. Isn't that the best mall in Hammy?

[SteelTown]

I know someone who works at Limeridge Mall and rumours is that H&M is going there. But she also said the owner of City Centre (part of Jackson Square) is trying to deal with H&M but I doubt City Centre will get H&M when Limeridge Mall has Tommy Hilfiger, American Eagle, GAP, Old Navy, Campus Crew, Roots, etc. H&M fits perfectly at Limeridge.

[SSLL]

From:
_________________________________

Loblaw launches new fashion line
Last Updated Mon, 13 Mar 2006 13:32:35 EST
CBC News

Loblaw Companies Ltd. launched a new line of designer fashions Monday as it beefed up its range of offerings to meet competition from uber-retailer Wal-Mart.
Named Joe Fresh Style in keeping with Loblaw's core business, selling fresh fruit and vegetables, they are designed by Joe Mimran, the Canadian behind the chic Club Monaco and Caban labels, as well as upscale Holt Renfrew fashions.

The new collection will include more than 350 apparel items for men and women. The maximum price is $40 with an average price of just $13.

Just as important for jaded men fashion shoppers, Loblaw promised "an enjoyable, fun shopping experience." Fitting rooms will be big enough for a stroller and shopping cart, with one-stop check-outs.

"We are thrilled to offer our customers a wide selection of casual apparel items that fit today's lifestyle," said Louise Drouin, senior vice-president in charge of the Hard & Soft Line department. "We understand our customers lead busy and budget-conscious lives, and are committed to providing them with the convenience of a one-stop shop for all their daily needs."

The clothes went on sale Monday morning at 40 Superstores.

The company says the new clothing line will be simple and elegant, with an Asian influence brought by Alfred Sung, who has been associated with Mimran since their days together at Club Monaco.

Shoppers will be able to mix and match modern, chic apparel, priced at the lower end of the fashion spectrum.

"Our goal with Joe Fresh Style was to create a line of clothing that is accessible and affordable to Canadians," Mimran announced. "The level of style, quality and fit is extremely high and complemented by outstanding value."

Loblaw stock (TSX:L)fell 30 cents to finish at $57.09.

Loblaw is just one part of George Weston Ltd., a giant Canadian food and retailing empire that bakes Wonderbread and produces Neilson chocolates. It operates supermarkets across Canada under a wide variety of brand names, led by Loblaws, sells the President's Choice line of foods and operates Holt Renfrew fashion stores.

The chairman is Galen Weston, husband of Ontario's former lieutenant-governor Hilary Weston.

Loblaw has been diversifying away from its roots in recent years as it bulks up, adds new lines and bigger stores in a bid to meet competition from Wal-Mart, the giant U.S. chain that already sells a complete line of home supplies, hardware, clothing, pharmaceuticals and food, all at bargain-basement prices.

In England, Wal-Mart has taken the grocery business by storm through its purchase of the Asda chain, a major supermarket network that offers much the same food as Weston stores at discount prices.

Loblaw is clearly worried that the same thing will happen in Canada. It is trying to meet Wal-Mart head on by adding pharmacy products, kitchenware and even gasoline pumps in big, new superstores and lower-cost bulk food stores.

[SteelTown]

Le Chateau puts itself 'on sale'
Montreal firm has 150 locations across Canada

Clothing retailer Le Chateau put itself up for sale today, saying it is evaluating "various strategic alternatives," including a sale, merger or capital reorganization.

The Montreal-based chain said it has hired Genuity Capital Markets as financial adviser to help evaluate its options.

The company said the process will take several months and there can be no assurance that any transaction or other move will occur.

"This step is a natural and logical part of our evolution and growth and we believe that this is the right time to review such opportunities in the best interest of Le Chateau and all of its shareholders," chairman-CEO Herschel Segal said in a release.

Le Chateau sells contemporary fashion apparel, accessories and footwear for women and men. Its brand merchandise is sold through 180 retail locations in Canada and five in the New York City area.

[SteelTown]

H&M clothier likely going to Lime Ridge
Meantime, it's building excitement and keeping rivals in the dark

By Deirdre Healey
The Hamilton Spectator
(Mar 17, 2006)

Shannon Laity has applied to work as a cashier at the much anticipated H&M store, but has no idea where or when she might start working.

None of the local applicants who attended the trendy clothing chain's job fair yesterday were given the top secret details.

"They said a store would be opening somewhere in the Hamilton area, but not until the fall," said the 24-year-old. "That's all they said."

H&M, which has been advertising an autumn arrival, held a job fair at the downtown Ramada Inn yesterday and today.

When approached by a reporter, staff running the job fair directed all questions to head office. Staff at head office refused to confirm the location or expected opening date.

By not answering these key questions, H&M is only fuelling the curiosity, which could be the whole point, said Marvin Ryder, a marketing professor with McMaster's business school.

"It's the exact response they want," Ryder said.

"The more they build the excitement and suspense, the more they keep you intrigued. You only get one chance at a grand opening and they want to do it with the maximum amount of buzz."

Despite the secrecy, Ryder said he is 99 per cent certain the store will be in Lime Ridge Mall.

"It's a regional mall and the spot where there is the most traffic," he said.

H&M, which stands for Hennes & Mauritz, is a very particular company when it comes to making location announcements, said Neil Murphy, who is in corporate relations with Cadillac Fairview, property owner of Lime Ridge.

Murphy said Cadillac Fairview is negotiating with H&M on numerous properties across Canada, but would not confirm whether the company was looking to set up shop at Lime Ridge.

The Hamilton mall is the only retail property Cadillac Fairview owns in the city. "We are very careful with them because they like to do their announcements with a big pop," said Murphy, who has worked in retail for 18 years.

"They have the best people working for them and are very good at marketing. We leave the announcement strategy in their court."

And when a retailer tells Murphy to keep quiet, he listens.

He did say H&M typically "teases the public," leading up to the grand opening.

Another reason for the Swedish company's reluctance to publicly release details on the Hamilton store could be competitive strategy, said Mandeep Malik, a business professor at McMaster. Malik said the retail market has become extremely competitive and companies like H&M must ensure opponents like GAP, American Eagle Outfitters and Old Navy don't find out about future locations before they are final.

"If a company hears where you plan to locate, they will put up entry barriers," Malik said.

In a mall, a competitor company could expand to take over the available space being eyed by their rival retailer to prevent them from setting up shop, Malik said.

Known for offering cutting edge styles at affordable prices, H&M will be a "threat" to current stores targeted at fashion focused teenagers and young adults, he added.

So far, the clothing company has opened more than 1,000 stores in 22 countries.

There are 11 stores in Canada, most in the Greater Toronto Area.

Local H&M enthusiasts must make the trip to Oakville to get their shopping fix.

"I travel to Oakville and Toronto to shop at H&M, so it will be great once we get a store here," said Laity.

"I will be super excited if I get hired and they give out employee discounts. I am getting this job for myself and for all my friends."