Repairing broken cell phones and other personal electronics will be easier to afford for over a million Albertans thanks to a new partnership between Dr. Phone Fix and the Alberta Motor Association (AMA).
AMA members will be eligible for special discounts on phone repairs and accessories when they visit any Dr. Phone Fix location in Alberta.
Piyush Sawhney
“We are proud to be a partner with AMA. We share a common goal of giving customers exceptional service and premium products. This collaboration allows us to extend exclusive value to AMA’s members while reinforcing Dr. Phone Fix’s commitment to quality repairs and premium accessories,” said Dr. Phone Fix founder and CEO Piyush Sawhney.
Haurdhal said cellphone company province-wide network of 22 locations will make it easier for AMA members to quickly and reliably get the help they need when their phone needs a little TLC.
Founded in 2019, Dr. Phone Fix operates a nationwide network of 35 corporately owned cell phone and electronics repair stores across four Canadian provinces. In addition to its repair services, it sells certified pre-owned devices and a wide selection of accessories. The company has well-established networks to acquire and resell a wide variety of used and refurbished electronic devices from certified vendors. It was recently named to the Financial Times Americas’ Fastest Growing Companies 2025 list.
Retail Insider is streamlining its Canadian retail news from around the web to include a handful of top news stories that can be viewed quickly during the day. Here are the top stories from the past 24 hours.
Big League Food Company announced Monday a significant expansion across its portfolio of Dark Horse Espresso Bar, Village Juicery, and Dear Grain.
This accelerated growth demonstrates the power of BLFC’s platform strategy: acquiring beloved independent brands and providing the capital, infrastructure, and operational expertise to scale them into regional champions. This model allows brands to grow rapidly while maintaining strong financial performance and the deep community roots that customers value, said the company.
Max Daviau
“Big League is proving that independent food brands, when supported by a best-in-class platform, can outperform larger international chains in our home market,” said Max Daviau, Co-Founder of Big League Food Company.
“Our mission is to preserve the soul of these brands while providing the infrastructure and expertise they need to scale into regional champions across the GTA.”
The Toronto-based company said its growth plan is focused on high-traffic, strategic locations that expand the reach of each brand.
Village Juicery (Targeting 9 Units in 2026): Building on its momentum in the wellness and functional food category, Village Juicery will open its first PATH location at First Canadian Place in Q2 2026.
Dark Horse Espresso Bar (Targeting 23 Units in 2026): Following successful openings in Hamilton Airport, Cambridge Centre, and Woodbridge, Dark Horse continues its rapid expansion. Six additional openings are slated through 2026 – including Barrie, 88 Bathurst, and several new GTA and downtown core sites – cementing its position as Southwestern Ontario’s largest third-wave cafe operator.
Dear Grain (Targeting 6 Units in 2026): After a highly successful debut on Roncesvalles, Dear Grain will expand further across Toronto with new locations in Summerhill (mid-2026), an additional downtown site (Q4 2026), as well as a second Hamilton location.
“This organic expansion will bring BLFC’s corporate-owned unit count to 38 stores and is projected to drive system-wide revenue to over $70 million. This performance puts the company firmly on track to achieve its $100 million revenue milestone by 2028,” it said.
“Alongside this organic growth, a core pillar of BLFC’s strategy is M&A. The company is actively pursuing acquisitions of other independent food brands across Ontario that are ready to scale and become category leaders.”
Now Hiring sign in a store window. Photo: Unsplash/free use
Canada’s retail industry is once again leading the nation’s employment recovery, adding more jobs in October 2025 than any other sector. According to Statistics Canada, the wholesale and retail trade sector expanded by approximately 41,000 positions, a 1.4 percent increase month-over-month, marking a significant rebound after months of volatility.
“The results for October astounded everyone in the financial markets, except people in retail and recruiters,” Sears told Retail Insider. “We knew what the groundswell had been since the massive HBC layoff of 8,000-plus people. We saw not a retraction in hiring, but a slow and steady increase in the hiring rate.”
Suzanne Sears.
The October jobs report revealed that nearly two-thirds of Canada’s new jobs came from retail and related service industries. “This most recent labour report, 41,000 of the new 67,000 jobs, were retail jobs,” Sears explained. “That’s followed by transport and warehousing at around 30,000, which is closely tied to e-commerce activity.”
Sears said transportation and warehousing data can often serve as an early indicator of retail’s performance. “If you watch those numbers, you can predict reliably what retail hiring will look like two or three months later, because it all lands in the warehouse,” she said. “When warehouses fill up, it means retail orders are strong.”
The correlation highlights the ongoing integration between traditional retail and online shopping infrastructure, where logistics capacity directly mirrors consumer demand.
Retail Hiring No Longer Driven by the Holidays
While October’s surge coincides with the pre-holiday season, Sears emphasized that the gains are not primarily seasonal.
“The old concept of hiring thousands of people for the holidays pretty much vanished when the major department stores did,” she said. “There isn’t a huge surge of temporary bodies in stores anymore. Instead, what we’re seeing is that part-time work has become the job people actually want.”
Sears noted that part-time employment, which accounted for most of October’s job growth, is no longer viewed as a fallback. “These are desirable jobs,” she explained. “They offer flexibility, they pay comparably to full-time work in many cases, and they fit the lifestyle that many Canadians are looking for right now.”
That shift, she said, is also helping retailers fill roles that might otherwise remain vacant amid ongoing labour shortages and changing work expectations.
Local Spending, Global Shifts
Sears attributes part of the hiring momentum to a “stay-at-home, shop-at-home” mindset that’s strengthening local economies. “Every time you add a ten or twenty dollar charge to anything outside the home, whether it’s parking, event tickets, or travel , the multiplier effect catches up,” she said. “People are spending locally instead.”
She pointed to smaller markets as clear examples of this trend. “You have little shops in Niagara-on-the-Lake that always did relatively well, but they’re now exploding,” Sears observed. “They’re turning around and hiring one or two more people each.”
The U.S. added only 44,000 jobs in October, a stark contrast to Canada’s 67,000. “That’s a big story,” Sears added. “A lot of the reason for Canadian job growth is that Canadians are choosing to stay local and spend local.”
The Amazon Effect: Local Advantage Grows
Another key driver, Sears said, is that major online platforms are losing their price advantage. “Prices on Amazon have skyrocketed because tariffs are now built into nearly every product,” she noted. “A small steam cleaner that used to sell for $89 is now $139.”
“Fast and cheap might still be fast, but it’s no longer cheap,” she said. “There’s not a lot of incentive to shop that way anymore when local retailers are offering competitive prices and better service.”
As a result, Canadian retailers are benefiting from renewed consumer loyalty and improved digital capabilities. “They’re getting much better at e-commerce,” she said. “They can’t match the sheer scale of Amazon, but they’re competitive, and that’s a major shift.”
Retailer putting a hiring sign in a store window. Retail hiring. Photo: Retail Customer Experience
Retailers Regaining Confidence Amid Global Uncertainty
Sears also believes that international trade instability, including renewed U.S. tariffs, initially froze Canadian retailers’ hiring and investment decisions. “When the Trump tariffs came down, everyone was terrified to make a move,” she said. “If there was a decision to hire, lay off, or do nothing, most chose to do nothing.”
Now, she said, that hesitation is fading. “Executives are realizing this could last two or three more years. They’re saying, ‘We either go forward or we die.’”
Improved access to capital and more stable financing conditions are also encouraging retailers to reinvest in staff and operations. “I saw it starting in the summer,” Sears said. “Retailers were asking, ‘If you find anybody, let us know.’ By September they were actively interviewing. So there’s no question in my mind that they’d be hiring in October.”
Sears expects the upward trend to continue through the end of the year, adding that the proportion of Canadians seeking work is dropping as well. “We’ve gone from 7.1 percent to 6.9 percent unemployment,” she said. “There’s a high probability we’ll see that fall even further.”
Post-HBC Retirements Reshape the Retail Workforce
Sears also reflected on the lasting consequences of Hudson’s Bay Company’s mass layoffs earlier this year, noting that many experienced retail professionals simply walked away from the industry.
“People who were on the cusp of retiring just retired flat out,” she said. “Anyone over 50 said, ‘I’ve had enough of retail.’ The core staffing group from about 25 to 55 has been turned off by it.”
The loss of mid-career professionals, she explained, has deepened a generational divide. “Younger people are still studying retail. They’re going to university for it, and they still believe in it,” Sears said. “They see a better way forward, often combining store management with social media skills, but upper management hasn’t fully caught up yet.”
Sears said the industry now faces a critical question: how to restore trust among workers burned by corporate closures and instability. “There’s a bad taste,” she said. “People say, ‘I’ll do anything but not retail.’ If COVID didn’t burn them, HBC did. Many of them lost their benefits, and that left a scar.”
Balancing Optimism with Caution
Even with strong October numbers, Sears acknowledged that some may question whether this growth is sustainable. “That’s the first thing people will say,” she noted. “Yes, it’s good news, but is it sustainable?”
Retail remains Canada’s largest employer, representing about 15 percent of the national workforce. “When retail’s leading, it has a trickle-down effect that’s enormous,” Sears said. “It won’t offset the loss of factories or lumber mills, but it can stabilize communities.”
That stabilization, she argued, is already visible in provinces such as Ontario and British Columbia. “Retail is leading hiring even in Ontario, which has been beaten up badly,” she said. “That’s impressive.”
T&T Supermarkets, the largest Asian supermarket chain in Canada, says its will be opening its largest store in Ontario this Fall at 5090 Yonge Street, Empress Walk Shopping Mall, in Toronto.
The grocery store retailer said the store will be 66,000 square feet.
T&T currently operates 38 stores across North America (37 in Canada and 1 in the U.S.)
Upcoming stores in Canada in 2026 include: Erin Mills, Mississauga, ON; Empress Walk, North York, ON; and Gilmore, Burnaby, BC
“Customers can enjoy a self-serve hot food bar featuring authentic Asian dishes. T&T Kitchen is known for its specialties, including Peking Duck, Papa Chicken, a BBQ station, and a sushi counter. It will also offer popular street-food favourites such as freshly made Chinese crepes and Taiwanese-style sticky rice rolls,” said T&T.
It said the store will have the largest bakery section in Ontario with over 150 varieties of baked goods such as Portuguese egg tarts, mango pomelo Swiss rolls, and freshly baked Hong Kong–style buns.
It will also have the largest Asian beauty section in Ontario with thousands of Asian beauty products including skincare, makeup, and wellness items from all over Asia.
“This store will feature a full assortment of more than 500 T&T Private Label items, including pantry staples, dim sum, and trendy snacks. Customer favourites such as juicy pork soup dumplings (Xiao Long Bao), Korean kalbi marinade, green onion pancakes, and seaweed snacks will all be available, plus much more,” added T&T.
“Fresh groceries, prepared meals, bakery, and seafood are now available for same-day delivery through the T&T App. Service is available in select areas.”:
T&T Supermarkets was founded in Vancouver in 1993 and is now led by second generation successor and CEO, Tina Lee. T&T Supermarkets is headquartered in Richmond, BC, with offices in Toronto and Los Angeles.
Tina Lee, CEO of T&T Supermarkets (CNW Group/T&T Supermarkets)
Kit and Ace at Park Royal in West Vancouver. Image: Kit and Ace
Canadian apparel retailer Kit and Ace continues its national retail resurgence with the opening of a new 3,500-square-foot location at Park Royal Shopping Centre in West Vancouver. The store, situated in a high-visibility corner unit within The Village section of the mall formerly occupied by Peloton, showcases the brand’s refined design aesthetic and marks another milestone in its growing Western Canadian presence.
The new Kit and Ace Park Royal store embodies the brand’s contemporary and approachable aesthetic. The space features deep blue walls and ceilings, extensive glass frontage, and abundant natural light, creating an inviting, elevated retail environment. The location enjoys strong pedestrian visibility and aligns with the brand’s focus on community connection and lifestyle integration.
In a statement, David Lui, CEO of Kit and Ace, shared his enthusiasm for the brand’s latest opening:
“We’re thrilled to announce the opening of our newest KIT + ACE in Park Royal Shopping Centre in The Village — a community that celebrates connection, creativity, and modern living. This new space reflects our belief that when you feel your best, you live your best — with technical fashion designed for comfort, confidence, and versatility from day to night.”
David Lui
Lui expressed gratitude toward the team behind the new store, adding, “A heartfelt thank you to our incredible team for bringing this vision to life, and to our new neighbours — we can’t wait to welcome you in.”
Expansion Momentum Across Canada
The Park Royal opening follows a year of rapid growth for the brand, which has been steadily rebuilding its retail network under the ownership of Unity Brands Inc. Since being acquired in July 2023, Kit and Ace has undergone a transformation that blends strategic expansion, product innovation, and renewed consumer engagement.
Throughout 2025, Kit and Ace has opened new stores and pop-ups in several key markets across Canada. These include a long-term pop-up at The Well in downtown Toronto, the brand’s largest store to date at CF Toronto Eaton Centre, and new storefronts at Bayview Village in Toronto, CF Market Mall in Calgary, and Metropolis at Metrotown in Burnaby. Each location has been strategically chosen to strengthen the brand’s connection with urban professionals seeking comfort, quality, and functionality.
The Kit and Ace Park Royal location builds on that momentum, extending the brand’s reach within the Greater Vancouver Area while reinforcing its commitment to bricks-and-mortar retail as an experiential anchor for its direct-to-consumer strategy.
Kit and Ace at Park Royal in West Vancouver. Image: Kit and Ace
Expanding into the Home Space
Beyond apparel, Kit and Ace is broadening its lifestyle reach with the introduction of a new home goods line, launched in partnership with TJX Canada, the parent company of Winners, Marshalls, and HomeSense. The collection, now available in over 300 stores across Canada, marks the brand’s official entry into the home category.
Announcing the initiative, David Lui said, “KIT + ACE has officially expanded into the home space in collaboration with TJX Canada – Winners, Marshalls, HomeSense, now available in over 300 stores across Canada.” Explaining the rationale behind the move, Lui added, “Why home? Because comfort doesn’t stop at what you wear. Our goal has always been to help people feel the difference — through softness, function, and thoughtful design.
Extending that same sensibility into the spaces where we rest and recharge was a natural next step.”
The new range features tactile, comfort-driven products including Cable Knit Throws and Bouclé Knit Throws, with more home innovations expected in future collections.
Lui described the collaboration with TJX as “a natural brand extension” that allows Kit and Ace to reach more Canadians in a new setting.
“Launching Home with TJX is a natural brand extension and allows us to share the KIT + ACE experience with even more Canadians — at home, in every season.”
Kit and Ace products in the HomeSense section of the Winners store at 110 Bloor St. W. in Toronto. Photo: David Lui
Leadership and Strategic Direction
Under the leadership of David Lui and Unity Brands founders Joe Mimran (Club Monaco, Joe Fresh) and Frank Rocchetti (Tilley, Loblaws), Kit and Ace has embraced a renewed focus on design excellence, customer experience, and sustainable growth.
The brand’s design and development functions have been centralized in Toronto, leveraging Mimran’s long-standing design expertise and infrastructure. This shift has helped modernize Kit and Ace’s product assortment while reinforcing its Canadian identity.
Lui’s leadership has also prioritized operational agility, allowing Kit and Ace to experiment with flexible retail formats such as short-term pop-ups that evolve into permanent spaces. This approach reflects a broader industry trend toward adaptive retail models that respond quickly to changing consumer habits and market conditions.
Kit and Ace at Park Royal in West Vancouver. Image: Kit and Ace
Founded in Vancouver in 2014 by Shannon Wilson, former lead designer at Lululemon Athletica, and her stepson J.J. Wilson, Kit and Ace initially gained attention for its proprietary “Technical Cashmere.” This machine-washable innovation married luxury with practicality and set the tone for the brand’s future direction.
After an ambitious global rollout that saw the company expand to over 60 stores worldwide, Kit and Ace faced challenges that led to a major restructuring. By 2017, the brand had refocused on its Canadian roots, closing international locations to concentrate on core markets and online growth.
Under new ownership since 2023, Kit and Ace has redefined its identity while preserving its foundational mission: to create smart, easy-to-love, and made-to-last clothing. The current product lineup emphasizes breathable, stretchable fabrics and clean silhouettes designed to transition seamlessly from work to leisure.
Kit and Ace at Park Royal in West Vancouver. Image: Kit and Ace
Peter Perdue has been appointed president of Popeyes, U.S. and Canada, succeeding Jeff Klein, who will be leaving the company. Perdue, a 12-year RBI veteran, previously served as chief operating officer of Burger King U.S. and Canada, where he played a key role in the brand’s Reclaim the Flame operations turnaround. His experience also includes roles in operations, franchising, and finance, including serving as regional vice president for Burger King in the Asia Pacific region.
Nicolas Henrich has been named chief operating officer of Burger King U.S. and Canada, succeeding Perdue. Henrich has held senior positions at RBI across franchising, development, finance, strategy, and supply chain.
Josh Kobza
“Popeyes has the best chicken in QSR, and Peter’s mandate is to unlock the share gains we know we are capable of,” said Josh Kobza, CEO of RBI. “Peter has led an impressive turnaround in the operations of our Burger King system, and I look forward to bringing his leadership to Popeyes. We also want to offer our thanks to Jeff Klein for his hard work over the last four years.”
“Nico’s proven leadership in our brand has earned the trust of our franchisees,” said Tom Curtis, president of Burger King U.S. and Canada. “He has been instrumental in strengthening our system and improving franchisee profitability. As COO, he will continue driving operational excellence as a lead contributor to our long-term growth.”
Restaurant Brands International Inc. is one of the world’s largest quick service restaurant companies, with more than $45 billion in annual system-wide sales and over 32,000 restaurants in more than 120 countries and territories. The company owns Tim Hortons, Burger King, Popeyes and Firehouse Subs.
Panda Pilates has opened a new studio in Mississauga, combining Reformer and Mat Pilates classes with an in-house wellness café designed to promote mindful movement, core strength, and overall well-being.
The studio features soft finishes, thoughtful lighting, and a signature floral feature wall, creating a calm environment for guests of all levels, including beginners. Classes focus on alignment, breath, and core activation to help participants move confidently and feel supported.
The studio is located at Mississauga Rd & Dundas St W.
Richa Bhushan
Founder Richa Bhushan said the studio was created to make movement “feel good, welcoming, and inspiring for everyone.” She added, “This is a space to build strength, reset, and take care of yourself in a way that feels beautiful and real.”
It also offers signature fusion classes that combine 30 minutes on the Reformer and 30 minutes on the Mat, providing a balanced session that strengthens, lengthens, and restores. After classes, guests can enjoy specialty coffee, matcha, protein shakes, ginger shots, and seasonal drinks at the studio’s café.
Photo: Panda Pilates
The studio has received support from community and wellness leaders, including Dr. Ruby Dhalla.
She said, “Panda Pilates welcomes every woman with compassion, encourages confidence, and creates a space where mind and body can heal and grow together. Having trained at different Pilates studios, it is refreshing to train at Panda Pilates where you are not just a number, but part of a family committed to your wellness, mental health, physical strength, and health care goals.”
Panda Pilates said it is offering 20 per cent off the first three months for new members through the Panda Pilates app with code WELCOME20.
Shoppers at three downtown Toronto No Frills stores can now use a new technology to make grocery shopping faster.
The pcogo pilot, introduced by Loblaw Companies Limited, allows customers to scan items as they shop through the PC Optimum app, see an estimated total in real time, and streamline the checkout process.
The pilot is available at Jordan’s No Frills (King & Shaw), Bo’s No Frills (Richmond & John), and Jesse’s No Frills (Mount Pleasant & Eglinton).
PC Optimum members with at least 30,000 lifetime points can log in to the app to track their purchases and loyalty points while shopping. The experience ends with a dedicated self-checkout lane, designed to reduce wait times.
“Our pcogo pilot is a direct response to that feedback, focusing on making checkout faster and giving customers more control over their purchases. It’s about delivering on our promise of a great store experience, from clean aisles to quick exits.”
Eligible members can access the pilot by checking into participating stores using a QR code or enabling location sharing on their phones, which ensures accurate product pricing and promotions.
Sensei Farms has launched its locally grown greenhouse produce across all 24 Fortinos supermarket locations in the Greater Toronto Area, marking the company’s official entry into the Canadian retail market.
The announcement was made recently by Sensei Farms in partnership with Loblaw Companies Ltd., Canada’s largest grocery retailer.
Kevin Climie
“At Fortinos, we take great pride in offering our customers the freshest, highest-quality produce — and partnering with Sensei Farms allows us to do just that,” said Kevin Climie, senior director, produce, floral and bulk foods at Fortinos Supermarkets. “Sensei’s innovative approach to greenhouse growing and their commitment to sustainability align perfectly with our focus on supporting local growers and delivering exceptional freshness year-round.”
Sensei Farms operates a large greenhouse in Leamington, Ont., where it uses advanced agricultural practices to grow produce for local communities.
All Sensei Farms items are packaged in recyclable paperboard trays designed for 360-degree product visibility and feature a peel-and-reseal closure to preserve freshness and extend shelf life.
Sensei Farms operates farms in Ontario and on the Hawaiian Island of Lāna‘i, with a combined capacity to grow more than 15.5 million pounds of produce annually.
