The Competition Bureau says it has launched an investigation into the use of minimum advertised pricing policies in the grocery sector, adding that it is concerned that these policies are restricting competition, and keeping lower prices out of reach for Canadians.
“Every week, Canadians use grocery flyers, apps and online promotions to find deals. But Canadians would be surprised to learn that stores aren’t always allowed to advertise their lowest prices,” said the Bureau.
“These policies, which can be imposed by suppliers or negotiated between suppliers and retailers, set the lowest price at which a retailer can advertise a product. In industries like retail grocery, where a few large companies dominate the retail landscape, these policies can make it harder for retailers, including discount grocers, to offer lower prices and compete for customers.”
“Canadians expect grocery stores to be able to advertise their best deals. We’re concerned that policies that prevent this make it harder for grocers to compete, and for consumers to access lower prices. At a time when food affordability remains an important concern for Canadians, we want to hear about how these policies are affecting grocery prices and consumer choice,” said Jeanne Pratt, Interim Commissioner of Competition.
The Bureau said minimum advertised pricing policies can prevent retailers from advertising lower prices, even when they are prepared to offer those prices in-store. Some retailers may remove in-store discounts entirely if they cannot advertise lower prices under these policies.
The Bureau said it is examining whether these policies make it harder for Canadians to find deals, reduce price competition, create barriers for discount and new grocers, and make it easier for grocers to coordinate the prices they charge.
The Bureau’s Retail Grocery Market Study found that greater competition in retail grocery would help lower prices and deliver more choice and innovation for Canadians.
“This investigation matters because Canadians rely on flyers and apps to stretch their grocery budgets. The Bureau needs to find out whether pricing rules are keeping real discounts out of sight.”
Dr. Sylvain CharleboisBruce Winder
Retail analyst Bruce Winder said he welcomes the Bureau’s review of minimum advertised pricing in the Canadian grocery sector.
“For far too long large, global CPG companies have dictated what Canadian grocers can sell their products for,” he said.
“I prefer to see a market based approach that allows grocers to sell all products based on consumer demand and retail focused strategies without penalty. Consumers win without these minimum advertised price policies.”
Toronto-based Slate Grocery REIT, an owner and operator of U.S. grocery-anchored real estate, announced Monday that it has entered into a definitive arrangement agreement to be purchased by a joint venture between Brixmor Property Group Inc. and affiliates of Everview Partners, L.P. for an all-cash transaction of US $13 per unit representing a total enterprise value of about US $2.3 billion.
“The Consideration represents a premium of approximately 13% to the closing price of the Units on May 21, 2026, the last trading day prior to the public announcement of the strategic review process, and a premium of approximately 20% to the closing price of the Units on September 23, 2026, the last trading day prior to the REIT’s announcement of the suspension of distributions,” explained a news release, adding that the transaction is the culmination of the strategic review process previously announced by the REIT on May 22.
“Following a comprehensive strategic review process, including a competitive auction process, the Special Committee unanimously concluded that this transaction represents the best available outcome for the REIT and its Unitholders. The Transaction provides Unitholders with immediate liquidity and certainty of value at an attractive all-cash price, and is the culmination of a competitive process focused on maximizing value for all Unitholders. This outcome reflects strong institutional conviction in grocery-anchored real estate. We’re confident Brixmor and Everview’s combined resources and commitment to this sector position this portfolio well for its next chapter,” said Marc Rouleau, Chair of the Special Committee of the REIT.
Photo: Slate
“This outcome validates what we have long believed: grocery-anchored essential real estate is a high-quality, in-demand asset class, and active in-house management creates measurable value for investors. The Special Committee ran a rigorous process and Slate Asset Management, as external manager of the REIT and the REIT’s largest investor, is fully supportive of the outcome. We are proud of the institutional caliber portfolio our team built and managed, and we are immediately focused on what comes next: redeploying capital into grocery-anchored real estate in North America and continuing to grow Slate’s grocery platform in Europe, which is already one of the largest portfolios on the continent,” said Blair Welch, Chief Executive Officer of the REIT and Co-Founding Partner of Slate Asset Management.
The news release said the transaction is expected to close in the first quarter of 2027.
Brixmor owns and operates a national portfolio of open-air shopping centres. Brixmor’s 346 retail centers comprise approximately 63 million square feet of retail space in established trade areas.
Everview Partners, L.P. is a private investment management firm founded in 2024. Everview invests across the capital structure in real asset companies and properties and seeks to partner with talented business leaders to drive sustainable growth and profitability.
Sports Experts at CF Carrefour Laval. Image by Vince Noel
Sports Experts has completed an approximately $8-million transformation of its flagship store at CF Carrefour Laval, reworking the two-level location to carry more inventory, improve customer navigation and support growing e-commerce fulfillment from the store.
The approximately 45,000-square-foot Sports Experts/Atmosphere location is operated by Groupe Beaulieu-Angelo, a third-generation family business with five Sports Experts stores in Quebec. Carrefour Laval is by far the most important location in the portfolio, accounting for roughly 40 per cent of the group’s sales.
The store soft-opened on August 6, followed by its official grand opening on August 12. Early sales have exceeded the projections established before the renovation, and the group is already revisiting some of its purchasing, staffing and marketing assumptions for the location.
Hugo Beaulieu, centre, with Simon Beaulieu (left) and Mélissa-Ann Beaulieu (right). Image: Vince Noel
Rebuilding a Store That Wasn’t Outdated
The size of the investment is notable because the previous store was still relatively modern. Carrefour Laval underwent a major renovation in 2015 and became an important flagship for Sports Experts, introducing what was internally known as the “white” concept. The project brought Sports Experts and Atmosphere together within a cleaner environment, increased the emphasis on brand-based merchandising and incorporated technology that was considered advanced for sporting-goods retail at the time.
Retail strategist Carl Boutet, who toured the newly completed store with Beaulieu, said the previous design had aged well.
“The previous design wasn’t outdated,” Boutet told Retail Insider.
The problems were largely operational. Clothing, footwear and equipment were divided between the first and second levels, creating a customer journey that Beaulieu said could be confusing. Some customers left without realizing the retailer carried a particular product or brand because they had not reached the relevant part of the store.
Inventory requirements were also increasing, while ship-from-store placed additional pressure on back-of-house areas that had not been designed around the current volume of e-commerce activity. Beaulieu said the Sports Experts stores involved in fulfilling online orders effectively operate as a decentralized warehouse network.
Carl Boutet at Royalmount in Montreal. Image: Carl Boutet
An Expansion From Within
Groupe Beaulieu-Angelo initially looked for ways to obtain considerably more space. Beaulieu said his ideal configuration would have been approximately 70,000 square feet on one level, but the group could not identify a viable long-term option at Carrefour Laval.
That left the family with the existing premises and the challenge of getting considerably more out of them.
The project extended the mezzanine internally by approximately 2,000 square feet, increased back-of-house capacity and reorganized the sales floor. Salem Architecture, which handled architecture and design for the project, has described the strategy as an “expansion from within.” Construction required Sports Experts to close completely for about five months and operate temporarily from the former Toys “R” Us across the street.
Most apparel is now concentrated on the main level, while footwear has moved upstairs alongside categories connected to running and fitness. Bikes and skis remain downstairs for convenient access to service areas, while categories including sunglasses and licensed merchandise have been repositioned.
The layout is also more direct. Angled fixtures and irregular circulation paths have given way to long sightlines across the store, which Beaulieu compared to a series of “bowling alleys” that make departments easier to find.
There is a financial rationale behind some of those changes. Beaulieu said categories can generate dramatically different margins and sales productivity, making floor-space allocation an important operating decision. The bicycle department, for example, occupies less space in the new store, yet Beaulieu said bike sales were running approximately 20 per cent higher following the reopening.
Sports Experts at CF Carrefour Laval. Image by Vince Noel
Footwear Drives the New Flagship
The biggest change is upstairs, where Sports Experts has approximately 1,425 to 1,450 footwear models on display. The wall has capacity for roughly 1,600 models, while the footwear stockroom can hold approximately 60,000 pairs.
Boutet described the department as the “pièce de résistance” of the store, although he was equally interested in the amount of inventory sitting behind it.
For Beaulieu, displaying a large assortment only works if the retailer has sufficient inventory across sizes to make that assortment available to customers. At a high-volume store such as Carrefour Laval, that requires considerable stock behind the sales floor.
Boutet said the strategy runs against some of the assumptions that shaped stores during the growth of e-commerce. Retailers spent years pursuing the “endless aisle,” carrying limited inventory in stores while offering customers the option to order unavailable products or sizes online. He believes customers who have already travelled to a store increasingly expect to leave with the product.
“They want to have the inventory. They want to have the exact model that they’re looking for,” Boutet said. “I want to walk away with this now.”
Footwear has also produced the strongest early results. Beaulieu said sales in the category were recently running approximately 70 per cent above previous levels.
Footwear at Sports Experts at CF Carrefour Laval. Image by Vince Noel
Technology Has to Earn Its Space
Three Aetrex 3D foot-scanning systems have been installed in the footwear department. The technology measures customers’ feet and generates footwear recommendations, helping associates work through the large assortment and giving customers more information when choosing running shoes. Boutet noted that the system is brand-agnostic, allowing recommendations to cross suppliers.
Groupe Beaulieu-Angelo’s approach to technology has changed considerably since its 2015 renovation. At the time, the store installed RFID-enabled screens in the footwear department that could tell customers whether particular sizes were available. Beaulieu said maintaining RFID tags became labour-intensive, while inventory discrepancies sometimes resulted in a screen showing merchandise that employees could not locate.
The screens also took up selling space. Beaulieu said removing 12 of them eventually created room to display another 144 footwear models.
Technology remains visible in the new store through digital displays, wayfinding tools and specialized systems such as Aetrex, but the group has become more selective about where it is used. Boutet said the digital elements are integrated without overwhelming the store.
Dressing rooms in Sports Experts at CF Carrefour Laval. Image by Vince Noel
Fitting Rooms Get an Upgrade
The fitting rooms include heated floors, individual digital screens and adjustable lighting that lets shoppers move between warmer and cooler colour temperatures. Beaulieu said someone buying swimwear during a Quebec winter, for example, can use warmer lighting to better approximate the environment where the product might be worn.
The screens can carry short product and brand messages. Beaulieu sees the fitting room as an important point late in the shopping journey, when the environment can affect a customer’s confidence in a purchase.
Sports Experts at CF Carrefour Laval. Image by Vince Noel
Back-of-House Becomes Part of the Retail Strategy
Some of the project’s biggest changes are largely invisible to customers. Groupe Beaulieu-Angelo substantially reconfigured storage and fulfillment areas to support greater inventory depth, easier replenishment and e-commerce fulfillment.
“The back of house for me is often more fascinating than the front of house,” Boutet said.
That infrastructure is particularly important in footwear. Displaying close to 1,500 models requires substantial stock behind the sales floor if customers are expected to find the right size, while online orders add another demand on the same inventory.
The company also upgraded employee areas, including a redesigned staff room. Boutet said he is seeing more retailers pay attention to employee spaces as they compete to attract and retain workers.
Sports Experts at CF Carrefour Laval. Image by Vince Noel
Early Results Outpace Forecasts
Groupe Beaulieu-Angelo soft-opened the rebuilt store on August 6, before launching its major reopening campaign. Beaulieu said that initial period provided particularly useful performance data because the store had not yet received significant advertising support.
During the soft opening, footwear sales were approximately 55 per cent above previous levels, clothing was up about 25 per cent and equipment was approximately 35 per cent higher, according to Beaulieu.
The official opening followed on August 12, supported by a marketing campaign in which the group invested approximately $250,000. Footwear has since emerged as the strongest category, with sales running about 70 per cent above previous levels when Beaulieu spoke with Retail Insider.
The numbers are still early, and the group does not yet know where sales will normalize once the reopening period is further behind it. The performance has been strong enough for management to revise some of its original assumptions.
“We did some predictions that are clearly wrong because we’re performing way better than we thought,” Beaulieu said.
Sports Experts at CF Carrefour Laval. Image by Vince Noel
Temporary Store Shows the Value of Mall Traffic
The five-month closure gave Groupe Beaulieu-Angelo an unusual opportunity to see what happened when Sports Experts was removed from CF Carrefour Laval.
During construction, the retailer moved into the former Toys “R” Us location roughly 100 metres across the street. The temporary store offered approximately 50,000 square feet on one level, but customer traffic fell approximately 70 per cent compared with the mall location. Sales declined by about 30 per cent, according to Beaulieu.
The gap between traffic and sales indicates that customers who deliberately sought out the temporary store were much more likely to make a purchase. It also provided a striking measure of the traffic Sports Experts gains from being inside Carrefour Laval.
CF Carrefour Laval spans approximately 1.2 million square feet and contains more than 260 stores. Cadillac Fairview has reported sales productivity of roughly $1,180 per square foot at the property, placing it among Quebec’s leading shopping destinations. New residential development is also underway adjacent to the mall, adding hundreds of rental units near the shopping centre.
Those economics help explain why Groupe Beaulieu-Angelo chose to reinvest heavily in its existing premises after exploring possibilities for a larger store.
Sports Experts at CF Carrefour Laval. Image by Vince Noel
A Third-Generation Investment
The Beaulieu family’s sporting-goods business dates to 1955, and Hugo Beaulieu’s grandfather, Gilles Beaulieu, was among the founders of Sports Experts in 1967. The current ownership group represents the third generation and operates five Sports Experts locations in Quebec.
The franchise structure is significant in the Carrefour Laval project. The approximately $8-million investment was made by the owner-operated group, putting decisions around inventory, staffing, technology and floor-space productivity directly in the hands of the family operating the stores.
Boutet said that hands-on approach was apparent during his tour with Beaulieu, particularly in his attention to conversion, sales per square foot and category performance. Those numbers are central to how the group evaluates the redesigned store and allocates space.
Physical Stores Move Back Up the Investment Agenda
Boutet sees Carrefour Laval as part of a wider period of reinvestment in physical retail. Retailers have spent years building e-commerce, digital marketing and omnichannel capabilities, while stores continue to account for the majority of transactions.
At Carrefour Laval, the $8-million investment has gone into deeper inventory, clearer navigation, improved fitting rooms, more efficient fulfillment infrastructure and technology used for specific purposes.
“This is a good story for the Beaulieu Group and what they’re doing, but it’s also indicative of broader trends that we’re seeing across retail,” Boutet said.
Chef, cookbook author and MasterChef judge Stefano Faita has launched a new dining concept in Toronto.
On Tuesday September 29, BYOPasta will be Toronto’s first-ever restaurant that only serves past sauces – for free.
The one-day experience will take place at 135 Ossington in Trinity-Bellwoods and operate in a take-out lunch format. Guests can simply bring their own cooked pasta, pick a sauce and Faita will take care of the rest, elevating plain, neglected leftovers into a restaurant-quality dish.
The menu will feature five of his personal favourites: Alla Vodka, Tomato Basil, Marinara, Rosée and Alfredo.
Stefano Faita
“People often forget about leftover pasta sitting in their fridge, especially when it’s plain and needs a little love. So why not let a chef take care of it?” said Faita. “We want Torontonians to taste for themselves how the right sauce can turn plain leftover pasta into something much better — whether you’re at home or joining us at BYOPasta.”
The tomato sauces feature imported sun-ripened tomatoes grown in Striano, near Naples, and contain no gluten, no preservatives or added sugar.
Stefano Faita photo
BYOPasta will take place on Tuesday, September 29th from 11 AM to 4 PM at 135 Ossington. People who bring their own pasta will also receive a complimentary coupon exchangeable for a free Stefano Faita sauce at most Ontario grocery retailers, including Loblaws, Metro, Sobeys, Walmart, Longo’s, Fortinos, Farm Boy and more.
In an interview with Retail Insider, Montreal-based Faita discussed the initiative.
What prompted you to create BYOPasta, and what are you hoping to learn from turning the concept into a one-day pop-up restaurant experience?
BYOPasta really came from something that happens in every house: you make pasta for dinner and somehow you always make too much. Then it sits in the fridge and nobody really knows what to do with it.
We thought it would be fun to show people that with a really good sauce, those leftovers can become a completely different meal.
The pop-up also gives us a chance to take Stefano out of the grocery aisle and put the product directly into people’s hands in a way that feels memorable and a little unexpected. Of course, we want people to taste the sauces, but more importantly, we want them to experience what the brand is about: good food, simple and good ingredients, Italian inspiration and not taking ourselves too seriously.
For us, it’s also a chance to have some fun with the brand, see how people react to the idea and learn which sauces and flavours they gravitate toward.
BYOPasta photo
How does BYOPasta fit into your broader strategy for the Stefano Faita sauce brand and its growth in the Canadian grocery market?
BYOPasta is really about getting people to try the product. We can talk about the sauces all day, but once people taste them, they understand what we’re trying to do.
Toronto is obviously a very important market for us, so BYOPasta gives us a fun way to connect directly with consumers and hopefully get more people discovering the brand. Rather than simply telling people our sauces are good, we’re creating an experience where they can taste them, interact with the brand so they remember us the next time they’re grocery shopping.
It’s also about making sure people feel what makes us different. At the end of the day, we want Stefano Faita to become one of the go-to Italian food brands in Canada. Experiences like this help us build that connection.
Why did you choose Toronto and the Ossington neighbourhood for the launch, and what does the city’s food and retail market represent for the brand?
Toronto was an easy choice. Our sauces have been available for a couple of years here. It’s a city that really loves food where people are curious and have a real appreciation for good ingredients.
Ossington in particular felt right because it has become a destination for food and hospitality, so it felt like the right environment for something playful and unexpected like BYOPasta. We wanted this to feel like a real food experience and not just brand activation.
There’s also a growing momentum in Toronto and across the country to support Canadian-made products, and we pride ourselves in being crafted in Canada. It just felt like the perfect place to bring this experience to life. To share the Italian-inspired flavours that are at the heart of our sauces.
Stefano Faita photo
How is the sauce business performing today, and how has the brand’s distribution and retail presence evolved since you launched the sauces in 2017?
It’s been pretty incredible. When we launched the sauces back in 2017, we were a small Montreal brand trying to get onto grocery shelves. Today, we’re available across Canada at most of the major retailers, and the business continues to grow.
You can now find our sauces at retailers like Sobeys, Loblaws, Metro, Longo’s, Fortinos, Farm Boy and, more recently, Walmart. What started as a strong family business in Quebec has gradually grown into a much more than a local brand. Ontario in particular has become an important market for us.
The sauce portfolio has grown too. We started with a few core Italian classics and have continued adding flavours that give consumers more variety while still staying true to the kind of food we love to eat and cook at home.
What excites us most is that we still feel like we’re at the beginning. There are a lot of Canadians who haven’t tried our products yet, and there’s still a lot of room to grow..
For us, that’s the exciting part: the brand has come a long way over the last nine years, but there’s still so much opportunity ahead.
BYOPasta photo
What are your plans for the Stefano Faita brand beyond this one-day BYOPasta event, including potential new products, retail expansion or other restaurant and experiential concepts?
There’s a lot ahead. We’re always working on new products and looking at where the Stefano brand can go next, but we’re pretty disciplined about it. We don’t want to put the Stefano name on something just because we can. It has to make sense for the brand and, most importantly, it has to be clean quality ingredients that taste really good.
There’s still a lot of opportunity for us in Canada. We want to keep growing our presence nationally, strengthen the categories we’re already in and continue introducing Stefano to people who may not know the brand yet. At the same time, we’re also starting to look more seriously into the U.S. and what that next phase of growth could look like.
Next year is also a big one for us. We’ll be celebrating Stefano’s 10th anniversary. It’s a chance to look back at how far the brand has come, but also to think about how we want to celebrate with the people who have been part of that journey.
We definitely think you’ll see us doing more events like BYOPasta. Food is meant to be shared. Bringing people together around the table has always been at the heart of what we do. As we head into our 10th year, we want to create more moments where people can taste the food, interact with the brand, have fun and feel part of the famiglia.
For us, that’s still one of the best ways to build Stefano: get people around a table, serve them something really good and create a moment we will all remember together.
Exterior of Red Deer Sunterra Market. Photo: Red Deer Branding Photography
Alberta-based Sunterra Group, with a portfolio of grocery stores and meat processing facilities, has closed its second store in a few months.
In May, Sunterra closed its downtown Edmonton location on Jasper Avenue after three decades in business. And it has now shut down its Red Deer location in Bower Place.
The company recently went through a court-approved for sale or investment process within its court-supervised restructuring proceedings under the Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act (CCAA).
In a Facebook post, the company said: “After five incredible years in Red Deer, we’ve made the difficult decision to close our Bower Place market on Saturday, September 26.
“We were first welcomed into the Red Deer community in 2021 and we’re so grateful for the support we’ve received ever since. A huge thank you to our customers for being part of our journey, and to our amazing team members for everything you’ve put into making our market what it was. We truly couldn’t have done it without you.
“Sunterra Market continues to operate a strong network of five markets in Calgary and one in Edmonton, serving customers across Alberta with fresh groceries, chef-prepared foods and a broad selection of locally and thoughtfully sourced products. These markets remain an active and important part of Sunterra’s business, with teams continuing to serve their communities every day. We hope to welcome you at another location soon.
“We thank the Red Deer community for its support and wish to recognize everyone who contributed to the Bower market during its time in operation.”
Exterior of Red Deer Sunterra Market. Photo: Red Deer Branding Photography
Sale and investment solicitation process
In April, the Court of King’s Bench granted the sale and investment solicitation process for the company with a portfolio of agriculture and food businesses in Alberta including a multi-generational pork production operation with more than 595,000 square feet of barn infrastructure on 1.150 acres of land across eight facilities and a premium grocery retailer operating seven “farm-to-fork” market locations.
Interested parties who wanted to pursue this opportunity were given a deadline of June 25 to submit a letter of intent to the sale advisor, KPMG Corporate Finance Inc. The next phase involves the assessment of those submissions.
There has been no update regarding the sale process on the monitor’s website.
In February Retail Insider reportedthat an Alberta judge ruled that Sunterra engaged in cheque kiting on what the court described as an “astonishing scale,” finding the company liable to U.S. agricultural lender Compeer Financial for approximately $35 million.
In a decision issued on January 27 by the Court of King’s Bench in Calgary, Justice Michael Lema also held Sunterra’s president personally responsible for the debt, marking a significant escalation in the legal and financial pressures facing the vertically integrated agri-food group, said the news story.
The ruling arrived as Sunterra continued to restructure under court supervision following months of financial strain, lender disputes, and operational disruption. While the decision focuses on conduct between Canadian and U.S. affiliates and lenders, it carries implications for the broader Sunterra group, including its premium Sunterra Market grocery stores across Alberta, said the story.
Indoor seating area in Red Deer Sunterra Market. Photo: Red Deer Branding Photography
Company launched in 1990 in Calgary’s downtown
In his written decision, Justice Lema likened the financial practices at issue to a game of musical chairs where there are not enough seats when the music stops. He concluded that Sunterra’s Canadian entities fraudulently misrepresented the availability of funds behind cheques sent to the United States, inducing Compeer to continue honouring payments that were not backed by actual cash balances.
Founded in 1970 by the Price family, Sunterra traces its origins to Pig Improvement Canada, a hog-production business built on higher-standard farming practices. The company launched Sunterra Meats and Sunterra Market in 1990, the latter debuting in downtown Calgary’s Bankers Hall with a European-style market concept that emphasized fresh food, in-house production, and premium positioning.
In 2025, Sunterra filed a Notice of Intention (NOI) to make a proposal under the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act (BIA) and Harris & Partners was appointed as Proposal Trustee.
Court documents indicated the company had more than 200 creditors with liabilities of $18.9 million.
Storibot.ai founder Michael Harris with Joe Colangelo, left and Nathalia Servetnyk, centre. Image supplied
Generative artificial intelligence has made it easier and cheaper for retailers to produce marketing copy, emails, social media posts and other customer communications. Calgary-based technology startup StoriBot.ai is betting that the next challenge will be determining whether all that content is actually connecting with customers.
The company operates a platform built around what it calls Narrative Intelligence™, a proprietary term StoriBot uses for its approach to analyzing the stories businesses are telling customers, identifying gaps and creating communications that remain consistent across different channels and stages of the customer relationship.
Founder and CEO Michael Harris argues that the proliferation of generative AI is creating an abundance of content without necessarily improving the effectiveness of business communications.
“Businesses already produce enormous amounts of content, but much of it is generic, disconnected and quickly forgotten,” Harris told Retail Insider. “StoriBot helps organizations understand the story they are currently telling, identify what is missing and create communications that connect more meaningfully with customers.”
Retail is emerging as one of the company’s areas of focus, particularly automotive dealerships and, increasingly, grocery and consumer packaged goods. StoriBot is already generating contracted enterprise revenue and has secured outside investment, although its retail strategy—particularly automotive—is still at an earlier stage of deployment.
Michael Harris
Moving Beyond AI Content Generation
StoriBot began development in Calgary in 2024. Harris brings roughly three decades of experience in media, entertainment and brand storytelling to the venture and has also participated in the Founder Institute startup program.
Rather than positioning StoriBot as another AI writing tool, Harris describes it as a system for bringing greater structure to an organization’s communications. Businesses can provide existing content, company information and other material, which the platform analyzes using storytelling frameworks and brand context before producing material for different formats and channels.
The broader proposition is to measure how those communications perform and use the results to inform subsequent activity. Harris argues that general-purpose AI can create individual pieces of content, while StoriBot is intended to provide an additional layer of intelligence, governance and measurement connecting those communications to a company’s broader narrative, customer journey and business objectives.
“ChatGPT can give someone an answer,” Harris said. “StoriBot is designed to help an organization build, govern, distribute and continually improve a consistent narrative across its operations.”
The platform is designed to work alongside technology businesses already use. Harris said its roadmap includes additional connections with systems such as HubSpot and Salesforce, while integrations with specialized retail and dealership systems would depend on the technology, security and privacy requirements of individual organizations.
Automotive Becomes an Early Retail Focus
Automotive is currently StoriBot’s most developed retail use-case vertical, based on the maturity of its applications, market development and pipeline. The company is also pursuing opportunities in grocery and CPG, multi-location businesses, hospitality and service-oriented retail.
The automotive sector presents an opportunity because the relationship between a dealership and customer can extend well beyond an initial vehicle inquiry. Communications can continue through shopping, financing and delivery, and later into maintenance, service, retention and eventually another vehicle purchase.
StoriBot’s automotive applications are designed to support those interactions. Potential uses include vehicle and inventory marketing, personalized lead follow-up, CRM-based communications, email and text campaigns, social media and advertising, sales materials and service-retention programs. Harris sees an opportunity to connect those activities instead of treating each interaction as a separate marketing exercise.
A dealership could provide StoriBot with inventory information, brand standards, current offers, customer profiles, CRM stages, reviews and previous marketing campaigns. The system could then identify gaps in how vehicles or the dealership are being presented.
One example would be marketing a vehicle almost exclusively around specifications and price without addressing how it fits a particular customer’s needs or priorities. The platform could use that information to produce vehicle stories, salesperson follow-ups, emails, advertising concepts and social content adapted for different channels.
Harris ultimately wants those communications assessed against business measures including response rates, appointments, qualified leads, conversion, gross profit, service retention and referrals.
Joe Colangelo
Grocery and CPG Offer Another Retail Opportunity
Grocery and consumer packaged goods represent another potential market because retailers in the sector already possess large amounts of customer and transactional information.
Loyalty programs can give grocers insight into purchasing behaviour, basket composition, promotions and product preferences. The challenge is turning that first-party information into relevant communications without overwhelming customers or compromising privacy and trust.
Harris believes StoriBot could add another layer to that personalization, using customer information to shape communications around different needs and behaviours instead of relying predominantly on broadly distributed promotional messages.
The company also sees applications across specialty retail, hospitality, home improvement and other multi-location businesses. Harris said its strongest opportunities tend to involve categories where purchasing decisions are influenced by trust, emotion or personal identity in addition to price.
Building the Business
StoriBot is generating contracted enterprise revenue while building out its leadership team. Harris said the company currently has approximately US$60,000 in contracted annual recurring revenue across two enterprise customers. He emphasized that not all of that revenue comes from retailers. The financial figures were provided by the company and have not been independently verified.
The leadership group includes Harris as founder and CEO; Tamara Rosenblum, chief marketing officer; Dawit Netere, chief technology officer; Joe Colangelo, partner and chief operating officer; and Nathalia Servetnyk, chief financial and risk officer.
Colangelo brings a lengthy retail operating background to the company. He said he led the launch of Petro-Points in 1994 as part of his senior retail-downstream leadership responsibilities at Petro-Canada, which operated an approximately 3,500-location national retail network at the time. His background also includes senior downstream leadership with Gulf Oil and 14 years as owner and president of Contemporary Office Interiors.
Servetnyk is a Ukrainian-Canadian legal, financial-services and business professional who leads StoriBot’s financial, governance and risk-management functions.
Harris said StoriBot has received its first outside investment through a SAFE agreement and is undertaking a US$2-million SAFE financing round. The company plans to use additional capital for platform development and integrations, customer acquisition and repeatable enterprise implementations.
StoriBot has set an internal objective of reaching approximately US$2 million in annual recurring revenue within 18 months as it converts more of its enterprise pipeline and expands adoption. Harris emphasized that the figure represents an operating target, not a forecast or guaranteed result.
Can Narrative Become the Differentiator?
Underlying StoriBot’s business model is a broader argument about where generative AI is heading. As retailers and other businesses gain access to increasingly capable tools for producing text, imagery and marketing material, Harris believes simply generating additional content will offer diminishing competitive advantage. StoriBot instead focuses on identifying the difference between what an organization believes it is communicating and what customers are actually receiving.
In practice, that means examining which messages are connecting, which are being ignored or misunderstood, what information or emotional elements may be missing and whether changes to those communications improve business results.
“As AI-generated content becomes commonplace, simply producing more material will not create differentiation,” Harris said. “The competitive advantage will come from meaning, authenticity, consistency and the ability to connect a narrative to measurable behaviour.”
StoriBot uses Narrative Intelligence™ as the proprietary term for its methodology and platform. Harris describes the concept as a systematic approach to analyzing, governing and measuring the narratives organizations use in customer communications. The company is seeking to establish it more broadly as a recognized business discipline.
StoriBot has also received external recognition for its technology. The company was named Specialist AI Platform of the Year, 2026–2027 through the Corporate LiveWire Global Awards and received a Global Recognition Award for Innovation, 2026 from Global Recognition Awards. Harris said external recognition has helped open conversations with prospective enterprise customers, partners, employees and investors, while acknowledging that longer-term success will ultimately depend on customer results.
Retail Case Studies Are the Next Test
Over the next 12 to 24 months, StoriBot plans to convert more of its pipeline into paying customers while expanding its CRM and data integrations. Within retail, Harris wants to establish automotive and grocery case studies demonstrating measurable changes in customer engagement, conversion, retention and operating productivity.
That will be an important measure of StoriBot’s retail proposition. Generative AI has already demonstrated that retailers can create considerably more content with fewer resources. StoriBot’s next objective is to demonstrate that applying greater structure, relevance and consistency to those communications can produce measurable commercial results.
The B!G TV (La GRANDE télé) is a 27-foot, analog-style television setup in Centre Court with free programming including dynamic, interactive entertainment which runs until November 9.
The towering installation is designed as a giant vintage TV, complete with retro wood panelling and oversized channel knobs. Guests are encouraged to take charge and turn the giant dials to flip channels, trigger nostalgic static effects, and control what they see on screen, said the shopping centre.
Lynn FitzpatrickCadillac Fairview photo
“At its heart, this experience is about bringing people together,” said Lynn Fitzpatrick, General Manager, CF Fairview Pointe Claire. “Beyond our retail and dining offerings, we’re committed to delivering truly memorable experiences at our centre, and we can’t wait to see how our guests connect and engage with this unique installation.”
The B!G TV will feature live scheduled events Thursday through Sunday, broadcasting exclusive retailer promotions and community highlights Monday through Wednesday.
Weekly Programming includes
Thursdays (5 PM – 8 PM) – Game On: Giant retro video game showdowns with EB Games, chess tournaments and interactive trivia with live prize giveaways.
Fridays (4 PM & 6:30 PM) – Cozy Movie Nights: Screenings of family classics like Shrek 2, Ratatouille, Coco, and Monsters Inc., featuring lounge seating and complimentary refreshments from DAVIDsTEA.
Saturdays (8:30 AM – 9:30 AM) – Morning Wellness: Stretch and yoga sessions hosted in Centre Court offered by lululemon.
Sundays (1 PM – 3 PM) – Live Local Stage: Live music sets and local dance performances.
Cadillac Fairview is one of the largest owners, operators, investors and developers of best-in-class office, retail, multi-family residential, industrial and mixed-use properties in North America. Wholly owned by the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan, with assets under management of $26 billion, CF manages a portfolio of landmark properties across Canada.
Donatella Versace and REVOLVE Group Inc. are launching a joint venture that will create a new independent beauty and fashion business, with the venture initially targeting consumers in the United States, Latin America, Asia-Pacific and the Middle East. Additional markets may be considered over time as the venture evolves, said officials in a news release.
The new business will combine Donatella’s creative direction and cultural influence with REVOLVE’s digital commerce platform, technology, consumer intelligence and operating capabilities. The companies said the venture is intended to develop products and experiences around the way younger consumers discover, shop and engage with fashion and beauty.
New business to begin with beauty
Donatella will serve as chief creative officer and lead the venture’s creative vision, including its identity, products, collaborators and broader cultural positioning. REVOLVE will provide capabilities spanning digital commerce, technology, consumer intelligence, operations, marketing and community engagement.
The venture will initially launch in the beauty category, with its name, creative direction and first product launch expected to be disclosed in the coming months. The companies said additional markets could be considered as the business develops.
“I believe creativity should be fearless, inclusive and alive in the world. I have always been inspired by the next generation, in music, film, art and, of course, fashion. This partnership gives me the freedom to speak to that generation in a completely new and personal way, through beauty and fashion. REVOLVE understands something I believe deeply: culture comes from connection. Together, we want to create that connection with a new voice, a new look and a new energy,” said Versace.
The companies said the venture will seek to combine fashion, beauty, entertainment, talent, creators and community through content, experiences, conversation and commerce. The business is being established as an independent venture centred on Donatella’s creative vision.
Raissa Gerona, Donatella Versace, Michael Mente
Revolve brings digital retail platform
REVOLVE, which trades on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol RVLV, said its role will include providing the infrastructure and technology needed to operate the new business. The company operates the REVOLVE and FWRD retail platforms and has built a model around digital commerce, social media, creators and its consumer community.
“Donatella is one of the defining creative voices of our time. This partnership gives that vision an entirely new platform and the freedom to build something from the ground up,” said Michael Mente, Co-Founder and Co-CEO, REVOLVE Group.
“By combining Donatella’s creative authority with REVOLVE’s technology, infrastructure and global reach, we have an opportunity to create something genuinely distinctive — and build it for the long term,” said Mike Karanikolas, Co-Founder and Co-CEO, REVOLVE Group.
The companies said the new venture will draw on Donatella’s decades of work in fashion, music, entertainment and popular culture, as well as REVOLVE’s relationship with millions of consumers and its network of talent and creators.
Donatella to lead creative direction
Donatella became artistic director of the House of Versace in 1997 following the death of her brother, Gianni, and led its creative direction for nearly three decades, according to the release. Her career has included collaborations and relationships with figures in music and entertainment, as well as work with younger designers including JW Anderson, Anthony Vaccarello, Christopher Kane and Kim Jones.
The release said Donatella has received international honours including the Fashion Awards’ Fashion Icon Award and Italy’s Grand Ufficiale dell’Ordine al Merito della Repubblica Italiana.
REVOLVE was founded in 2003 by co-CEOs Michael Mente and Mike Karanikolas. The company sells apparel, footwear, accessories, beauty and home products through its REVOLVE and FWRD segments, using a shared platform.
The company said its community includes millions of consumers, thousands of global fashion influencers and more than 1,600 emerging, established and owned brands.
The companies described the joint venture as the beginning of a broader business, with its first product and brand details to be announced in the coming months.
Real tourism gross domestic product (GDP) in Canada rose slightly by 0.4% in the second quarter, following a 0.5% increase in the first quarter, according to a report by Statistics Canada.
By comparison, economy-wide real GDP by industry increased 0.9% in the second quarter. Tourism GDP accounted for 1.77% of nominal GDP in the second quarter, virtually unchanged from the first quarter. Tourism spending in Canada rose 0.3% in the second quarter as spending by international visitors grew 1.0%, said the federal agency.
“Driven by the accommodation (+0.8%) and food and beverage services (+1.0%) industries, tourism GDP continued an upward trend in the second quarter of 2026 that began in the second quarter of 2022. The increases in the accommodation and the food and beverage services industries in the second quarter of 2026 coincided with the 2026 FIFA World Cup, as Canada hosted 10 games in Vancouver and Toronto in the second quarter,” it said.
Statistics Canada said spending by international visitors grew 1.0% in the second quarter, the same pace as the previous quarter. Spending on non-tourism products such as groceries (+1.8%), passenger air transport (+0.9%), and accommodation services (+0.8%) contributed the most to the increase in the second quarter.
Sainte-Catherine Street in Montreal (Image: Montreal Tourism / k_photographyca)
Overnight travel from countries other than the United States grew 2.5% in the second quarter, while overnight travel from the United States edged up 0.2%. Total arrivals from the 15 countries that played World Cup games in Canada in June increased 28.6% year over year. International visitors accounted for 25.6% of tourism spending in Canada in the second quarter, up from 25.4% in the previous quarter, it noted.
“Domestic tourism spending by Canadian residents was unchanged in the second quarter, after edging down 0.1% in the first quarter. Decreased spending on passenger air transport (-1.3%) and vehicle fuel (-2.8%) constricted overall growth in the second quarter,” said Statistics Canada.
“The number of jobs attributable to tourism increased 0.4% in the second quarter, the same pace as in the first quarter. By comparison, the economy-wide number of jobs was up 0.2% in the second quarter.
The food and beverage services (+0.9%) and recreation and entertainment (+1.4%) industries contributed the most to the job gains in the second quarter. Growth was partially offset by lower tourism jobs in the accommodation (-0.5%) and travel services (-1.2%) industries.”
Pharmacy Brands Canada (PBC), an independent Canadian pharmacy banner, continues to grow its footprint across the country.
“Surpassing 300 locations is about more than scale. It represents the strength of independent pharmacy and the trust owners place in PBC,” said Jon Johnson, CEO of Pharmacy Brands Canada.
Jon JohnsonPharmacy Brands Canada photo
“Our goal has always been to give independent owners the support and resources they need to succeed while keeping control of their businesses. We understand that every owner has different goals, and we provide flexible options to help them grow and serve their communities on their own terms.”
Johnson said PBC’s growth has accelerated across the country, with particularly strong expansion in Ontario, where the network has added more than 50 locations over the past two years, establishing a significant and growing presence in the province.
He said the milestone demonstrates PBC’s commitment to empowering pharmacy owners to remain independent while providing the resources, purchasing power, and support of a national banner network.
To support unique ownership goals, PBC said it offers three flexible partnership models:
Full Banner Program: Comprehensive banner services, and end-to-end operational support;
Economic Plus: Full banner support paired with scalable economic benefits;
OpenRx: A flexible program allowing independent pharmacy owners to manage their own generic formulary while benefiting from PBC’s competitive wholesale pricing, purchasing power, and program support.
Johnson said all PBC members benefit from marketing support, store design and conversion guidance, financing solutions, preferred vendor pricing, and dedicated clinical programs, all with no banner fees. PBC also partners exclusively with Canadian-owned wholesalers, reinforcing its commitment to supporting local businesses.
