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.
Leon’s Furniture Limited is planning a massive mixed-use development, with about 4,000 residential units, on 40 acres of land it owns in Toronto at the crossroads of Highways 401 and 400.
Phase One of the development will be focused on the building of a new flagship retail store and corporate headquarters on the site. LFL’s home office has been located on this parcel since the company went public on the TSX in 1969.
Subsequent phases will focus on plans for 4,000 homes which will include townhouses, mid and high rise buildings and community spaces. LFL will be partnering with top-tier developers to co-lead the project.
“The Company has a successful track record building retail showrooms and large scale distribution centres across Canada as it continues to move toward a centralized distribution model,” it said.
Image: Leon’s Furniture
“By establishing more density as part of a multi-year, multi-phase development, we will be helping to meet the overwhelming demand for additional housing within the city, while generating substantial value for LFL shareholders,” said Michael Walsh, President and CEO of LFL.
Michael Walsh
Leon’s Furniture Limited is the largest retailer of furniture, appliances and electronics in Canada. Retail banners include: Leon’s; The Brick; Brick Outlet; The Brick Mattress Store; and Appliance Canada. The company has 303 retail stores from coast to coast in Canada under various banners.
Walsh said there are 52 Leon’s corporate stores; 35 Leon’s franchise stores; 118 Brick corporate stores; 66 Brick franchise stores; 21 Brick Mattress stores; six Brick Outlet stores; and one Appliance Canada store.
“On the Leon’s side, we’d love to open up more stores in B.C. because we only have six and the challenge is we’ve only opened up one since the first five were opened back in 2017,” said Walsh. “One of the reasons for that is the cost of entry. Land costs and lease costs in B.C. are super, super high and there’s no vacancy.”
LFL recently received approval from the Province of Ontario to change the original Employment Use zoning to Regeneration zoning for the 40 acres, bordered by Highway 401 to the north, Highway 400 to the west/southwest and Jane Street to the east.
The next step in the development will be to complete a secondary plan with the City of Toronto which the Company expects to complete during mid 2025.
Image: LFL Group
Walsh said rezoning this large parcel of land creates an unprecedented and historic opportunity for both Toronto and the company.
“We acquired the Brick in 2013 and I think in order to realize all the synergies with that acquisition it took to about 2016 and in 2017 we actually started the work on this property and pandemic and everything else it took until December 2023 before the approval for the Regeneration area was given,” said Walsh.
“And the reason why there’s houses on this is we wanted to maximize the 40 acres and in order to do that we got to the point where we believe we can build 4.6 million square of gross floor area and how you get to maximize that is by going vertical and vertical is generally high rises, mid rises, low rises. It’s a function of how you maximize the plot of land.”
Leon’s Rocky View Store (Image: Leon’s)Image: The Brick
Walsh said one or two of the company’s banners as well as its new head office will be located on the site.
“We bought this parcel of land back in 1967. The thought on how to build a business was build gigantic warehouses all over the place, build retail and then they will come and they will buy stuff and they’ll take it with them,” said Walsh.
“We started a number of years ago in B.C. and built the first-ever DC that would house both Brick and Leon’s product in one building and would be delivered by one set of driver teams. Then we mimicked that in Halifax with a 168,000-square-foot DC and we’re just about to open this fall a new distribution centre in Edmonton that’s 500,000 square feet which we can do the same thing. So centralized distribution is basically the hub and spoke approach. You would have one large DC servicing a very, very large area, which goes away kind of on how the foundation of the company was built on.”
Future Distribution Centre in Edmonton (Rendering: Qualico)
Currently on the proposed development land is 65,000 square feet of retail and 90,000 square feet of warehouse space – about six acres of the 40 total acres.
Walsh said the first phase of the new development will be the retail and home office followed by the master community planning phase. Walsh said he hopes the master plan phase is complete by mid 2025. The current structures on the land would be “disposed” to make room for the overall development.
In the company’s most recent financial quarterly results, it reported in November that for the third quarter, which ended September 20, 2023, revenue was $661 million compared to $662.2 million in the third quarter 2022. Revenue decreased $1.2 million or 0.2 per cent as compared to the prior year quarter.
Adjusted net income for the quarter totaled $51.7 million, a decrease of 12.7 per cent.
Same store sales in the quarter decreased by 0.6 per cent compared to the prior year’s second quarter.
The gross profit margin for the third quarter 2023 was 44.04 per cent compared to 45.92 per cent for the third quarter of 2022, a decrease of 188 basis points. The decline in the gross profit margin is driven by sales mix due to strong growth in the commercial business, higher promotional activity, along with comparing to an exceptionally strong performance in the third quarter of the prior year, said the company.
The company’s next quarterly financial results come out February 21.
“There’s pretty serious headwinds out there with interest rates. We saw it with one of our competitors that is no longer around. We’re seeing in the increase in bankruptcies both personal and business wise. So I think the headwinds are pretty strong. But I also think that there’s a favourable outlook if rates start to get adjusted downward,” said Walsh. “I think the retail landscape is going to be a challenging environment. When I look at it from the perspective of our company, I’m feeling good because I believe that consumer confidence in buying in a brand that they can trust is going to be something that is very, very important.
“As the market share, or the pie, shrinks, generally what happens because we’ve been through every market condition over the last years, our piece of the pie generally grows so that when the whole pie increases we generally have a little bit more market share.
“The big one for me is consumer confidence. From a retail perspective, a lot of the headwinds I can’t control nor can the company. But what we can control is making sure that your shopping experience is amazing, your omnichannel experience is amazing, that you got good people and you treat them well. That’s really how you’re going to get out of whatever you want to call it we’re in.”
LFL’s Board of Directors approved the company’s resolution to create a Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT) via initial public offering (IPO). The timing is subject to prevailing market conditions and receipt of required regulatory approvals.
“Right now we’re going through a lot of the behind the scenes work which is valuations on the property and all the other legal stuff you need to do with the REIT,” explained Walsh. “It will be a separate publicly-traded company with a separate CEO and separate CFO and a separate board of trustees.
“The timing is really when the REIT market starts to come back and some of that will be predicated on some relief on the interest rates. So it will be really when the market is ready for this type of IPO.
“The beautiful thing of having a REIT is because of the properties we have for example our Mississauga Leon’s location is in an industrial location and it does really well on the retail side but we could one day move that retail into a lease area in our retail node and given that this is an industrial node then the REIT could redevelop that land. That’s how you could connect the REIT to Leon’s Furniture Limited.”
Retail Insider the magazine (Volume Two, Issue Four)
Now well and truly into the thick of the new year, retailers operating in every city and community across the country continue to move forward with a focus on the consumer and a willingness to innovate in order to meet their tastes and desires. However, to do this most accurately and efficiently, organizations need to be aware of the trends and forcing functions that drive consumer behaviour and gain a keen understanding of the reasons they shop with their favourite brands, while also remaining abreast of market shifts and operational challenges. With this in mind, Retail Insider the magazine has developed a special issue of the publication that highlights some of these operational factors and consumer purchasing influences, along with ways by which retailers might capitalize on some of the related opportunities and enhance their businesses.
2024 trends
With help from some of the industry’s brightest and most insightful analysts and observers – including Bruce Winder of Bruce Winder Retail, J.C. Williams’ Lisa Hutcheson, and Radicle Loyalty’s Lia Grimberg – we capture a comprehensive and holistic perspective concerning the current state of the Canadian retail industry and the prompts that are resulting in the most significant impacts for those operating across the country. From the consumers’ continued penchant for convenience and increasingly fragile sense of loyalty, to pervading uncertain financial and economic conditions and the impacts of an ever-digitized world around us, our industry experts share their views on the evolution of the industry.
Bruce WinderLia GrimbergLisa Hutcheson
The role of data
Michelle Grant
In addition, we sit down with Michelle Grant, Director of Strategy and Insights, Retail and Consumer Goods at Salesforce, to talk about some of the most significant technology-inspired influences and the important role that meaningful data plays in helping to identify shifts within consumer behaviour and market conditions. Whether referring to the introduction of artificial intelligence-assisted devices and applications or the explorative potential posed by augmented reality, technology and data are paving the way toward an entirely new retail world that Grant says will shape the future of the retail shopping experience.
New retail entrants
Craig Patterson
Craig Patterson, Retail Insider Founder, provides his annual roundup of the brands that entered Canada over the course of the past 12 months. The comprehensive nature with which the retail guru approaches this article, which has become a resource that’s hotly anticipated by industry professionals and onlookers alike each year, results in as complete a list of new international brands operating in Canada as you’re likely going to find. And, lending his keen insights, Patterson also provides his prognostications concerning the impact of these entrants on the rest of the industry.
A brand of its own
Selwyn Crittendon
When it comes to trends, one brand that has largely walked to its own cantor is IKEA. The Swedish-based home furnishings giant recently named Selwyn Crittendon as the company’s new CEO and Chief Sustainability Officer for Canada. And Retail Insider the magazine had the opportunity to chat with him about the brand’s current focus, its vision of the future, and the ways it continues to enhance its experience, making it even more accessible to more Canadians across the country.
And, as always, we also feature columns provided by the Canadian Federation of Independent Business and George Minakakis, respectively, helping to keep our fingers on the pulse of the Canadian retail scene and eyes on the trends that are set to bear the greatest influence on the industry.
Bill 96 represents a labyrinth of regulations for businesses in Québec that operate under non-French trademarks—especially burdensome and bewildering for retailers with exterior signage.
The Retail Council of Canada has been voicing concerns about the cost of updating signs which it says the government grossly underestimated. The Office of the United States Trade Representative has also voiced its concerns about trademark provisions of Bill 96. This prompted the Bloc Québécois’ leader to write to Secretary of State Antony Blinken that “as the only French jurisdiction in North America, Quebec has a duty to ensure the continued existence of the French language on the continent and the cultural expressions it carries with it.”
Not surprisingly, this prompted federal Liberal Minister Pablo Rodriguez to add that “The Americans, when they go to Mexico, they post (signage) in Spanish, when they go to Argentina, they post in Spanish. When they go around the world they adapt. They are able to adapt. Here, they’ll adapt in French.”
Source: CBC
Far from defending the law, I seek to illuminate the recently released regulations and suggest that there might actually be an opportunity for brand building in this troublesome law.
Anyone watching the CBC’s Isaac Olson’s segment last month about Quebec’s new French-language sign rules would have been scratching their head.
In a nutshell, the new draft regulation, published in Quebec’s Official Gazette on Jan. 10 requires non-French trademarks to be accompanied by French descriptions that are twice the size. This makes for a clever creative opening to Olson’s story on video.
He goes on to show images of store fronts with the same French descriptor plastered all over.
Again, it’s ridiculous.
He rightly refers to the guide recently provided by the government showing how the two options: a descriptor twice as large as the non-French trademark, or a bunch of descriptors which, together, take twice as much space as the non-French trademark.
Source: Gouvernement du Québec
“Basically, stores with non-French names need to add French descriptions that are twice as large as the name itself,” said Olson. “The provincial government produced this document to help businesses understand. It showed two options: a larger description above the store name, or add a bunch of descriptive words that take up twice the space of the name.”
The complexity of compliance is daunting, potentially involving costly investments in new signage and hoping for the best until an OQLF inspector arrives with a ruler in hand.
Yet, let’s not overlook the potential for brand enhancement here.
In his segment, Isaac Olson says there are two options. In fact, there is a third option: adding a slogan to the non-French trademark and its descriptor and ensuring that the space used by French words is twice the size of the non-French trademark.
Consider Winners, for instance.
Previously, Winners adhered to the law by adding the descriptor MODE to its signage. Others, like Burger King, added the words “Les restaurants”.
Now, under the new stipulations, MODE would need to be twice the size of its non-French trademark—a challenging prospect amidst the crowded signage landscape of Quartier DIX30.
However, many Winners locations across English and French Canada feature their slogan on their storefronts—a practice common among retailers. In most cases, it’s unlikely to be enough to comply if the total space used by the descriptor and the slogan isn’t twice the space used by the non-French trademark. But if you add it elsewhere, it should.
Admittedly, my outlook may be considered pollyannaish, but incorporating a business’s value proposition into its storefront can distinguish a brand from its rivals and reinforce customer loyalty—especially when price wars tempt them elsewhere.
A slogan isn’t merely descriptive—it’s the essence of a brand. It can define: “There is a lot more to Canadian Tire than tires,” promise value: “Where the lowest price is the law,” encapsulate an experience: “Glasses in less than an hour,” or even pose a challenge: “Why buy a mattress anywhere else?”
I’m not minimizing the impact of the law; the forced expense of updating and adding signage is substantial. However, like any form of advertising, exterior signage is an investment in brand equity and a lure for foot traffic.
When Home Hardware rolled out its slogan “Here’s How” in 2017, it embraced the French “Savoir. Faire.”—a clever play on words for “know-how” and the verbs know and do. “‘Here’s How’ is more than just a tagline, it is a cultural reflection of our company,” explained Rick McNabb, vice-president of marketing and sales. “It captures everything that makes Home Hardware unique”.
Home Hardware and other retailers should make lemonade from Bill 96’s lemons and proudly display their slogans permanently on their storefronts across Québec.
[This opinion is based on a review of the draft rules provided by the Quebec government and interpretations by various law firms. Retailers (and marketers) looking to navigate these waters should consider turning their legal counsel sessions into collaborative, creative branding opportunities.]
Éric Blais
Éric Blais is President of Headspace Marketing – a Toronto-based marketing-communications consultancy helping clients build their brands in Québec.
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 three days.
Notice of Termination of Lease at 165 King Street East (Image: Dustin Fuhs)
Canadian business and consumer insolvencies are surging these days across the country as people continue to try to cope with rising costs and rising inflation.
Citing data from the Office of the Superintendent of Bankruptcy (OSB), the Canadian Association of Insolvency and Restructuring Professionals (CAIRP) said business insolvencies in Canada surged by 41.4 per cent in 2023 compared to the previous year, the sharpest increase in 36 years of records from the Office.
It said business insolvency filings rose 34.7 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2023 compared to the previous quarter, and more than doubled (51.6 per cent) compared to the same quarter of 2022.
Consumer insolvencies in 2023 rose 23 per cent, the highest rate of increase since 2009, highlighting the increasing financial pressures faced by Canadians. An average of about 337 Canadians filed for insolvency each day in 2023, over 123,000 consumer insolvencies for the year.
Furla Yorkdale (Image: Provided)
In the fourth quarter of 2023, consumer insolvencies increased 4.4 per cent compared to the previous quarter. Consumer insolvency filings grew 22.9 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2023 compared to the same quarter of 2022.
Andre Bolduc
“Businesses have been struggling to cope with a myriad of financial challenges over the past year, including higher input costs, wage costs, and debt servicing costs, exacerbating the rocky footing many have been on ever since the pandemic,” said André Bolduc, Licensed Insolvency Trustee and Chair of the Canadian Association of Insolvency and Restructuring Professionals (CAIRP), the national voice on insolvency matters in Canada.
“I’m not shocked. We knew that consumers have a lot of issues to deal with in terms of rising cost of living, rising interest rates and the debt levels are near record highs. They were there before the pandemic but things just got put on pause for a bit because of the pandemic. And we just took off where we left off. I call it the great pause. Insolvency filings dropped dramatically due to the pandemic. People’s concerns were not finances. It went from the number one spot to probably third or fourth right after health and taking care of their loved ones with the uncertainty of the pandemic.
“What we’ve seen on the consumer side is the gradual return to pre-pandemic levels. We’re not quite there but we’re just on the cusp. The issues we had in February 2020, which were people were talking about the higher cost of living, they were talking about the higher interest rates. It was 1.75 per cent at the time. It had gone up a couple of years before. It had gone up from I think half of a per cent. And consumers were starting to feel the impact of that. Now it’s five per cent and it’s still relatively new.
“So I’m not surprised. People with variable mortgages are starting to see that right away. People with fixed mortgages as they’re renewing their budgets are in for a big shock. For that segment of the population that’s in debt, that’s a big factor. Almost 50 per cent of households are living paycheque to paycheque still. So there’s a lack of savings there.”
Vacated Jardin de Ville
in Toronto (Image: Dustin Fuhs)
The report said 4,810 businesses filed insolvencies in 2023, the highest annual volume in 13 years, a sign companies are struggling with higher debt-carrying and other costs.
Bolduc said debt accumulated by businesses during the pandemic lockdowns, are weighing heavily on many Canadian businesses and, in some cases, making them no longer viable or in need of debt restructuring options.
“Weakened consumer spending is also making it challenging for some businesses to increase their sales and offset the additional debt servicing costs and other financial pressures,” said CAIRP.
“Some businesses may not be able to manage the increases to their monthly bills, especially if they are already finding it difficult to drum up sales. That strain, combined with any additional financial challenges or setbacks this year could force businesses to shutter,” said Bolduc.
“Often, we see business owners close up shop and simply walk away rather than taking formal steps to wind the business down or get restructuring advice.
“There’s always been churn on the business side. Businesses open. Businesses close. There’s a little bit more churn now and if this tells us anything it’s like businesses that are not viable are closing now. But we still have new businesses opening. The numbers are probably going to stay up there for 2024 and they may increase because a lot of small businesses got that (Canada Emergency Business Account) loan and for a lot of small businesses that’s huge. If they weren’t able to pay it off, now they have to pay monthly payments, pay interest. For your small restaurant for example, it might be their whole profit margin.”
Brooks Brothers at 157 Bloor St W (Image: Dustin Fuhs)
US-based fashion brand Brooks Brothers has relocated its Bloor-Yorkville storefront to the iconic Lillian Massey building at the southeast corner of Bloor Street and Avenue Road. The Bloor Street-facing retail space was occupied by Club Monaco from March of 1996 until its closure in March of 2021.
The new Brooks Brothers store features men’s and women’s collections, housed in rooms within the historic building. When one enters the store from the street, a marble cash desk greets visitors. To the right is menswear, including a range of casual styles and formalwear. To the left of the cash desk is womenswear — the lower level of the former Club Monaco is currently not in use.
Brooks Brothers at 157 Bloor St W (Image: Dustin Fuhs)Brooks Brothers at 157 Bloor St W (Image: Jeffery Hall / Brooks Brothers)
Brooks Brothers is hoping to potentially extend its 1 + year lease at the Lillian Massey building. Brooks Brothers opened last week and the store has been busy with customers.
Brooks Brothers relocated from a storefront nearby at 83 Bloor Street West, which opened in the summer of 2022. It closed at the end of January so that the retail building could be converted to a sales centre for a new 70+ condominium tower that will eventually be built on the site.
The first location for Brooks Brothers in the Bloor-Yorkville area opened in the spring of 2014 at 110 Bloor Street West. It shut in the summer of 2022 for the construction of a Saint Laurent flagship store, which is still under scaffolding and construction hoarding.
Former Brooks Brothers store at 110 Bloor St. W. on July 24, 2022. Photo: Craig PattersonFormer Temporary Brooks Brothers Location at 77 Bloor Street West (Image: Dustin Fuhs)
Located at 157 Bloor Street West, the Lillian Massey Building’s Neoclassical architecture includes a prominent facade of Indiana limestone with columns topped with Ionic capitals and was designed by architect George Martell Miller. Construction on the building was completed in 1912 for the University of Toronto’s Household Science program that was created by Lillian Massey Treble, the daughter of wealthy businessman Hart Massey.
The building is owned by the Victoria University in the University of Toronto and it also houses the University’s Department of Classics and Centre for Medieval Studies, as well as the offices of the University of Toronto’s Division of University Advancement.
In years past, renovations to the building saw Club Monaco’s CMX brand move downstairs into a room that once housed a swimming pool. The pool was covered over and merchandise was displayed in the space. Most recently, menswear was housed in the space prior to Club Monaco’s closure about two years ago.
Brooks Brothers at 157 Bloor St W (Image: Jeffery Hall / Brooks Brothers)Brooks Brothers at 157 Bloor St W (Image: Dustin Fuhs)
Brooks Brothers’ Canadian footprint has been downsized as of late. The brand recently closed its store on Alberni Street in downtown Vancouver where it had operated for about 15 years. Brooks Brothers currently operates full-priced stores in Toronto including the new Bloor Street location, a 22,000 square foot store at Royal Bank Plaza in the Financial District (the largest Brooks Brothers store in the world), and a location at the CF Shops at Don Mills. A location in downtown Calgary at The CORE is the only other full-priced store in Canada, besides a small location inside of Vancouver International Airport.
Brooks Brothers also operates a network of six outlet stores including at Toronto Premium Outlets in Halton Hills, Outlet Collection at Niagara in Niagara-on-the-Lake, CrossIron Mills near Calgary, South Edmonton Common in Edmonton, and Tsawwassen Mills in South Delta, near Vancouver.
Additional Photos of Brooks Brothers at 157 Bloor Street West
Brooks Brothers at 157 Bloor St W (Image: Jeffery Hall / Brooks Brothers)Brooks Brothers at 157 Bloor St W (Image: Jeffery Hall / Brooks Brothers)Brooks Brothers at 157 Bloor St W (Image: Jeffery Hall / Brooks Brothers)Brooks Brothers at 157 Bloor St W (Image: Jeffery Hall / Brooks Brothers)Brooks Brothers at 157 Bloor St W (Image: Jeffery Hall / Brooks Brothers)Brooks Brothers at 157 Bloor St W (Image: Jeffery Hall / Brooks Brothers)Brooks Brothers at 157 Bloor St W (Image: Jeffery Hall / Brooks Brothers)Brooks Brothers at 157 Bloor St W (Image: Jeffery Hall / Brooks Brothers)Brooks Brothers at 157 Bloor St W (Image: Jeffery Hall / Brooks Brothers)
Self-Checkout at Decathlon Union Station (Image: Dustin Fuhs)
The retail industry is facing a critical juncture where Canadian consumers are experiencing a disconnect between their shopping expectations and the in-store reality, according to technology company SOTI.
As the Canadian retail markets continue to evolve, the industry grapples with challenges rolling out in-store technology and integrating advanced AI technology, while continuing to optimize the supply chain and address ever-growing security concerns, it says.
According to SOTI’s new global retail report, Techspectations: Consumer Demand for Digital Transformation in Retail, 92 per cent of Canadian consumers have used in-store technology but many believe these devices make the shopping experience worse. Canadians cite challenges in-store such as a lack of staff to assist with issues relating to self-serve machines (73 per cent of users), while as many as 31 per cent stated that, despite visiting a store to buy goods, retail staff members had to order the item online using the store device regardless.
“Retailers have been focusing on how to maximize AI’s impact for the online experience without fully replicating these benefits in their physical stores where it can address many of the pain points Canadian consumers are facing today,” said Shash Anand, SVP of Product Strategy at SOTI.
Shash Anand, SVP of Product Strategy, SOTI
“For those with an omnichannel approach, strategic investment in in-store infrastructure will enable AI and automation to optimize supply chain processes, identify technical issues, enhance inventory visibility and aid in forecasting, while reducing waste. As a result, they can ensure a harmonized and efficient retail experience that will replicate the seamlessness consumers expect from online shopping.”
Other findings from the report include:
Despite adoption of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and mobile technologies, 78 per cent of Canadians express security concerns with personal data, 28 per cent find the in-store shopping experience more confusing than ever before and 47 per cent have experienced issues with devices such as self-serve checkout;
46 per cent of Canadian consumers expect to be able to pick up an item ordered online from a physical store on the same day;
41 per cent will look elsewhere if delivery or pick-up of an item is more than two days;
77 per cent of consumers expect to always know the status of their orders, highlighting the need for efficient supply chain visibility;
More than three-quarters (78 per cent) expressed concerns about entering personal details online or through in-store devices, indicating a pervasive lack of trust in the data collection and payment technologies used by retail organizations;
Security concerns extend to fraud, with 41 per cent of consumers worrying about becoming a victim of financial fraud and another 42 per cent expressing concerns about identity fraud;
Canadian consumers have concerns using in-store devices due to mistrust of retailers, including the potential exposure of personal details (40 per cent) and the risk of the next user seeing personal information (25 per cent);
Despite this, 43 per cent of consumers view in-store devices as tools to enhance shopping convenience and speed. This highlights the need for retailers to balance convenience and security while building trust among those making purchases in the retail space.
“We do this report every year and it’s really for us to kind of find out what the pulse is of what’s going on in retail,” said Anand. “This allows us to identify the issues that consumers are facing specifically. Our job is to help the retailers with technology.”
Anand said the fact that 92 per cent of Canadian consumers have used in-store technology but many believe these devices make the shopping experience worse is an indication that “the tech is being used but it’s not being used effectively.”
“And if it’s not going to be used effectively, guess what, I’m not going to have that positive experience.”
Anand said retailers have mastered the online experience in many ways in recent years because of COVID and market trends.
“That in-store experience did not get updated but the online experience got a lot better,” he said. “But at the same time what happened also is consumers have realized that they get this really nice, personalized experience when they are online but they would like that to be shifted over to the in-store experience and I think that’s where retailers have said ‘okay how do we do that, how do we make that experience easy once you’re in the store as well’.
Naan Kabab (Image: Dustin Fuhs)
“The truth is you buy a bunch of tech and you’re trying to give a positive experience, you’re trying to give a personal experience, but if the experience isn’t good in the store, the consumers will go elsewhere.
“What happened is that self-serve checkout became very popular. Buy online, pick up in store became popular. But what’s happened is 73 per cent of those reported that they experienced a lack of staff to assist with issues related to those self-serve checkouts.
“Should the retailers be at a place where it’s like ‘yes, this is a no brainer’? Absolutely. We have companies that are still having trouble with device visibility, they’re still having trouble with inventory management, they’re still having trouble with just the overall cost of trying these security devices. The visibility is really a big one. I want to know what’s going on in all my stores, I want to know what’s happening.”
Self Checkout at Rexall in Metro Hall (Image: Dustin Fuhs)
When reflecting on the overall retail experience, Canadian respondents continue to expect change and see value in technology to enhance their interactions with retailers, but gaps in expectations and reality continue to jeopardize brand loyalty and sales, added Anand.
“Looking to the future, retailers must focus on the technologies and infrastructure around them and ask how these applications, devices and technology solutions are being managed, monitored and maintained.”
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.
Arlene Dickinson today is recognized as a visionary entrepreneur with an incredible track record of success – an iconic Canadian business leader with a high profile through her work and as a dragon on the popular CBC TV show Dragons’ Den.
Her journey to get to this position in life and in business has not been an easy one over the years. But a vision, dedication and perseverance have always been in the forefront of her road to success.
“For me, I think it’s been a function of always wanting to make the most of what was in front of me,” she says. “Because we grew up very poor and without very much, we were raised to be very grateful for what we had and we were raised to believe that anything is possible.
“I think immigrants just have a different view on what hard work can do. So I always knew that if I worked hard enough I could put food on the table and I could take care of myself. I have a really strong work ethic. I try to do the right thing. It doesn’t mean I’m always successful at doing everything right but I try to do the right thing.
“And I think my success has come because when I listen to people, and when people share their stories with me or share their dreams with me, or talk about what they want to do, I genuinely listen. I think I’m authentic and I think my authenticity has really been the key to my success because I care about what people think, I care about what they want, I care about what they need and I want to help them do whatever they need.”
Image: Arlene Dickinson
Dickinson was born in Germiston, South Africa, just outside of Johannesburg. Her father chose to move to Canada as an electrical engineer and Dickinson was three years old when she came to Edmonton initially. A few years later the family moved to Calgary when she was around six years old.
“I didn’t have any university. (After high school), I started to work. I worked in PR for a little bit and worked in retail for a little bit. I graduated when I was 16 and left home because my parents ended up getting divorced so I didn’t really have a home to stay at,” she said.
“So at 16 I left home, went to rent a place, got a job in retail then got a job in PR for a little bit and then got married at the age of 19. So I was like literally out of school, worked for a couple of years, fell in love and got married.
“I got a job at CFCN TV in sales when I got divorced. Got fired from that job and I had met one of the partners at Venture (Communications) at the time and they said they would make me a partner if I would come and work for free basically. Sweat equity. And I had nothing else I could do. I had no other opportunity in front of me so I took the gig and went to Venture.”
About nine or 10 years later, she bought the partners out.
“In marketing, you have to be a student of pop culture and I was fascinated by people. Always have been fascinated by people. So I’ve always been an observer of people. And I think what made me good at marketing was understanding that people have dreams and they have fears,” said Dickinson.
I think people only hire you for marketing because you can do one of two things. You can help them build their dreams or you can help them stop their pain . . . I grew up in a fairly troubled family, got divorced when I was young. So I became a really great listener and a great observer of people.
“And I think those street smart skills made me really good at marketing. I liked it because I understood it and I think I was good at it because I had come from a place of feeling unheard and unseen in my childhood. So it was this kind of ability to think about pop culture and to think about what people really wanted and not put the attention on me but really focus on making other people successful. So my whole thing with marketing is how do you make somebody else really successful and if you do that you might be lucky enough to be successful yourself but the purpose of it was always, how do I help other people build their business. That was kind of where it started and why I liked it so much because you could help other people.
“It was either going to be that or a social worker.”
Reinvention by Arlene Dickinson – Photo by Dustin Fuhs
Dickinson is Founder and General Partner of District Ventures Capital, a venture capital fund that invests in innovative companies in the food & beverage and health & wellness sectors. She is also the Co-Managing Partner of Believeco:Partners, an independent Canadian-based owner, operator, and builder of the foremost marketing, communications, and engagement agencies in North America.
Beyond her business ventures, Dickinson is a sought-after speaker, three-time best-selling author, and philanthropist. She is widely recognized for her role as a Venture Capitalist on the hit television series, Dragons’ Den, where she currently has starred for over 15 seasons.
Dickinson has been included in Canada’s Most Powerful Women Top 100 Hall of Fame, PROFIT and Chatelaine’s Top 100 Women Business Owners and the Marketing Hall of Legends. She’s a recipient of the Pinnacle Award for Excellence and the Queen Elizabeth Diamond and Platinum Jubilee Awards. She has received numerous other awards and accolades – both for her work as an entrepreneur and her many philanthropic efforts, including acting as an ambassador for Second Harvest. She has served for many years as an Honourary Captain in the Royal Canadian Navy and has received honourary degrees from Mount Saint Vincent University, Concordia University, Saint Mary’s University, Olds College, Northern Alberta Institute of Technology and University Canada West.
Before she joined Venture, she had a couple of other jobs. At one of those jobs she met a guy who was into investing in the stock market. That piqued her interest even though she had little money to invest. While learning about the stock market, she met his broker who taught her the best lesson she ever learned about investing – don’t be greedy, pigs get slaughtered which were his words. Always leave some money on the table for the next guy. And you can’t go broke taking a profit.
Arlene Dickinson at Carlton University SOAR Student Leadership Conference (Image: Chris Roussakis)
The stock market was interesting to her and because she liked people so much she started to think, as she got more successful in her business, more about it. At the time, one of her staff came to her and said they were going to Thailand to start a travel adventure company and would she lend them some money to do it.
“I had never done angel investing before. I thought it was interesting. Sure. I really liked him. I really trusted him. I knew he would pay me back. It was $30,000. I really didn’t have $30,000 but I lent it to him anyhow and he paid me back over time,” said Dickinson.
“And I just got the bug. It made such a difference to him. It was the difference between him starting his business and not starting his business. Because he paid me back on time and he always kept me informed, I thought there’s something there. I was doing little investments on the side. I was investing in things on my own with angel investing. And the market. Of course, investing in myself and in the business and growing the business and making the deals, acquiring companies. They came and asked me to be on the show and that literally was the start of my serious investing.”
Dickinson walks a lot to relax. If she is dealing with a problem or trying to sort through something, she goes for a long walk. Traveling and reading are also big interests of hers outside of work.
Image: CBC Dragons Den
In a recent post on LinkedIn, Dickinson offered her crash course on resilience:
Everyone is not going to like you, and that’s ok, so get comfortable with liking yourself because yes, it will feel hard when not everyone likes you.
You don’t need to seek or have other people’s validation of your accomplishments in order to be accomplished.
Be like that wind up toy that when it hits the wall it reverses and goes happily in a different direction.
The easy road doesn’t exist so stop searching for it and get comfortable with navigating a road full of potholes.
Sometimes when you reach your goals you still won’t feel satisfied. Use that sense of needing more to help you accomplish more.
Resilience and optimism are co-dependent.
Know your values because people will constantly test them and you’re going to need them when they do.
You can be confident and have loads of self doubt at the same time. Focus on growing even the smallest glimmers of confidence that are in you and leveraging the fear, no matter how big, to propel you forward.
Find the joie de vivre because each day will always bring a challenge if you’re trying to grow.
And here’s the best lesson: Challenges are opportunities.
