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.
The entertainment and media company says the concept, which will feature mini golf, bowling, interactive games, attractions and fun food options, will open adjacent to the Cineplex Cinemas later this year.
It will be the fourth Playdium and the first one located beside a Cineplex. Other Playdiums are now open in Whitby and Brampton, Ontario, and Dartmouth, Nova Scotia.
Ellis Jacob
“We’re combining the best in entertainment and fast-casual dining by opening a Playdium alongside our Cineplex Cinemas at CF Fairview Mall. Family and friends can come together for movies, gaming and delicious food, in a one stop shop for fun,” said Ellis Jacob, President and CEO, Cineplex.
“Leveraging our industry-leading expertise in entertainment, amusement gaming and food service, this newly announced Playdium location is sure to become a go-to destination for everyday fun, casual dining and special occasions.”
Playdium Brampton (Image: Playdium)
Kevin Watts, Executive Vice President of Exhibition and Location Based Entertainment for Cineplex, said the first Playdium opened in Brampton in September 2019. The first locations that are open are in free standing buildings located in other retail centres outside of a Cineplex.
“They don’t necessarily need to be attached or beside a theatre,” he said.
“The theatre at Fairview is on the upper level of the mall. The Playdium is right beside it but on the main mall level.
“Playdium is a place for people to come and play as the name would imply. We offer amusement gaming and redemption gaming. And it’s really targeting young adults, teens and families to come and play together and have some fun. We also have a casual food concept that we have there so people can grab a bite, grab a drink, to kind of recharge themselves while they’re playing games. And one of the things Playdiums are really known for are their birthday parties. We do lots and lots of birthday parties. People of all ages. It’s really a place for you to come, have some fun, play against your friends, play with your friends, grab a bite and just have a great day out.”
Watts said Playdiums range in size from about 20,000 to 40,000 square feet depending on the space. The one at Fairview will be about 20,000 square feet.
“In addition to a compelling retail mix, a key component of our shopping centre offering is providing engaging and entertaining experiences. We’re thrilled to expand our partnership with Cineplex to bring immersive premium entertainment options to CF Fairview Mall,” said Rory MacLeod, Executive Vice President, Operations, Cadillac Fairview.
Daryl Clemance, General Manager at CF Fairview Mall, said building and engaging experiences is really at the heart of the company’s business.
“It really adds to the overall experience of the property adding another entertainment component that really supports creating these engaging experiences for our customers,” he said.
“Shopping centres continue to evolve and CF Fairview Mall really is the true gathering place for our community. So we’re committed to developing engaging and inspirational programming that supports our community and gives them a reason to choose us in a competitive market. It’s very crucial to be adding this new component to the property.
“There’s so much choice out there right now that you can’t necessarily be everything but you do need to cater to your specific market and CF Fairview Mall has done. We’re certainly adding more entertainment giving people more reasons to come. Food, entertainment as well as an engaging retail mix that they’re looking for.”
Chow Tai Fook Jewellery at CF Fairview Mall in Toronto (Image: Chow Tai Fook Jewellery)
Clemency said recently the Chow Tai Fook jewelry store opened at the mall as did Carter’s Oshkosh. Uniqlo will be opening in the next three to four weeks. Miniso is set to open in the next week or two. There’s also a fairly significant Zara expansion that will take place throughout 2024.
Watts said Cineplex has plans to launch more Playdiums in Canada.
“We are absolutely looking to grow out the Playdium concept across Canada. I think there’s a lot of opportunities and I can’t really get into too much details on the plans but we certainly see lots of opportunities across Canada,” he said.
“People want to get out and do things together in a social environment. We have three of these. We’ve got our Rec Room concept. We operate movie theatres. We just see millions and millions of people are looking to do things every day and so providing them with great concepts, great games, great food, we’re providing the set up for people to come in and socialize, be together. And that’s what we’re really seeing post-pandemic. People want to get back out and do things together. And these are great spaces to do that in.
“It’s a little different than going out to dinner because you’re being active. It’s engaging. It’s a great way to do something together and be active and be competitive.”
Au Pain Doré, a Montreal based bakery, is looking to secure seven to ten locations this year, is continuously innovating new products, and has the goal of having approximately forty locations within the next five years.
Alexandra Grudkin
Currently the brand has a total of 16 locations, eight in Montreal and eight in Toronto. The next location, and first suburban store, will be opening at Square One Mall in Mississauga with an exterior facing entrance and large patio, where Alexandra Grudkin, franchise development director at Groupe Le Duff, says construction will start in February and will be opening in late May.
“Au Pain Doré is not just a bakery; it’s a testament to the rich heritage of French culinary excellence blended with the dynamic spirit of Montreal. Since our inception in 1956 and our reinvigoration in 2008, we have embarked on an exciting journey of growth, starting from the heart of Montreal to the bustling streets of Toronto. Our recent expansion reflects not just our passion for quality and tradition, but also our commitment to bringing a unique dining experience to every customer, one neighbourhood at a time,” says Grudkin.
Expansion Plans
Au Pain Doré (Image: Groupe Le Duff)
Au Pain Doré has an aggressive expansion plan for this year, including adding four to five new locations in Ontario and two locations in Quebec. These locations will be focusing on both downtown cores and the surrounding areas. Grudkin says the plan for the next couple of years is to focus on expanding in Montreal and in Ontario markets.
Within the next five years, Grudkin says Au Pain Doré will hopefully have a total of forty stores across Ontario and Montreal. The brand won’t stop there as after these expansion plans, Grudkin says they are looking to open locations in British Columbia, starting in Vancouver and will be looking into the rest of Canada in the future.
“We are now focusing on downtown Toronto and the immediate GTA for our growth targets, and Montreal as well. That would be the plan for the next two years before we consider moving out West and expanding in British Columbia where we’ve have had quite a bit of demand. With the success of recent openings, we are motivated to accelerate growth, but again, we recently began franchising this brand so it is going to take a bit of time to kick start the expansion.”
Au Pain Doré Côte-des-Neiges (Image: Au Pain Doré)Au Pain Doré Bloor Islington Place (Image: Au Pain Doré)Au Pain Doré 879 Bay Street (Image: Au Pain Doré)Au Pain Doré Sherway Gardens (Image: Au Pain Doré)Au Pain Doré Place Ville-Marie (Image: Au Pain Doré)Au Pain Doré 20 Adelaide Street East
(Image: Au Pain Doré)
The targets for the GTA will include Vaughan, Aurora, Richmond Hill, Thornhill, Mississauga and Oakville.
As for what type of locations the brand is looking for, Grudkin says they are looking for a mix of downtown and suburban areas. For downtown, it will be aiming for streetfront corner locations that can attract a mix of daytime work crowds and residential traffic and for spaces from 1,200 to 1,500 square feet. As for suburban areas, Grudkin says they will consider larger spaces such as around 2,000 square feet with a preference for patios and close to businesses that will compliment the bakery such as grocery stores.
Although the menu is consistent, Au Pain Doré tailors its offerings to meet the preferences of each province. The brand is committed to keeping the French bakery selections while catering to local needs, ensuring every location will succeed and retail “the unique charm while staying true to its roots.”
“It is always interesting to bring a Quebec brand into English speaking areas in Canada and vice versa because there are some cultural differences and lifestyle differences. For example, in Montreal, it is normal to stop by the bakery and grab a baguette every single day after work. Whereas in Toronto, it has a different dynamic, but we do see a significant portion of our menu mix being more attributed to obviously our baked goods as well as our coffee.
Ensuring its menu stays consistent with trends and what customers are looking for, Au Pain Doré is continually innovating its menu.
“As far as innovation, we are frequently introducing new dessert items, different sandwiches, and salads with in-season ingredients. As well as pushing our coffee program as we have always just been seen as a French bakery. Whereas now, we have a coffee machine that is very sophisticated, we call it the Ferrari of coffee machines as it produces an excellent cup of coffee.”
Au Pain Doré (Image: Groupe Le Duff)
The French bakery originally opened in Montreal in 1956 and was acquired by Groupe Le Duff in 2008. Since then, the group opened its first franchised location in Montreal in 2017, began franchising in Toronto in late 2022, and will continue to develop the French bakery across Canada.
“People really love coming into the store to hang out for a while and grab a cup of coffee or a sandwich for lunch. So we have seen success at our flagship location in Toronto, 81 Front Street, and it has been doing exceptionally well so we are looking forward to expanding further.. And we are always innovating and trying to optimise the menu to make sure our franchises are profitable and our customers are happy and recurring.”
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.
Mirror Mirror at CF Chinook Centre (Image: Mario Toneguzzi)
CF Chinook Centre in Calgary has unveiled a new tenant with an innovative sensory exploration experience, taking viewers into a world that blurs the boundaries between reality and imagination.
Moment Factory, a Montreal-based international multimedia entertainment studio, powered by Fever, has opened its newest indoor experience, Mirror Mirror, which combines scenography, light, words, original music and interactivity to create a surreal and sensory playground of immersive art that reconnects us to our imagination.
Across nine immersive art installations inspired by memory, imagination, dreams and consciousness, visitors are invited to create their own unique journey. The experience begins by selecting one of three doors, and from there, visitors may explore at their own pace.
Mirror Mirror at CF Chinook Centre (Image: Moment Factory)
Darren Milne
“We are thrilled to be partnering with Moment Factory to deliver this one-of-a-kind, multimedia experience to guests of CF Chinook Centre,” said Darren Milne, General Manager, CF Chinook Centre. “We’re committed to delivering programs that inspire and entertain guests every time they visit our shopping centre and we’re excited for visitors to experience the magic of Mirror Mirror’s immersive installations.”
Milne said Mirror Mirror is a temporary experience and people are encouraged to buy their tickets early. Cadillac Fairview will continue to evaluate the end date as the experience progresses in some of the former Nordstrom space.
Installations include Memory Storage, where sharing memories via a mobile device activates a unique choreography of light. A piece of that memory then comes to life in Intelligent Window, an art installation activated by artificial intelligence.
In Forest of Echoes, a labyrinth of mirrors invites guests to confront their sense of self and get lost in a maze of multiplied reflections. With River of Now and Mirrors of Tomorrow, two interactive installations, visitors will either jump across rock-like platforms to conjure color and music or take part in a playful tarot session to discover their destiny.
Jonathan St-Onge
“At Moment Factory, through our various projects, we aim to inspire a sense of collective wonder and connection. We are thrilled to present Mirror Mirror, an original creation from our studio, to Calgary at the CF Chinook Centre. Through multimedia and interactivity, we are happy to offer Calgarians and tourists a new way to connect with each other and art.” said Jonathan St-Onge, Executive director– Signature Experiences, Moment Factory.
Mirror Mirror at CF Chinook Centre (Image: Mario Toneguzzi)
At the grand opening of the concept on Friday, Jyoti Gondek, Mayor of Calgary, said the city is being recognized across Canada and globally “increasingly as being a hub for artists.”
Jyoti Gondek
“This in no small way is what attracts people to visit here, to relocate their businesses here and to make their home here,” she said. “I’m grateful that Moment Factory chose to set up Mirror Mirror in our city which will no doubt amplify Calgary’s position on the creative economy map.”
She said in a Calgary citizen engagement survey last year 82 per cent of people “believe that a strong arts and culture scene is a really big part of creating a vibrant, safe and prosperous city.”
“The arts matter and installations like this matter equally because they spotlight how creative of a city we are and how much we take the art to heart,” added Gondek.
Andrea Nickel, Senior Director of Experience and Engagement at Cadillac Fairview, said building iconic destinations and unique and entertaining experiences is at the heart of what the company does.
“We are constantly evolving our programming to give guests more and more reasons to visit our shopping centres across Canada. With Moment Factory being a leader in the production of immersive experiences we are thrilled to partner with them to bring a special experience to CF Chinook Centre,” said Nickel. “Mirror Mirror combines light, words, original music and interactivity to create a sensory playground of immersive art that reconnects us to our imagination.
“It is a true reflection of how CF continues to offer memorable experiences that bring Canadians together and deliver entertainment every single time they visit.”
Mirror Mirror at CF Chinook Centre (Image: Moment Factory)Mirror Mirror at CF Chinook Centre (Image: Moment Factory)
Marie Belzil, Creative Director at Moment Factory, said the company is thrilled to open the third edition of Mirror Mirror after successful runs in Montreal and Australia.
Marie Belzil
“All of our experiences are actually very different from each other but they have one thing in common is that we always try, what we do, is about bringing people together and creating connections in the real world,” she said.
“Our motto is we do it in public so our goal is just to activate collective wonder . . . Mirror Mirror is a journey into a beautiful, colourful world. It’s a little escape from reality.
“It’s also a project that seeks to activate your sense of wonder and exploration. We are hoping that way that we will perhaps wake up the kids that is hidden in all of us.”
Mirror Mirror at CF Chinook Centre (Image: Moment Factory)
Moment Factory is a multimedia studio with a full range of production expertise under one roof. Its team combines specializations in video, lighting, architecture, sound and special effects to create remarkable experiences. Headquartered in Montreal, the studio also has other addresses in Tokyo, Paris, New York City and Singapore. Since its inception in 2001, Moment Factory has created more than 525 unique projects worldwide, including the Lumina Night Walk series. Productions span the globe and include such clients as Changi Airport, Notre-Dame Basilica of Montreal, Disney, Arcade Fire, Microsoft, Sony, Boston Museum of Science, Madonna, Cipriani, Universal Studios, the Toronto Zoo and the Reims Cathedral.
Consumers often assume that price freezes are always in their favour. However, it’s important to recognize that not all price freezes are equal, especially when it comes to products further up the supply chain. Every year, between November 1 and February 1, grocers request suppliers not to increase prices for undisclosed reasons.
This unspoken agreement between grocers and suppliers which likely started decades ago may not ultimately benefit consumers. In October, as suppliers renegotiate contracts with grocers, prices are often adjusted, and many increase just before the three-month price freeze. Now that the “blackout” period has ended, we should anticipate food prices rising again, as even Metro CEO Eric Laflèche himself warned consumers during his recent earnings call. Price hikes are likely to affect non-perishable products, primarily those in the center of the store.
Metro Front Street (Image: Dustin Fuhs)
While high food inflation is certainly a concern for consumers, price volatility can be even more detrimental, and that’s exactly what these blackout periods bring to the market. Sudden spikes in food prices can surprise consumers and force them to temporarily abandon certain food categories, often including healthier options, leading to nutritional compromises. Once consumers perceive a food category as financially out of reach, it takes them a while to return.
François-Philippe Champagne, the Minister of Innovation and Technology, in his efforts to stabilize food prices in Canada, should be aware of these blackout periods and should target them as market-distorting mechanisms that ultimately harm consumers.
If we examine the past 15 years, according to Statistics Canada, some of the highest month-to-month food price increases occurred either in November or February. The highest month-to-month food price increase in the last 15 years was in November 2008 at 2.5%, followed by February 2011 at 2.2%. Statistics Canada also recorded above-average month-to-month food price increases in November 2016 (1.6%) and November 2022 (1.7%). Despite the seasonality factor, blackout periods don’t shield budget-strapped consumers, as evidenced by increases in January 2016, January 2022, January 2020, and December 2018.
Coincidentally, these three months, January, February, and November, have experienced the highest month-to-month food price increases in the last 30 years, except for May. But we’ll get to that later.
The excuse often cited is that grocers don’t have time to deal with price changes during the busy holiday season. However, this argument may have been valid years ago when grocers manually updated prices on every item. Today, many prices are digital and displayed electronically, raising questions about the need for such blackout periods.
More fundamentally, since these blackout periods are industry-wide, one could argue that this practice could be considered anti-competitive and may lead to price coordination among competitors. Although we still don’t know the precise reasons behind past price-fixing scandals, blackout periods may indicate a broader culture of price-fixing in the industry, to the detriment of consumers.
This issue goes beyond blackout periods. Recently, Loblaw informed its suppliers that their fees will increase once again. In the agri-food sector, suppliers must pay grocers to do business with them. Distribution center charges will rise from 1.17% to 1.22%, and direct-to-store delivery (DSD) charges will increase from 0.36% to 0.38%. While these may seem like minor changes to most of us, they can amount to millions of dollars for suppliers.
Photo: Loblaw Corporation
These yearly unilateral increases, imposed by Loblaw, will take effect on April 28 without any dialogue or negotiation. While major multinationals like PepsiCo, Mondelez, Lactalis, Kraft-Heinz, and Kellogg may adjust their prices to offset higher fees from grocers, many smaller Canadian food manufacturers may struggle financially and even exit the industry. This results in higher prices and reduced competition, which is counterproductive for consumers. Again, coincidentally, May, the one month we should be expecting price hikes from up-the-food conflicts has the second-highest month-to-month average increase in the last 30 years.
To address these issues, we need more discipline and oversight, including the implementation of a mandatory code of conduct to ensure fair practices in the industry. It’s time to put an end to this insanity.
Last week, Indigo Books & Music Inc., confirmed it has received an unsolicited non-binding privatization proposal.
Canada’s leading book and lifestyle retailer announced that the proposal comes from Trilogy Retail Holdings Inc. and Trilogy Investments L.P. controlled by Gerald W. Schwartz, a member of the Indigo Board.
Indigo at The Well (Image: Dustin Fuhs)
The proposal outlines “a potential transaction to acquire all of the issued and outstanding common shares of the Company that Trilogy and its joint actors do not currently own for $2.25 in cash per common share of the Company,” said Indigo.
“Trilogy, together with its joint actors, currently own an aggregate of 16,774,665 common shares of Indigo, representing approximately 60.63 per cent of the issued and outstanding common shares of the Company (the “Common Shares”) as of the date hereof,” said Indigo in a statement.
“The Board will review the Proposal to determine the course of action that it believes is in the best interest of the Company. The Board has established a special committee of independent directors (the “Special Committee”) that will evaluate the Proposal and any viable alternatives that may be available to the Company and make recommendations to the Board. The Special Committee will supervise the preparation of a formal valuation by an independent valuator regarding the Proposal.”
Schwartz is spouse of Heather Reisman, Founder and CEO of Indigo, who also sits on the company’s board.
In its last financial results, released November 7, the company reported total revenue of $206.9 million in the its second quarter for Fiscal Year 2024, compared to revenue of $236.2 million in the same period last year, when the company achieved its highest ever merchandise sales in a second fiscal quarter.
The second quarter represented the 13-week period ended September 30, 2023 compared to the 13-week period ended October 1, 2022.
Adjusted EBITDA for the quarter was a loss of $13.8 million, compared to a loss of $10.6 million in the prior year.
Indigo CF Toronto Eaton Centre (Image: Dustin Fuhs)
In January, Indigo laid off an unspecified number of staff as part of the retailer’s ongoing efforts to streamline its operations.
Indigo spokeswoman Melissa Perri said in an email to The Canadian Press that the cuts stem from the company’s strategic plan meant to return the business to profitability.
In the past year, the retailer has dealt with a massive cyber attack as well as several executive changes.
In this video interview, George Minakakis, Founder and CEO of the Inception Retail Group, discusses the turmoil around Indigo for the past year and the recent privatization proposal.
The Video Interview Series by Retail Insider is available on YouTube.
Connect with Mario Toneguzzi, a veteran of the media industry for more than 40 years and named in 2021 a Top Ten Business Journalist in the world and the only Canadian – to learn how you can tell your story, share your message and amplify it to a wide audience. He is Senior News Editor with Retail Insider and owner of Mario Toneguzzi Communications Inc. and can be reached at mdtoneguzzi@gmail.com.
Also check out the other series offered by Retail Insider, including The Weekly podcast and The Interview Series, which are both available on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, TuneIn, Google Podcasts, or through our dedicated RSS feed for Simplecast and other podcast players.
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.
His journey to become the iconic Canadian brand’s owner and CEO began when he took a job in January 1987 at one of the Montreal locations to raise some money for school.
“I was actually working at BeaverTails as a summer job right after high school,” he said.
Image: Pino Di Ioia
Di Ioia was born and raised in Montreal. He went to high school at Loyola then went to McGill University for an undergrad in industrial relations and then an MBA.
“When I finished my undergrad at McGill, I did not think I was going to get into the MBA and on a bit of whim I said to the founder (of BeaverTails), how about I buy your first franchise and that’s literally what happened.”
The journey for Di Ioia began back 37 years ago when he didn’t get a summer job that he wanted at a clothing store in Montreal.
“So you apply for fast food. You can always get a job in fast food. I was on the student council and the newspaper. They came to place an ad and the guy who was running the ads wasn’t there that day. He was sick. And they said ‘who can take our ad, we want to place an ad for a management position’. I said ‘I guess I can take the information and I actually don’t have a job, I should probably apply’,” recalls Di Ioia of his introduction to the BeaverTails brand.
“I was President of the student council and they wanted people that were leaders or involved. And they said I totally should apply. It was at an amusement park. It was the second year they were there. Small, small beginnings and at the two stores (in the park) we had three employees.
“I remember they would not let me try a BeaverTail. When they first hired me, I had never had a BeaverTail. They were only on the Rideau Canal (in Ottawa) at the time. They said we’re not letting you try it until we’ve given you all of our management training.”
Image: Pino Di Ioia
Di Ioia said the day before opening at the amusement park they let him try the product.
“It was pretty good. I love dough. I love croissants. I love baguettes. I just love that stuff. For the first two or three years, we were giving away samples. It was really old school, elbow grease. Giving away samples, making people try it. Customer service 101. By the second or third year, I was about to finish my undergrad and I was telling my girlfriend, who is now my wife, and my brother who is now my business partner, my twin, this is weird. People line up. The park opens and they don’t go for the rides. They start coming to our store to line up.”
Di Ioia said for a little stand doing essentially “flat donuts” he sensed there was something more to it. In his two-year MBA, every second project, he laughs, was on BeaverTails.
“It was like an internship. You’ve got to do a project on a company. No problem. I’ve got the company. And away you go,” he said. “By the end of that, we knew. This is it. Let’s make something of it.”
Di Ioia bought that store at the amusement park which started his entrepreneurial journey. Another store opened later in Old Montreal. In the first year, police were guiding lineups because they were blocking the streets.
“At that point we knew, the vibe we were feeling at the amusement park was not coincidence. There’s something here. For the police to have to come, it was wild,” he said.
Di Ioia and his partners eventually grew their stake to about 14-15 stores including a few other concepts like ice cream parlors and Belgian french fry places.
Photo: BeaverTails
In 1998, he and his wife bought the BeaverTails rights in Quebec. In 2001, they were tapped to run the head office. Over a period of time, they started selling off stores as franchises. Today they only have one in old Montreal.
“The company actually had a few guys from the States, two groups, that wanted to buy the company. That fell apart partly because of 9-11. And then from that point the head office in Ottawa collapsed. It imploded. They were geared to build and sell, not to operate and that’s when the founder came and saw my wife, my twin brother and myself and said hey look if you guys could run this that would be great, otherwise we have a bit of a problem,” he said.
“And we were paid $20,000 a year for three of us, wasn’t that long ago, but we had share options and the share options in 2012 give or take was when we exercised the options and then bought the majority of the company.”
BeaverTails Niagara Falls (Image: Dustin Fuhs)
Today, there are just under 200 locations across Canada. It typically opens about 10 new ones a year.
Does he partake every day in a BeaverTail?
“You know (recently) they tried to do milk, chocolate and spicy peanut I think was the flavour. They no longer ask me my opinion. True story, swear to God. They no longer ask me my opinion because I love them all. I am a terrible taste tester,” said Ioia. “When they bring out the samples, I just try them all. I’ll have literally at least one a week and thank God our head office is not by one of the stores. I keep saying we should build an office next to one of the stores but at that point I think I would partake too many.”
As a son of immigrant parents, Di Ioia learned about the importance of perseverance as he grew up.
“I once read an article that followed a whole bunch of successful people and it wasn’t education and it wasn’t how much money you started off with, the number one lesson and the number one criteria was perseverance or tenacity,” he said. “You’re going to fail constantly. But it’s what you do with that.
“Interestingly my wife and I read a great book, father-daughter psychologists who wrote a book together, one was What Happy People Know and the other one was What Happy Kids Know. They basically say curiosity goes hand in hand with tenacity because if you’re curious, you’ll ask yourself what do I do when life gives me the proverbial lemons? A bit of that is mindset too.
“It’s funny, our neighbour at the office makes heart stents. And they have the same red branding as we do. I said to them, we should have a joint slogan on the main door that says ‘we clog them and you unclog them’,” he laughs. “We don’t make anything that is life saving obviously but we tell a story and during COVID our clients were telling us ‘I had a chance to have a BeaverTail and it was the highlight of my week’. Well that storytelling goes a long way . . . We’re very fortunate in that we sell a warm feeling more than anything else.”
McGill Presentation (Image: Pino Di Ioia)
Like all entrepreneurs and business executives, Di Ioia spends a lot of time at the office and working on the business. To relax, he loves to cook.
“BeaverTails is only dessert,” he laughs. “I love to cook. My wife loves to cook. We teach our kids, we have three young kids we adopted from Korea, and I’m teaching them about Italian cooking. In fact, my daughter at Christmas made homemade gnocchi with my mom.
“We’re all living in craziness. Sometimes we’re just too busy to notice. I was never much of a studious kid. I was never academic. But God bless them (the Jesuits who ran the high school) they instilled in me a curiosity. I read two or three books a month. I must listen to summaries of another 10 or 15 a month. I give presentations at the universities. I’m on the board at my college and my high school. I was on board of my university too. For a non-academic guy I’m surprised how much I’ve been involved in the school system. I think I would have been a teacher if I wasn’t an entrepreneur. I love going back and sharing those books. I can’t teach them about anything except marketing and branding and business. But that is my outlet.
“The real outlet is I’m curious to learn. And as I learn more I like to share that. I guess that’s the essence of teaching.”
Cineplex and Cadillac Fairview’s long standing partnership is looking to expand further and to innovate new ways to attract shoppers. The collaboration aims to enhance the consumer shopping experience by integrating immersive digital displays and personalising advertising with key data-driven insights – changing the retail landscape in Canada. Fab Stanghieri, executive vice president and general manager at Cineplex Digital Media, and Jason Anderson, the senior vice president of CF, discuss the progression of digitalization in shopping, the current state of digital screens, and plans for the future such as increasing interactive technology and personalisation.
Reshaping the shopping experience in Canada’s leading malls, the state-of-the-art and interactive directories are a strategic tool designed to personalize and transform the consumer journey. By using advanced data-driven advertising and AI, the partnership aims to deliver targeted and engaging content – influencing shopping behaviours and purchases.
The digital transformation goes beyond consumer experiences; it opens new avenues for retailers within CF properties to engage more meaningfully with consumers. Despite the challenges of keeping up the pace with the rapid technology advancements, the partnership between CF and Cineplex is looking to create advancements. Digital screens in malls can have a huge impact on consumer behaviours such as what shoppers are buying. These screens also showcase sales throughout the mall, and can help with navigation.
CF Sherway Gardens (Image: Cadillac Fairview)
Fab Stanghieri
“We have had a long term partnership with CF as we opened at the Toronto Eaton Centre with 18 screens in 1979. We have been in the mall and media business for a number of years and CF chose us based on our approach. We are experts in location-based digital signage solutions and are very different from our peers. We provide end-to-end digital signage experiences and in-store retail media networks for some of the leading brands,” says Stanghieri. “If you look at the emerging technologies now, we think advertising in the shopping experience is set to become even more targeted and personalised – and that is the bigger opportunity. Is it not just about technology, it is more about how we can work with advertisers; using data-driven insights to deliver increasingly relevant and personalised messages to shoppers that create highly engaging, targeted campaigns that resonate with individual shoppers and ultimately – influence their journey.”
Stanghieri says the screens have been improved to be more attention grabbing, bright, can be anywhere from 65 to 85 inches, and have evolved over time. As the costs today are more affordable than before, Stanghieri says there are more opportunities for businesses to target audiences and increase personalization. Anderson says the digital screens act as a digital directory and are two sided: one is about helping customers find where they need to go, and the other side is large digital screens which will be upgraded over the next year to get them to be more immersive and entertaining for consumers.
Jason Anderson
“We are constantly thinking about how we can create more entertaining experiences for our customers, and digital media plays an important part of that. Being able to leverage digital screens throughout properties, helps bring people together and creates this really interesting dynamic place where we can add to the experience. And we can also have the opportunity to bring brand new brands and advertisers into our centre that want to tell a story to customers,” says Anderson.
Expansion into Digital Media
Cineplex and CF are taking advertising to the next level as they are going to be rolling out a massive expansion of digital screens across Canada’s top malls, such as 200 digital display screens in CF shopping centres in CF Toronto Eaton Centre, CF Pacific Centre in Vancouver, CF Chinook Centre in Alberta, CF Rideau Centre in Ottawa, and CF Carrefour Laval in Quebec. Anderson and Stanghieri say it is not just about adding more screens – but changing shopping behaviours.
“I am really happy to say our network includes nine out of the ten highest visited shopping centres in Canada with CF and there is more to come as there will be some additional properties hopefully added shortly. We pride ourselves on being a one stop shop for media buyers looking to target mobile shopping audiences in Canada. Retail media is on everyone’s mind, because it really allows retailers to further monetize the audiences they have in their spaces,” says Stanghieri.
CF Sherway Gardens (Image: Cadillac Fairview)
Anderson says these screens will also be more interactive, bringing significant benefits to retailers.
“The benefit to our retailers is that you can target consumers with a message inside our property before they even enter your store. Having these screens in our malls allows retailers to deliver their story. Yes, retailers could target a customer on their mobile device or at home, but there is this one method that really delivers the last mile of retail and that is the digital screens inside the property,” says Anderson. “When someone is walking through a shopping centre, and all of a sudden sees content from one of our retailers, that is ultimately going to engage them at the moment they are walking through the mall and consumers will be interested in buying the product. Tell consumers a story, inspire them, give them information, and ultimately – attract a customer to walk those few extra steps and make that turn into your store.”
Digital integration is no longer a luxury – but a necessity
Just being a touchscreen is not enough, Anderson discusses how he plans to transform its digital structure: “We are constantly thinking about how we can create more entertaining experiences for our customers.” Anderson’s goals for the screens are to make them larger, brighter, more vibrant, and more engaging: “Turning shopping centres into not just places for commerce, but immersive digital experiences.” Overall, Anderson wants to make sure the screens contribute meaningful information and will attract customers to stop and look.
To make the content more meaningful to consumers, Stanghieri places a strong emphasis on data-driven advertising, to allow shopping centres to have a more targeted and personalised approach by using AI technologies. This approach will leverage consumer data to enhance the relevance, timing, and impact of advertising content, making it more engaging and tailored to individual consumers. Stanghieri’s vision is for these digital platforms to showcase unique shopping habits, preferences, effectively influencing purchase decisions, and enhance consumer’s experience in the mall.
These goals don’t come without challenges as Stanghieri and Anderson both understand the complexities in the cutting-edge digital technologies into retail environments. Main challenges include keeping up with technology advancements, creating new innovations for screens to keep people engaged, and blending digital experiences with the aesthetic of shopping centres, ensuring the technology enhances rather than disrupts a consumer’s experience.
CF Pacific Centre (Image: Cadillac Fairview)
While the path forward may be lined up with challenges, it comes with rewards – a new way of advertising, an enhanced shopping experience for consumers, and more consumer engagement. As the partnership between Cineplex and CF grows, so will its innovation; paving a path for the future of retail in Canada.
“Our goal is to build the most sought-after digital media network in the country and we feel confident that we are going to do that and Cineplex is a really great partner. We are so excited to expand our partnership as we have been working with them for decades. We really want to go out and create engaging experiences and these vibrant destinations, and Cineplex is a great partner to do that with,” says Anderson.
