And the express car wash company is on an expansion path to grow the business throughout Ontario.
“We’re primarily focused on expanding our model in target markets throughout Ontario, although we do have our sights set on Quebec and the Maritimes as well ,” said Greg Pedersen, President of the venture.
The concept began in early 2018. Pedersen used to be in the tire distribution business. He was approached with an opportunity to start up a new car wash business – the express exterior car wash model.
Halo Car Wash (Image: Michelle Valbergh)
“Initially I wasn’t all that excited about car washing so we decided to visit a few of the more well-known express exterior car washes throughout the United States. The Express Exterior car wash model developed across the US over the past 20 years, essentially replacing the touchless car wash market ,” said Pedersen.
“Visiting some of the more well-known car wash operators throughout the US was a real eye opener for me; they really know how to take care of their customers and provide a first class wash experience. That is something you really don’t see here. We saw an opportunity to do something similar in Canada, which is a market that’s currently extremely under-serviced in the car wash business. That’s essentially how Halo Car Wash started.”
The company acquired some land in Stratford, Ontario and opened its first site in May 2019. Then it opened its second site in December 2019 in Keswick, Ontario and its most recent site in Orleans, near on the east end of Ottawa, in September 2020.
Pedersen said the company will be opening a location in London in February and then Woodstock and Stittsville by early next summer and Waterloo by late Fall.
Image: Halo Car Wash
Pedersen said the Halo Car Wash sites are typically 1.0 to 1.5 acres, but he said the company could fit into a site of 0.6 acres depending on the site dynamic.
“We also have more sites in the early stages of development, scheduled beyond 2023.
“One of my primary goals right now is to continue to explore expansion opportunities throughout Ontario, Quebec, and the Maritimes. Up to now, we’ve been developing our own properties however, but we’re certainly open to leasing opportunities. We’re looking at both leasing and buying opportunities.”
Halo Car Wash (Image: Michelle Valbergh)
Image: Halo Car Wash
Image: Halo Car Wash
Image: Halo Car Wash
When asked how many sites the company could expand to, Pedersen replied: “We’re hoping to add by 3-5 locations each year however finding the right properties hasn’t been easy. That said, we’re really proud of the sites we have so far.”
The express exterior car wash model, he said, includes the cleaning of the outside of the vehicle while providing customers with the tools to do the inside of a vehicle.
The sites have the ability to wash up to 200 cars per hour.
“We offer all of our customers complimentary use of our self-serve vacuum stations and custom mat washers. Each site has anywhere from 14-19 vacuum stations and multiple mat washers. This is fairly unique to the car wash industry in Canada,” said Pedersen. “The vast majority of our customer base are unlimited wash members; they drive most of the traffic to our sites. Membership offer our customers unlimited access to all our wash facilities, including our wash tunnel, vacuum stations and custom mat washers.”
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.
Paste Dental at 373 King St W (Image: Paste Dental)
For the first time in Toronto, there is a dental office people won’t want to run away from. Paste Dental, which opened last month, has dedicated its time perfecting every small detail to make sure your dental experience is less scary and more comforting – because going to the dentist should not be a pass when it comes to your healthcare.
Dr. Derek Chung
Located at 373 King Street West, patients can have an elevated dental experience as Paste Dental has changed everything the average person hates about going to the dentist, well almost everything, including the small details such as the surroundings.
“I started this office because I thought there was a void for going to the dentist. When I moved to the big city, I saw there were a lot of people spending a lot of time, energy, and money making sure every aspect of their life is perfect – but when they thought about the dentist, it was a pass. We have been here for about a month, but this dental concept has been in my head for about ten years,” says Dr. Derek Chung, the CEO and founder of Paste Dental.
Chung has been keeping a record of things people hated, what his family hated, and what he hates about going to the dentist and gathered his insights to make the perfect dental office.
Paste Dental offers the same type of services as any other dental offices, but makes it elevated with its towel service, luxury design, and uses different technology.
Technology Driven Dental Care
Paste Dental at 373 King St W (Image: Paste Dental)
Chung uses a variety of technologies to take away stress patients endure during a dental visit. For instance, instead of scraping teeth to clean them, Chung uses Airflow, a powerwash tool from Switzerland.
“We have a powerwash tool for your teeth and there is very little scraping, 80 percent of it is with a power wash. We have created something where we are exfoliating your teeth, so it is a facial for your teeth. It is from Switzerland and I am the first to have this in Toronto.”
If you need an impression of your teeth, at Paste Dental – the goopy tray mess is gone as Chung uses two scanners to digitally take impressions. The camera takes 3,000 photos every second the team digitally designs it. This helps people with braces as usually the dentist would come in and place a tray in your mouth.
“The two scanners that we have spent a lot of money on eliminates the goopy mess and gagging and eliminates a lot of chair time and a lot of long appointments for services that otherwise would take two weeks.”
Paste Dental at 373 King St W (Image: Paste Dental)
The scanners can also be used if a patient needs a crown on their tooth. When usually getting a crown, you are left with a temporary one until the dental office receives the permanent one, which could take two weeks and you will have two or three appointments. The same technology can be used to replace misplaced retainers, which are printed with a 3D printer.
At Paste Dental, Chung says they can scan your teeth and design everything immediately, send it to their in-house mill, and have it ready for the patient within two hours. If the patient decides to wait two hours, there is a lounge where people can relax, watch television, enjoy the towel service, or take advantage of Paste Dental’s deluxe coffee machine.
“I can make you a crown in two hours in one day. So there are no temporaries, you are not living two weeks in anxiety worrying that your temporary crown will come off – you are able to complete your service on the same day. So that is really huge for us and that is what makes us different.”
“The technology is really big and the ambiance is huge. With the level of service, the coffee, the towel service, we have created a space where you want to spend time in and hang out, where in a normal dental office – you want to hit the ground running.
Emotional Element
Paste Dental at 373 King St W (Image: Paste Dental)
“We spent a lot of time with the surroundings, we wanted people to disconnect from the busy downtown world. We wanted a hospitality service level, we wanted to be able to offer good technology. We wanted people to not only have the best quality of dental care, but also have the experience of it being more curated.”
To make the office more comforting, Chung uses a lot of roundness and tries to stay away from sharp corners when possible. Chung said this was an important factor, because round objects are less intimidating and “there are enough sharp things at the dental office.”
Chung’s office is very warm and welcoming with the tone of colours and furniture choices as they are less office-like and more homey. Even when it comes down to the dental chairs, Chung took a long time deciding which ones to use and had them custom made to ensure great quality and comfort.
A Different Experience in Every Room
Paste Dental at 373 King St W (Image: Paste Dental)
To make the experience even more elevated for his patients, Chung realizes everyone is different, so everyone’s experience should also be different.
Before a patient appointment, they are encouraged to fill out a form where they can decide what type of lighting they want in the room and what music they would like to listen to. Each room has a different sound system which allows everyone to enjoy their preferred music. In addition, patients have their choice of what fluoride to use, and at Paste that includes the choice of salted caramel flavoured fluoride. Chung said he flavoured 50 other fluorides and this was the best one.
“There is a form where you can upgrade and elevate your appointment and it just adds an extra layer for people to feel comfortable, to feel at home, and to feel like they are treating themselves. Everyone’s a little bit different, so we wanted people to have a chance to feel as comfortable as possible. We have TV’s that turn 90 degrees, noise cancelling headphones, and we have a lot of technology and there is more coming.”
Staying Local
Image: Paste Dental
As Paste Dental is local, Chung wants to support local businesses as much as possible from the equipment he uses to his towel service.
Instead of using a big linen company, Chung decided to use a smaller business where the money would be going straight into their pocket instead of some big corporation. Chung also uses local suppliers for the dental equipment and for cleaning.
“My cleaners are husband and wife, so they are not a big cleaning company. I am a small business, so I want people to support me and I try to support everyone else as much as I can and I also give back a lot of business to my patients. My cleaners have been my patients for five years. Every transaction our office does, I try to see if there is a local alternative and I will use the local alternative.”
Chung said as for any expansion plans, he would like to expand into areas that have similar values.
Paste Dental at 373 King St W (Image: Dustin Fuhs)
“And that is always changing, I think more people are starting to think the way I have always felt – that a dental office shouldn’t just be offering really good dental care, but have more of a modernised approach, so where I expand to next will depend on that social response and how the world changes. I think that this is kind of what is next, being responsible and also being a dental office. Hopefully within the next couple of years, people will continue to catch on and have the same values so we can expand everywhere.”
Chung said at the top of his head he could see expanding in Leslieville or the West End. In terms of the current office changing, Chung is always looking for new technology to bring into the office to make his patient’s appointment easier and less stressful. Paste Dental will continue to upgrade its devices, the office, and to make sure it is always modern.
“I wanted to create a dental experience where people could use as an opportunity to elevate their life as opposed to seeing a dental as a pass on their lifestyle, so being a private dentists in Toronto for six years, I have noticed Toronto people are so busy and going to the dentist was really the only time they were forced to not do anything but sit down and chill. So why not make that forced break into something more enjoyable? It is taking that little slice out of that person’s day and elevating it to make it better, so let’s make this better so we can elevate the dental experience.”
Iconic Canadian luxury fashion brand Henry Singer is moving into a new multi-million-dollar flagship store in the heart of Edmonton’s ICE District.
The fashion house will occupy 10,500 square feet in ICE District’s Stantec Tower, western Canada’s tallest tower.
Jordan Singer, President of the third-generation family business, said the street-front shop on the corner of 103rd St. and 103rd Avenue is a perfect fit for the area where new and old already meet, with “numerous historic warehouse buildings nearby, that were constructed over a century ago.”
Image: Jordan Singer
There are eight to 10 brick-and-beam buildings in the area, constructed between 1910 and 1920, including the 111-year-old Horne & Petifield red brick warehouse next door.
“This is an iconic Canadian fashion story and I personally believe we owe it to Edmonton to do something really truly special, that will appeal to the next generation of consumer but remain true to our existing client base we have built over 85 years,” said Singer, grandson of Henry Singer who founded the company in 1938.
“Bricks and mortar in today’s retail landscape is all about the experience, and it has to be engaging in a special way to bring people into our new space, and provide a feeling that they can’t get online. For us it will be an evolution representing a unique intersection of speciality product, space design, amenities, and service.”
ICE District (Image: Merle Prosofsky)
Henry Singer currently has two stores – in downtown Calgary and downtown Edmonton. The Calgary store is in the Eighth Avenue Place office complex while the Edmonton store is in the Manulife Place tower.
He said the new store, which will open in 2023, will stimulate customers’ senses from the moment they walk in the door.
“We’ve already begun on the design process and so hopefully we’ll be building, swinging hammers and building, early in the New Year. We don’t have a definitive opening date as yet but it certainly will be in 2023 without a doubt. It’s just how soon in 2023 and of course we’d like to do it sooner but we can only move so fast. I don’t know how to approximate but I would like to say probably somewhere midway through the year but no later than fall/winter of 2023,” said Singer.
Henry Singer Eighth Avenue Place. Photo by CHRIS BOLIN.
The current location in the Manulife building will remain operating until the opening of the new ICE District store. It has been in business at that location, just a few blocks away from the ICE District, for more than 20 years.
He said the new store has a much more efficient floor plan and gives the retailer a chance with a blank slate to reinvent itself in the retail space.
The downtown ICE District is home to Rogers Place and Edmonton Oiler’s new NHL arena. The mixed-use development includes condos, a public plaza, sports, entertainment, a chic hotel and 208,000 square feet of retail and more than one million square feet of office space.
Henry Singer Manulife Place
“We believe in downtown Edmonton. We’ve been there. We’ve been in downtown Edmonton since Henry’s era and here we are two more generations, a third generation of our company, and we still believe in downtown Edmonton as an amazing place to be. We feel like we owe it to the city to do something really special in the downtown city centre,” said Singer.
“In my mind, downtown city centres are a crucial part of any city. The texture and the layers of what happens in the downtown really in a lot of ways define the city and we looked at ICE District and said man this is an amazing development. It’s got offices. It’s got residences. It’s got luxury hotels. It’s got a full entertainment venue that is the home to our city’s hockey team. There’s so many amazing reasons to bring life to the district and that was really a big reason as to why we saw ourselves as a great fit there especially from a lifestyle standpoint.
“We’re going to be a lifestyle tenant in this mix and we believe that gives us an amazing opportunity and we really want to be a part of that energy that is ICE District.”
ICE District (Image: Merle Prosofsky)
Henry Singer is partnering with design firm McKinley Studios on the project.
“This will be a flagship on the world stage and something the calibre and level of which has never before been experienced in Edmonton,” said founder Walker McKinley. “The secret is out. Edmonton has long been a fashion city, and this will put it on the world map.
“It’s a celebration of heritage through design, quality craftsmanship and all things beautiful, but it is also very much a fashion-forward, next-generation, post-COVID store with eyes firmly on the future.”
Cory Wosnack, principal and managing director of global real estate firm Avison Young, who negotiated the deal for the new Henry Singer location, said the move further solidifies the dynamism that is now Edmonton’s Central Social District.
Juno Veterinary, a design-forward, tech-enabled pet health company, has launched with its first location in the Summerhill neighbourhood of Toronto, bringing its innovative membership-based veterinary practice to the market with plans to expand the concept.
The company says it is reimagining, redesigning and inspiring the vet experience with best-in-class technology, 24/7 virtual care access, concierge medicine, and warm hospitality.
Jamie Shea, Co-Founder and Co-CEO, said the idea of building the business began about 12 months ago.
Juno Veterinary (Image: Britney Townsend)
The unique concept has opened at 1073 Yonge St. Its second location will open in the new year in the King West Neighbourhood of Toronto, with more openings planned throughout 2023.
Jamie Shea
“We have a number of locations in the pipeline to open next year. This is the first of many,” said Shea.
The first location is about 3,000 square feet and it is a fully functional animal hospital serving both primary care, health and wellness, as well as urgent care patients.
It has exam rooms, a full surgical suite, dental suite, treatment area and “due to a significant investment in staff areas, have care team spaces that are much larger than the industry norm.”
Juno Veterinary (Image: Britney Townsend)
Cassandra Vlahaki
“We exist to make veterinary care something everyone can look forward to. Our renewed vet clinic model empowers our care team vets to provide compassionate care in an environment that feels more like a living room than a lab,” said Cassandra Vlahaki, Co-Founder and Chief Veterinarian at Juno Veterinary.
Shea said the company chose its first location because it wanted to be part of the community that it serves. Summerhill is a very residential area but it also pulls from high density condo towers in Yorkville. Shea said it’s great to be located in a well-known Toronto community which is easily accessible.
He said Juno Vet’s $149 yearly membership offers peace of mind and includes an annual exam, same-day or next day urgent appointments and 24/7 telemedicine access 365-days a year from Juno’s virtual care team. Additional benefits include quality time with vets, and transparent pricing. Juno Vet clinics provide services from routine checkups, wellness, preventative and dental care, to urgent care and surgery.
“We’re really trying to reimagine the vet experience for both pet parents and the care teams that service them. We’ve taken a much more modern approach. How do we create the next generation vet clinic? For us, what membership means is think of us as an omni channel business. We have both an in-clinic element to our business as well as a 24/7, 365 days a year virtual care platform that is paired with our offering,” explained Shea.
He said pet ownership has drastically increased in Canada over the last few years.
“Right now the market is about a $130 billion market. That’s anticipated to double by 2030. Much like what we’re seeing in human medicine, veterinary care is seeing a record-level consumer demand, as well as increased burnout amongst the clinical care teams that are trying to provide the best care, and keep up with increased demand. So a big part of our model around how we’ve built this next-generation brand is synonymous with exceptional customer experience and exceptional care for our care teams.”
The company said its innovative concept eliminates concerns regarding long wait times, and severe burnout and shortages within the vet industry, at a time when more Canadians have pets than ever before. There is more working space and private space for the care team.
Image: Juno Vet
“While most health and wellness businesses have undergone digital transformations, the pet care industry lags. Juno Vet is leading the modernization of the industry with a uniquely designed tech-enabled veterinary platform that maximizes efficiency and reduces the administrative burden for vets. Automation, team structure, and outsourcing non-pet related duties enable Juno’s team of vet professionals to strictly focus on providing the best care and take caregiving to new heights.”
“We want to bring joy back to the profession and set a new benchmark of care,” added Vlahaki.
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.
Harry Rosen Outlet at CrossIron Mills (Image: Harry Rosen)
Luxury menswear retailer Harry Rosen has plans to continue to grow its Outlet Division across the country with the founder’s grandson spearheading the development and strategy in-store and online.
Graham Rosen, Vice-President of the Outlet Division, is responsible for merchandise buying and store operations as well as leading the teams who are building this rapidly changing side of the business.
Before joining Harry Rosen a few months ago, Rosen was the Head of Business Operations at Shopify’s Commercial organization. Prior to that he was a management consultant at Accenture and McKinsey & Company where he worked with Fortune 500 companies – including some of the world’s largest retailers – to develop strategies for growth and to optimize their operations.
Harry Rosen Outlet at CrossIron Mills (Image: Harry Rosen)
Rosen received an MBA from the INSEAD Global Business School and an HBA from the Ivey Business School.
“I’m excited joining the family business and the legacy my grandfather built nearly 70 years ago,” he said.
Graham Rosen
His brother Ian is President and COO of the iconic Canadian retailer which their father Larry guided for so many years.
“My entire life has been in the business. When I was a kid I used to help build boxes for the Christmas season and I’ve watched my grandfather, father and more recently my brother Ian drive this business forward. So I’m just excited to be part of it,” said Graham Rosen.
“Harry Rosen is driving forward with a growth plan to invest in its Outlet Division. Our strategy is to reach more men in Canada looking to develop their style at value prices. So in-store we’re growing our Outlet physical store presence.”
The most recent location at CrossIron Mills shopping centre in the Calgary area is the fifth Harry Rosen Outlet in Canada. Other stores are located in Vaughan Mills, Heartland Town Centre in Mississauga, and Tsawwassen Mills and McArthurGlen in the Vancouver area.
Harry Rosen Outlet at CrossIron Mills (Image: Harry Rosen)
The Harry Rosen Outlet at Heartland Town Centre, Mississauga opened in 1996. It is HR’s flagship Outlet, spanning 11,000 square feet and was the original Harry Rosen Outlet when it opened over 25 years ago.
“And we’re planning to open more Outlet locations in the coming years,” added Rosen, saying future growth depends on availability and which physical locations it can open. “But I would say our goal is to open a few locations in the coming years. I don’t know what the limit is. I definitely think there’s a few coming. We’re currently only in the Toronto, Calgary and Vancouver markets in our Outlets. And we’re in Edmonton, Montreal, Ottawa, Winnipeg in our mainline that we’re not with our Outlets. Not necessarily opening there but there’s definitely an opportunity to grow our Outlet Division.
“This investment in our physical Outlet stores comes on the heels of launching FinalCut . . . last November which was an effort to extend our brand heritage to provide that accessible style and luxury experience anywhere, anytime. So Canadian men can shop in-store at our Outlets but also from anywhere on FinalCut (the online destination for top-tier luxury menswear at accessible brand ticket prices).”
Harry Rosen Outlet at Tsawwassen Mills (Image: Harry Rosen)
Harry Rosen Outlet at Vaughan Mills (Image: Harry Rosen)
Graham Rosen said the best way he likes to describe Harry Rosen Outlet is as a “virtuous circle.’
“By having our Outlets we’re able to keep our inventory at our mainline stores more fresh, more on trend and provide the latest trends, the newest fashion to our mainline consumer but at the same time we’re able to bring over our previous years inventory at 30 to 70 per cent off original retail and access a new customer, provide the Harry Rosen experience to him and provide brands such as Canali at amazing prices,” he said.
“It’s a virtuous circle. It benefits the Harry Rosen mainline by allowing us to keep the inventory more fresh and then it also benefits the gentleman looking for great prices on great designers.”
Harry Rosen at Heartland Town Centre (Image: Harry Rosen)
Harry Rosen at CrossIron Mills (Image: Harry Rosen)
Rosen said the Outlet concept has been around for the retailer for many years but it’s always been a secondary business for it.
“It’s a growth business. We’re investing in it. We’re going to open new Outlets in the coming years. We’ve launched FinalCut. Our goal is to provide the Harry Rosen legendary quality of fashion and service to more men across Canada, provide timeless items from previous years of luxury designers and welcoming all men to the Harry Rosen ecosystem. That’s the goal.
“We’re investing heavily in this division and it’s become a priority for us.”
Nobis, a well known luxury outerwear retailer, has recently opened a new program, NEXT By Nobis – an online resale platform where products can achieve a longer life cycle.
“I am thrilled, I think we have nailed it on the branding. NEXT by Nobis functions well, but I believe it is directly connected to who we are as a brand. The result of which will be purposeful, it will be responsible, and will continue to allow us to invite people back into the new product offering but as well as finding consumers an outlet in an authorized way for the products they currently have,” says Robin Yates the Vice President of Nobis.
The intention of the resale platform is to allow consumers to directly sell their Nobis products in a safe environment. Nobis will have no interaction with the NEXT by Nobis customers or will handle products, it is simply used for consumers. If someone wants to buy a product from NEXT by Nobis, the current owner will ship it to the new consumer. Nobis was looking at a variety of different resale platforms; however, Yates said the team ultimately decided to create its own so consumers do not have to worry if the product is authentic or a copy.
“It is a direct consumer platform so we will provide the platform, but the consumer will put up their product. We don’t actually touch the product, it goes from a consumer to the new consumer and they pay for the shipping so we are at arm’s length. But we do create a scale of validating the quality of the product based on age, condition, and life so we set up a scale of price points which further give the new consumer the confidence that they are getting a jacket of a certain quality.”
How It Works
NEXT by Nobis
Each product at Nobis has a unique authenticator built in with a QR code. Consumers must register their product online in order to authenticate the product.
“It is perfect. Since we have this unique authenticator built into each jacket with a unique QR code on every piece, every product has a unique fingerprint and consumers are encouraged to login into the site and register to scan the QR code and that authenticates the product because we didn’t want any counterfeit products making its way through the resale platform.”
By providing a QR authenticator, Nobis is eliminating people from making the products and directing it to the resale site at a lower price. This program also ensures consumers are buying an authentic product of quality and do not have to doubt if it is real or not which Yates says is a big problem in their category.
Once consumers have completed the process, once their item is sold they have a choice between receiving 70 percent of the profit back in cash or 100 percent of the profit back with a Nobis gift card – both will have enough profit for Nobis to run the program.
Validating Products
NEXT by Nobis (Image: Nobis)
In addition to the unique QR code, consumers must provide proof of quality of their item, this includes sending photos and answering questions. Consumers can scale their product from new with the tags still on to well worn and comfortably used at a lower price.
“We want to make sure it is a quality that is worthy of a resale, so we certainly do not want damaged products in there nor do we purposely put new products in there or anything like that. It is really made for that middle life of a product, so we definitely want to give the consumer that confidence that they can navigate the site to buy an authentic product and it will be in the condition they expect it to be in based on the way it is ranked.”
All products must have images matching the description and quality the consumer is providing and each application will be viewed and processed through the system to rank the product based on condition and provide a price. Yates said within the first 48 hours of Next By Nobis being open, they had 18 people who qualified but also noted that some of their older jackets may not have the QR code.
Image: NobisNobis 360 Queen St W, Toronto (Image: Dustin Fuhs)
“We did have to vet people who did not have the QR code to authenticate and that is interesting. In the first two years of our existence we did not adopt this type of logo, so it is possible the item is old or it is also possible the item was not authentic. We would never see the product so we would not know, so for us it was really important to be cautious to really extend the capabilities of our band authentication and to make sure the Nobis consumer is satisfied.”
Nobis was founded in 2007 and opened its first flagship location in 2015 on Queen Street West in Toronto. Yates said the brand is always looking for ways to be more sustainable and this new program is vital as it will allow consumers to buy new product lines without having to waste. The program will also be coming at an amazing time as Nobis is having a new collection for Fall and Spring of 2023 which will include pants, new colour, new fabric materials, and also sustainable materials.
All products on the resale platform will be final sale and not returnable; however, if a consumer wishes to resale it they can. This rule will be broken if a consumer receives a product that does not match the description – if this is the case, the consumer will be able to get a return for their purchase.
“We have always made a point of doing better – doing a little bit better than you need to. Sustainability is part of your everyday life and we always have made good decisions even before we branded in a sustainable direction. The resale platform is vital to us. We have never been fast fashion and we have always tried to make products of high quality to exceed consumers expectations and this just really validates just exactly that and more purposely allows the product life cycle to be extended.”
Yonge Dundas Square at 4pm on Black Friday 2022 (Image: Dustin Fuhs)
Canadian retail sales (excluding automotive) for the holiday season are expected to increase 5.7 per cent year over year and 21.2 per cent since pre-pandemic (2019), according to Mastercard’s October SpendingPulse report and holiday forecast, which measures in-store and online retail sales across all forms of payment.
The report also forecast e-commerce retail sales to grow 3.8 per cent year over year and 63.1 per cent from 2019.
“While there are lots of pre-Black Friday sales and promotions happening to draw customers in early, we’re expecting a return of last-minute gift buying this holiday season,” said Steve Sadove, Senior Advisor, Mastercard, former CEO/Chairman, Saks, and former Chairman, National Retail Federation. “Easing supply chain issues coupled with a return to in-store shopping, has reduced the need for consumers to do their online holiday shopping well in advance.
“We’re seeing more of a holiday period than the individual days. There’s an emotional kick off to the season that takes place on Black Friday and it brings attention and starts creating momentum on the part of the consumer. I think that the days of hey Black Friday is a make or break event for the day or for the consumer is gone. The consumer is spreading out their purchases on a much broader basis. They’re starting earlier and finishing later.
“And you saw a lot of those early promotions in October that a number of the retailers ran. Some of it was driven by the excess inventories that they had in the system. The reality is the consumer is stretched right now. You’re already starting to see a tail off with the lower income consumer clearly more stretched than the higher end consumer and they’re looking for value and deals. And I think in many cases they’re holding off purchases to see when the best deals are coming.”
CF Toronto Eaton Centre on Saturday, November 26, 2022 (Image: Dustin Fuhs)
The report predicted that moderate sales growth was expected on Black Friday (two per cent year over year) and Boxing Day (7.5 per cent). Electronics sales, a popular purchase for consumers during these sales events in the past, are projected to be down 12.5 per cent (54.3 per cent since 2019) on Black Friday and 8.2 per cent year over year (54.8 per cent since 2019) on Boxing Day this year as consumer behaviour shifts.
The report expects the days leading up to Christmas to be the busiest of the season. A major boost for this season’s retail growth is expected from in-store shopping as customers have more flexibility to shop in-store again. Total retail sales are projected to be up 24 per cent year over year on December 23, and 17.5 per cent year over year on Christmas Eve.
It said strong growth for the Jewelry and Leather Goods sector will be seen on December 23 (25.4 per cent year over year). Apparel is also likely to be a go-to gift for shoppers on both December 23 (17.1 per cent year over year growth) and Christmas Eve (4.9 per cent year over year), in addition to Electronics (10.7 per cent year over year) on December 23 and 5.2 per cent year over year on Christmas Eve.
CF Toronto Eaton Centre on Black Friday, November 25, 2022 (Image: Dustin Fuhs)
“This holiday season, consumers are looking to stretch their dollars as they deal with economic challenges, including higher interest rates, which makes it imperative for retailers to encourage spending through season-long sales,” said Michelle Meyer, North America Chief Economist, Mastercard Economics Institute.
Sadove said consumers are getting back into the stores. The fact that the sales forecast for the two days before Christmas Day is high is telling the retail expert that consumers are waiting it out until the end.
All the sales events are meant to bring excitement to the store, he said.
“The promotions this year from what I’ve seen so far are a bit more attractive to the consumer than they were last year. Last year was a period of tight supply chains and lower discounting. So you’re back to more what I call a reversion to the norm. So you’re back into more normal behaviour but the new norm is it’s not as dependent upon Black Fridays. It’s much more spread out. That is the new norm. But Black Friday is still important as an emotional kick off to the season.”
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.
