Wayfair Inc., one of the world’s largest online destinations for the home, is opening three new Engineering sites in Toronto, the San Francisco Bay Area of California, and Austin, Texas.
“We will be opening office space for roles in Wayfair’s Engineering organization, which includes software engineers, product managers, experience designers, analysts, and data scientists. Our expansion of the engineering organization to sites in Toronto, Austin and the San Francisco Bay Area is intended to provide more opportunities for talented technologists in these markets to join our growing team as we execute our ambitious roadmap as we continue building the leading destination for shopping for the home,” said Jeremy King, General Manager of Wayfair Canada.
“Wayfair is home to more than 3,000 engineers and data scientists. The new locations that we are introducing will be extensions of our headquarters and will allow us to continue to build and foster a global community of world-class technologists who are powering the best possible shopping experience for home. Our teams have built the pre-eminent e-commerce platform for the home category, and this expansion will allow us to continue to build innovative solutions for our customers and suppliers; from machine learning and data science to next-generation merchandising, logistics innovations and more. Our cutting-edge, bespoke technology is key to delivering an intuitive, inspiring, seamless experience – for both our 31 million customers and our 16,000 suppliers across the globe – across our massive catalog of more than 22 million items.”
Images: Wayfair
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Image: Wayfair
Image: Wayfair
Image: Wayfair
The company plans to hire approximately 1,000 technologists to its world-class Engineering organization globally over the next year. Wayfair is expanding its Engineering footprint to locations outside of its technology hubs in Boston and Berlin for the first time to further advance its innovative technologies. Wayfair said it will initially hire for up to 200 positions at each new Wayfair Engineering site over the next year.
“We looked at a variety of cities for these new locations. Toronto is a world-class city with high-calibre universities, infrastructure and community institutions. We’re thrilled to contribute to the energy and culture of the city, and have been impressed by the strong technical talent in the area. We’ve built a best-in-class engineering organization across our two technical home bases of Boston and Berlin, and expanding the team into rich tech hubs like Toronto will help us meet our ambitious goals for the Wayfair platform and expand upon the level of technology excellence seen in our U.S. and E.U. hubs,” said King.
“Wayfair has been serving Canadian customers for years, and is the number one place Canadians think of for shopping for their home online. Wayfair serves millions of Canadians across every province and territory with our endless selection, fast delivery and easy returns. Wayfair also acts as the home for Canada-based suppliers to reach global markets, with products flowing through our state-of-the-art Mississauga warehouse. As one of the leading e-commerce companies in the country, Wayfair.ca is redefining how Canadians think of shopping online.”
Perigold – The widest-ever selection of luxury home furnishings.
Wayfair generated $14.1 billion in net revenue for full year 2020. It is headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts.
“Over the years, more and more customers have started shopping for the home online, especially as they experienced the many features that make the Wayfair experience exceptional. From an unparalleled product selection and discovery tools, to our millions of helpful customer reviews, to outstanding service and fast-and-easy delivery and returns, our Canadian customers benefit from an end-to-end experience that is tailored especially for the home category. We have purpose-built our business to solve the unique needs of the Home category and transform how customers shop for the home, giving them the inspiration and confidence needed to create spaces they love,” said King.
“During the pandemic, Wayfair helped customers make their homes more comfortable. Whether they’re shopping for outdoor furniture so that they can safely entertain, revamping their home office to create a more productive work or educate-from-home environment, or tackling a big renovation project, more and more people are turning to Wayfair.ca to find everything they need for their home. As we look ahead, we expect to see customers refreshing their style in anticipation of bringing guests back into their homes, finding new items to fit a lifestyle change and returning to Wayfair to help make their home reflect their ever-changing needs.
“From discovery to delivery, we offer an exceptional experience to these customers through technology and innovation. We’re excited for the technologists we plan to hire in Toronto to help us continue to build and grow our world-class platform.”
Only a few years ago, self-checkouts were seen as job killers by many Canadians. For a few years, grocers just did not know what to think of self-checkouts. Consumers had a love-hate relationship with them. Some saw them as job killers, relacing humans who desperately needed employment. Others quietly used them, either preferring a speedy exit or simply avoiding unnecessary human interaction, making self-checkouts valuable for anti-socialites. But with the pandemic, self-checkouts are becoming more popular, and grocers have noticed.
Since the start of the pandemic, 25% of Canadians have changed where they typically shop for groceries, according to a recent survey by the Agri-Food Analytics Lab at Dalhousie University, in partnership with Caddle. The survey was conducted in mid-to-late May of 2021 and included 10,024 Canadians. 25% is an astonishing number. Of this percentage, a good portion of respondents admitted that a switch was necessary due to declared COVID cases related to the store they were regularly visiting. Consumers are clearly concerned about potential exposure to the virus, or anything else for that matter.
In the same survey, Canadians were asked about how they intend to exit the grocery store in months to come. A whopping 53.2% of Canadians intend to use self-checkouts regularly over the next 6 months or so. 60.1% of Gen Zs (born between 1997 and 2005) and Millennials (born between 1981 and 1996) are planning to use self-checkouts more often. Self-checkouts are almost as popular as cashiers now.
Barely two years ago, these numbers were quite different. According to CivicScience, in 2019 only 19% of customers ages 55 and older were willing to use self-checkout counters, compared to 35% of customers between the ages of 35 and 54. The youngest customers have always been more open to using them, but that percentage was only at 42% in 2019. At the time, cashiers were still the most popular choice for all demographic groups.
Throughout the pandemic, grocers have noticed more people are using self-checkouts and, therefore, more stores are installing more machines. Even those stores that removed their machines are now putting them back again. Many will remember record-breaking sales by grocers last year, but 2021 is a very different scenario. Statistics Canada recently reported that grocery store sales had dropped more than 1.5% for the third month in a row. Grocers will need to work hard to retain their market share and make their customers feel safe, and self-checkouts will likely be part of the strategy.
While visiting the grocery store, our focus now is to stay physically distant from other human beings. It is only natural to do the same while exiting the store. Some Canadians will continue to use cashiers, but their numbers will still be less than before the pandemic. We are expecting more grocers to adopt more technologies to make the whole grocery shopping experience safer, and perhaps even less social, in the aftermath of the pandemic. We do not know how long this will last, but the use of new technologies to make everything more efficient, more capital-focused, and less dependent on labour will likely grow, to the dismay of organized labour. But few want underpaid employees who are constantly exposed to contamination. With margins being so low in food retailing, paying them more would mean eventually increasing food prices. This is something we will need to appreciate at some point if we want employees in the grocery business to earn a decent living.
The self-checkout technology is and never has been great. Scanning issues, weighing the wrong produce, coding discounts, and other problems at self-checkouts are numerous. Unlike ATM banking machines, which have been operating seamlessly over the last 30 years, grocers have had issues creating an enjoyable self-checkout experience for most customers. In many cases, the experience is interrupted by an embarrassing call for assistance from a nearby clerk whose only job is to save you from technological misery. But with more shoppers committed to using them, we are expecting some changes, for the better.
For grocers, the exit has always been the most mismanaged part of the grocery shopping experience. Self-checkouts are only part of our grocers’ journey to embrace innovation that helps make our trips less onerous. Grocers went from fast cashiers with few items in the 70s and 80s, to self checkouts in the 90s, to perhaps a self-checkout model for which stopping at the exit will no longer be necessary. One day, we will likely be able to exit a store as everything in our smart carts is automatically scanned. A cart that could do the thinking and calculating for you and the store.
Self-checkouts are not about replacing humans. Instead, they are more about how we can more effectively utilize humans to make our grocery industry more efficient.
Though the impacts of the COVID-19 global pandemic persist along with concerns regarding public health and safety, hope, it seems, may be just around the corner. As doses of the vaccine continue to roll out across the country, neighbourhoods and communities in every province and territory can now realistically begin to think of reaching our collective societal goal of achieving herd immunity and returning to life as we all knew it. There will inevitably be alterations and modifications to the way we do some things going forward, but something close to normal will be restored, resulting in the return of public gatherings, community events and full-fledged retail service and offering. And when that day arrives, says Boris Kaminsky, Vice President of Sales and Marketing at Gregory Signs, the Toronto-based provider of end-to-end signage services will be poised and ready to help the industry welcome back scores of customers to their stores.
“The store façade, that first impression that any business makes on prospective customers, is a really powerful thing,” he asserts. “If designed and executed properly, a store’s signage and exterior should go a long way toward complementing everything that it has to offer and providing an introduction to the experience that people can expect when they enter the establishment. It serves a crucial purpose, conveying the attitude and style of the store. And going forward, as we’re hopefully headed toward a post-pandemic world in which people are able and willing to venture out to shop with their favourite retailers again, the value of creative, well thought out store signage and exterior facades will be greater than ever and incredibly important for businesses in capturing the attention of customers and reintroducing them to their product, service and offering.”
Mutually beneficial partnerships
Currently celebrating 40 years of operation, Gregory Signs provides a full range of services to a number of different industries to help them meet their signage and exterior façade needs. Boasting decades of experience and know-how within the signage space, the company specializes in the development, fabrication and installation of exterior signage, interior, structural and custom signage, wayfinding and digital signage. In addition, it also helps its clients properly execute on their vision and needs through its expert consultation and project management offering. It all adds up to a relatively holistic suite of benefits available to any business seeking the services of Gregory Signs. But, as Kaminsky points out, they are benefits that go far deeper than the services that the company provides.
“We don’t just work with clients,” he says. “We develop strong relationships with every business that we engage with, forming partnerships that are mutually beneficial. Whether it’s a $1,200 order or a $1 million order, we approach each and every task as a company with the same dedication and commitment to helping businesses succeed and grow. With some of the businesses that we work with, we’re very involved in just about every aspect of the project, from design and consultation through to the installation and post maintenance of the signage structures. With others who may have hired a design firm to execute on their vision from a design perspective, we may be provided with a template to then fabricate and install. Our clients vary from small, independent mom-and-pop shops to national chains with head offices and major infrastructure projects like the Eglinton Crosstown development in the City of Toronto. Servicing this range of business, each with differing requirements and expertise across multiple industries, really helps us to constantly understand the needs of each of our clients and the ways we can help them achieve their desired signage results.”
Experience and expertise
Image: Gregory Signs (TTC Project)
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Image: Gregory Signs (TTC Project)
Image: Gregory Signs (TTC Project)
Image: Gregory Signs (TTC Project)
Image: Gregory Signs (TTC Project)
Included in its scope of offering, and supported by the company’s vast amount of industry acumen, Gregory Signs also works to ensure permits for its clients if necessary. Ensuring that a business’s signage needs fits within local bylaws can be a complex headache, explains Kaminsky. For that reason, the company will do all of the work for its clients, determining whether or not a bylaw variance is required in order to install the desired signage as well as the cost and viability of the variance for the business. It’s this kind of expertise, among other things, that stands Gregory Signs apart from many of its competitors. And, according to Kaminsky, it’s expertise that the company proudly shares with the businesses it works with.
“Understanding all of the different nuances and specifications when it comes to store signage can be complicated,” he explains. “Many times, an organization’s vision from conception through to execution needs to change. When designing signage, it’s really important to follow a strict prototype process and consult with an experienced sign company. The depth of the sign may need to be bigger because of hot spots. Maybe engineering wasn’t properly conducted, requiring us to provide all of the technical information concerning foundational requirements and explanations and recommendations based on the size of the sign. It can end up causing a lot of issues for businesses that they could not have anticipated. To mitigate these issues, we work with our clients to understand their constraints and limitations with respect to their signage while helping them achieve the desired impact for their operation.”
Post-pandemic success
Image: Gregory Signs (PUMA Project)
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Image: Gregory Signs (PUMA Project)
Image: Gregory Signs (PUMA Project)
Image: Gregory Signs (PUMA Project)
Image: Gregory Signs (PUMA Project)
Image: Gregory Signs (PUMA Project)
Kaminsky is quick to credit the entire team at Gregory Signs and their extensive amount of experience working within the signage industry for the exemplary service that the company consistently provides for its clients. It serves as a distinct differentiator for the company, separating it from its competitors, placing it in good stead to be able to continue supporting the signage needs of retailers in a post-pandemic world. And, although he recognizes the adversity and challenge faced by much of the industry over the course of the past 14 months or so, Kaminsky’s approaching the near-term with a hopeful optimism and anticipation that we’ll all soon experience a return to normalcy, followed closely behind by a bit of a rejuvenation and revitalization of communities and industries everywhere.
“A lot of people have been going through some really difficult times during the pandemic. The impacts of COVID have been severe, resulting in a lot of store closures. And, unfortunately, I don’t think we’ve seen the last of the negative effects on the industry. But what we’ve also seen is quite a bit of movement on the design end of things as businesses are starting to take a look at rebranding their signage and their stores. As the vaccine is administered to people across the country, communities and neighbourhoods will be able to start functioning the ways they did prior to the pandemic, and stores and businesses will once again open up to the public. And, although nobody can accurately predict right now what will happen over the course of the next 6 to 12 months, I really think that people are going to want to get out again, attend events and gatherings and shop at their favourite stores. As a result, the retailers that have survived will want to refresh their look. And I think we’re also going to see a number of new businesses opening. It’s going to help create a new kind of environment. And we’re looking forward to continuing to assist the industry in achieving its signage needs and making an incredible impression on customers.”
*Gregory signs partnered with Retail Insider for this article. To work with Retail Insider, contact Craig Patterson at: craig@retail-insider.com
According to the latest numbers from StatsCan, total Canadian location-based retail sales in Q1 2021 were up 10.7% from the same time last year, possibly an all-time record high. The worst of COVID-related retail sales declines last year were in Q2 however, so there may be more record high year-over-year gains to come in 2021. Note that “location-based” refers to bricks & mortar retailers but also includes their direct e-commerce sales. Pure play e-commerce operators’ retail sales were also up an estimated 78.2% in Q1 2021.
The 3 month growth trend (orange line in the above chart) is remaining strong, despite a mild setback at the start of the year. The underlying 12 month trend (green line) has now finally slipped into positive territory for the first time in a year, and is poised to improve further in the next few months.
The disparities among the major retail sectors however have become more pronounced. Food & Drug has softened abruptly, while Store Merchandise and Automotive & Related have just as abruptly shot up.
Food & Drug
Last year, the Food & Drug sector was the Cinderella story of Canadian retail, but things have changed now. The 3 month growth trend has cooled off to its lowest level in a year, and the underlying 12 month trend has reversed course after a very strong run in 2020. In Q1 2021, the sector’s retail sales were up 4.8% year-over-year, which is still quite respectable, but also significantly down from the 11.3% gain recorded in Q4 2020.
Retail sales at supermarkets & other grocery stores were up “only” 3.9% in Q1 2021. This is well down from the 12.6% gain made in the previous quarter.
The story for health & personal care stores was similar. Their year-over-year retail sales gain in Q1 2021 was 4.8%, significantly less than their 12.0% increase in Q4 2020.
Store Merchandise
The Store Merchandise sector has also experienced a reversal of fortune, but this time in the upward direction. Their retail sales were up a record high 15.0% in Q1 2021, a major recovery compared to just a 1.6% gain for all of last year. The underlying 12 month trend has now also strengthened to its highest level in two years.
A number of retailer types had double digit year-over-year sales increases in Q1 2021, including building material and garden equipment & supplies dealers (+35.6%), electronics & appliance stores (+22.6%), miscellaneous store retailers (+21.0%), furniture & home furnishings retailers (+18.7%), and general merchandise stores (+10.6%).
Clothing & clothing accessories stores have been a major weak spot in this sector. Their retail sales were still down 7.8% in Q1 2021, but this actually represents an improvement over the 26.7% decline suffered in 2020.
Automotive & Related
The Automotive & Related sector was a basket case for most of last year, but has roared back in March. For Q1 2021, retail sales spiked up to a 12.4% year-over-year gain. The underlying 12 month trend, although still in negative territory, has also improved.
New car dealers led the way. Their retail sales in Q1 2021 were up 17.7%, a significant recovery over the 12.5% decline recorded for all of 2020. In part, the current gain is because of poor sales performance a year ago.
At the same time, retail sales at gasoline stations became “less bad”. While their sales were down 4.9% in Q1 2021, this was better than the 18.5% decline experienced last year.
By The Numbers
Note that the data and analysis in this report are always based on not seasonally adjusted (or unadjusted) retail sales statistics.
E-commerce in Canada exploded last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This has continued into 2021, with e-commerce retail sales up 87.6% in Q1.
Overall, e-commerce represented about 6.7% of Canadian retail sales over the past 12 months, including both pure plays as well as bricks & clicks stores. Note that Canadian consumers may also buy online from foreign websites which is not captured in these numbers.
Location based retail is the same as that in the preceding “By The Numbers” table. It’s what’s normally reported as Canadian retail sales. Except that it isn’t. Location based retail excludes another section called Non-Store Retailers (NAICS code 454), which includes electronic shopping and mail-order houses, which in turn is where (mostly) pure play e-commerce businesses are. Over the 12 months ending March 2021, electronic shopping and mail-order houses had an estimated $26.3 billion in e-commerce sales.
But that’s not the only source of e-commerce, as (mostly) bricks & mortar location-based retailers also sell online. For the 12 months ending March 2021, this group had an estimated $17.0 billion in e-commerce sales. With electronic shopping and mail-order houses, there’s a grand total of $43.3 billion in e-commerce sales by Canadian operators. Note that this does not include foreign e-commerce purchases made by Canadian consumers, but it does include e-commerce purchases made by foreigners at Canadian operations.
For electronic shopping and mail-order houses, an estimated 96.0% of their sales are currently allocated to e-commerce. For (mostly) bricks & mortar retailers, it can be estimated that 2.8% of their total sales are attributable to e-commerce.
In the final section of the above table, (mostly) pure play operators (namely, under electronic shopping and mail-order houses) generated an estimated 60.7% of all e-commerce sales in Canada, while (mostly) bricks & mortar location-based retailers’ share of e-commerce was 39.3%.
This analysis is updated monthly as new numbers are published by Statistics Canada. If you would like notification from Linkedin of when an update becomes available (and you’ve read this far), please connect with Ed Strapagiel on LinkedIn.
Read More Canadian Retail Analyses From Retail Insider:
Canada’s tourism industry is calling on Canadians to take the 2021 Tourism Pledge to travel in Canada – an invitation to come together as a country and support our local tourism destinations, businesses and employees.
The seven-day Tourism Week, which launched Sunday May 23, is an important time to highlight the resilience of the industry through this unprecedented time.
The COVID-19 pandemic has had a devastating impact overall on tourism in Canada and that has impacted businesses such as retailers, restaurants and hotels that each year rely on the industry for their survival.
A lack of visitors, both internationally and from within Canada, has seen a significant decline in sales for businesses in those sectors.
Tourism Week 2021 (Photo TourismCounts.ca)
Those particular businesses in places such as Banff, Alberta and Whistler, B.C. have been hit hard in the past year and a half.
Accommodation, food and beverage, and retail in Canada’s largest cities have also felt the tough times with a significant decrease in visitor spending. As urban expert Richard White, a blogger with the Everyday Tourist, points out: you only have a robust, vibrant downtown when you have tourists.
With advisories against non-essential travel, border restrictions, and strict lockdowns in several provinces and territories, the operating revenue of travel arrangement and reservation services plummeted by 61.5 per cent in 2020, according to Statistics Canada. The accommodation services industry was also severely affected, as operating revenue fell by almost half (-46.1 per cent) in 2020.
Prior to the pandemic, the tourism industry in Canada was a $105 billion sector which accounted for two per cent of Canada’s GDP and employed 1.8 million workers.
She said the association and other groups involved in tourism in the country continue to advocate for the reopening of Canada’s borders but “we’re asking Canadians to choose to travel in Canada first to support our industry and kickstart the recovery.”
“We know that 80 per cent of Canadians plan to travel as restrictions are released and our focus (during Tourism Week) is to make sure we do that first in Canada. We invite Canadians to start planning now and take the pledge to travel in Canada, post it on social media and encourage their family, friends and followers to do the same,” added Potter.
Destination Canada has launched two new initiatives to inspire Canadians to travel domestically as restrictions allow.
Heartbeat of Canada: Tourism Anthem video
Produced by Canadian director, Mark Zibert, the industry anthem video spotlights the makers, performers, business owners, and staff who make up Canada’s tourism sector. The people featured are not actors; they are tourism workers and among the one in 10 Canadians whose jobs are tied to the sector. Canadian drummer Sharon Rose Ransom is central to the video, and delivers a powerful drum solo that’s full of energy, symbolizing hope and a desire for rebirth. The prominence of drums in the video reflects Canada’s spirit and “heartbeat”, as an instrument of celebration and motivation—representing an industry that, despite facing hardship, remains positive, explained Destination Canada. Download the video here.
Inspiring Domestic travel: Postcard campaign
Destination Canada Postcards
Destination Canada is inviting Canadians to send a postcard to the family and friends they have missed during the pandemic. The initiative was inspired by Destination Canada’s research, which shows that 39 per cent of Canadians expect their first trip will be to visit loved ones and friends. The series of postcards are inspired by destinations from coast to coast to coast and can be sent in French and English. Canadians can access the postcards online, then have them printed and mailed anywhere in Canada. This effort is meant to inspire Canadians to explore and enjoy travel in our country, when restrictions lift, it explained. You can view and complete a postcard here.
“We have seen the strength and resilience of the tourism sector shine through in what has been an incredibly challenging 14 months. Tourism is central to our quality of life offering rich social, economic and cultural benefits to all Canadians. The Government of Canada is proud to have invested $15 billion towards tourism, culture and arts, since the onset of the pandemic with an additional $1 billion announced for tourism in the 2021 Federal budget. In recognition of tourism week, I encourage all Canadians to embrace our magnificent country and consider the endless potential of the new and familiar destinations waiting to be discovered,” said Mélanie Joly, Minister of Economic Development and Official Languages, in a statement.
“From baristas and brewers to designers and festival directors to historians and hotel owners, the richness of our diversity—and the heartbeat of this country—can all be found in Canada’s tourism industry. Tourism week is a great opportunity to remind Canadians about the impact of our industry—supporting tourism means enhancing the quality of life for all Canadians. Despite the enormous challenges faced by the sector, we have a resilient industry that is ready to welcome Canadians back into our hotels, airplanes, tour buses, museums, restaurants, and beyond, once restrictions are lifted,” said Marsha Walden, President and CEO, Destination Canada.
“There is hope on the horizon for all of us, we believe. We’re reminding all Canadians about the value of tourism in their communities and we hope to inspire them to travel in Canada this year.”
If Canadians shift two-thirds of their planned spend on international leisure travel towards domestic tourism; it will make up for the estimated $19 billion shortfall currently facing our visitor economy, help sustain 150,000 jobs and accelerate recovery, according to Destination Canada.
“I think beyond asking people to take travel pledges and to get excited about experiencing things in their backyard, it’s really summoning this idea that we have to support local. It’s never been more important to bring back our way of life, to bring back our communities and to support our friends and families in a resumption to normal work activities,” he said.
Walden suggested that people also think about urban centres in their travel plans.
“Canada has a unique set of cities that are unlike most cities in the world. We are filled with green spaces and outdoor activities and parks and lakes and canals. The kind of urban experience you can have in Canada is really very different to most places in the world and most Canadians are eager to flee the city and get out into the countryside but consider your neighbouring cities as another option for travel this summer. They really need your support and they’re incredible experiences. You’ll find lots of outdoor activities,” said Walden.
Potter also asked that Canadians get vaccinated as soon as they can and that will help the country get to the point where it can start to see restrictions ease.
Travel to Canada continues to be impacted through the third wave of the pandemic. The most recent data from the federal agency indicates that arrivals to Canada from the United States and other countries were down 83.7 per cent in March compared with March 2020.
The number of non-residents from countries other than the United States entering Canada declined by 81.5 per cent year over year to 27,600 in March.
Travel originating from Europe (-92.1 per cent) and Asia (-70.0 per cent), Canada’s largest markets, were down significantly compared with the same month in 2020. Travel from other major markets also remained low throughout March.
In March, US residents made 95,900 trips to Canada, down 84.3 per cent from the same month last year. The number of US residents arriving by plane declined by 96.8 per cent year-over-year to 4,500 in March.
Car arrivals dropped 79.9 per cent year over year to 90,100 in March.
Big Frog Custom T-Shirts & More - South Edmonton (Photo Big Frog)
American T-shirt retailer Big Frog is expanding into Canada with its first store in Edmonton and more locations to come across the country.
Jessica Eggert, Director of Communications with Big Frog Canada, said the company has initially been focusing on Alberta, primarily Edmonton and Calgary, for the retailer’s launch across the country. It has been advertising to raise awareness of the brand and the opportunities for franchise locations.
“We’re focusing in Alberta right now but we’ve had interested people from Ontario that we’ve had conversations with and BC as well. The plan is to be right across Canada,” she said.
The exception is Quebec due to its franchising legislation.
Big Frog Custom T-Shirts & More (Rendering: Big Frog)
Big Frog is a high-tech, light manufacturing retail garment decorating boutique.
Tina Bacon-DeFrece, Big Frog Franchise Group President & CEO, said the retailer has 80 locations in 26 states in the US.
The company started franchising in 2008. Bacon-DeFrece had started her first store in 2006 in Clearwater, Florida.
“It was a neighbourhood T-shirt shop that my husband and my partner (Ron) developed just to be part of the community and service schools and non-profits and small businesses,” said Bacon-DeFrece.
Big Frog Custom T-Shirts & More (Rendering: Big Frog)
“We are essentially a specialty retail boutique where we’ll do a custom shirt . . . We bought one of the first prototype garment printers that uses garment dye that actually dyes the image in the shirt.”
The printer allowed customers to buy just one shirt at a time and the concept caught on. The local news featured the retailer because no one was doing it at the time.
“So essentially a customer can come in and they’re able to work with a professional designer, get a custom shirt done for $20, $25. It’s no longer you have to pay someone $300 to do artwork, set up, do all the colour charges. They get a completely custom product that they designed themselves with our help for $20, $25,” said Bacon-DeFrece.
Brian and Shannon Marowitch are opening the first Canadian store in early July in the Windermere community in southwest Edmonton. It will be located near the West Edmonton Mall, just off the busy Anthony Henday road and close to Calgary Trail and the airport. The store will be in a brand new strip mall, kitty corner from the Windermere Crossing shopping centre.
“Very much a high visibility, high traffic, accessible location,” said Shannon, adding that the couple’s goal is to eventually open a second store in their territory.
“But it’s just one store at a time. We’re focusing on getting the brand out there, getting the excitement going. Summer’s coming and with the vaccination rollout and the protocols being lifted, we’re very excited and we’re ready to go.”
The Edmonton store will offer custom T-shirt work and more.
“This just seemed like a perfect fit (for us). It seemed like a great concept. I think it’s going to be extremely well received in Edmonton. It’s very accessible for the one-off T-shirts in addition to business to business sales. It’s a concept that is not seen in Edmonton or anywhere as far as I know in Canada,” said Shannon.
“Since the pandemic, we need something like a Big Frog. We need fun and we need excitement. And we need that froggie spirit. It’s something that we are thrilled to be a part of.”
“And it’s a great work/life balance,” added Brian. “You can put as much time in as you want and get the results that you want and if you want to work really hard you can get even better results. It just seemed like a very nice balance for us and the concept of course is fantastic. And it seems like a fun job too -like you want to enjoy yourself too. And that’s what we’re looking forward to is enjoy meeting all the new customers and just helping them have fun building their own shirts.”
More than a year into the lingering COVID-19 pandemic thousands of new businesses in Canada remain shut out of all federal government support programs.
The Canadian Federation of Independent Business has highlighted the fact that on May 19, 2020 Prime Minister Justin Trudeau promised to work on a potential solution for businesses that had not yet filed a tax return, such as newly created businesses, who found themselves not eligible for the wage subsidy, rent subsidy and the Canada Emergency Business Account loan program.
Dan Kelly, President and CEO of the CFIB, called it shameful that tens of thousands of businesses that began formal operations after March 2020 continue to face a gruelling stretch of new restrictions and lockdowns without any of the support available to other firms.
Dan Kelly
“There are thousands and thousands of businesses that get their start every year and typically it’s not like you decide to go into business one day and then automatically your business is set up the very next,” said Kelly. “It often takes months, sometimes years, before the business is actually operationalized. So all of those businesses that were often planned and worked on pre-pandemic and then went on stream during the pandemic just as it started or the months that followed they have by policy been excluded from all of the government support programs.
“For example, a restaurant owner contacted us. They had spent $400,000 – their entire life savings, every dollar they could borrow – to try to get a 100-seat restaurant open. It was supposed to start for April 2020. Unfortunately what happened is that the pandemic slowed down the finalization of their construction because of the lockdowns that began at the beginning of the year. They were only able to open their doors in June of 2020, serving a very limited number of people. Because they didn’t open in time, because they didn’t have a payroll account, a tax return from 2019, a business number at the appropriate date, they have been excluded, as have thousands and thousands of other businesses from accessing a single dollar from the rent subsidy, a single dollar from the wage subsidy, or a single loan dollar from the Canada Emergency Business Account. And that’s deeply unfair.
“These businesses need the support to be able to make it through. In fact, they probably deserve the support even more because they have no track record.”
Kelly said the organization has written, lobbied and talked to government “a thousand times” since the Prime Minister’s promise to fix the problem and there has been no progress whatsoever.
“I find it shameful that the Government of Canada that likes to talk about having the backs of the business community during the pandemic has completely ignored new small business owners simply because they were unlucky enough to open their doors during the worldwide pandemic,” he added.
Small business owners can now sign CFIB’s petition calling on the government to provide support to new firms.
In a letter to Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland, the CFIB has outlined the following recommendations:
Waive the requirement for an active CRA Business Number (BN) on the first day of each COVID-19 relief program or allow a business to apply for one;
As new firms are not able to determine their revenue loss compared to the same month in 2019 or January/February 2020, allow them to use provincial average revenue loss numbers by sector or determine revenue comparisons based on an average sales revenue over a few recent months, as Saskatchewan has implemented;
Allow new businesses that opened after March 1, 2020, to demonstrate a month-over-month revenue reduction when comparing a month between April 2020 and April 2021 to any month between November 2020 and April 2021; and
Allow new businesses to compare month-over-month revenues to the previous month (prior to increased restrictions).
“New businesses will be vital to Canada’s economic recovery, as they create new jobs and replace the businesses that we have lost. They face the same lockdowns as other businesses, and are often more fragile because they don’t yet have a list of loyal customers or any reserves after starting operations. We urge the federal government to deliver on the promise made a year ago and provide new businesses with the support they need,” said Kelly.
“One important group has fallen through the cracks — a group that is critical to the nation’s economic recovery and a return to higher employment and vibrancy in our downtown cores and neighbourhoods.
These are the entrepreneurs who risked their capital and started businesses during the pandemic — many not by choice but by circumstance, as they were well into building a new venture when the pandemic hit and had a financial imperative to complete the project and open their doors,” explained Vallis.
Image: Piatto Cambridge
“Canada’s newest entrepreneurs rented and renovated previously empty retail spaces, hired and trained people, and contributed to their neighbourhoods. In many cases they had strong support from the community and good sales until the second wave of lockdowns hit. Like the vast majority of Canadian businesses, they wanted to help flatten the curve, and therefore abided by all the regulations and restrictions to their operations just like everyone else.
“However, without any “previous year” sales (based on pre COVID sales commencing April 2019), they did not qualify for government assistance, primarily Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy and Canada Emergency Rent Subsidy. They were between a rock and a hard place. By complying with lockdown orders, they had no way to survive.”
Not qualifying for government assistance means Canada’s newest entrepreneurs bore the full brunt of the business interruption with no help in the form of wage or rent subsidies. With each new lockdown, more permanent closures happened, and more businesses moved closer to the verge of collapse, said Vallis.
“If these businesses are not supported, and the associated jobs are not made available to those who need them, social problems — addictions, untreated mental illness and crime — are a reliable consequence that puts a strain on our social and medical systems. And when businesses close, the buildings that housed them often remain vacant for extended periods, serving as a blight on our neighbourhoods. This becomes all the more obvious the longer the buildings are left unattended, becoming worn and sometimes vandalized due to their lack of care,” he added.
“When this happens in the downtown core, the vibrancy that many municipalities worked on for years is diminished and communities experience decline at a time when we need growth.
“These new entrepreneurs want to be part of the recovery. They represent the spirit and initiative this country needs to recover, but they need support if they are going to survive, and they need it now. If the government is truly serious about building this country back better than it was before, if it cares about the vitality and safety of our towns and cities, and if it wants to do what’s best for those among us who struggle the most, it will rectify its unbalanced treatment of small businesses and expand their assistance programs to include our newest entrepreneurs who started their businesses during the pandemic. Supporting them with CEWS and CERS will surely aid in Canada’s recovery. In doing so, it will take an important step to recovery and to getting Canadians back to the Canada they know and love.”
