Eagle Eye CEO Co-Authors Groundbreaking Book on Omnichannel Retail

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July 11, 2019

The growth in online shopping presents an opportunity for brick-and-mortar retailers, not a threat, and digitalization can foster more meaningful customer connections, boost loyalty and increase sales, both online and offline.

That’s the key message of the new book Omnichannel Retail: How to build winning stores in a digital world, which was co-authored by Tim Mason, CEO of digital marketing technology company Eagle Eye Solutions and retail technology expert Miya Knights, Head of Industry Insight at Eagle Eye.

The book is written specifically for consumer-facing businesses and offers practical recommendations for harnessing the value of digitally connecting with customers wherever they are to drive loyalty and sales.

TIM MASON (L) AND MIYA KNIGHTS (R) AT THE LAUNCH OF THEIR BOOK PHOTO: EAGLE EYE

Mason, who has more than 30 years of retail industry experience and was previously CMO and deputy CEO of Tesco, the largest multinational grocery and general merchandise retailer in the UK, said it’s a “digital imperative” that retail brands connect with customers today through relevant and timely engagement.

“Retail is clearly under significant pressure pretty much all over the world. When I say retail, I mean I guess traditional retail in the sense that what you have is discounters emerging in most markets on the one hand and you have ecommerce emerging in many markets on the other,” said Mason, who with Eagle Eye helped Loblaw launch its PC Optimum program, Canada’s largest loyalty initiative, combining the Shopper’s Optimum and PC Plus programs into a single cross-banner initiative.

“The main issue that I’m trying to bring out within the book is that in this modern and connected world you ultimately will not be able to do business satisfactorily without having customers’ identities, understanding their shopping behaviour through data analytics and personalizing your response to them. That is the world that ecommerce is leading and that they are used to, and bricks and mortar retailers will follow as they bring digital tools into their physical spaces. And if you don’t do that, you are going to look very flat-footed as if you don’t care about me. And I think ultimately the people who don’t embrace digital and bring it into the bricks and mortar world will be the losers.”

The first thing retailers have to do is find a way to get as many customer identities as they possibly can. That could be through a loyalty program. In this modern digital world, you can also get identities through promotions as well as many other different ways.

Then retailers need to be able to match that identity with shopping baskets so they know what consumers are doing, explained Mason. Then retailers need to have a significant data analytics capability to understand what those customers are doing and increasingly with the use of artificial intelligence to predict what they’re doing.

“Finally, what you need is the digital connection so that you can basically speak to them directly and personally ideally through their phone,” said Mason.

“Mobile is extremely important and my message to all retailers is that what you want to do is you want to turn shopping into an activity where the phone is no longer in the pocket or the purse but it’s in the hand. And the reason it’s in the hand is because it is enriching the physical shopping experience,” said Mason.

With 90 per cent of shopping transactions still completed in a physical store, the physical retail space is far from dead, said Mason, but traditional sales outlets need reimagining to re-establish their place in a digital world, as well as their ability to both compete with and enhance online shopping experiences.

The book shows retailers how to give their stores a ‘mobile makeover’ to maintain their relevance and connection to today’s customers in order to drive growth. Rather than discouraging digital interactions in-store for fear of driving customers to online rivals, retailers need to digitally augment their physical advantages – of expert customer service, sensory selection, “try before you buy,” and instant gratification and fulfilment. Delivering personalized experiences that resonate with consumers and challenge digitally enabled and data-driven competitors like Amazon, Alibaba and Jet.com mandates that retailers transform their businesses – today.

Mason said the consumer of today wants to shop in many different ways and retailers must be available for the customer through the channel they want to use.

“I think the Canadian market has been a little slow to get into ecommerce because there hasn’t been the same competitive pressure. The competitive pressure in the UK to get into it was caused by Tesco. The brand leader decided to do it very early and clearly when a brand leader does something people make competitive responses,” he said.

Mason said so many first experiences of a retailer’s brand, their offer, are digital. That could initially be through research and browsing online even though a customer’s intention is to fulfill that shopping trip in a store. When a customer comes into a store after researching online, a retailer can’t align their physical store identity with their digital identity not realizing it can be the same person.

“In an omnichannel world, you do. That person who was researching this product online came into that store on that day with a basket that had these other things in it. What is the next best message for the next best offer we should send that person to encourage them to shop with us again or to buy another product the next time they shop? That is the cycle that is the way in my view that successful retailing will be done going forward,” added Mason.

Co-author Knights has spent 20 years as an enterprise technology journalist, analyst and research director, studying the demands and challenges faced by retailers and the technology-based best practices that can best support their needs.

Eagle Eye is a leading SaaS technology company transforming marketing by creating digital connections that enable personalized performance marketing in real time through coupons, loyalty, apps, subscriptions and gift services.

The company’s current customer base comprises leading names in UK Grocery, Retail and Food & Beverage sectors, including Asda, Sainsbury’s, Tesco, Waitrose and John Lewis & Partners, JD Sports, Burger King, Greggs, Mitchells & Butlers, Pizza Express and in Canada, Loblaws, Shoppers Drug Mart and Esso.

Eagle Eye is headquartered in Guildford, United Kingdom and has offices in Manchester, Toronto, and Melbourne, Australia.

*Partner content. To work with Retail Insider, email: craig@retail-insider.com

Pop-Up Zero Waste Grocery Concept Secures 1st Permanent Retail Space

By

Mario Toneguzzi

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July 10, 2019

The unique and new package-free, zero waste grocery concept called ‘bare market‘ will be opening its first location in Toronto’s Danforth area.

Dayna Stein, founder of bare market, said the trend is certainly on course for more stores to open in the future.

“bare market is moving into our first location. Once we figure out the nitty gritty details of running a shop versus a pop-up, we will look to scale,” she said.

The concept was founded in 2018 and has been selling through pop-up locations.

“I think we’re in the range of 65 pop ups right now. Quite a few. Our first pop-up was June 27 last year. We’ve gone to a number of different farmers’ markets and then we also built a relationship with Patagonia Toronto. We reached out to them before our pop-ups last year in the spring and basically said here’s where our values align, here’s the business case, this is why it’s beneficial for both of us and they were on board right away,” said Stein.

*BARE MARKET POP-UP AT SENECA COLLEGE PHOTO: BARE MARKET*

“We’ve been popping up there since last July every other week. And then we’ve just recently slowed down to once a month because we’re trying to shift our priorities into our permanent location.”

Stein said the business will continue to slow down pop-ups and perhaps cease once the permanent shop is open.

“The pop-ups have always been a method of market research to figure out where in the city we should go, what people like, what they don’t like, what they want to see as product offerings. It’s a lot of work to do a pop-up. We have well over 450 products and we bring 95 per cent of them to our pop-ups. It’s not necessarily feasible to continue doing pop-ups, especially when we’ll be operating six to seven days a week in a permanent location,” she said.

The first permanent store location will be at 1480 Danforth Avenue and will open in either late December or early January. It will be located in 2,800 square feet of space.

“bare market is Toronto’s first one-stop shop for package-free goods”, said Stein. “We sell body care, home care, cleaning ingredients and a whole bunch of “zero-waste” lifestyle essentials all with the mission to help people reduce waste and save money.

“To give some examples, we sell everything from shampoo, conditioner, body wash to hair spray, beard oil, makeup in bulk, laundry detergent, air freshener, all-purpose spray, essential oils. Our variety is vast. And once we move into our permanent location we will be introducing food in bulk including your typical bulk store nuts and seeds, but also oils and vinegars and products that have been produced locally in Toronto. So items like coconut yogurt and ice pops and all sorts of fun, unique products where we are working with both local producers and local farmers to get those products to us without the single-use packaging.”

On its website, the retailer says it’s time to cut that plastic addiction – and go bare.

“At bare market, we’re on a mission to help you reduce waste. As Toronto’s first one-stop shop for package-free goods, we offer affordable and locally sourced body and home care products in bulk that are good for you and good for the planet (keep your eye out for food items coming soon!).

What’s our intent? To make sustainable and ethical living easy and accessible for everyone, everywhere.”

“To pass the bare test, packaging should not be designed to end up in the dump. No, we don’t expect you to carry your olive oil and lentils home in the palms of your hands! What we mean by package-free is that our store is free from any single-use (or made-for-the-landfill) containers. Specifically, we do not carry or sell products that come in packaging that cannot be reused or composted.”

Stein said the concept is resonating with consumers.

“From when we started last year we have grown significantly in sales and I think that is in part because people are learning about us. New customers are getting to know who we are and that we exist as a place where they can re-fill,” she said.

“It was really the first time that people were seeing this movement as something they could actually participate in. It was new to them and they were asking questions. Since we started there’s been a lot of media attention on this type of concept because it’s not only been popping up in other cities around Canada but because places like ours are making it more physically and financially accessible to people so they know it’s an option for them.

“At Patagonia, in November compared to last July, we had three times the sales and it’s been growing exponentially. We have at Patagonia wait lists of 15 people for hours on end because we just don’t have the capacity to meet the demand at the moment as a pop-up concept that is filling products for people rather than customers coming in and doing it themselves. When we move into our permanent location that will switch so the customer can refill their own products and that will help us lower our costs, become more efficient and overall make it more convenient for people.”

What are Stein’s plans for growth and possibly other permanent locations?

“We want to make sure we work out all the little details of operating a permanent location before we scale to more spaces around Toronto or online,” she said, adding the retailer will have other revenue generating streams such as a ‘closed-loop’ cafe in-store where it will upcycle any of the surplus produce and bulk food items that would otherwise go to waste and turn them into delicious snacks and meals.

“We’re also going to have workshops and classes on how to live a more healthy lifestyle and how to reduce waste at home as a way to both build community and help people with the lifestyle change.

Robert Luciano, partner with decisionSMART Retail Advisory, Inc., has been working with bare market for over a year as a business consultant, helping to make the shift from pop-up concept to a permanent retail location.

Independent Retailers in Canada Hit with High Job Vacancies and Higher Property Taxes: CFIB

By

Craig Patterson

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July 10, 2019

By Dan Kelly, President and CEO of the Canadian Federation of Independent Business

Independent retailers don’t always get the recognition they deserve for the many contributions they make to their communities and to Canada. They provide young people with their first work opportunities, they grow the Canadian economy and they often sponsor local charities and sports teams. And yet, many smaller retailers are having a harder time staying competitive.

Retailers are, on average, less optimistic about the overall health of their business than other business owners, according to the Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB)’s monthly Business Barometer. The shortage of skilled labour is one of the top factors hindering their growth.

Our business counsellors are increasingly getting calls from CFIB members who are struggling to find the right candidates and who are asking for guidance on filling jobs. In the first quarter of 2019, 58,700 retail jobs sat vacant for at least four months, according to our latest Help Wanted report. In fact, the vacancy rate in retail has been steadily growing since 2016. A vacant job means longer wait times for customers, a heavier load on other employees – and often on the owner themselves.

CÔTE-DES-NEIGES IN MONTREAL. PHOTO: @LVBS VIA INSTAGRAM

Employers know that it’s never as simple as just putting a warm body in the job. They need employees with the right combination of skills and attitude – something that’s proving difficult to find. Young employees, especially, can take up a lot of time as they need more training in soft skills, like punctuality, communicating professionally and following workplace safety guidelines.

CFIB has been asking governments to recognize the training employers provide young workers by introducing an Employment Insurance (EI) training credit. Universities, colleges and high schools should also focus on creating more workplace-integrated opportunities that connect young people with small businesses. These are just a few measures that could help small firms compete with big business and government for a shrinking pool of qualified candidates.

And while it’s hard to highlight just one of the many taxes small business owners pay, CFIB has increasingly been hearing from bricks-and-mortar retailers that rising property taxes are a major impediment to their ability to stay profitable. The issue came to a head this summer in Calgary, where thousands of business owners protested the city’s decision to increase commercial property taxes by a staggering 10 to 30 per cent. The protest got the city to back down from the increase, but the fight isn’t over. Calgary is far from the only municipality where this is a problem.

COMMERCIAL DRIVE IN VANCOUVER. PHOTO: LIV RENT

In fact, as you likely know from looking at your tax bill, nearly all local governments tax commercial properties at much higher rates than residential properties – up to nearly 5 times higher in some jurisdictions. On top of that, many provincial governments apply higher education taxes on commercial properties than residential properties. A more equal and fair distribution of property taxes between residents and businesses would help create a competitive environment for local merchants and encourage entrepreneurship.

Governments can do much to improve both of these issues for small retailers, but they won’t do it unless they’re pushed. Unfortunately, small business owners rarely have the time or resources to fight for themselves. This is where business associations can help by uniting and amplifying the voices of independent retailers and working on their behalf to demand better.

CFIB’s credit card fight is a great example of this. About a decade ago, our members told us they were being charged astronomical fees on credit card transactions, especially with the rise of rewards cards. While the big guys were able to negotiate better deals with the major credit cards, independent retailers were stuck with unfair contracts and usurious rates.

17TH AVENUE IN CALGARY. RENDERING: CITY OF CALGARY

But with the collective bargaining power of more than 100,000 members, we were able to negotiate better rates for all small businesses and exclusive savings for CFIB members with Mastercard and American Express. We also convinced the government to implement a Code of Conduct for the payments industry. While work remains to be done on the credit card file, we have certainly come a long way.

I encourage independent retailers dealing with problems like these to look to their community of business owners for support and join a business association. CFIB brings its members’ views directly to government, and we also offer expert advice on HR issues and government regulation, as well as exclusive savings on essential services like payment processing, banking and payroll management. There is strength in numbers and by joining together, small business can have a big impact. Visit cfib.ca/retail for more information.

Dan Kelly is President and Chief Executive Officer of the Canadian Federation of Independent Business, Canada’s largest association of small and medium-sized businesses with 110,000 members across every industry and region.

Giant Tiger Continues Rapid Canadian Store Expansion as it Breaks Ground on New Headquarters

By

Mario Toneguzzi

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July 9, 2019

Giant Tiger Stores Limited-Giant Tiger breaks ground on new Otta — Artist rendering of the new Giant Tiger Home Office and Flagship Store (CNW Group/Giant Tiger Stores Limited)

Retailer Giant Tiger has broken ground on its flagship store and new office in Ottawa which will serve as the company’s national hub for operations as it embarks on ambitious expansion plans across Canada.

The new 173,800-square-foot office and 31,000-square-foot store on Walkley Road will support the discount retailer’s growth strategy which commits to opening 10 to 15 stores per year across Canada.

The new store will open in the fall of 2020 and the office by mid-winter of 2021

“Our new home office and flagship store on Walkley Road represent an investment in our future and will help us meet the needs of our expanding store count, while delivering even better value to our customers, vendors, and franchisees,” said Thomas Haig, President and Chief Operating Officer at Giant Tiger. “Ottawa will always be home for Giant Tiger. We opened our first store in the ByWard Market in 1961, and our headquarters have been here on Walkley Road since 1996.”

EVP & CFO Giant Tiger, Paul Wood; Gloucester-Southgate Councillor Diane Deans; Ottawa South MPP John Fraser; Ottawa South MP David McGuinty; Vice-Chairman of the Board of Directors for Giant Tiger Scott Reid; President & COO Giant Tiger Thomas Haig; Friendly, the Giant Tiger (CNW Group/Giant Tiger Stores Limited)

Giant Tiger says it anticipates its home office employee count to grow from 400 to 700 over the next decade as it continues to expand across the country. To keep up with this growth, Giant Tiger moved its distribution centre from Walkley Road to a new facility in Johnstown, Ontario, beginning in the fall of 2018 and completed in January of this year.

“We’ve been enjoying some pretty solid growth and have continued to grow by approximately 10 to 15 stores annually and with that growth we were outgrowing our distribution capacity here in Ottawa for non-perishable product,” said Paul Wood, the company’s Executive Vice-President and Chief Financial Officer, who will be taking over the role of President and COO as of August 9, replacing the retiring Haig.

“We had a couple of different facilities here that we were using in Ottawa and it was time to add more space and we determined that being somewhere in the Eastern Ontario region along the (Highway) 401 corridor was a better epicentre for distribution for our store network to service our franchise stores . . . We built a 600,000-square-foot distribution centre there complete with a number of elements of robotics and advanced technology inside the facility to support our growth and our continued development as a store network.”

GIANT TIGER’S NEW WALKLEY ROAD HOME OFFICE RENDERINGS: SKYSCRAPERPAGE.COM

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Giant Tiger is the leading Canadian-owned family discount store, committed to providing on-trend family fashions, groceries and everyday household needs. The privately-held company, by founder Gordon Reid and his family, has 254 locations across Canada and employs approximately 9,000 people. It also has an online shopping platform at gianttiger.com. All Giant Tiger locations are locally owned or operated by people who know their respective communities.

The first store was opened in May 1961 on George Street in Ottawa’s Byward Market where it still exists today.

Wood said another four stores are scheduled to open over the next couple of months in Halifax, Levis (Quebec), LaSalle (Quebec) and Kingston.

“At present we are from Alberta to P.E.I. We are not yet in British Columbia or Newfoundland but exploring our options for future expansion,” said Wood.

“We’ve been planning and continue to plan carefully as to where we grow, where we expand. About five years ago we underwent what was called our new store experience renovation. So all of our existing stores were kind of brought up to a current standard and the content that you see today. And our new stores have been built to that standard going forward. It’s really continuing to look for opportunities where Canadians are and we aren’t to continue to offer our great low prices and consistent quality of merchandise, national brands and house brands, to more Canadians across the country.”

Wood said the company believes it has room for more than 300 stores across the country.

Giant Tiger obviously is resonating with today’s consumer.

“We believe that we continue to offer a very convenient shop for our customers. We maintain a relatively small footprint compared to some of our larger competitors. We continue to drive great value and low prices for our customers. We believe our product offering on trend fashion and seasonal products and home goods and great grocery products for the family provide a great one-stop shop for our customers,” said Wood.

“We also believe having our franchise owners in the store provide a great shopping experience for our customers and just that local community experience and relationship that we build in each community that we go into across the country.”

The company’s new office will be a modern four-storey building built to LEED specifications and primarily glass, with plenty of light and airy spaces including a central atrium. All workstations and meeting rooms will be equipped with the latest technology.

“We want our employees to enjoy coming to work every day, and that’s why we designed the new office to have amenities such as a full floor cafeteria and coffee bar, gym, games room, collaborative spaces, and underground parking,” said Haig. “We are a people first company and this new building reflects this commitment.”

Korean Beauty Brand ‘Innisfree’ Secures 1st Retail Space as it Launches Canadian Store Expansion

By

Craig Patterson

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July 9, 2019

South Korean ‘naturalism-oriented’ cosmetic brand Innisfree will open its first Canadian storefront this summer, utilizing a direct-to-consumer retail model that will add further competition in an already crowded market. Innisfree is the latest international brand to enter Canada, marking a trend that is seeing Canada continue to be a target for global brand expansions.

Construction hoarding went up last week at Toronto’s Yorkdale Shopping Centre for Innisfree’s first Canadian location. The store will span almost 2,500 square feet on one level, according to lease plans, and will be located in Yorkdale’s Nordstrom-anchored expansion wing that opened in 2016.

At Yorkdale, Innisfree will be located across from Uniqlo and Muji’s large stores, and will be near other beauty and fragrance brands. L’Oreal-owned French fragrance brand Atelier Cologne will be located next to Innisfree with Israel-based Laline being one storefront over. Across from Laline is a newly rebranded location for ‘Nature Collection’, a VDL-owned Korean beauty chain that was formerly known as ‘The Face Shop’.

CONSTRUCTION HOARDING AT TORONTO’S YORKDALE SHOPPING CENTRE ON JULY 5, 2019. PHOTO: CRAIG PATTERSON

Innisfree partnered with brokerage CBRE for its Canadian stores expansion. Toronto and Vancouver are the initial target markets for Innisfree, with stores being ideally in the 1,800 to 3,000 square foot range in major malls as well as on high streets. The Yorkdale Innisfree lease deal was negotiated by Arlin Markowitz and Selina Tao. In Vancouver, CBRE’s Martin Moriarty and Mario Negris are handling negotiations in that part of the country as Innisfree prepares to enter British Columbia as well.

Innisfree operates hundreds of stores globally and is part of the Seoul-based AmorePacific Corporation, which features 33 health, beauty and personal brands under its corporate umbrella. AmorePacific launched the Innisfree brand in 2002 and it now has stores in Asia, Australia and it recently expanded into the United States where it currently operates seven stores. Its first US location opened in New York City in the fall of 2017 at 862 Broadway, just north of Union Square in Manhattan. A second store opened at the Garden State Plaza in New Jersey in July of 2018.

Since September of 2018, Innisfree has opened five stores in the United States, with two more locations in the New York City area as well as two units in the Los Angeles area and one in San Francisco. More are expected as the brand rapidly expands into the North American market.

Innisfree’s slogan is “Clean Island, where clean nature and healthy beauty coexist happily,” and the brand is known to be eco-friendly. Particularly targeting women aged in their 20’s and 30’s, Innisfree is known for being South Korea’s first all-natural brand, with many of its ingredients being sourced from Jeju Island. Its products include a wide range of offerings for both women and men. That includes skin care, makeup, hair and body products, fragrances, beauty tools, and sun care.

INNISFREE’S UNION SQUARE STORE IN NEW YORK CITY PHOTO: INNISFREE USA VIA FACEBOOK

INNISFREE’S GARDEN STATE PLAZA STORE IN PARAMUS, NEW JERSEY PHOTO: INNISFREE USA VIA FACEBOOK

About 80% of Innisfree’s ingredients are natural and the company says that its products are “plant-to-bottle”. The company also promotes its “green life” with activities such as reforestation efforts, recycling programs, and even an ‘eco-hankie’ to replace disposable paper products. The company donates 1% of its profits to eco-initiatives.

Its prices are aimed to be affordable, with many products ranging in the $20 to $30 range. The goal is to be accessible to a broad range of potential consumers, which will ultimately help Innisfree grow more rapidly than some pricier beauty brands.

Innisfree’s expansion comes at a time when other beauty retailers and brands are also entering the Canadian market and expanding their operations. US-based beauty behemoth Ulta Beauty recently announced that it would be expanding into the Canadian market by opening stores, which again will add competition to an already saturated beauty market. French beauty retailer Sephora continues to expand its Canadian operations by opening new stores and expanding others — in 2016 Sephora launched its “Toronto Takeover”. This initiative resulted in the region becoming one of Sephora’s top markets, with the retailer also seeing strong sales in other regions nationally.

At the same time, Shoppers Drug Mart continues to expand its ‘BeautyBoutique’ concept stores within its drug stores and recently, it began opening standalone units. Drug store chain Rexall has been expanding its in-store beauty brands as well which includes a roster of ‘prestige brands’ in some of its locations.

Department store chains such as Hudson’s Bay, Holt Renfrew, Nordstrom and Saks Fifth Avenue also offer expansive beauty halls in their stores. Hudson’s Bay has been expanding its brand offerings in its stores as competition heats up, and its parent company HBC launched the Saks Fifth Avenue banner in Canada in 2016 that saw two Saks stores open in Toronto, followed by a Calgary location in early 2018. Nordstrom entered Canada in 2014 and now has six stores with three in Toronto and one each in Vancouver, Calgary and Ottawa, with all of them featuring large beauty departments.

Holt Renfrew has also been beefing up its beauty offerings by opening large concourse-level beauty halls in its flagship locations. Vancouver’s Holt Renfrew flagship saw a large new beauty hall open in the summer of 2017. This year, as well, Holts unveiled a new 12,000 square foot beauty floor at its 50 Bloor Street West flagship in Toronto and most recently, it unveiled an impressive 25,000 square foot beauty hall at its newly rebranded ‘Holt Renfrew Ogilvy’ flagship in downtown Montreal.

At the same time, Innisfree’s standalone direct-to-consumer retail model will seek to take market share away from other brands operating stores in Canada. In the past several years, numerous brands have opened stores in Canada using a mono-brand model, while at the same time also launching e-commerce websites. Brands such as Aesop, Urban Decay, Valmont and Benefit have all opened standalone locations in Canada, with Clinique opening its first store last year in suburban Vancouver.

Korean brand VDL, which opened its first standalone unit in North America on Toronto’s ‘West Queen West’ last summer, is rebranding its ‘The Face Shop’ units nationally to ‘Nature Collection’ as mentioned above. Canadian brands such as Deciem and Consonant Skincare have also been in expansion mode, with both seeing remarkable success despite growing competition.

Innisfree is the latest international brand to expand into Canada by opening its own stores. Over the past five years, more than 150 international brands opened stores in Canada with more than 50 of those being in 2017 alone. In 2018, more than 30 brands came into Canada utilizing a direct-to-consumer retail model, and this year could surpass that number as we continue to monitor the market.

Toronto’s Yorkdale Shopping Centre sees more first-to-market retail openings than any single place in Canada, with several other significant retail announcements to be made in the coming months, including several new luxury brands.

Iconic “Bad Boy Furniture” Chain Expanding into New Markets

By

Mario Toneguzzi

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July 8, 2019

attachment-5d101d6eeba1bc0001c99a57 — Grand Opening of Lastman's Bad Boy in Ancaster, Ontario in 2019. PHOTO: Lastman's Bad Boy (Facebook)

The iconic Toronto-based retailer Bad Boy Furniture is set to continue its expansion efforts in southern Ontario and beyond as chairman and CEO Blayne Lastman builds on the well-known brand he resurrected in 1991.

“We’re going to stay just in Ontario for now. So maybe three or four more and then just take a little rest,” said Lastman.

“We’re not ruling out plans for other places in Canada but very, very cautious.”

The Bad Boy phenomenon began in 1955, when Mel Lastman, Blayne’s father, opened his first Bad Boy store on Weston Road. From there it was built up to 45 stores across Canada and employed more than 1,000.

But in 1974, Lastman sold it to remain in politics as he was Mayor of the City of North York.

“Ten months later Bad Boy closed and was out of business for 16 years until I brought it back in 1991,” said Blayne Lastman.

The first store, and flagship store, was at 1119 Kennedy Road in Scarborough. Today the company has superstores in Ancaster, Barrie, Brampton, Burlington, Kitchener, London, Mississauga, North York, Scarborough, Whitby.

“We’re right now opening August 15 in Kingston, Ontario and we’re in the middle of negotiations in Ottawa,” said Lastman.

And despite a challenging economy, Bad Boy has been booming.

“Our year end is September 30 and last year was the best year we ever had in our history. We’ve been fortunate – very, very fortunate. And we’re e-commerce as well. We’re fully e-commerce in our trading areas only right now which will be opened up to the rest of the country in the near future,” said Lastman.

“The year before last was the best year and this year outdid it.”

On the company website, it describes the time Lastman brought the brand back to life, taking Ontario by storm.

“His decision to re-open the new store in the center of Toronto’s “furniture strip” had many naysayers scratching their heads. This prime location, coupled with zany promotional initiatives, proved to be invaluable in Bad Boy’s success! The nineties were an extremely challenging time with the recession, especially for the business community, and many long-standing companies had no other choice but to close down. Blayne, who had just as much gusto as his father, beat all odds by implementing an innovative, flash-forward sales strategy,” it says.

When asked in a recent interview why he wanted to re-open the brand, he joked: “A moment of craziness.”

“It was always my dream to do it. When I opened in 1991 my father told me I was out of my mind because it was the worst recession this country’s ever seen. But there we were and we knew something which was we were going to work harder as a team which we do than anyone else,” explained Lastman.

“And we do all these zany types of promotions . . . All kinds of things. And we do a big business with the builders and on the retail side.”

So what sets the Bad Boy brand apart from the numerous competitors in the marketplace?

“Everything. A fridge is a fridge is a fridge. It’s one of the most boring things in the world but we build the excitement around it,” said Lastman. “And we give good old-fashioned service because that’s the most important thing. And the lowest prices guaranteed. And when we say it we mean it.”

Lastman’s eclectic ideas and gimmicks infused shoppers with excitement and captured an enormous amount of media attention, explains the company’s website.

“In fact, in 1994, the United States White House served Bad Boy with a “Cease and Desist” order for Bad Boy’s use of a President Bill Clinton look-a-like. In typical Bad Boy style, Blayne did not Cease and Desist; instead, he responded with, “This is Canada, not the 51st State!” Following this, there was a sequel commercial featuring a Hillary Clinton look-a-like! The Clinton look-a-like promotion caused such a sensation around the world that journalists and talk show hosts from Germany, Japan, the United States and Italy all called for interviews with the now infamous Blayne Lastman.”

In 2006 Bad Boy formally became Lastman’s Bad Boy.

The company has been working with Nick Goddard, President of Portage Design Group, on the expansion of the brand.

“He’s got a good feel for our consumer. He’s done all of our stores for the last decade or more and he’s done a great, great job,” said Lastman.

The stores are typically 25,000 to 30,000 square feet. The biggest one is 34,000 square feet in London.

Social Media Drives Growth for Gender-Neutral Children’s Clothing Brand

By

Megan Harman

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July 8, 2019

Whistle_Flute_Banner_Summer2019_02_1512x — PHOTO: WHISTLE & FLUTE

Victoria, B.C.-based clothing company Whistle & Flute, which specializes in gender-neutral street wear for kids and their parents, is looking to expand its distribution network as it continues to grow its sales both in Canada and abroad.

The company, started by husband and wife duo Ryan and Miranda McCullagh in 2012, offers clothes boasting bold designs like pandas, smiling ice cream cones, hot dogs, rainbows and catch-phrases like ‘be kind’ and ‘je t’aime’.

The concept for the company was born shortly after the couple’s first of three sons, Aki, when they struggled to find children’s clothes they liked.

“We were not really finding that many kids’ clothes that we really wanted to put Aki in,” Ryan says. “A lot of the stuff was really gendered, the colours we didn’t really like, and it just wasn’t current style-wise. So, we decided to come up with some of our own designs.”

Since both Ryan and Miranda have a background in design—graphic design for Ryan and fashion design for Miranda—the creative process came naturally. Although the clothing was initially made just for Aki—along with some matching adult-sized items for themselves—the designs quickly attracted attention on Instagram, and orders started rolling in.

The couple opened an Etsy shop and eventually transitioned to Shopify as sales continued to grow. They have also partnered with retailers such as West Coast Kids and various independent boutiques to distribute their merchandise. Whistle & Flute’s annual revenue has now surged to $1.8 million from just $42,000 in 2013.

Ryan says Whistle & Flute clothing appeals to those looking for trendy kids’ clothing.

“We design what we like—what we want to wear,” he says. “We’re influenced a lot by street fashion and street wear, but we want to make that for kids. We don’t see why kids’ clothing shouldn’t be something that they look cool in.”

By offering adult-sized versions of many of the t-shirts, tank tops and hoodies, parents can embrace the designs for themselves, as well.

The McCullaghs felt it was important to focus on gender-neutral designs since there was a lack of options in the children’s clothing market when they launched the business. Kids clothing stores contained mostly blue items for boys and pink and purple items for girls, with very little in between.

“It was such a clear line, suggesting that you have to fit into one of these two boxes,” Ryan says. “It sort of pigeon-holes kids and makes them conform to gender roles, in subtle ways and overt ways. We didn’t like that. We didn’t want to put that on our kids.”

Ryan and Miranda also strive to ensure the clothing they produce is comfortable and liveable, opting for soft, organic fabrics. In addition, their merchandise is produced using ethical and environmentally friendly practices. For example, many items contain recycled polyester from water bottles.

Social media—particularly Instagram—has been instrumental in growing Whistle & Flute’s profile and generating sales for the brand around the world, according to Ryan. In addition to continuing to focus on growing its e-commerce sales, the company is looking to expand its wholesale distribution channel by adding new retail partners.

Canadians Embrace Physical Retail More than Americans: Study

By

Mario Toneguzzi

-

July 5, 2019

Despite the growing popularity of online shopping, physical retail space remains the most popular destination for consumers looking for good options – even more so for Canadians than Americans.

The 2019 Summer Shopping Habits Survey and 2019 Summer Dining Habits Survey, developed by Lightspeed, found that physical retail is still the most prevalent form of shopping for Canadians at 47 per cent and Americans at 36 per cent.

“There is an immediacy and personalization to in-store shopping that consumers cannot experience when shopping online. When looking at physical retail, consumers get a more organic and interactive experience, where they can try out the product for themselves, whether it’s a sweater or a bicycle, and without the worry of delivery timing,” said Dax Dasilva, Founder and CEO of Lightspeed.

“Loyalty programs are also an important contribution to positive in-store experiences for frequent customers. Lightspeed Loyalty was designed with the consumer in mind, informing them of in-store offerings custom to their interests and helping them earn perks from their favourite locations that they may not have access to online.

“This data that Canadians have a strong preference for shopping in store is a prime example of how retailers can apply the knowledge gained here to their business. For example, it could offer American retailers with locations north of the border the opportunity to tailor their in-store operations more towards Canadian customers – whether that is through loyalty programs or added ease in payment solutions.”

Lightspeed is a leading provider of omnichannel point of sale software, solutions and support systems for over 49,000 independent retailers and restaurants.

Here are some of the other key findings from Lightspeed’s survey:

Over half of North Americans spend up to $250 per summer shopping trip: 52 per cent of Canadians and 53 per cent of Americans drop between $50 to $250 per shopping excursion;
Food quality is the most important factor to a positive dining experience: Nearly 60 per cent of North Americans stated that food quality is their most important consideration for a positive dining experience, followed by customer service for Americans, and price for Canadians;
North Americans are spending most of their summer money on food: Both Canadians (41 per cent) and Americans (42 per cent) spend the most money on food during the summer, followed by clothing and apparel, supplies for hobbies and home furnishings;
Americans spend more in the winter, Canadians spend more in the summer: Over 36 per cent of Canadians spend the most money on shopping and dining in the summer, whereas over 36 per cent of Americans spend the most in the winter; and
The majority of North Americans anticipate spending hundreds of dollars per summer month on eating out: 28 per cent of both Canadians and Americans believe they will spend between $100-$300 at foodservice establishments per month between June and August.

“Summer is definitely a season for socializing, and one of the most social activities for the season is enjoying the nice weather and a delicious meal with friends. Our survey showed us that almost 40 per cent of North Americans will eat out one to two times a week at places like patios, cafés, fine dining restaurants and more, with approximately 16 per cent basing their decision of where to eat on the people they are with,” said Dasilva.

“One of the main factors North American diners noted in relation to a positive dining experience is food quality. An important way Lightspeed helps restaurateurs ensure they are offering their guests the best experience is through solutions like Lightspeed Analytics, which allows them to organize and analyze everything for their restaurant in one place: from inventory to customer loyalty to staff performance, optimizing the data for a positive dining experience.”

The 2019 Summer Shopping Habits Survey and 2019 Summer Dining Habits Survey each polled approximately 2,000 consumers, equally divided between the U.S. and Canada, with the goal of generating a deeper understanding of consumers’ shopping and dining behaviour during the summer season.

“We launched this survey to reveal meaningful information about shopping and dining habits in summer 2019 to enable businesses to make better decisions this season catered specifically to their customers,” added Dasilva.

Lightspeed is a cloud-based commerce platform powering small and medium-sized businesses in over 100 countries around the world. With smart, scalable, and dependable point of sale systems, it’s an all-in-one solution that helps restaurants and retailers sell across channels, manage operations, engage with consumers, accept payments, and grow their business. Headquartered in Montréal, Canada, Lightspeed has grown to over 700 employees, with offices in Canada, USA, Europe, and Australia.

Entertainment Veteran Charles Khabouth Co-Founds Innovative New Cannabis Brands

By

Mario Toneguzzi

-

July 5, 2019

attachment-5d1aa3e22834fe000155f018 — exc-5d1aa3e22834fe000155f018

Toronto-based TREC Brands Inc. has launched two new premium cannabis brands, WINK and Blissed.

Blissed is a female-focused brand creating cannabis oil products for women. The first products include Boost, a high THC oil, and Breathe, a high CBD oil, which will be available for purchase online in Ontario, with other provinces to follow. Blissed focuses on educating the female cannabis consumer through an online educational hub. It will expand into other formats purpose built for this female consumer as regulations allow. The products will be available in the fall when new federal legislation comes into effect opening the door for the sale of more cannabis products.

WINK is TREC’s second luxury brand entering the market with pre-rolled sativa-dominant strains. The products became first be available online in Ontario and in Ontario Cannabis Stores with WINK expanding into vape pens and beverages as regulations allow.

Trang Trinh, CEO and Founding Director of TREC, said the cannabis market since it was first legalized last October is still in its infancy as companies try to navigate the system.

“But where the market is going is super-exciting. October 2019 is when the edibles regulations come out and by early December we’ll be able to start to see more product choices for the consumer including chocolate, beverages, cookies, baked goods. That type of stuff,” said Trinh.

TREC is an acronym for Trust, Respect, Equality and Compassion: the values that are at the core of all business decisions made for the socially-conscious cannabis company.

“With Blissed, the goal is to uplift the modern woman through education and content that complements her lifestyle, while giving back to causes in her neighbourhood that matter,” said Trinh.

“We found that there weren’t a lot of female-focused brands out there in the industry. However, over 60 per cent of the buying power of the household comes from women. So we decided to create this brand Blissed to really target the demographic 35+ woman to really inspire them to be unapologetic and to break down the stigmas. There’s a lot of stigmas in the industry. We also found that a lot of women actually hide their usage and this brand is really about helping them live their own lives and live with joy and not have to hide that they use cannabis.”

Charles Khabouth, Founder of TREC Brands who is well known in Toronto for his interests in the entertainment industry, said WINK is an opportunity to provide consumers with a premium product that will complement their nightlife experience.

“With thousands of people coming through our venue doors each week, INK Entertainment has the relationships and the expertise to anchor this brand with the nightlife community across Canada,” he said.

He said WINK is high-quality cannabis that is pre-rolled and specifically produced for the company.

“A lot of research has gone into it with different genetics and different growers. And we finally came up with an amazing high-end brand. What I mean by that is good-quality cannabis that is produced and will be out there for everybody but also for many of the sophisticated cannabis users that understand the difference between great quality and not-so great quality,” said Khabouth.

“Our whole mindset at TREC, whether it’s Blissed or WINK and in the future there will be many more brands to come out, it’s to deliver on the quality and gaining consumers’ trust and any product we put out in the future that it is one of the best on the market.”

The brands are being sold through the Ontario Cannabis Store as well as online.

“In the near future, and it’s based on volume that we can get, we’ll be in all the stores just like any other brand,” said Khabouth. “Right now it’s Ontario.”

But Trinh added that the company has plans to expand to Alberta, Nova Scotia and also some other Maritime provinces.

“We actually don’t hold any licences. So we don’t grow. We don’t process. We don’t distribute. We are a brand house and we create the brand and then the business model is we licence them to licenced producers. What that means is a lot of licenced producers that we can bring value to are the ones that don’t have a recreational product, or a recreational brand, they’re focused on medical or they don’t have the marketing or distribution outreach that we would have,” said Trinh.

TREC’s board is comprised of TREC Brands’ founders Basem Hanna and Khabouth, Trinh, and Matthew Shalhoub, co-founder and managing partner of Green Acre Capital.

The company, which is a global premium cannabis brand house with expertise in promotions, marketing and licensing, is committed to donating 10 per cent of profits to causes that matter to their consumers in the communities they operate in.

“With cannabis today, people are going into the stores or online and they don’t know what to buy because it’s new . . . And the whole idea now with cannabis is you go into stores and you don’t know what’s what,” said Khabouth. “What we would like to do is establish ourselves as a brand that delivers a great quality. So moving forward in the future we would have a great following of clients that would go in and would have trust in anything that would have a TREC logo or brand on it. The actual oil and flower is being produced specifically for us. So it is our own space inside a licensed producer’s growing space that’s being produced specifically for us and nobody else. So whatever we put out is not something that’s being put out to different brands and different people. It’s grown specifically for us and nobody else.”

Trinh said the company is not tied to any one producer or any one market or any one type of product.

“This gives us the opportunity to scour the country to find the most premium flower, the most premium batch from a different producer and grow it under our brand,” she said. “So we right now have three partners that we’re currently working with and continuing to build that pipeline.”

Amsterdam-Based Retailer HEMA Announces Entry into Canada

By

Craig Patterson

-

July 4, 2019

hema store uk — HEMA STORE IN THE UK. PHOTO: VIA FASHION NETWORK UK

Amsterdam-based value-priced household products retailer HEMA announced that it will expand its operations in Canada after striking partnerships that will include standalone storefronts as well as shop-in-stores at Walmart. The first stores are expected to open this year, according to the company.

HEMA will also expand into the United States this summer with an offering on Walmart’s US e-commerce which will be followed by stores. It’s all part of a global expansion that has seen the company open hundreds of stores in Europe and Asia.

In Canada, HEMA will launch its expansion in Ontario, where the company says it will open standalone stores as well as shop-in-stores within large Walmart locations that have enough space for the shops. A national rollout is expected in 2020 as HEMA gains brand recognition and expands its distribution.

HEMA STORE IN MADRID, SPAIN PHOTO: VIA RETAIL DETAIL

As part of its North American expansion, HEMA says that it will be adding ‘Amsterdam’ to its brand name in order to emphasize its Dutch origins to distinguish the brand. The name ‘HEMA’ stands for Hollandsche Eenheidsprijzen Maatschappij Amsterdam, or translated into English, ”Hollandic Standard Prices Company Amsterdam”.

Tjeerd Jegen, CEO of HEMA, said, “The expansion into North America is a historic step for HEMA, as our founders Leo Meyer and Arthur Isaac first saw dollar stores in that region almost 100 years ago. They introduced this concept to the Netherlands by opening the first HEMA store. We are particularly proud of our partnership with Walmart, the world’s largest retailer. This makes Walmart the ideal partner to start on the North American market. This collaboration also fits in perfectly with our international expansion strategy.”

HEMA’s international growth strategy consists of working with partners as well as its own online channels and those of other companies, while also working with master franchise partners and wholesale activities. In a press release, HEMA said that it is working with a local partner to open its first Ontario stores, though few details were provided.

OPENING OF HEMA’S HIGH STREET KENSINGTON STORE IN LONDON, ENGLAND PHOTO: HEMA VIA LINKEDIN

With an aim of “making its customers’ daily lives easier and more fun”, HEMA was founded in 1926 and offers a wide range of inexpensive home goods and other categories. Its overseas websites also show that the retailer sells value-priced fashions for men, women and children, and also has a beauty line as well as stationery and hobby & leisure offerings. Quality is said to be good and many of the products are designed specifically for the retailer. HEMA has more than 32,000 of its own brand products and services, and has more than 750 stores in 12 countries on three continents. The company has more than 19,000 employees globally.

The first HEMA store opened in Amsterdam in 1926 by the owners of upscale department store chain De Bijenkorf (now part of Selfridges Group). HEMA sold goods at standard prices, hence its hame. During World War II, many of the retailer’s Jewish employees were murdered by the Nazis and the tragedy is remembered yearly by a wreath laying on May 4 at the company’s head office.

In 2018, Dutch billionaire Marcel Boekhoorn acquired the retailer from Lion Capital LLP which had owned HEMA since 2007.

HEMA’S ABU DHABI LOCATION PHOTO: HEMA VIA LINKEDIN

HEMA will compete with a wide range of retailers in Canada, ranging from the likes of Ikea to smaller chains such as Kitchen Stuff Plus. Depending on whether or not HEMA brings its fashion offering to Canada, fast-fashion retailers could see competition given HEMA’s relatively low price-points. HEMA is the latest international retailer to announce its expansion into Canada — last year more than 30 retailers entered Canada and in 2017, more than 50 international brands entered the Canadian market by opening storefronts. This year is proving to be a busy one in terms of first-to-market store announcements and openings.

Walmart Canada has been adding concessions to its stores across Canada in order to expand the big box retailer’s offerings. Last month, Chinese variety retailer Miniso opened its first Walmart shop-in-store in Toronto’s Stockyards retail centre. Walmart stores also feature food and beverage concessions such as Walmart and Tim Hortons, and many now also include medical clinics and other tenants in an effort to drive foot traffic while creating diversity within Walmart’s premises.

We’ll follow HEMA’s expansion into Canada, including what product categories it will carry in its Canadian stores.

Please Note: Retail Insider has not yet had any contact wth HEMA, and we wrote this article based on a press release, only. We currently have no further information as to partners, brokers or suppliers involved.

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