Retail sales

Canadian retailers adjust store formats and expansion amid labour challenges, cost pressures and uneven spending, balancing growth with operational control.

Mine & Yours Marks 13 Years as Luxury Resale Starts Looking More Like, TryCanadian.ca launches as Consumers Search for Canadian Alternatives, Dollarama Q2 sales increase 17.6% y/y to surpass $2 billion, RBC says grocery prices likely to keep rising faster than overall, and other retail news.

Lululemon reports numbers, Gather Packaging pivots after US tariffs, Couche-Tard shifting convenience store mix, D Spot Expansion, and other news.

Retail Insider’s first edition of the Canadian Retail Monitor finds demand strengthened, with sales volumes rising faster than headline sales. Health, apparel and general merchandise led growth, while grocery weakened and e-commerce rebounded sharply.

FreschCo opens 1st Atlantic stores, Apple stores prepare for product expansion, Lordco expands in Western Canada, thrift stores deal with excess donations, Columbia House Records shuting down, and other news.

Canadian retail sales rose 4.0% year over year in May 2026, but JC Williams Group finds that fuel prices and inflation continue to pressure discretionary spending.

Retail Insider's latest Consumer Behavior and Retail Economy Report examines how affordability pressures, selective spending, retail real estate polarization, and widening differences between value and premium segments are reshaping Canada's retail landscape and influencing strategic decisions across the industry.

Canadians making more trips with smaller baskets at the grocery store, questions about future of downtown Vancouver Hudson's Bay, Sobeys debuts new store concept in Welland ON, dollar store opens in Elliott Lake, and other news.

Following a decline of 1.6% in December, motor vehicle and parts dealers (+2.0%) recorded the largest increase in retail sales in January.

The largest decrease in retail sales in February was observed at motor vehicle and parts dealers (-2.6%), with all four store types within this subsector posting declines.