Next week (October 17-23, 2021) is Small Business Week and here at Retail Council of Canada, we celebrate the spirit of entrepreneurship and the dedication of independent members in serving their communities.
Major free-standing shopping malls in Ontario, Canada, are throwing open their doors to cannabis stores, signaling the evolution of marijuana retail in the nation beyond more typical street-facing and strip-mall locations. (MJ Biz Daily)
Aritzia founder and chief executive officer Brian Hill attributed the results to store re-openings and the retailer’s business expansion south of the border, where the active client base grew by more than 50 per cent over the past 12 months, as well as e-commerce sales growth. (Financial Post)
“We are extremely excited to welcome Roth’s to the Pattison Food Group family of companies as we embark on our first venture outside of Canada,” says Darrell Jones, president of the Pattison Food Group. “Roth’s legacy of a customer-focused shopping experience with the best fresh offering in the market is something all Pattison Food Group companies share, and we are just so thrilled to have these fine folks join our team.” (Grocery Business)
Carl Pichette, VP of marketing at IGA, says parents are continually searching for practical meal solutions like the ones offered by Ricardo, and its consumer surveys have shown that while being budget conscious is top of mind, having a break from doing the dishes or lightening up on prep during the week is just as valuable. (Strategy Online)
The retailer says its hiring spree will include on-the-spot job interviews across the country on Oct. 14 and 15. It says new workers are needed primarily to fulfil online orders in stores, work in various grocery departments such as bakery, meat and produce, stock store shelves, prepare warehouse orders for shipment and drive delivery trucks. (CTV News)
Apparel sales overall fell in Canada in 2020, but have come roaring back by 20 per cent so far this year, according to Tamara Szames, an industry adviser to fashion and retail with the research firm NPD Group. (CBC)
Jim Inglis is a veteran in the retail home improvement space. Using his career and the history of Home Depot as blueprints, Jim offers his leadership tools and insights on company culture to retailers looking to remain competitive and relevant in changing times. Next, Michael Ricci, Vice President Of Business Development/New Technologies for Sinch, talks to host Michael LeBlanc about the state of the art communication tools and campaigns taking retailer's marketing campaigns to the next level.
A one-day pop-up space for Slam Canada was met with overwhelming popularity in Vancouver. So much so, that organizers have announced that the pop-up will reopen a final time this weekend. On Friday, Slam Canada opened a pop-up store on 1595 E Pender Street. The retail experience was operated by Vancouver-based Victory Creative Group, which invests in Slam and has been working to bring the brand closer to Vancouver’s basketball community. (Daily Hive)
John Douang, Co-Founder & CEO of the company which opened its first location in Toronto in 2016, said the hyperlocal, unmanned market is in nine locations currently in Ontario and Quebec and about 30 stores are in the queue in either lease discussions and construction including in British Columbia. “We utilize a lot of technology to supplement the store operations and we use a lot of our own platform of technology in order to secure the stores. All the stores are unmanned. We don’t have cashiers and we don’t have staff that are on site to greet customers or anything like that,” said Douang. (Retail Insider)
Major retailers like Costco and the Home Depot have resorted to chartering their own cargo ships and aircraft to maintain their supply chains. IKEA has even begun to buy its own shipping containers to reduce the risk of supply shortages. But small businesses don’t have the resources to charter their own airplanes and cargo ships or to buy their own containers. To make matters worse, shipping companies are prioritizing some large retailers over small businesses because of the global container cargo capacity shortage. (Business in Vancouver)
Industry experts say decades of stigma, as well as international pressure, continue to plague the fledgling industry, forcing shop owners to dig into their savings to open their small businesses and limiting the sector's growth. Charles Varabioff, owner of Kingsway Cannabis, says finding a bank to take on his business account was next to impossible. "I tried every single one of them. And every one [of the banks] was 'no, no, no, no, no,'" he said. Branch managers, he says, would tell him the cannabis industry is too high-risk. (CBC)
Our mission was to design and create premium Egyptian cotton garments for the extraordinary individual who appreciates a natural fabric finish in modern cuts. Through a proprietary process in which we cook the cotton fabric in Egypt, following our own carefully developed product testing and development guidelines, we’ve now debuted a premium collection of Giza 96 Egyptian cotton essentials. Behold JK Store is born. (Modern Mississauga)
At Retail Council of Canada, we know that independent retailers and small business owners are the backbone of Canadian retail, creating innovations across all sectors and continuously engineering solutions to modern problems.
To celebrate Small Business Week, RCC has compiled interviews with some of Canada’s most brilliant independent retailers and entrepreneurs to share insights, provide solutions, and help others realize their potential. Enjoying what you hear? Listen in weekly for new episodes of The Voice of Retail TM podcast.
There have been a lot of shutdowns in countries where products are made – even in Canada – so it’s a challenge even in getting the raw materials to make the goods. For example, there were many [cancelled orders] for tents this summer due to a lack of aluminum. It’s the same thing with polar fleece. Some companies have trimmed their selection to concentrate on making fewer types of products, but making them good and delivering them on time. (Strategy Online)
The White House said Wednesday it has helped broker an agreement for the Port of Los Angeles to become a 24-hour, seven-days-a-week operation, part of an effort to relieve supply chain bottlenecks and move stranded container ships that are driving prices higher for U.S. consumers. (For Subscribers Only, Globe & Mail)
Shortages of transport containers and blocked-up ports have snarled logistics for retailers around the world. The turmoil has led to warnings about slower sales growth and higher costs at companies from Hennes & Mauritz AB to U.K. online retailer Asos Plc. To cope with the situation, Ikea had to prioritize and focus its product offering on the most popular products, Abrahamsson Ring said. (BNN Bloomberg)
The Flying Buttress once glided across the oceans carrying vital commodities like grain to all corners of the world. Now it bears a different treasure: Paw Patrol Movie Towers, Batmobile Transformers and Baby Alive Lulu Achoo dolls. The dry bulk cargo ship has been drafted into the service of retail giant Walmart, which is chartering its own vessels in an effort to beat the global supply chain disruptions that threaten to torpedo the retail industry’s make-or-break holiday season. (Globe & Mail)
Computer chip shortages. Epic port congestion. And a serious lack of truck drivers. The world's delicate supply chains are under extreme stress. The supply chain nightmare is jacking up prices for consumers and slowing the global economic recovery. Unfortunately, Moody's Analytics warns supply chain disruptions "will get worse before they get better." "As the global economic recovery continues to gather steam, what is increasingly apparent is how it will be stymied by supply-chain disruptions that are now showing up at every corner," Moody's wrote in a Monday report. (CNN Business)
With a fresh arsenal of experience-focused marketing capabilities, marketers can operate with not only speed and agility, but with sensitivity and creativity.
The pandemic has separated brands that are able to pivot and display true customer centricity in difficult times. Relevant messaging, empathetic service offerings and a continuous customer journey has allowed brands to capture new customers.
Organizations applying AI-driven analytics are fine-tuning customer journeys and real-time decisions are helping orchestrate dynamic customer experiences. Learn the true value of agility and automation for the customer in this SAS webinar.
Before the pandemic, it would take Rob Byrnes at least 15 minutes to wait in line and grab a quick lunch at a fast-casual restaurant in midtown Manhattan. Now, in the minority of people returning to office buildings in the area, Byrnes says he's in and out with his meal in under two minutes. (CNBC)
In an interview with Bloomberg, the brand's chief marketing and design officer, Christiane Pendarvis, said that you'll "absolutely see some stores in 2022" in the US, without specifying where. The brand would also consider stores in Europe in the future, she said. The company has tested pop-up stores, but it largely operates online — which cuts out some potential customers who want to try underwear before they buy. (Business Insider)
Customers will be able to enjoy a stress-free shopping experience thanks to the new service. Due to the pandemic’s closure of stores for several months at a time, there has been a rise in online shopping. When returning an item, however, shoppers are frequently required to visit the Post Office. Customers can return a parcel to one of InPost’s lockers located throughout the country. (Brinkwire)
A rush of companies are vying to become the eBay of high-end horology — including the storied online marketplace itself. Demand for high-end watches exploded during the Covid-19 pandemic. But the Big Four watch brands — Rolex, Patek Philippe, Audemars Piguet and Richard Mille — are holding firm on the limited production runs that make their timepieces so rare. The result is an online boom in the business of buying, selling and flipping pre-owned and vintage watches and a growing number of start-ups competing to become the dominant digital marketplace. (CNBC)
According to this latest report, the second half of 2021 and 2022 should bring growth opportunities for Canadian small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Scotiabank foresees the strongest economic expansion in decades, continued fiscal support measures and accelerated adoption of new technologies, a rising tide that should lift all boats even in the face of concerns about future waves of COVID and supply chain issues. Read more.
The latest swell of virus infections weighed on the recovery in high-contact service sectors, even as overall spending remained resilient in Canada. Merchandise purchases through August and September were little changed as a whole, though sales on “home comforts” like furniture and gardening rose while clothing sales declined. Spending that involves social interactions, like restaurant and art gallery visits, faded in September—though it remained well above pre-shock levels. Read more.
Google offers resources for small businesses to help develop marketing strategies, gather and utilize data, connect with your target audience, and more. Here we've compiled a list of guides and links most relevant to small business owners. Not sure where to start? Try the Digital Essentials Guide, an easy-to-use list of things you can do now to help your business succeed online. Learn more.
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