Canadian Tire

[Admiral Beez]

Never pay full retail on anything at CT, as their model is internally referred to as the high-low, self-shopper strategy. If it's on sale at CT, definitely consider it, as their sale promos are often very good, but their regular prices are intentionally higher than average, since they need to recover lost margin from the sale items. If it’s not on sale, just buy it on Amazon.

 

[lenaitch]

Never use CT ecom. Even though they claim they're working on it:

https://etailcanada.wbresearch.com/blog/heres-how-canadian-tire-is-investing-big-in-ecommerce-strategy

It's because their dealers (CTC speak for franchise owner) are actually equity owners, in that corporate owns the real estate and fixtures, but the dealer owns all the inventory in the store, as well as all the staff (their paycheques come from Dealer # XX, not from CTC corporate). There are four store levels, A, B, C and D. Your A-store would be like the Lakeshore and Leslie store, back in my day that was their #1 store in Canada, bringing in ten million $ or more annually. The D-stores are the tiny, rundown stores you find in rural, small town Canada, generating maybe a million $ annually. When you want to become a CT dealer it is much less expensive than becoming a McDs or Timmies franchise owner, with the CT dealer needing to come up with a few hundred grand, instead of the $2 million of more for the chain fast food joints. But you'll start off with a low revenue D-store in Mud-hut, SK, population 2k, and then work your way up to an A-store, like those owned by the Benis clan, the founders of CT.

So, if CTC were to do ecom correctly, and ship B2C direct from their DC, the dealer at the local shop would be cut out of the deal, and would see a reduction in the value of their dealership, reducing their personal revenue, and their chances for advancing to a better store. And the CTC dealer association are wicked strong, with the staff at corporate scared sh#tless by their leverage. I saw for myself during site visits, the disdain the dealers had for anyone visiting from corporate. It is the CT dealer association that calls the shots about programs, policies and products, not corporate, nor the CT shareholders. The dealer association is boss! With this is mind CTC instead pushes every ecom order through the store closest to the customer - totally ignoring that the self-shopper model means there are no in-store staff to receive, pick and ship ecom orders, or to conduct regular inventory to ensure that the ecom and actual inventory matches up - with shrink/theft from both customers and employees making this an impossible task anyway, thanks to the self-shopper model's low staffing where no one GAF.

So, in short, never, ever, no once try to use CTC ecom, especially during the holidays when you need reliable availability and timely delivery.

Like many others, I only really got into online buying during Covid. I would say about half of the time I tried to order something from CT, it simply wouldn't work, and half of the rest of the time an order would get cancelled because there was no stock. As you say, you are not ordering from the corporation, you are ordering from the store, and if their SKU tracking is off, they might not having something the system says they do until they actually go and look. For the few time I did order and it did work, the store would have it ready for me in a designated area.

The one thing they do have going for them is, like many hardware chains and unlike box stores, they are more likely to have a store in smaller communities.

Trivia time: the smallest Canadian Tire store is in Nipigon ON. Retail space is 3000sf, not including the auto bay(s).

BTW, the founding family was Billes.

Is that the same model Home Hardware uses? our local HH is a little more rural focused then the HH I can use in suburban Halton or in Rexdale. But the service to in store pickup seems to be good. Or perhaps HH is more like the LCBO where again service to the smaller local store is terrific and I can get anything in the catalogue delivered in 3 or 4 days.

I get the sense that Home Hardware dealers are allowed to tune their stock to their clientele. Some are just stores, some are building centres. There are a few that are very large yet we had a tiny one in our last town tucked into a strip mall. Where we are now there are three. One is a building centre, one a typical store in a plaza and one that is the closest thing to a olde tyme general store. They have everything from farm supplies to Christmas decor to HVAC ducting. It is slightly cluttered and chaotic, yet the staff somehow knows where everything is. It surprised me that HH sells large appliances but only some of the larger stores carry any stock; it's mostly online. When you order online from HH I get the sense you are ordering from corporate; although there must be a linkage to the store. I once ordered something online and the store called me and said they had it in stock.

The HH dealer is not obliged to buy their inventory from the St. Jacobs DC and instead can buy direct from other suppliers

There must be different rules for different types or classes of inventory. I was in our HH store today and overheard a staffer telling a customer that they couldn't order directly from a supplier. I don't know what item they were talking about but got the sense it was a matter of quantity; HH only offered something in x quantity and the customer said the supplier's website said it was available in smaller quantities.

 

[SubHuman]

... I would say about half of the time I tried to order something from CT, it simply wouldn't work, and half of the rest of the time an order would get cancelled because there was no stock. As you say, you are not ordering from the corporation, you are ordering from the store, and if their SKU tracking is off, they might not having something the system says they do until they actually go and look...

I've never ordered anything online from the Canadian Tire website, but I have found it to be useful several times in the last few years when going to buy one or two small items. When it says a store has an item in stock (and even better, specifying the aisle of the store where it's located), it's always been there. For just about any other chain, a website displaying that a specific item is in stock at a particular store is almost always misleadingly incorrect, and mentioning the fact to a store employee will provoke a response implying something like "why would you be dumb enough to pay any attention to our website?"

 

[Admiral Beez]

When it says a store has an item in stock (and even better, specifying the aisle of the store where it's located), it's always been there.

I do the same, especially for small items that are prone to stocking errors and shrink, like motorcycle spark plugs, lightbulbs, oil filters, etc. This works, as long as the website shows a few in stock. If the CT website says one unit in stock, that one unit has been lost in shrink/theft or misplaced in store.

If I don't see four or more units in stock I try another location.

 

[lenaitch]

I've never ordered anything online from the Canadian Tire website, but I have found it to be useful several times in the last few years when going to buy one or two small items. When it says a store has an item in stock (and even better, specifying the aisle of the store where it's located), it's always been there. For just about any other chain, a website displaying that a specific item is in stock at a particular store is almost always misleadingly incorrect, and mentioning the fact to a store employee will provoke a response implying something like "why would you be dumb enough to pay any attention to our website?"

Ya, I don't find CTC's website stock indicators any better or worse than other stores. If they show only one or two, it's a crapshoot. I guess there are too many variables at play. I do like their aisle indicators though. It seems that it is their corporate plan to have you wander their stores aimlessly looking for an item (sometime their logic escapes me) so being able to beeline to an aisle is a bonus.

 

[Admiral Beez]

It seems that it is their corporate plan to have you wander their stores aimlessly looking for an item….

It’s daycare for old men. Like this place.

 

[lenaitch]

It’s daycare for old men. Like this place.

Perhaps. For me that is Princess Auto, Busy Bee or even better, Lee Valley.

I swear sometimes, particularly Saturday mornings, it is daycare for the whole family. Couples, with kids or no, seem to grab a triple-triple XL at Tim's and wander the aisles just looking at stuff.

 

[SubHuman]

It’s daycare for old men...

... I swear sometimes, particularly Saturday mornings, it is daycare for the whole family. Couples, with kids or no, seem to grab a triple-triple XL at Tim's and wander the aisles just looking at stuff.

When I go to a mall now, it is to buy something, hopefully as quickly as possible, and then maybe go to the food court.
The stores where I would spend time browsing are now mostly gone, made irrelevant by the internet. As a kid it was the places with model planes and cars, particularly the Leisure World that was in Hillcrest Mall for its first few years in the mid-to-late 1970s. Later it was places like Car Buffs in Square One and a small number of other similar niche non-mall stores like Mini Grid (recently closed) and Toronto Motorsports (apparently still open, though I haven't been there in many years).

 

[Admiral Beez]

When I go to a mall now, it is to buy something, hopefully as quickly as possible, and then maybe go the food court.
The stores where I would spend time browsing are now gone, made irrelevant by the internet. As a kid it was the places with model planes and cars, particularly the Leisure World that was in Hillcrest Mall for its first few years in the mid-to-late 1970s. Later it was places like Car Buffs in Square One and a small number of other similar niche non-mall stores like Mini Grid (recently closed) and Toronto Motorsports (apparently still open, though I haven't been there in many years).

Agreed, I hate malls. The crowds, the parking, etc.

Best hardware store in Toronto by my experience is Wings and Wheels at Woodbine and Danforth.

 

[Towered]

The Bay and Dundas location has gone full on liquidation outlet in terms of vibe - it seems the shelves have all been extended in height by a third, and the store is absolutely packed to the gills with product. It seems far more chaotic and cluttered than any other CT location I've been to. It's basically a claustrophobic warehouse at this point that's not at all inviting for customers.

Oh and of course you still can't exit the store on the bottom level into the Eaton Centre. What slumlord is running this dump??

 

[Richard White]

The Bay and Dundas location has gone full on liquidation outlet in terms of vibe - it seems the shelves have all been extended in height by a third, and the store is absolutely packed to the gills with product. It seems far more chaotic and cluttered than any other CT location I've been to. It's basically a claustrophobic warehouse at this point that's not at all inviting for customers.

Oh and of course you still can't exit the store on the bottom level into the Eaton Centre. What slumlord is running this dump??

Despite the location, I am not sure how much longer this location will survive.

I can see it being repurposed into something else.

 

[Northern Light]

Despite the location, I am not sure how much longer this location will survive.

I can see it being repurposed into something else.

That location makes a lot of $$$. Its not going anywhere, anytime soon.

 

[Towered]

That location makes a lot of $$$. Its not going anywhere, anytime soon.

Too bad - that corner would probably be ripe for an 80 storey tower at this point!

 

[Northern Light]

Too bad - that corner would probably be ripe for an 80 storey tower at this point!

When CF is ready to redevelop, the store will leave, at least temporarily. But there is nothing in the immediate offing.

Their lease covenants with retail and office tenants around parking complicate matters.

 

[ShonTron]

When CF is ready to redevelop, the store will leave, at least temporarily. But there is nothing in the immediate offing.

Their lease covenants with retail and office tenants around parking complicate matters.

They would also have to relocate TMU’s business school. At the time, it was an innovative project with the mix of retail, parking, and university facilities.