Buying Groceries at Canadian Tire… a Recipe for Disaster?

As a Canadian Shopper, I thought I had seen everything, until recently when I made a regular stop at my favourite go-to store Canadian Tire.  As I walked through the door, I was greeted by that familiar smell of rubber tires.   I couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw aisle after aisle now full of groceries.  I had read about it, and heard it on CTV News, but it just didn’t make sense that you could buy milk, tires and canoes all at the same place!   I know that people might say that Wal-mart’s been doing it for years. For some reason, the grocery strategy fits with Wal-mart in a way that it just doesn’t at Canadian Tire.  Maybe it’s that tire smell or simply the fact that is the store that Dads love?  

This article from The Globe and Mail sums it up pretty well.  Food is a lucrative (and costly) business to be in, and I agree that Canadian Tire made the right decision to end its love affair with food.   Canadian Tire should do what Canadian Tire does best…Automotive, Home & Garden, Sporting Goods, and Hardware.  I’ve always been a believer that it’s better to do less, but do it well. 

Citations:

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/globe-investor/canadian-tire-backing-away-from-food/article533625/

http://ottawa.ctvnews.ca/canadian-tire-becomes-latest-chain-to-roll-out-groceries-1.569682

Did You Know?

Here some fast facts about Canadian Tire.

J. William Billes and Alfred J. Billes bought the Hamilton Tire & Garage Ltd. at the corner of Gerard and Hamilton Streets in Toronto in 1922 for $1,800.

In 1937, the Canadian Tire at Yonge Street and Davenport was the first retail store to equip their sales staff with roller skates, speeding up service.

In 1958, the first gas bar opens at Yonge & Church in Toronto. Gas bar customers receive discount coupons, later known as Canadian Tire 'Money', redeemable in merchandise at Canadian Tire stores.

There were 40,000 cars on Canada's roads when the Billes brothers first bought the Hamilton Tire & Garage Ltd. Today, there are over 13.5 million cars.

Canadian Tire expanded to the territories in 1992 by opening three stores in Whitehorse, Yukon and Yellowknife, N.W.T.
 

At the height of distribution, nine million catalogues were delivered to Canadian homes. Today, 11.5 million flyers are viewed by 85% of Canadian households each week.



Two out of three Canadian men read Canadian Tire’s flyer every week.




Canadian Tire services over 10,000 cars a day.

More than 90% of the population lives within 15 minutes of a Canadian Tire store.

More than 80% of the population shops at Canadian Tire stores every year.

Since its launch in February 2005, Canadian Tire Jumpstart has helped give more than 440,000 Canadian kids the chance to play.





Canadian Tire Financial Services has more than 4 million card members.







Citations:

http://corp.canadiantire.ca/en/aboutus/pages/history.aspx

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J._William_Billes

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page

Canadian Tire Advertising

 

During my research into articles about Canadian Tire I kept getting results from YouTube popping up. I started watching some of the commercials and found myself going from one to the next watching and even remembering some of the old commercials. Come along with me on a walk down memory lane.

 

Probably the most well known Canadian Tire commercial is “The Bike Story”. It was first shown to Canadian viewers during The Academy Awards on March 29^th 1989. The same commercial was aired again in 1997 to celebrate their 75th anniversary. 

• Bike Story won several awards including:
  
  
  • Gold at the Television Bureau of Canada’s (TVB) Retail Comp Awards, held November 21, 1988.
  • Bronze at the 36^th International Advertising Film Festival in Cannes in 1989.
  • 1990 Bessie Award – as the number one l in Canada.

The Bike Story Television  30 Sec TV Commercial

Just for fun These are two commercials from 1979.They are the oldest commercials that I could find. They feature the popular slogan "It's for people like you" that was used in the 70's

The Mastercraft Guarantee   

Christmas Shopping Spree 

Canadian Tire also aired a series of Christmas commercials featuring Santa Clause and Ebenezer Scrooge. They were always arguing about weather the low prices or the great selection of products was the best reason to shop at Canadian Tire for Christmas gifts. They used the slogans "Give like Santa, Save like Scrooge" and "Scrooge approved prices"

Christmas Gift Headquarters/Stanley - 1980

Give Like Santa and Save Like Scrooge - 1982

 
Scrooge Approved - 1987

From 1997 to 2005 Ted and Gloria were featured in Canadian Tire commercials. They were known as "Canada's most annoying couple" The couple was always demonstrating a product to a neighbour.  The actors were even featured on The Royal Canadian Air Farce and The Rick Mercer Report.  

Royal Canadian Air Farce: Canadian Tire Couple

The Rick Mercer Report: Canadian Tire

Unfortunately I was unable to find any of the original Ted and Gloria commercials but I'm sure if you watch the spoofs you will remember them.

Here are some more recent 2008 commercials featuring the advent calender and slogan "for days like today"

The Old Days TV Commercial

For Days TV Commercial

 

The next few commericials are in a category all of their own. 

 

The Tearjerkers

 

Albert 1980's

Runaway

 

Christmas lights

 

Finally, this is my all time favorite commercial.

"Cussin"

Citations:

http://www.canadiantire.ca/home.jsp?site=WebStore

http://www.youtube.com/

http://www.airfarce.com/

http://www.rickmercer.com/
 

Canadian Tire Money, Canada's Most Loved Loyalty Program

Since its emergence onto the Canadian retail scene, Canadian Tire Money has become one of Canada’s most loved loyalty programs.  To some it may seem dated compared to the plethora of electronic cards offered by most retailers today.  Others see Canadian Tire Money as national institution. 

In her article titled “Why We Love and Hate Canadian TireMoney”, Dakshana Bascaramurty, a writer for The Globe and Mail explains the various ways that Canadians trade, collect and donate the Sandy McTire bills. 

Dakshana identifies groups:  The Traveller, The Collector, The Fundraiser and the Grey Marketers.

The Travellers could also be called the Canadian Con Artists.  This group tries to dupe foreign merchants by paying for purchases with their Sandy McTires. 

To a Collector, hitting the CTM jackpot is to find unusual uncirculated bills with missing and signatures of past short-term company presidents.     They travel to trade shows and auctions to check out others’ collections – some include bills from the original series valued at $2000! This group might even be members of the The Canadian Tire Coupon Collectors Club!

The Fundraisers donate their Canadian Tire Money to a variety of worthy causes such a food banks, animal shelters, and even to buy sleeping bags for the homeless. 

Ben MacMichael, Manager of the Moncton West End Food Bank and recipient of donated Canadian Tire Money says “when times are tight….this is something extra they can hand on to someone like us.”

The Grey Marketers are the ultimate supporters of all things Canadian, and support trading Canadian Tire Money for their Canadian small business products and services. 

Whether you collect or not, there’s no denying that Canadian Tire Money has successfully integrated itself into Canadian Culture.  It’s just about as Canadian as the Loonie and maple syrup! As Canadian loyalty programs come and go and constantly evolve, one this is for sure; Canadian Tire paper money is here to stay!! 

Check out this video of an Edmonton man who saved enough Canadian Tire Money to buy the most expensive item in the store! 

Edmonton man buys lawntractor with Canadian Tire Money!

 

Citations:

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/globe-investor/personal-finance/household-finances/why-we-love-and-hate-canadian-tire-money/article567476/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eUNG0oz4PyE&feature=youtu.be&noredirect=1

http://www.ctccc.ca/eng.html
 

 

 

Canadian Tire - True Canadian Spirit

The article Canadian Tire Revisted, talks about how Canadian Tire has adapted and evolved with the times.
Canadian Tire has had to make changes in the way they conduct business and communicate with the public over the last ninety years.

In a time when many Canadian company's have been sold to U.S. owners, Canadian Tire has remained Canadian owned. They are really proud of this fact and show a lot of pride in their Canadian heritage.

The article states some of the changes they have made to catalogue distribution, advertising campaigns, store layout as well as their iconic Canadian Tire Money.

All of these are reasons that Canadian Tire has remained strong even with competition from the larger retailers.

I thought that this article was very informative. I had never given any though to how Canadian Tire and other retailers have to change and adapt due to technology and the inclusiveness of different social groups into their conducted business.

I frequently shop at Canadian Tire and have for many years. They have a variety of different products ranging from home decor to auto repair. Over the years, Canadian Tire has managed to stay current with the needs of Canadians.  I think this is why they have stood the test of time.






Citations:

Mary Ellen Guffey, Kathleen Rhodes, Patricia Rogin (2011, 2008)
Business Communication process and product (6th Canadian edition). Toronto, ON.:
Nelson Education Limited
Page 3, 25, 30
Canadian Tire-True Canadian Spirit.

http://corp.canadiantire.ca/EN/AboutUs/Pages/Loyalty.aspx