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Canada's high-end retailers are getting ready for a fight and Hudson's Bay Corp
is racing to ward off the Nordstrom invasion of Canada - Watch out for Holt
Renfrew right beside you With Canada's lagging behind in e-commerce
offerings HBC is over-investing in it now. especially with Nordstrom coming
north soon. U.S. high-end retailer Nordstrom Inc. will arrive in Canada next
fall, with plans for as many as 10 full-line stores as well as up to 20 Rack
outlet stores, and a goal of $1-billion in annual sales. Mr. Baker will bring
Saks to Canada within the next two years, with plans for seven or eight stores
along with as many as 25 of its Off 5th discount outlets. Other high-end
players, including Holt Renfrew and men’s clothier Harry Rosen, are also working
to raise their game. “There are a lot of competitors in the marketplace that are
vying for similar space,” Mr. Penalosa said. There’s a sense of urgency,” said
Michael Penalosa, managing principal at retail specialist Thomas Consultants in
Vancouver. Editors note: Canada just hasn't developed their e-commerce business
and quite frankly their high-end retailers have been stagnant for years. It's
going to be interesting to see how this develops. Let's hope no one pulls a
Target and under-inventory's their stores and gets lambasted by the consumers.
(Source
theglobeandmail.com)
Underground retail ring busted - major fencing operation shut down in Vancouver
Police recovered around $250,000 in suspected stolen property last week inside a
Vancouver apartment that was operating as an "underground retail sales centre."
Police said Wednesday the apartment was stocked with thousands of items of
suspected stolen merchandise, organized into different sections as one would
find at a legitimate store. There were racks of men's and women's clothes,
expensive, name-brand winter coats, designer jeans, and high-end wallets, purses
and sunglasses. A second room was dedicated to children's clothing. The illegal
store, probably advertised by word of mouth and online, was doing brisk
business. Police observed dozens of customers an hour passing through the
property to shop, said Const. Brian Hobbs, who was at the scene. Officers also
saw people coming to the apartment to drop off bags of suspected stolen
merchandise to sell. (Source
theprovince.com)
Canadian company launches no-waste gift cards
The zero-waste gift card created by Victoria, B.C.-based company kiind launched
in Canada Monday. People who purchase gift cards through the company’s website
are only charged when the gift is redeemed. By logging onto the website, people
can purchase gift cards from big-name brands such as Nike, the Gap, Amazon and
iTunes, which can either be used online or in stores. Kiind charges between 35
cents and $1 per card. Senders can set an expiry date for the cards, and
recipients will receive notifications letting them know their offer is about to
expire. If they never redeem the card, the sender will never be charged for the
gift. (Source
thestar.com)
Skimmers hitting Red Deer businesses in Alberta
Red Deer City RCMP have recently received several complaints about bank card
fraud from people who were still in possession of their bank cards. An
investigation has determined that debit machines were compromised at several Red
Deer businesses, allowing thieves to steal bank card information when victims
entered their bank card PIN (personal identification number) to pay for
purchases. (Source
albertapolicereport.ca)
Sarnia, Ontario police arrest 3 men for 2 drug store robberies on Dec. 6
Retail Fast Facts: November 2013
Highlights:
Total monthly retail sales changed by 1.7 per cent over the comparable month
last year.
Total sales excluding food, automotive and gasoline changed by 1.3 per cent over
the comparable month last year. Read more (Source
retailcouncil.org)
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