Canada's Online Retailers Gaining Strength, Study Finds - Retail Canada's Biggest weakness - e-commerce  "Canadian online retailers are relatively young and are still starting up their businesses." Indeed, 25 percent of the businesses surveyed were less than one year old, while 48 percent had an established e-commerce presence for four years or more. As well, the majority, or 63 percent, of the survey's participants were headquartered in Ontario, while 13 percent were based in Quebec and 11 percent in British Columbia. "It's important to note that more than half of the surveyed retailers grew their business by double digits in fiscal year 2014 over 2013." wwd.com

E-Commerce in Canada in a Sorry State
Canadians are spending online, but not with Canadian retailers. Remarkably, online sales in Canada are forecasted to almost double between 2014 and 2015. According to Virtual Logistics Inc., Canadians are purchasing from multinationals such as Amazon, Costco and Walmart, with most of the remainder from out-of-country retailers. Canadian businesses are doing "very little" to combat this according to Virtual Logistics, as they are not mobile-friendly, few have websites, and some lack any web presence whatsoever. retail-insider.com

New law to impose strict rules on police record checks in Ontario
Civil liberties advocates have long complained that non-conviction records such as mental health information and acquittals have been inappropriately disclosed. There is currently no provincewide standard on what type of information can be disclosed but the Liberal government intends to create those standards with the Police Record. Community Safety Minister Yasir Naqvi says Ontarians have lost their jobs or have lost out on volunteer opportunities because of disclosed mental health records or simply because they witnessed a crime.

Under the act, non-convocation records such as withdrawn charges, acquittals and findings of not criminally responsible by reason of mental disorder could only be disclosed through some vulnerable sector checks. Police interactions known as carding and mental health interactions such as suicide attempts could not be disclosed under this legislation. canadiansecuritymag.com

Target Canada's Ill-Fated Adventure - The Biggest Misstep in Retail History - The story in detail  Target's misadventure in Canada holds many lessons for all retailers, including the very simple lesson that catastrophe invariably comes close on the heels of a retailer's failure to offer consumers products they want at the price they're willing to pay. Editor's note: For those looking for the detailed accounting and Target sunk here it is. Not that we haven't told you in the past. But certainly not in the detail and way this article does. For the retail student here's the real story. Like we've said before this will be studied for years in universities across the world.  therobinreport.com

Web sales are growing fast but Canadian retailers face challenges
Online sales in Canada are expected to grow at a compound annual rate of 12.3%, according to Forrester Research Inc., but merchants in Canada should take steps to claim those sales as their own. U.S.-based retailers take the largest share of e-retail sales in Canada. Amazon.com Inc., eBay Inc. and Apple Inc. as the top three e-commerce sites by revenue in Canada. Those three companies account for 31% of Canadian online sales.  internetretailer.com

Dollarama to install mobile cash registers to reduce seasonal lineups
It expects to have a couple of handheld devices available in most stores by next year. Some outlets will be getting the units later this year after WiFi networks are installed, mainly to simplify inventory counting by employees, the company said. theglobeandmail.com

Amazon.ca launches clothing, shoe stores

Blacks Photography falls victim to digital industry - Closing all 59 stores

$15 minimum wage worries retailers, restaurants, small businesses in Alberta

Acklands-Grainger Celebrates the Opening of New Toronto Distribution Centre

Retail Fast Facts: May 2015 

Highlights:
● Total monthly retail sales changed by 2.6 per cent over the comparable month last year. 
● Total sales excluding food, automotive and gasoline changed by 6.2 per cent over the comparable month last year. Read more retailcouncil.org
 

Security Guard Slashed Trying to Stop Store Robbery in Winnipeg
A security guard was sent to hospital in unstable condition on Wednesday afternoon trying to stop a store robbery. Two men entered a food store in the 800 block of Main Street at around 2:30 p.m. when one of them allegedly attempted to steal merchandise. He was caught by a store employee and a security guard escorted them out of the business. A physical altercation began between the men and the security guard, resulting in him being assaulted and slashed in the upper body. Winnipeg police and members of the tactical support team eventually located the suspects. Gregory Keshane, 30, of Winnipeg and Joshua Goosehead, 25, of Winnipeg. chrisd.ca

Crown wants three years for bat assault on a Canadian Tire Loss Prevention Officer in Regina  Turning around in a Regina courtroom to face the Loss Prevention officer he seriously hurt two years ago, an emotional Alan Boyd Pasap offered an apology. Pasap, 37, is now waiting to find out whether he will serve additional time for the aggravated assault or whether, as requested by defense lawyer Bob Hrycan, he will be granted a time-served sentence for time spent on remand and electronic monitoring. In asking for the prison term, Crown prosecutor James Fitz-Gerald reminded the court of the seriousness of the offence, which involved Pasap striking Sass in the arm with a baseball bat while the plainclothes Canadian Tire loss prevention officer was dealing with Pasap's common-law wife, whom he suspected of shoplifting on Sept. 17, 2013. Sass suffered a badly broken arm that required surgery and continues to cause him problems to this day. leaderpost.com

2 Yellowknife men charged with theft of guns from Canadian Tire
Yellowknife RCMP have laid charges against two men arrested Tuesday in connection with a theft of firearms from Canadian Tire. Two rifles were stolen from Canadian Tire on May 25. Police arrested two suspects Tuesday night in connection with the thefts. Todd Vatcher, 23, and Beau Desire-Tesar, 28, of Yellowknife have each been charged with theft under $5,000 and unauthorized possession of a firearm. Vatcher also faces a charge of failing to comply with a probation order. Desire-Tesar faces a charge of failing to comply with a recognizance. The two men remain in custody and will appear in court on Friday. yahoo.com

Real Canadian Superstore Loss Prevention Team and Brookville Police apprehend 3 on credit card fraud offences  Three males from the Montreal area face multiple charges after being arrested in a commercial area in the north end of Brockville on Saturday afternoon. Three suspicious-looking subjects were observed by a worker at Real Canadian Superstore; she recognized one of the individuals for having been in the store two days earlier trying to purchase a large number of gift cards. The worker notified her loss prevention department; city police were then contacted. Two of the suspects left the store and ran towards a vehicle parked in a nearby lot; they were apprehended by police. The third suspect was being watched by loss prevention, who pointed him out to police; he was apprehended a short time later. Police located numerous fraudulent credit cards as well as two laptops and a skimming device used to produce cards; the investigation revealed that the suspects had visited stores in the Parkedale Avenue corridor. insidebrockville.com

Fortune woman jailed for shoplifting spree in Marystown
On Tuesday, Burin Peninsula RCMP responded to a call of shoplifting from a store in the Peninsula Mall at Marystown. The investigation resulted in the arrest of a 38-year-old woman from Fortune and the recovery of 25 items shoplifted from five different stores in Marystown. The RCMP said the total value of the items seized was approximately $650. The woman was held for court and charged with a total of 15 offences. thetelegram.com

Calls made for 'pay before pump' law after gas station worker injured during theft

Two Quebec men charged in theft of more than $1.5 million in exhaust systems