I tried finding a national article on this, but wasn't able to. Here are the local links I saw: Calgary -
http://calsun.canoe.ca/News/Alberta/...52223-sun.html , Edmonton -
http://www.canada.com/edmontonjourna...2-d3d4de5f900e , London -
http://lfpress.ca/newsstand/News/Loc...52327-sun.html , Halifax -
http://thechronicleherald.ca/Front/1001539.html , Windsor -
http://www.canada.com/windsorstar/st...dd53c25&k=4873 , Thunder Bay -
http://www.tbsource.com/Localnews/index.asp?cid=103408
Wal-Mart's 24-hour shopping goes year-round
Kitchener store one of 25 across Canada to extend holiday hours experiment
January 04, 2008
MICHAEL HAMMOND - RECORD STAFF - KITCHENER
When Nicole Woodbridge's work day ends at 3 a.m., she'll be able to shop for everything from toys to tools.
Wal-Mart is opening its department store at the Sunrise Shopping Centre 24 hours a day for time-pressured people like Woodbridge, who is a server and bartender at the Duke of Wellington pub in downtown Waterloo.
The west-end Kitchener store is one of 25 Wal-Mart outlets across Canada that will be open around the clock throughout the year, the retail giant said yesterday.
Woodbridge, who works into the early morning hours three times a week, says the convenience of being able to shop in the wee hours appeals to her.
"I do my grocery shopping after work since the Sobeys (on Bridgeport Road in Waterloo) is open 24 hours," she says.
"During the day, I don't have time since I mostly sleep and only have time to do a few things before going to work."
Woodbridge is part of a demographic that Wal-Mart is trying to better serve, says company spokesperson Kevin Groh.
Groh says the retailer has seen an increasingly positive response to the 24-hour concept from shoppers in the last three Christmas shopping seasons.
This past December, Wal-Mart opened 80 of its stores around the clock. In the middle of the month, it decided to open 110 more stores 24 hours a day.
The chain has 292 stores across Canada.
"Our instinct is that, in these 25 markets, there's great demand. We had no idea how popular this would be."
Groh says Wal-Mart will continue to operate on a 24-hour basis in markets such as Kitchener as long as shoppers demand the convenience.
"It's really up to our customers."
Groh says the decision to continue with the 24-hour concept is being driven by "shift workers and families whose lives test the boundaries of the day. There's great value in letting customers know we're there for them when they're ready to shop," he says.
Wal-Mart isn't the only retailer that is experimenting with around-the-clock hours. Over the Christmas shopping season, Zellers opened some of its stores for 24 hours, including three department stores in Waterloo Region.
The Real Canadian Superstore on Highland Road in Kitchener's west end also remained open for 24 hours until Christmas.
Sobeys operates seven grocery stores around the clock in Kitchener, Waterloo and Cambridge.
John Winter, president of retail consulting firm John Winter Associates, says the 24-hour experiment appears to be paying off handsomely for retailers.
"You have to assume this was an enormous success," he said. "This is an absolutely new phenomenon in Canada to have department stores open 24/7."
Winter says Wal-Mart's move will likely force its competitors to consider a similar strategy.
"I would think it will be a temptation for some supermarkets to open 24 hours. It doesn't take all that much more labour to operate 24 hours."
In Wal-Mart's case, its stores already are 24-hour operations because workers restock shelves throughout the night, Groh says. The retailer will add a small complement of employees to serve customers.
Winter says following Wal-Mart's lead will be tricky for some unionized supermarket chains like Loblaws. Wal-Mart's employees are not represented by a union.
Al McLean, secretary and treasurer of the United Food and Commercial Workers Local 1977, which represents Zehrs and Real Canadian Superstore employees, says the 24-hour concept is problematic for workers with young children. He says he would not be surprised if Wal-Mart's competitors consider following its lead.
"It does unfortunately have a ripple effect," he says.
The Loblaws group of supermarkets has no plans to move to the 24-hour concept in the region, says company spokesperson David Primorac.
When the Highland Road superstore opened around the clock before Christmas, employees could volunteer to work nights for a dollar-an-hour premium, but they were not forced to work the shifts.
"The key thing is it was voluntary," McLean says.
He's not convinced that expanding a store's hours results in more business. Instead, it could simply "spread out the business" over longer hours, he says.
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